My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 117

“And in reality, the higher-ups mostly condone it.”

Because the performance of the front-line supply chain becomes the director’s performance, brightening the director’s future.

“The police aren’t stupid either. They probably traced it through the barcode as soon as they found the contaminated snack.”

But they wouldn’t have been able to pinpoint it. That’s why they said they didn’t know.

“No matter how many times you scan the barcode, it’s from a flea market, so it’s impossible to trace.”

Kim Seong-han’s face hardened at Park Do-joon’s words. If Park Do-joon was right, it meant they couldn’t stop this poisoning incident.

They don’t know how much is distributed in the flea market, but the criminals can freely choose products and contaminate them.

“So, to solve this case, we need to know where this item was sold… no, in this case, whether it was forced upon them. And we already know that.”

Even if it’s impossible to trace in the middle, it ultimately remains until the moment of shipment.

“Wait a moment.”

Kim Seong-han picked up the intercom and made an external call.

– Yes, Chairman.

“Which branch did you say this item was shipped from?”

– Suwon, Chairman.

“Have the person in charge come in immediately.”

– Yes, Chairman.

At the firm words, the secretary immediately agreed, and Han Seong-gi frowned at the unexpected situation.

‘Looks like he doesn’t even know what a flea market is. Tsk, tsk!’

The police need to know a lot. Especially profilers need to know even more. As much as you know, you can see, and depending on what you know, the same situation or object can be interpreted in completely different ways.

‘I don’t even need to look.’

Perhaps Han Seong-gi thinks this is cheating. That he didn’t know about the flea market.

‘But he can’t not know about forced sales.’

There was an incident that turned the country upside down. Even now, a company is collapsing because of the aftermath of that incident, and if he doesn’t know about it, it simply speaks to his incompetence.

In the meantime, someone was seen rushing into the chairman’s office. A man wearing work clothes, unlike the other employees working at this group. The name ‘Samhan Confectionery’ was attached to his chest.

‘That person must be in charge of delivery.’

Perhaps because of the sudden call from the chairman, he was frozen stiff.

“Ch, Chairman, what’s going on…”

“This time, a snack containing poison was found in Incheon.”

“Yes, yes?”

His face turned pale at those words. Unlike his nervousness, he seemed to understand how serious this issue was because he worked in the food industry.

“So, when I traced the product, your sales branch came up. Do you know anything about it?”

“Th, that, what kind of product is it…”

“Red bean rice cake and sponge cake, red bean flavor.”

“…”

“Do you know anything?”

“I… I don’t know.”

He’d know he was being suspected as the culprit in this situation unless he was an idiot. Perhaps that’s why he immediately knelt down.

“Chairman, I’m innocent! I really didn’t do anything!”

“Well, we’ll find out when we investigate.”

Park Do-joon subtly stepped forward and stared intently at him. The man also looked back at Park Do-joon with a nervous face. The fact that he was here meant he was a key figure.

“What’s your name?”

“My name?”

“Yes, your name.”

“Uh… Cha Cheol-soo.”

“Mr. Cha Cheol-soo, I’ll ask you just one thing. Did you do forced sales?”

“Yes?”

“Forced sales, I mean.”

“Th, that’s…”

As soon as the story of forced sales came up, Cha Cheol-soo’s face hardened. He couldn’t not know that forced sales were illegal. But he probably did it habitually.

And seeing that, anger settled on Kim Seong-han’s face.

Forced sales are dangerous. The country had already been turned upside down once, and they had been ordered several times not to do it, but he did forced sales.

In fact, forced sales have many other problems besides that. Because the consumption of goods is not accurately grasped, even statistics become uncertain.

For example, if red bean rice cake snacks are forced upon a region and continuously sold, the snack consumption in that region is recorded as more than the actual amount consumed. Then, red bean rice cakes are allocated to that region accordingly, and the vicious cycle of forcing them again continues.

Eventually, it may be sold to consumers, but as a result, the company stubbornly preserves lines that don’t sell well, ultimately leading to negative damage.

“Did you do forced sales or not?”

Cha Cheol-soo couldn’t answer Park Do-joon’s words. He desperately avoided Park Do-joon’s gaze, but that didn’t mean he could avoid the chairman’s anger.

“You crazy bastard…!”

A company went to the brink of bankruptcy because of those forced sales. Even now, its sales are less than half of what they used to be… no, less than a third, and the company’s chairman is treated like a cripple at gatherings.

So, he had told them several times not to do forced sales, and he actually thought there were no forced sales in his company.

But there are forced sales?

“Forced sales aren’t just about forcing the sale of goods.”

If a guy who commits illegal acts has the opportunity to commit other illegal acts and make money, would he just pass it by?

There’s no way.

“He probably embezzled sales subsidies or advertising expenses.”

Seeing his face turning from blue to white at Park Do-joon’s words, Kim Seong-han gritted his teeth.

“You crazy bastard…!”

“Ch, Chairman! N, no! It’s not true! It’s really not true!”

“Well, we’ll find out when we investigate.”

At those words, Cha Cheol-soo hung his head. Because there’s no way it won’t come out if they investigate.

“Get that bastard out of here.”

Eventually, Cha Cheol-soo was dragged out by the secretaries. And Kim Seong-han, who was left behind, gritted his teeth.

“This makes one thing clear.”

“What?”

Han Seong-gi said something he didn’t like. Well, he wouldn’t like Park Do-joon, who had figured out something he didn’t know.

“The culprits are probably flea market guys.”

Considering the distribution lines of ice cream and snacks, and forced sales, the possibility was very high. The problem is that the flea market is outside the system, so it’s not easy to track.

“It looks like things are going to get busy.”

Park Do-joon couldn’t help but frown.

# The Troubleshooter’s Huge Bomb

The term ‘flea market’ isn’t used much by people these days. A flea market means a place that sells abnormal items such as used or returned goods, and it also means a place that trades goods in large quantities.

It’s also called a flea market, and in some cases, it’s called a goblin market.

“One thing is certain: it’s an uncertain distribution line.”

Park Do-joon said, looking at the flea market in Incheon.

“Is this… traceable?”

The Samhan Group employee who came with him asked worriedly, but Park Do-joon said indifferently.

“Now that we’ve come this far… well, it won’t be difficult.”

As soon as the investigation began, a rough flow emerged. Cha Cheol-soo forced the product on convenience stores, and the convenience stores that were forced to take it inevitably passed the product on to this flea market in Incheon.

Of course, tracking would be impossible without testimony, but fortunately, the convenience store owner knew the name of the flea market company he dealt with, and it wasn’t difficult to go there and shake them down.

“If we go there and investigate, we can roughly identify the culprit. Surprisingly, there aren’t many people working in this industry.”

“It seems like it’s being resolved more easily than I thought.”

He sighed in relief at Park Do-joon’s words. If they could just catch the culprit, the case would be resolved without any problems.

“But in that case, shouldn’t we call the police?”

“No. It’s not specific yet.”

“Yes?”

“Look at the situation on the ground.”

At Park Do-joon’s words, the employee looked at the flea market. What he saw were boxes full of food products, and even well-selling products were inside.

And many people were coming and going around it.

“As you can see, there are too many people approaching to identify anyone.”

“Ah…”

A flea market isn’t a place where things are in a warehouse according to set rules and then sold. It’s a chaotic place where things are piled up and traded for cash, and then loaded into cars in boxes.

“Besides, there’s no proper security.”

They just pile up things like mountains and sell them off.

“In this situation, if they claim they don’t know who approached them, there’s no way to prove it.”

Because no gestures were shown after the threats were made.

“First, we need to approach the company and see if there are any signs of abnormality, and then identify any suspicious people.”

That way, we can investigate him intensively and identify the culprit.

“If there’s no evidence that they threatened, there’s nothing we can do legally. First, we need to approach them as customers… what, what’s that?”

While explaining, Park Do-joon widened his eyes as he spotted a police car entering the market entrance.

“Did you call the police?”

“Yes? No, I didn’t call them?”

While the employee was also flustered, as many as five patrol cars arrived, and the police poured out of them. And inside, Park Do-joon could find Han Seong-gi.

‘That crazy bastard!’

Why is Han Seong-gi suddenly popping up here? Of course, when he suggested going together, Han Seong-gi firmly said he had no intention of doing so. Park Do-joon, who knew that Han Seong-gi had an inferiority complex, didn’t ask twice.

But he never thought that this crazy bastard would call the police separately and raid the place.

“Don’t move! Police!”

The police rushed in, waving warrants. And Han Seong-gi, who was following behind, found Park Do-joon watching this situation from a distance. He smiled and mouthed something small.

Park Do-joon, who could read lips, could read his words.

– I won this time.

Watching Han Seong-gi enter with a satisfied smile of victory, Park Do-joon closed his eyes tightly.

“That crazy bastard!”

Literally the worst situation had broken out.

***

Han Seong-gi dropped a bomb. Han Seong-gi couldn’t tolerate the fact that he had lost to Park Do-joon, and that he was being recognized.

So he made a move first. After saying he wouldn’t go with him, he went to the prosecutors and judges he knew and explained the situation.

A simple plan to get a warrant and raid the place first to catch the culprit. Park Do-joon did the analysis, but he simply thought that if he caught the culprit first, all the achievements would be his.

“You crazy bastard! Do you know what you’ve done!”

Park Do-joon couldn’t help but swear at Han Seong-gi in informal language after returning to the police station. Park Do-joon doesn’t usually get that angry, but this time he couldn’t help it.

A Professional Profiler