My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 124

A Job as a Profiler-124

# Unnecessary People

“Shit, shit!”

He kept cursing. He had made a huge mistake this time, initiating action while completely disregarding the reporting system. If it had been successful, he could have at least offered an excuse, but it was a complete failure, causing significant damage to the Samhan Group, far beyond a simple mistake.

Having already received two disciplinary actions, this time a truly critical issue had surfaced.

And this wasn’t something that could be resolved easily.

“Are you telling me to go to South Jeolla Province now?”

“Yes. I’m doing you a favor.”

“Why would I go there! Shit!”

Disciplinary Committee.

The words spoken there were, to put it nicely, a recommendation; frankly, it was a suggestion to quit.

“Or do you want to keep working here? While fighting against the Samhan Group?”

“It’s not my fault! That bastard Park Do-joon…!”

“Yes, Detective Park Do-joon identified a suspect there first. And the suspect was actually there. But you ignored the reporting line and stirred things up before a proper investigation, causing the media to swarm.”

At those words, Han Sung-gi was speechless.

“We’ve already spoken with them. You’ll go down there, and in exchange, they’ll send someone up here. Think of it as a kind of exchange.”

“I can’t do that!”

He was from Seoul. What was he supposed to do, stuck in a rural area like South Jeolla Province?

“My wife and child are in Seoul. Are you telling me to go alone?”

“Then you shouldn’t have caused trouble! Do you even realize how much trouble you’ve caused?”

No matter how angry Han Sung-gi got, the decision from above couldn’t be changed.

“If you don’t want to go, then quit.”

At those words, Han Sung-gi couldn’t say anything.

“Shit.”

In the end, he couldn’t utter a word and ground his teeth as he left.

“Park Do-joon, that son of a bitch!”

It was the result of his own choices, but he somehow felt like this was all a trap set by Park Do-joon.

“Damn it, damn it…!”

As he gnashed his teeth and walked out of the police station, someone approached him.

“Detective Han Sung-gi?”

“Who are you? I’m sorry, but I’m not in the mood to talk to anyone right now. Let’s talk later.”

Han Sung-gi tried to ignore him and pass by, but he had to stop at the man’s introduction.

“I’m from Assemblyman Hong Woo-jong’s office.”

“Assemblyman Hong Woo-jong’s office?”

“Yes, do you have some time?”

At the mention of a National Assembly member’s aide, Han Sung-gi’s eyes lit up. The thought that he might have another chance consumed his mind.

***

“This can’t be…”

Jung I-yeon was so shocked that she felt the world spinning. Her mother’s grave was burned black.

Jung I-yeon had lost her mother in an accident when she was young. Therefore, her grave was a precious place that Jung I-yeon visited whenever she was having a hard time. But that place was completely charred black. Not only the grave but even the surrounding tombstones were turned black.

The other graves and tombstones around were the same.

“Ugh…”

Her father, Jung Soo-gwan, who was next to her, held his head as if he was troubled.

“It’s fortunate that the grave wasn’t damaged too much.”

Because it was a grave that he usually managed, there was only grass and small ornamental plants around it that could burn, so it didn’t collapse.

“Well, at this point, it doesn’t matter.”

At this point, it is safer to make new tombstones and other things. It’s not like they don’t have money, and there’s no reason to use things that they don’t know how they were deformed by the heat.

“Are you okay, I-yeon?”

“No, I’m not okay.”

“What can we do? That’s what wildfires are like.”

Wildfire.

Due to the wildfire, the entire cemetery was burned down. Not only the cemetery but also dozens of hectares of mountains were burned, and 50 houses were burned.

There were also deaths. An elderly couple who couldn’t escape and a firefighter lost their lives due to the fire.

“Wait here for now. I need to go to the management office.”

The management office is just a temporary tent next to the charred building.

“This is ridiculous, really.”

It’s a wildfire, so there’s no one to get angry at.

Looking around, people can be seen. People with tired faces trying to manage their ancestors’ graves, firefighters who collapsed and fell asleep from exhaustion after putting out the fire.

Soldiers carrying shovels, pitchforks, and knapsack pumps, perhaps to prevent any remaining fires.

It was more crowded than during the holidays, but everyone’s face was filled with emptiness.

“Hoo…”

With a long sigh, Jung I-yeon began to clean her mother’s grave. It was only to the extent of dusting off the accumulated ashes.

“Ah, this is frustrating. Why is there never a time when there are no wildfires?”

“Senior, do wildfires happen according to the situation?”

“That’s true, but… this is really too much. People died too.”

Since the firefighter who went to put out the fire died, it was natural that his fellow firefighters felt heavy.

“But isn’t it strange that fires happen like this every year? Isn’t this arson?”

“Arson?”

“Well, isn’t it? Like you said, senior, wildfires happen too often.”

“It could be. But we need to know who that bastard is to catch him.”

“I guess so.”

“Wow, this is really frustrating, shit. If we report it to the police, they’ll probably say there’s no answer and cut us off.”

Jung I-yeon’s ears perked up at the two people’s words. She hurriedly approached them and asked.

“Excuse me, I’m sorry.”

“Yes?”

“Do you really think this is arson?”

“Ah, well…”

“Ah, I’m this kind of person. This is my mother’s grave here.”

Jung I-yeon handed over her business card. The firefighter who received it scratched his head awkwardly.

“But is that arson thing you said earlier true?”

“Honestly, we don’t know.”

The firefighter shrugged.

“Because we can’t know exactly where the fire started.”

Especially in the case of such wildfires. This is because there are no surveillance devices or equipment to check around.

“It doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen just because there are no people.”

“It happens even if there are no people?”

“Yes, usually, accidental fires are common.”

Accidental fire. That is, accidentally starting a fire. There are surprisingly many cases of starting a fire by throwing away cigarette butts or lighting a fire to cook food.

“But there are many cases where fires start from other places.”

Sparks may fly from the installed high-voltage lines, or even trees struck by lightning may catch fire. Or, sparks from other fire sites may fly in the wind and cause a fire in the mountains.

“So most wildfires that occur in the mountains just end up with an unknown cause.”

“Then why did you think it was arson earlier?”

“Um, should I just say it’s a feeling?”

“Feeling?”

“Yes, I can’t explain it, but there’s something like that. No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem like an accidental fire…”

At those words, Jung I-yeon had a strange expression.

“I’m sorry, we’re just saying strange things for no reason… You must be upset already.”

“No, it’s not your fault.”

While stopping the firefighter from apologizing, Jung I-yeon looked around. The completely burned mountains, fields, trees, farmland, and houses.

“There’s someone who knows a lot about this kind of thing, so you can ask him.”

***

“What? Arson?”

“Yes, senior. Don’t you know anything about that?”

“How could I not know? Arson is a crime that’s always there.”

Park Do-joon frowned at Jung I-yeon’s words. Arson is one of the crimes that profilers deal with a lot. This is because the damage is so great, and arson is often committed for the purpose of concealing the crime. If you kill someone in an accident and then commit arson, you often don’t know whether they died in the fire or were killed by someone.

‘In most cases, the cause of death is determined by autopsy.’

However, criminals don’t think about such specific things. There are surprisingly many cases where they just set fire to cover up the incident.

“Why arson all of a sudden?”

“My mother’s grave was all burned down because of the fire.”

“Oh dear…”

“And the firefighters there said that arsonists might be wandering around these days.”

“Arsonist…”

Park Do-joon rubbed his chin at those words. It’s definitely possible to ignore that possibility. Arson is one of the most difficult crimes to track. In most cases, the police don’t recognize it and it’s passed over as an accident.

“The firefighters vaguely said that it felt like an arsonist, but I thought you would know that well, senior. Is it difficult to find out?”

“It’s hard.”

Park Do-joon scratched his head.

“It’s easier in other places, but it’s a bit difficult in the mountains.”

“Why?”

“In urban areas, the investigation site is limited. You know there are fire investigators, right?”

“I know. The direction of the investigation changes depending on what they investigate.”

“That’s right.”

When a fire breaks out in the city, a fire investigator inspects the scene. It seems like everything is burned down, but surprisingly, the direction and speed at which the fire spreads, and the soot that is created in the process, are quite clear even at the fire scene.

If you look at that, you can know the cause of the fire. For example, if a fire breaks out in a V shape from an outlet, it is mostly a fire caused by a short circuit, and if there is a sooty residue on the wall that looks like something is swaying, it is highly likely that a volatile substance was sprayed and set on fire intentionally.

“But it’s hard in the forest.”

First of all, it’s too wide. The fire site covers tens or hundreds of hectares, and it is impossible to identify where the fire first occurred. Furthermore, trees and fallen leaves crumble as they burn, leaving almost no trace, and in most cases, they break down during the extinguishing process and leave no shape.

“Furthermore, because the fire spreads in all directions.”

In a building, the fire that started below goes up. However, a fire that occurs in an open place spreads out in a concentric circle if there is no wind.

“It’s also difficult to pinpoint the place where the fire started.”

It spreads around, but because the speed at which it spreads differs due to problems such as wind and terrain, it is not easy to pinpoint the initial ignition point.

“Oh? Is it that difficult?”

“It’s difficult. Wildfires also tend to fly around like crazy.”

“What do you mean by that? Wildfires fly around?”

“There are cases where embers travel several kilometers on the wind.”

When a fire breaks out, an updraft naturally occurs, and embers ride on it and fly hundreds of meters to kilometers.

Then, if it falls and there are fallen leaves there, a new fire starts from then on.

“Doesn’t that happen in the city?”

“The city is mostly concrete around it.”

“Ah!”

Most of the landing points are made of concrete or asphalt, so even if they fall, a fire rarely occurs, and even if they fall on something that is easy to ignite, it is mostly on the roof, so the flames will only burn above and will rarely come down.

“Surprisingly, things like fallen leaves have a low ignition point and catch fire easily, but most of the materials made by humans have a high ignition point. It takes about gasoline to catch fire.”

However, no one sprinkles gasoline on the ceiling or keeps a gasoline can open.

A Job as a Profiler