My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 127

‘Well, there might be other reasons.’

Of course, becoming a profiler involves an interview. In fact, the interview carries more weight than the exam itself. The previous generation of profilers weren’t fools or idiots; they knew what Park Do-joon knew.

‘Wasn’t Shin Cheol-gwang’s brother a member of the National Assembly?’

The reason Shin Cheol-gwang could act so brazenly was precisely that. Logically, if a profiler misinterpreted a case, released a criminal, and pinned the blame on an innocent person, wouldn’t it be reasonable to send them to prison instead of just firing them?

But in the end, even back then, Shin Cheol-gwang simply ended up being dismissed… no, to be precise, he ended with a voluntary resignation, ultimately avoiding punishment.

Could that influence have not played a role when he took the profiler exam?

‘It won’t go that way this time.’

Park Do-joon had no intention of letting it slide. The only problem was that he had a hazy memory of what that incident was.

“Don’t you think the villagers might know something about the fire? Wasn’t it something that happened in the forest in the middle of the night?”

“Look at this punk? Are you talking back to your senior? I heard Seong-gi said you have no manners. Seriously, you really have no manners.”

Shin Cheol-gwang was openly dismissive. Park Do-joon clicked his tongue as he watched him.

‘This isn’t just a lemon; it’s practically nuclear waste, isn’t it?’

If he had studied even a little bit properly, he wouldn’t be saying such things.

“Stop talking nonsense and let’s go. I’m already swamped with cases these days.”

Park Do-joon inwardly clicked his tongue at the ridiculous statement. The cases he was looking for were those that brought in money or boosted performance—violent crimes like murder or rape.

In contrast, arson cases were too difficult to track. A large wildfire might bring in a big performance boost, but if tracking it was impossible, he was ready to give up.

“The investigation isn’t over yet.”

“What?”

“I went to the scene, and it’s close to the ideal location a pyromaniac would think of.”

“Crazy bastard. A pyromaniac, by nature… uh… um….”

‘Yeah, right.’

Of course, the profiling of arsonists is known. However, that’s based on urban arsonists. Since this is a case of a pyromaniac setting forest fires, he’s unsure if it applies, and he can’t quite articulate it properly.

‘He doesn’t realize that the essence is the same.’

Whether you set a fire in the city or in the mountains, you’re still a pyromaniac. These cases overlap to some extent, so you can just apply the same principles, but he’s so focused on showing off that he’s overthinking it and making mistakes.

“I know. Most arsonists commit crimes due to stress.”

What sets arson apart from other crimes is the purpose of the crime.

Of course, this excludes arson committed to conceal other crimes.

In cases where fire itself is the primary motive, it’s often committed to relieve stress.

More precisely, it’s often triggered by anger towards others or the feeling that others are ignoring them.

A prime example is the Dongdaemun arson attack. He set the fire simply because he was angry.

The perpetrator of the infamous Daegu subway arson attack also said he set the fire because he was angry that people around him were ignoring him.

“And arson is a kind of obsessive crime.”

“Y-yes, that’s right. The possibility of recurrence is high, too.”

Shin Cheol-gwang reluctantly agreed with Park Do-joon’s explanation.

“That’s why it’s a problem. In this case alone, there have been three victims. If there were more victims in past incidents, this is a serial arson case. Moreover, if we consider future incidents, it’s even more so.”

“Just arson, and you’re saying…”

Shin Cheol-gwang, wanting to appear more impressive, got annoyed but couldn’t refute Park Do-joon’s words.

Indeed, if this is truly arson, people will continue to die.

‘Moreover, if the fire was set in that location, it’s even more problematic.’

He went to a place where there were no people and set the fire. This means he knows how to avoid people’s attention.

‘Most arsonists get caught because they make mistakes.’

But committing a crime in such a place means he’s trying not to make mistakes. It means he’s hard to catch.

‘I have no choice.’

Even though the culprit is uncertain, he can’t just run away. Even if it’s a futile effort, Park Do-joon was determined to investigate this case thoroughly.

***

“Damn it.”

The fire chief frowned as he looked at the burning mountain.

“If only it would rain.”

The mountain has been burning for two weeks already. Firefighters from all over the country have gathered to try to stop the fire, but they are woefully inadequate to extinguish it.

“No word from the military yet?”

“They say they’ve already deployed all their surplus manpower and don’t have any more personnel.”

“What about helicopters?”

“They say they need to be deployed first to prevent the fire from spreading to the power plant.”

“So, what, are we supposed to put out the fire with knapsack sprayers?”

“There’s no other way, is there? We just have to protect the firebreaks.”

Surprisingly, a forest fire isn’t about putting it out; it’s about waiting for it to go out.

When a forest fire breaks out, the authorities prioritize creating firebreaks and preventing the fire from spreading around them.

Actually going into the burning forest and putting out the fire?

That’s realistically impossible. If people go in, they’ll quickly burn to death or suffocate. Moreover, cars can’t enter there either.

Since it’s impossible to put out the fire with knapsack sprayers, firefighters typically create firebreaks and prevent the fire from spreading beyond them.

Military personnel are also mobilized not to put out the fire but to create firebreaks. They go into the mountains, dig up the ground, scrape away the leaves around it, and try to prevent the fire from spreading.

Green trees don’t catch fire just because there’s fire nearby, so that alone is enough to prevent the fire from spreading.

However, flying embers have to be extinguished with knapsack sprayers or something similar.

“Chief, the police are here.”

“Police? Damn it, why are they here when we’re so busy?”

The fire chief frowned and turned to look at Park Do-joon, who was entering the temporary camp.

“What’s going on?”

“I came because there’s a suspicion that this incident is arson.”

“Suspicion?”

“Yes, so there are things I need to confirm.”

“We’re a bit busy…”

“It’s not urgent. We’re just going to make a request and leave.”

There’s no point in holding onto the firefighters and investigating here. It’ll only bother busy people.

“What is it?”

“How many cases have there been where the starting point of the fire was a valley?”

“A valley? Well, there are quite a few such cases.”

No matter how much they say, ‘Don’t smoke in the forest,’ ‘Don’t cook,’ someone always cooks, smokes, and even grills pork belly on rocks.

“I’m talking about valleys that aren’t tourist spots.”

Firefighters don’t just put out fires. The fire investigator confirms where the starting point of the incident is.

“Valleys that aren’t tourist spots?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm… I can think of a few places, but my memory is hazy. I’ll check later and let you know.”

“Yes, there’s no time limit, so I’d appreciate it if you could organize it thoroughly.”

Shin Cheol-gwang, who was next to Park Do-joon, got angry at Park Do-joon’s words.

“You need to do it quickly. How long are you going to be stuck on this kind of case?”

“This kind of case?”

The fire chief flared up at those words. Seeing that, Park Do-joon sighed and pushed Shin Cheol-gwang outside.

“This bastard is disrespecting his senior…? Uh-uh?”

“I’m sorry. Ah, please send the recipient to the Seoul Metropolitan Profiling Team.”

“Hey, let go! Won’t you let go?”

Shin Cheol-gwang was resisting, trying to find fault.

Park Do-joon got angry at Shin Cheol-gwang.

“Then you can stay here and put out the fire. I’m going up.”

“What?”

“I’m leaving.”

“You bastard!”

Park Do-joon had no intention of persuading or talking to such a person. It’s a waste of time anyway. Besides, he came in his car. If Park Do-joon gets angry and leaves, Shin Cheol-gwang has to come on his own.

The problem is that there’s no way to get to the city center in this area because of the fire. There are no buses or taxis.

At best, he can hitch a ride on a firefighter’s car.

“You, stop right there, you bastard!”

Park Do-joon ignored Shin Cheol-gwang’s angry voice and headed to his car.

***

“So, how is he?”

“He’s nuclear waste. Say one word.”

“Don’t even mention it. He called and threw a fit.”

The team leader shook his head as expected. They were trying to send Han Seong-gi from their side, but the other side threw in a nuclear bomb.

“I heard his brother is a member of the National Assembly [South Korea’s parliament]?”

“How did you know?”

“He was bragging about it.”

“Yeah. So, he somehow got a job. But his personality is like that…”

“He must be the youngest. I guess his family is well-off.”

“How did you know?”

“Generally, the youngest children with a big age gap tend to develop that kind of rude behavior. Everyone treats them cutely even when they do wrong. And you need money so that people around you don’t put a brake on that kind of behavior.”

“I wish we had more profilers like you.”

Park Do-joon spoke as if he knew Shin Cheol-gwang’s background without even looking at his documents, and the team leader shook his head from side to side.

“He’s the youngest of four children, with three sons and one daughter. There’s a twenty-year age gap with the eldest brother and a twelve-year gap with the one right above him. His family is a local mainstay. Very powerful.”

“I thought so.”

Since there’s a big age gap, the family must have raised him indulgently. And in the countryside, it’s surprisingly impossible for someone to rise from poverty. No, it’s not allowed.

To become a member of the National Assembly in the countryside, you have to be a local power holder. Starting from scratch and becoming a member of the National Assembly is surprisingly possible not in the countryside but in the city.

“He must be throwing his weight around in his hometown.”

“I get the situation roughly.”

A local kingpin. And if his older brother is a member of the National Assembly, it wouldn’t be difficult to give him extra points in the interview.

There are no practical tests in the profiler exam.

“Well, I roughly understand.”

“By the way, what do you think? Do you think this is arson?”

“I think it probably is. First of all, there are as many as five fires where the valley was the point of origin.”

Moreover, they were in places that were very similar to the place where the fire occurred this time.

“And looking at the statistics for the last 10 years, the number of forest fires has definitely increased a lot.”

It could be a coincidence, but it’s too coincidental that these unusual fires in valleys keep occurring.

“To be sure, there’s almost no profiling for this type of fire.”

The team leader nodded as if he agreed. Realistically, this kind of thing isn’t even classified as profiling, so naturally, they don’t do profiling.

In order to analyze and classify with profiling, that type of criminal must be caught first, but due to the nature of most arson cases, where there are no witnesses and surveillance itself is impossible, the arrest of the criminal itself is extremely difficult.

“So, who could the culprit be?”

“Well, if we judge from the basic aspect of arson, it would be someone who is under a lot of stress.”

“I guess so.”

The characteristic of arsonists is that many arsons are caused by stress. And the recurrence rate is high.