My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 138

“There was a similar case in Seoul, actually.”

“Really? What happened?”

“Oh, you don’t know about the money bed incident? Well, I guess you wouldn’t. It’s an old case that was quickly hushed up.”

The money bed incident started with a thief. This thief broke into a villa and found something piled up and covered with a blanket.

The thief thought it was strange for a bed to have no frame, so he opened it up and found a huge pile of money stacked like a bed.

The thief was horrified but, being a thief, he stole some of it. He was too scared to take it all, and it was more than one person could carry anyway.

However, the thief was caught by the police shortly after, and he told them about it while they were questioning him about other crimes.

The police immediately raided the house and found tens of billions of won in cash [approximately millions of US dollars].

“Later, they announced that a businessman had piled it up as business funds, but that’s nonsense.”

“I agree.”

Normal business funds wouldn’t be stored in a rented villa. It was obviously either a bribe or money embezzled from a company.

However, the case was hushed up too quickly to make such claims.

‘Well, they must have spent some money to cover it up.’

Hiding money in cash somewhere is a long tradition and the best way to conceal criminal proceeds.

“They say that over 70% of 50,000 won bills [high-denomination Korean currency] have disappeared from circulation in Korea.”

“I can understand that.”

Jung Iyeon smiled wryly. She had grown up wealthy, so she must have known about such things.

“So, you think Lee Miyeon went to a place other than Park Geoseok’s main residence?”

“Yes, I think that’s highly likely.”

“Hmm… then it might not be easy to track down the house.”

Even Jung Iyeon wouldn’t be able to find out the address of a house under someone else’s name.

“What about investigating the taxi companies?”

“Taxi companies?”

Jung Iyeon tilted her head at Park Dojun’s words. Why taxis all of a sudden? But Park Dojun had a reason for his advice.

“She probably took a taxi.”

“How do you know?”

“Lee Miyeon doesn’t have her own car.”

Naturally, she would have to use public transportation to get around. The problem is that public transportation inevitably leaves traces.

“The police usually check the victim’s movements. It’s a standard procedure, even if the perpetrator seems obvious. But that’s missing here.”

Park Dojun clicked his tongue while looking at the case records. There was no record of the victim’s movements in the investigation records.

“So, there are two possibilities. The first is that they already knew the culprit and covered it up, and the second is that they tried to track her movements but failed.”

“Ah, you said it’s not the former this time.”

“Right. Covering up a murder when you already know who did it is a completely different matter.”

You can subtly do a sloppy investigation because you have a hunch and you’ve received something, but not doing a basic, required investigation is a different story.

“So, the answer is that the police couldn’t track her. Then what’s the method?”

“There’s no subway in this area, so it’s either a bus or a taxi.”

But if it was a bus, she would usually just tap her bus card. And there’s no record of Lee Miyeon using a bus.

“So, the answer is that she paid cash for a taxi.”

She probably wanted to draw a firm line and never see him again. In the end, that choice led her across the point of no return.

“There must be a lot of taxi operation records, though?”

“These days, everyone calls a taxi with an app.”

“Ah, I guess so.”

They call with an app and get picked up from there, so there must be a record on her phone. And that phone is currently with the police.

“No matter how sloppy the police investigation is, they can’t ignore a lawyer’s request. From that moment on, it becomes an attempt to conceal evidence.”

“Okay. I’ll ask the police.”

Jung Iyeon nodded.

“But won’t Shin Cheol-gwang find out and make a fuss?”

Park Dojun smiled at that.

“He will. That’s why I’m doing it. He’s probably running his mouth off right now.”

Jung Iyeon couldn’t understand what Park Dojun meant, so she tilted her head.

***

“What did you say?”

“You’ve been identified, Mr. Ham Seok-hwan. We’re more capable than you think.”

Shin Cheol-gwang went to find Ham Seok-hwan. He wasn’t one to miss an opportunity to make money. The director of a large plastic surgery clinic in Seoul.

Shin Cheol-gwang, unaware of his background, naturally assumed that he had a lot of money.

“About the recent forest fire. You caused it, didn’t you, Mr. Ham Seok-hwan?”

“What nonsense are you talking about? Why would I do that?”

“Because you’re an arsonist. You’ve done it several times before, haven’t you? Why are you acting like this when you have so much experience?”

Ham Seok-hwan’s eyes began to waver at those words. And even though he was incompetent, Shin Cheol-gwang was a profiler. He had enough ability to notice that much.

To be precise, he was on high alert to see such changes, so he couldn’t miss it.

‘That’s for sure. Hehehe.’

When Park Dojun suspected Ham Seok-hwan of being the forest fire arsonist, he honestly thought it was ridiculous. But it was true.

‘That bastard Han Seong-gi. Park Dojun may be rude, but he is capable.’

At first, he thought it was nonsense, but he never expected him to find the elusive forest fire arsonist so easily.

‘But I’m sorry to say this.’

The forest fire victims or the dead? And the burned land and enormous property damage? Those were not things Shin Cheol-gwang cared about.

What could he do about what had already happened? Besides, it wasn’t like Ham Seok-hwan set the fire because he wanted to kill people. He was just trying to relieve stress, and things went wrong.

‘So, I’ll just cover it up a little…’

If he could fill his own pockets in return, wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone?

Shin Cheol-gwang couldn’t help but smile at that thought. Ham Seok-hwan intuitively knew why Shin Cheol-gwang had come to him when he saw that smile.

“I don’t know what misunderstanding you have, but we should clear it up quickly.”

“Is that so? Then I’ll take the initiative to clear it up for you. I can’t just stand by while my foolish junior is suspecting the wrong person.”

“Foolish junior?”

“Yes, my junior profiler. He’s an inexperienced profiler with less than a year of experience, and he suspects you of being the culprit.”

“Is that so? I’m disappointed. I’m not that kind of person. As a burn specialist, I just went to the fire site to help the burn victims because it broke my heart.”

“I’ll do my best to clear up that misunderstanding.”

“Then I’ll be sure to repay that favor.”

The two men’s conversation soon reached a conclusion. And they looked at each other with satisfied smiles.

***

“Shin Cheol-gwang is probably going to approach Ham Seok-hwan, take money from him, and try to cover up the case.”

“He will. He’s probably meeting him right now.”

Shin Cheol-gwang left, saying he was going on a business trip, even though he hadn’t been here long. Even though he wasn’t in charge of any cases.

The team leader, who had already been warned by Park Dojun, seemed to know what was going on, so he pretended not to notice and let him go.

“And if Ham Seok-hwan is really the culprit, he’ll accept the deal.”

“That’s the trap you’re setting.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

What if he doesn’t accept it?

“He’ll report it, of course. People in that profession have a strong sense of pride.”

He’ll probably protest vehemently to the police and report it. Then he won’t be the culprit.

“But if he accepts the deal, that in itself is proof that he’s an arsonist.”

“And if we can tie Shin Cheol-gwang to the previous case and arrest him, we can formally investigate him for other crimes and get him to confess.”

“That’s right. Then we can formally investigate Ham Seok-hwan for arson.”

Starting the investigation is the problem, but once we start, there are many ways to prove his guilt.

“We can get a warrant and investigate the location history of his phone or the navigation system in his car, and something will come up.”

“And to do that, we have to tie in Shin Cheol-gwang, but will that be easy? Honestly, it doesn’t seem easy.”

“So, we have to handle things secretly before his older brother gets involved.”

Once his older brother gets involved, we won’t be able to tie him in no matter how hard we try. Not many people can withstand a member of the National Assembly calling and causing a ruckus.

“In the current situation, it’s unlikely that profiler Kim Do-gun is the culprit.”

If he were the culprit, Kim Do-gun would have to show anger and hatred towards Lee Miyeon.

“But even while saying he’s being framed, he feels sympathy for Lee Miyeon.”

“It’s rare for a murderer to feel sympathy for the victim.”

Because they have to make the victim look like a bad person to justify their murder. That’s why most people tend to portray the person they killed as a very bad person.

This is especially true for people who kill out of anger. Only some pleasure killers have sympathy; most murderers don’t show sympathy for their victims.

“Is it possible that he’s hiding his emotions?”

“It doesn’t seem like it.”

Hiding emotions is quite difficult, especially when the target is a profiler, and acting while hiding emotions is a really difficult area.

People think that all you have to do is speak well, but research shows that 60% of human communication is body language and 40% is words.

Even if they express sympathy with their mouth, their eyes and actions tell their true feelings.

Why is acting ability so important for actors? Is it because they can’t lie?

No. Everything they say is a lie. When they’re acting, they’re not themselves, and the event isn’t real either.

Naturally, as a reaction to that lie, the body reacts in a way that shows they are lying.

Acting is a process of erasing those reactions through practice.

“He’s just a college student, and he doesn’t really have a reason to lie.”

“Hmm, then it’s likely that Park Geoseok is the culprit, as you said.”

“I think that’s probably the case. A man like Park Geoseok has a very high ego. But his self-esteem is probably very low. If Lee Miyeon touched his ego, he might have committed murder.”

“It’s not an impossible possibility.”

He has money and commands many people, but he has no honor.