My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 14

“Excuse me, shouldn’t you be asking questions?”

Seo Joo-won, who was reviewing the crime scene photos and waiting for the forensic scientist to take the body, cautiously asked Park Do-joon, who was quietly waiting.

“Not to them.”

“Yes? Why? I thought you were going to ask about their opposition?”

“I will ask, but not the parents.”

“Yes? Why?”

“If I ask them, it will be a huge shock to them.”

Before his regression, Han Sung-ki shamelessly asked the parents who came to him if they had opposed their children’s marriage and if they knew they would commit suicide.

And the parents who heard those words thought that their children had committed suicide because of their opposition. The mothers fainted from crying, and one of the fathers jumped into the sea, saying he would die with them.

‘And later, one of them actually committed suicide.’

That wasn’t the end of it. He hadn’t heard from the others, but that didn’t mean they were doing well.

“Acting shamelessly for the sake of work is completely different from doing something we shouldn’t do.”

“You’re very different from others.”

Seo Joo-won scratched his head and said.

“Other people just ask questions haphazardly because they’re lazy…”

“I have no intention of doing that.”

“But then who are you going to ask?”

“People who know the situation will be here soon.”

“Soon?”

Soon after, other bereaved families began to arrive, along with relatives and siblings of the deceased. And among them were the people Park Do-joon was waiting for.

‘Those are the ones.’

Among the people standing there in despair was a man. He didn’t collapse like the others, nor did he wail.

Of course, it wasn’t that he wasn’t sad. But the moment of crying was short, and after that, he started contacting other places and trying to sort out the situation.

‘Every family has someone like that.’

It doesn’t mean that such a person isn’t sad. But it means that, regardless of sadness, they are the type to step up and do what needs to be done.

‘And they also have a suitable distance from the deceased.’

But the fact that he is stepping up to contact the family and sort out the situation means that he visits enough to know the family affairs.

Park Do-joon approached the man who was making calls here and there, trying to suppress his emotions.

“Excuse me, do you have a moment to talk?”

“Who are you?”

“I am the profiler in charge of this case.”

“A profiler? I heard it was a suicide…”

“Yes. That’s the initial assessment…”

In fact, there was a slight communication problem with this case. When the police see a suicide case, they don’t call in a profiler.

However, this time, they were called in because there was a possibility of murder at first, and the situation changed to suicide while Park Do-joon was on his way, due to the information that the couple was opposed by their families.

“I heard that the families opposed the marriage. Could you tell me about that? Oh, and what is your relationship to them…?”

“I am Kwon Mi-joo’s uncle.”

“Ah, you’re Kwon Mi-joo’s uncle?”

“Yes.”

‘A suitable distance relationship.’

Kwon Mi-joo is the doctor. Naturally, her family’s opposition would be more extreme. Moreover, being an uncle means that he is not directly related by blood. He is included in the family and has watched her grow up, so it would be heartbreaking, but unlike parents or siblings, there would be more distance.

‘So he’s trying to solve the problem.’

It’s cruel, but cases ultimately unfold in this way.

“Do you know about the opposition?”

“Yes, because Mi-joo’s parents were against it.”

“Was the opposition severe?”

“Why are you asking?”

“I suspect suicide. I’m also considering the possibility of murder.”

“Murder?”

At those words, the man turned his head and looked at the crying family members.

“If it’s murder, we need to find out for sure. Otherwise, they will think they committed suicide because of them.”

“Hmm.”

At those words, the man took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. Then, he swallowed hard and said.

“The opposition was severe. They said, why a nurse when there are so many other doctors?”

“Is that enough to commit suicide?”

“Well, I don’t know how to set the standard…”

“Did the parents actively try to interfere with their relationship to prevent them from meeting?”

“It wasn’t that extreme. Of course, I know they said things like, why a nurse when you have doctors around.”

According to him, if you ask if that was severe enough to commit suicide, his opinion would be no.

They often clashed at home, and they brought up matchmaking stories, but Kwon Mi-joo rejected them all.

“Were the parents overbearing?”

“There was no time for them to be overbearing, Mi-joo is a resident.”

“Ah, I see.”

Residents are key personnel in charge of practical work in the hospital and are the busiest people in the hospital. As a doctor, they are in charge of patients and are still treated as students, so it is a difficult position where they have to work and study at the same time.

“She hardly came home, and when she did, she was too busy. She usually sleeps at the hospital.”

She mostly came home just to get a change of clothes.

“A resident?”

“Yes.”

Park Do-joon pondered for a moment at those words. Then, he cautiously asked a few more questions.

“Then, do you know anything about Lee Hyung-woo?”

“Ah, I’ve only heard about it…”

“Was the opposition severe on his side too?”

“They did oppose, but I heard it wasn’t extreme on that side either.”

So, they opposed because they were worried that their son would be looked down upon because of the daughter-in-law coming from a better family than theirs, but in such cases, it is generally not extreme opposition.

‘It’s as expected.’

The police simply concluded it as a suicide due to opposition to the marriage, but in Park Do-joon’s view, the level of opposition was not enough to commit suicide.

‘Everyone has a different stress tolerance.’

And no one commits suicide simply because they are opposed.

To commit suicide because of opposition to marriage, they would have to react so extremely as to threaten the other person, or be so aggressive that there is physical violence between family members. However, both sides opposed, but they didn’t take any extreme actions.

“But do you really think our kids didn’t commit suicide?”

“It’s uncertain. But it’s hard to see it as a typical sign of suicide.”

“Ah, is that so.”

The uncle bit his lip. Then, he lowered his head and asked Park Do-joon.

“If this is an accident… if it’s murder, please reveal the truth. Otherwise, our family will live with a burden we can never shed.”

“I will do my best.”

Park Do-joon nodded at his words.

***

-What? It wasn’t suicide? That’s why you’re not coming up?

“If I go up as it is, it seems like it will be concluded as a suicide.”

-Hey, we have so much work here.

“But everyone here sees it as suicide and is investigating in that direction.”

The team leader was dumbfounded at Park Do-joon’s words.

-You idiot. You’re a profiler! Not an investigator!

“Profilers are also police officers, aren’t they?”

-No, that’s not it… Anyway, you’re not a front-line investigation team. Are you going to keep nitpicking?

“Of course, if they investigate properly here, I will go up…”

He had told them several times that they needed to investigate in a different direction. No matter how he looked at it, this was not a suicide case. But the local police had already started writing the report, saying it was obviously a suicide.

‘Those cops, really.’

In fact, it’s not a new thing for front-line police to ignore profilers. They believe in their intuition rather than the science of profiling. Of course, that’s not a bad thing. Experience is not something to be ignored.

But the problem is that their intuition is sometimes influenced by the civil servants’ unique tendency to avoid responsibility.

‘They’re not kidding me.’

In fact, the police upper management still prioritizes this intuition theory. That’s why they are negative about securing profilers or additional National Forensic Service personnel.

They talk about the budget, but in reality, they don’t want the investigation to develop and expose the incompetence of the front-line police or themselves.

Logically, if a profiler can at least grasp the direction of the investigation, the investigation period would be greatly reduced, which would benefit the investigation and save the budget at the same time.

The police always complain that they are busy and have a lot of work, but they oppose the training of profilers or the additional expansion of the National Forensic Service, which can solve that problem.

-Hey, no matter what, man. We have so much work here!

“But I don’t think there’s anything I can do even if I go up. Don’t you think so, team leader?”

-Why are you talking like that? I’m disappointed.

“It’s not a matter of being disappointed, it’s the reality.”

Park Do-joon doesn’t have a partner right now. All deployments are basically done in teams with partners. This case was only assigned to Park Do-joon because there were no people available.

‘If it wasn’t suspected of being a suicide, I wouldn’t have been assigned.’

Because if the police organization mistakenly send him alone, the team leader has to take responsibility. Sending a complete rookie like Park Do-joon alone to work?

That wouldn’t be good for the team leader’s career.

-You bastard. You’re disgustingly quick-witted.

“I can’t be slow-witted. We’re profilers.”

-Okay. I’ll process it as a business trip for now. But can you investigate alone? Looking at the situation, it doesn’t seem like the police will help you?

“That’s the problem.”

The police have already judged this as a suicide and don’t like Park Do-joon, who is stirring things up and increasing their workload.

Of course, Park Do-joon is a police officer before being a profiler, but working in the field is a completely different matter.

-Hey. You really have to buy me a meal.

“Do you have someone to introduce me to?”

-You’re disgustingly quick-witted. I’ll send you a text, so give them a call later.

Park Do-joon smiled at those words.

“Thank you.”

***

“Ugh, my body aches.”

What is the image that comes to mind when you think of a police officer? A passionate person who runs around and is willing to engage in hand-to-hand combat to arrest criminals, and even if stabbed with a knife, grabs the legs of the fleeing criminal.

But that is strictly speaking the image of the violent crimes division within the police. Most of the police work is internal affairs and paperwork.

How many people actually work in the field within the police? Maybe about 30%?

In particular, the women’s division and the cyber division hardly ever go to the field, and the minor crimes division also doesn’t have much need for intense investigations. And those divisions tend to be staffed by people who have limitations in working in the field.

“Detective Kim Woo-sun?”

“Oh, are you Park Do-joon?”

“Hello.”

“It’s not a good hello. Why are you using an old man who’s about to retire?”

Kim Woo-sun is the team leader’s senior and is about to retire. He was retiring next year. But Park Do-joon didn’t really expect him to come out. That’s because he was not just a simple investigator, but the chief of the Incheon Police Station.

But he came all the way here at the team leader’s request.

A Natural-Born Profiler