My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 15

“Things turned out this way. The situation is a bit… complicated.”

“I heard. Those damn cops never learn,” Kim Woo-sun said, a police officer, drawing a bitter smile from Park Do-joon at the use of the term ‘damn cops’.

“Aren’t you usually negative about profilers, Senior?” Park Do-joon asked.

“I was his partner when he was working in the field. Thanks to him, I racked up quite a few achievements. Back then, there wasn’t a dedicated profiler team. Isn’t that partly why I even became a police chief?”

Indeed, in Korea, it’s nearly impossible for someone who didn’t graduate from the police academy to become a regional police chief.

If the military in Korea is dominated by graduates of the military academy, the police are dominated by graduates of the police academy.

It’s like a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) officer, not even a graduate of the Third Military Academy [an alternative route to becoming an officer], becoming a general. How likely is that?

“Still, I should repay the favor before I retire,” Kim Woo-sun said.

“I thought you would send officers under your command,” Park Do-joon replied.

“I considered it, but I didn’t think those bastards would do the job properly.”

There is a subtly hostile atmosphere towards profilers within the police force. Police officers often call each other family, but profilers definitely don’t fit into that category.

“Since I have nothing to do anyway, I might as well kill time and take it easy, looking around. I have nine months left until retirement, not a year. What else is there to do?”

Promotion is out of the question now, and no one is going to suck up to a police chief who is clearly about to lose his position.

Moreover, even though he became a police chief because of his good performance, it doesn’t mean he has connections within the police force dominated by police academy graduates. Therefore, efforts to curry favor or build connections for the future were irrelevant to him.

“So, in your opinion, it wasn’t suicide?” Park Do-joon asked.

“That’s what I think,” Kim Woo-sun replied.

Kim Woo-sun nodded at Park Do-joon’s words.

“It certainly is strange. So, what do you think happened?”

“I think the victims might have been on their honeymoon,” Park Do-joon suggested.

“Honeymoon? Both were single and never married? And they didn’t have a wedding?” Kim Woo-sun asked, surprised.

“Yes. They didn’t register their marriage, but I think they were planning to register it when they got back. Both are adults, so they don’t necessarily need their parents’ consent.”

“Why do you think so?”

“There are several pieces of evidence. The first is the clothes.”

“The first is the number of clothes they had. If it was a simple trip, there would be no reason to bring so many clothes. Of course, they might bring nice clothes to impress each other, but even so, there were quite a few flashy and new outfits.”

“The second is Kwon Mi-joo’s vacation.”

“A resident [a doctor in training] is an incredibly busy position. Forget about vacations, you get a ton of flak from your seniors even if you take a single day off. But she took a whole week off.”

“Would the seniors like that? Of course not.”

“That means she was planning a week-long trip.”

“Well, that’s true.”

“That’s why I don’t think it was suicide. Who would take a vacation if they were planning to die?”

“They would just come without a vacation and die.”

“I think, in my opinion, the two of them came here for a honeymoon and were planning to register their marriage as soon as they got back.”

“Marriage registration, well, these days they say babies are the dowry [a common saying implying children are the greatest gift]. But my son doesn’t even bring a woman, let alone a dowry,” Kim Woo-sun said, scratching his head.

“From what I hear, both families are against it, but not in an extreme or violent way. What would you think in that situation?” Park Do-joon asked.

“They’d think they could get their way if they registered the marriage,” Kim Woo-sun surmised.

“Yes. That’s right.”

Perhaps from a parent’s perspective, Kim Woo-sun easily understood the situation.

“But they died. It’s certainly strange.”

“That’s why I’m trying to investigate properly.”

“If that’s the case, I should help. So, what should I do first?”

“Can I check the phone files first?” Park Do-joon asked.

“Phone?”

“Yes. There’s something I need to check.”

“What is it?”

“You could say it’s the third piece of evidence.”

# This is a Murder Case

Park Do-joon needed to see the phone files. But realistically, he wasn’t the investigating officer, just cooperating as a profiler.

Of course, it would be difficult to confidently go and say he wanted to see the case files. He could, but they would obviously refuse with a clear show of displeasure.

But no detective would dare to refuse the police chief, who wanted to see the case files.

Even if that person was about to retire.

“The photos themselves don’t seem to be anything special?” Park Do-joon said.

“They were recovered faster than I thought, considering they were submerged in water,” Kim Woo-sun replied.

Park Do-joon said, looking at the printed photos. The two of them fell into the water, so naturally, their phones fell into the water as well, and it wouldn’t be easy to get them working.

“There’s no way the National Forensic Service [Korea’s primary forensic investigation agency] would work this fast?” Park Do-joon asked.

“How did you know, being a rookie?” Kim Woo-sun asked, surprised.

“Well, Korean administration is obvious,” Park Do-joon said wryly.

“I heard you were competent. That’s right. An outside company recovered it.”

“Really? Then what did the higher-ups say… Ah.”

That higher-up is Kim Woo-sun.

“I said I would take care of the expenses, so bring it to me right away, and they did,” Kim Woo-sun explained.

“Power is good, isn’t it?” Park Do-joon commented.

“Isn’t this the taste of enjoying power?” Kim Woo-sun chuckled.

‘Well, it’s enough power to screw someone over,’ Park Do-joon thought.

Moreover, it’s not like they’re being told to do it with their own money, but to handle it as an expense, so there’s not much for the police to be concerned about.

It would take at least a month if it went to the National Forensic Service.

“But looking at the photos, there’s nothing special,” Kim Woo-sun said.

“That’s right.”

“Could something be missing?”

“I don’t think so.”

Looking at them, there are often photos of natural scenery like the sea or flowers, and if you look at the dates, they were taken the day before they died.

“There’s nothing strange, so how is this evidence?” Kim Woo-sun asked.

“It’s evidence because something that should be here is missing,” Park Do-joon explained.

“Something that should be here is missing?”

Kim Woo-sun tilted his head and rummaged through the photos, but couldn’t figure out what was missing.

“What’s missing?”

“People.”

“People?”

“Yes. I told you before, there’s a high possibility that the two of them came for their honeymoon.”

“That’s right.”

“Then what’s something you should do at that time?”

“Ah, I see.”

“Of course, it’s photos. The most precious moment in life. The happiest moment in life. Trying to capture that moment in photos or videos is very natural for modern humans.”

“But these photos don’t have the other person.”

“The subjects are mostly natural landscapes like mountains, the sea, or flowers. But there are no photos of the other person or photos taken together.”

“Hmm, didn’t they take them because they were going to commit suicide?” Kim Woo-sun suggested.

“People who commit suicide wouldn’t take pictures of natural scenery. Photos symbolize the future,” Park Do-joon countered.

“Symbolize the future?”

“Yes. The tool for reminiscing about the past in the future is photos. There’s no future, so there’s no one to prepare for the future.”

“In fact, one of the most wary people in a famous hotel were family guests who didn’t bring a camera.”

“The hotel was famous for its beautiful scenery, but strangely enough, the number of people who wanted to commit suicide there increased rapidly because it was so beautiful.”

“Now everyone has a cell phone, but in the early days of the hotel’s opening, that wasn’t the case. If people coming for family trips didn’t bring a camera or had too little luggage, the hotel would be in a state of extreme alert.”

“That’s because there’s a very high possibility that those people will attempt a family suicide.”

“In fact, the hotel still doesn’t accept single guests. There are too many people who try to commit suicide while watching the setting sun.”

“It doesn’t make sense to bring so many clothes and not take pictures while changing,” Park Do-joon concluded.

“Huh? That makes sense,” Kim Woo-sun agreed.

“Doesn’t he have honeymoon photos taken a long time ago at home?”

“So, didn’t they take photos?”

“That’s probably not the case. They probably took them with a camera.”

“With a camera?”

“Yes. No matter how good the performance of cell phone photos is, it’s not as good as a camera.”

“Of course, modern cell phone photos boast much better performance than most cheap cameras. As technology has advanced, modern cell phones perform much better than professional cameras of the past.”

“But camera technology has also advanced that much.”

“So, has the camera market disappeared? No. Cameras have also advanced as much as cell phones have, and professional cameras have established themselves in areas that cell phones can’t imitate.”

“The low-end camera market has disappeared, but the high-end camera market, such as DSLRs [Digital Single-Lens Reflex cameras], is still alive.”

“And if they were really going on a honeymoon, they probably wanted to take pictures with a good camera if possible.”

“But there was no camera at the scene? Is it in the water?” Kim Woo-sun asked.

“The camera is not something that would float in the water.”

“That could be the case.”

“But even so, isn’t that just suspicion?”

“It’s just suspicion.”

“I’ve already checked the credit card statements, but there’s no record of buying anything like that?” Kim Woo-sun said.

Park Do-joon shook his head at those words.

“Cameras are expensive items. It’s too expensive for a nurse or a poorly paid resident to buy.”

“Doctors make a lot of money, but that’s only when they become proper doctors. Residents are still learning, so they receive extremely little money.”

“They probably borrowed it. There’s probably a friend around them who enjoys cameras as a hobby.”

“But do you know who it is?”

“You can tell by looking at the call history.”

Park Do-joon glanced at Lee Hyung-woo’s call history.

“It’s probably one of Lee Hyung-woo’s friends.”

“Kwon Mi-joo is a resident and still young. Moreover, the people around her are all poorly paid residents.”

“Is there no possibility that she borrowed it from a senior?” Kim Woo-sun asked.

“No. The hierarchy among doctors is enormous.”

“Taking a week off makes the seniors uncomfortable, and then asking to borrow a camera on top of that? That’s like saying you’re quitting the hospital.”

“But not Lee Hyung-woo.”

“He is a male nurse. He has already served in the military and graduated from nursing college and gotten a job. In other words, his other friends are also actively working in society.”

“This age is the best time to have your own hobbies.”

“They are earning money while working, but they are not old enough to be married or have children, so they don’t have a lot of money to spend, and their parents are still of working age, so they generally don’t need to provide for their retirement funds other than a small allowance.”

“Once you start getting married and having children here, hobbies are gone.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

“And cameras are a very masculine hobby.”

“Of course, it’s not that women don’t have hobbies in photography. But if you look at the percentage of people who enjoy photography as a hobby, there are more men than women.”