My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 151

# The Living Devil

“Not a devil worshiper, but someone who murders people with a purpose….”

“Yes, after confirming, the subscriber stated definitively that they never signed up.”

As the company began to actively investigate, the case naturally gained momentum. The perpetrator lured targets through a chatting app on the internet and then committed murder.

Even with a lax registration process, phone authentication is usually mandatory, so tracing the subscriber through these records wasn’t difficult.

“The person listed as the subscriber is a woman in her mid-20s, who graduated from college and has been working for only a year.”

“But she says she didn’t do it?”

“Yes, she says she didn’t.”

At Park Do-joon’s words, the profiler next to him spoke with a hint of annoyance.

“The perpetrator usually doesn’t admit to doing it, you know.”

Park Do-joon chuckled at his tone, as if he were stating the obvious.

“Of course. But the area where she lives is quite far from where the incidents occurred. Furthermore, after checking her work records, it was confirmed that she was working at the time of the disappearances. There wouldn’t have been enough time for her to get to the scene.”

“Where does she live?”

“Uijeongbu.”

“Uijeongbu? Isn’t that close enough to go after work?”

The team leader, who was listening, clicked his tongue.

“Hey, do you think she can get from Uijeongbu to Yongsan in that time? Is that even possible? To get from Uijeongbu to Yongsan, you have to cut through the heart of Seoul, you know?”

Of course, it might be possible, but it would take a long time.

The heart of Seoul, especially the direction to Yongsan, is a perpetually congested area. Could it really move smoothly during rush hour?

“It would take at least three hours to get from Uijeongbu to Yongsan.”

“Ugh.”

However, according to the chat logs, the victim was supposed to meet an unknown woman in Yongsan at 7:30 PM. Even if she left work at 6 PM sharp in Uijeongbu, it would be impossible to arrive on time.

“What about leaving work a little early?”

“Impossible. I already checked with her company. They use fingerprint recognition to verify attendance. Moreover, it’s not a small company.”

It’s not a large corporation, but a mid-sized company, and naturally, they keep strict attendance records.

“We should assume her identity was stolen.”

“Probably. It’s not like Koreans’ personal information becoming public is a new problem, is it?”

If someone stole her identity to create a chatting app account and used it to lure targets, the woman whose identity was stolen would be incredibly frustrated. Especially since it’s not just any case, but a serial murder case that’s causing a stir. If her identity was used in the devil worshiper case, she would be even more upset.

“So, in the end, nothing has changed in the investigation?”

“At least we know the meeting place, right?”

“But there’s still a problem. The victims aren’t stupid. If they went to the meeting place and found a burly man instead of a woman, would they follow him willingly?”

“Ugh, that’s true.”

The team leader nodded, unable to resolve that point. Logically, it doesn’t make sense. In fact, there are many cases of fraud using women in chatting apps. A typical example is luring men to expensive restaurants, bars, or cafes and overcharging them.

But that’s only possible because there’s a woman involved. If there’s a man instead of a woman at the meeting place arranged through the chatting app, no man would be happy to meet him.

“Yanma, you also said this isn’t a devil worshiper case, right?”

“I agree with him, so I joined this team. But let’s distinguish between what’s possible and what’s not.”

“Tch.”

Certainly, it would be impossible in a normal situation.

“So, a woman intervened in the middle, something like that?”

“That doesn’t seem likely. That would directly contradict Do-joon’s profiling.”

Park Do-joon said the perpetrator is after money. Of course, just because they’re after money doesn’t mean they’re acting alone. But Park Do-joon said it’s likely the perpetrator has an isolated personality and doesn’t socialize well.

“Could it be that he enlisted a submissive woman?”

“That’s certainly a possibility.”

Submissive women are a common type. They are completely dependent on their male partners and do as they are told, even if they know it’s a crime.

They are extremely afraid of being abandoned by their partners and try to avoid it by doing whatever they are told.

For example, if a man wants to commit rape, they might use their femininity to lure the victim into a trap.

There have been cases where a woman, under her husband’s orders, appealed to a pregnant woman for help, lured her into their home, and then helped dispose of the victim’s body after her husband raped and murdered her.

“But that doesn’t fit the profiler’s description, does it?”

However, plausible possibilities and realistic problems cannot be ignored. Because perpetrators choose their own methods when committing their type of crime.

Perpetrators who use such submissive women in their crimes tend to have a dominant personality. But the perpetrator in this case is extremely secretive and wants to hide quietly. There are no indicators of a dominant personality.

“What do you think?”

The team leader looked at Park Do-joon, hoping for a different perspective he hadn’t considered.

“I think….”

Park Do-joon stroked his chin.

‘It’s not a high probability, but….’

Certainly, they are right. Involving another third party? Of course, that would make it easier to explain the case.

‘But the point is to solve the case. Just explaining it isn’t enough.’

Naturally, he has to come up with a suitable method. And after considering the possibilities, Park Do-joon arrived at one conclusion.

“I think they might have gone out themselves.”

“Gone out themselves?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

The team leader spoke in disbelief, and the other profiler also objected as if it were absurd.

“Hey, do you think that makes sense? If they went out themselves, would the victim just stand there?”

“Of course not. But if the victim mistakenly believes the other person is a woman, it’s not impossible.”

“That’s only in the chat. They’d know it’s a man when they meet, right?”

“That’s a stereotype.”

“A stereotype?”

“Yes, in fact, distinguishing the perpetrator’s gender could be a stereotype in itself.”

“What….”

“When profiling, sometimes the form of the perpetrator becomes visible in the case.”

In fact, skilled profilers sometimes describe the perpetrator’s form while analyzing the case.

The first profiling case was like that.

Police officers who were stuck solving a case asked a psychologist to analyze the perpetrator. At that time, the psychologist described the general appearance of the perpetrator.

After the perpetrator was arrested, the police were surprised because the perpetrator’s appearance was quite close to the psychologist’s description.

That was possible even though the field of criminal psychology didn’t exist at the time. And what was possible then can’t be impossible now.

“The perpetrator is probably quite thin.”

“Thin?”

“Yes, the overall appearance in the case is quite nervous and sharp. In the profiling I mentioned before, I said they probably don’t get along well with people, right?”

“You did.”

“That situation itself could be quite uncomfortable for the perpetrator. Especially if there are parents who don’t like that situation, they will react even more nervously.”

“Well, nervous people tend to be thin, right?”

The team leader nodded as if he understood. Of course, body type is greatly influenced by constitution. But nervous people often don’t gain weight due to their personality.

Regardless of exercise or body type, people in extreme situations show one of two reactions.

“They either gain weight like crazy or lose weight like crazy.”

They either relieve stress by eating and gain weight, or they become nervous and reduce their eating, losing weight.

“You’re saying they’re cross-dressing?”

“It’s not impossible.”

Park Do-joon nodded at the other profiler’s words.

“In the case of thin people, it’s relatively easy to disguise their gender.”

That’s certainly true. In fact, there are quite a few people on the internet who cross-dress as a hobby. Of course, it’s not a socially acceptable hobby, so they tend to keep it quiet, but their photos often make it easy to mistake them for women.

“Especially since there are many types of corrective underwear for body shape.”

You can create breasts with corrective underwear and flatten the stomach with compression underwear. Wearing compression stockings can also enhance the leg line.

“If they’re thin, it’s definitely hard to distinguish them by body shape alone.”

“But if you look at their face….”

“There are two indicators that can identify them as male. One is stubble, and the other is the Adam’s apple.”

But stubble can be sufficiently concealed with makeup. Unless they have an unusually heavy beard, they can shave cleanly and conceal it with enough makeup.

“And most people don’t check for the Adam’s apple.”

If you look closely at the neck, you can determine if they are male by looking at the Adam’s apple, but ordinary people don’t necessarily look at the Adam’s apple when they meet someone.

“Especially if the perpetrator emphasizes their chest, the gaze will naturally go there.”

“Cross-dressing, huh…!”

The other profiler was dumbfounded but couldn’t deny it.

“The perpetrator in this case certainly has good ideas and knows how to control variables. They know how to avoid suspicion of the crime.”

They used the mask of devil worship, which no one thought of, to divert the attention of most of the police. In fact, the police and the media have branded the case as devil worship and are digging in that direction.

The purposeful murder that Park Do-joon mentioned is treated as a minority opinion and is not being reported in the media.

“Since they’re that kind of person, cross-dressing isn’t impossible either.”

“The reason most men don’t cross-dress is because of a kind of common sense brake, as I mentioned.”

Men should be like this, women should be like that—because of that social atmosphere, it’s rare for men to openly cross-dress.

Surprisingly, women dressing like men is sometimes seen as a fashion called ‘tomboy,’ but in Korean society, a man dressing like a woman is immediately treated as something that should be taken to a mental hospital.

“But the other person is in an extreme situation to the point of being willing to commit murder. Moreover, it is believed that they urgently need money now.”

If the purpose is simply inheritance, it would be safer to file a missing person report and wait five years. After a missing person is reported, the police don’t particularly investigate the death.

A Professional Profiler