My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 157

“Still, to disguise it as devil worship just because he was worried about being caught for killing his parents…”

The problem is that if he kills them both, he’ll be the prime suspect. Plus, he’s already been diagnosed as a sociopath by a psychiatrist.

Naturally, he’d be the first one they look at. Realistically, he couldn’t escape the investigation, so he tried to mask the crime with this devil worship nonsense.

“It’s fortunate that you caught him before he went any further.”

“Exactly. The culprit would have continued killing even after his parents were gone, at least for a while.”

“Probably.”

Even if he achieved his goal of killing his parents, he wouldn’t have stopped immediately. Because if he stopped, suspicion would fall on him.

So, there’s a good chance he would have continued killing for a while to throw people off.

“Anyway, you must feel relieved now.”

“Is something the matter?”

“Yes.”

The team leader grinned.

Park Do-joon tilted his head, puzzled by the team leader’s unusual smile. He wasn’t one for smiling.

“Your problem will be solved.”

“Yes? Are you assigning me a new team member or something?”

“Yeah, you guessed it?”

“Really? Are there still people willing to join my team?”

Park Do-joon frowned. Within the police force, there were already those who would gladly see him gone if they had the chance.

But a new team member now?

“Hey, it’s new recruit season.”

“Ah, that’s right. Is there a profiler slot this time around?”

They recruit police officers once a year, and sometimes a small number of profilers. That’s how Park Do-joon got his position last year.

And with the new year, it was naturally time for recruitment. But since they recruited last year, he didn’t expect another profiler this year.

“It’s because of you, you rascal.”

“Yes? Me?”

“You’ve scared off two seniors. You’ve made two profilers disappear when there aren’t many slots to begin with, so of course, we have to fill them.”

Park Do-joon scratched his head.

‘Well, this didn’t happen in the original timeline.’

In the original timeline, Han Sung-ki and Shin Cheol-gwang would still be profilers.

Given that profilers operate in small, elite teams, the absence of two people is a bigger deal than expected.

“So, a new recruit will be here tomorrow.”

“And that new recruit will be assigned to me.”

“Isn’t it inevitable?”

Other people are reluctant to team up with Park Do-joon. It’s understandable. With Park Do-joon’s nickname being ‘the senior-eater,’ who would want to work with him?

“Well, I’m a bit uneasy about assigning a new recruit to someone who’s only been here for a year.”

“I’m Park Do-joon, Team Leader.”

“I know, you rascal. So, I’m going to trust you and assign one to you. Train them well.”

“If they’re a normal person.”

“A normal person… Hahaha. Well, at least they won’t be a *weird* person.”

Park Do-joon tilted his head at the strange answer.

“Hello! I’m Lee Ji-soo, the new recruit!”

A new recruit with a loud, energetic greeting. Looking at her, Park Do-joon understood why the team leader said ‘at least they weren’t a *weird* person.’

‘If they were weird, they wouldn’t be a ‘guy’ but a ‘girl’.’

A female profiler. It’s not particularly strange. There’s no law that says women can’t be profilers.

‘Lee Ji-soo… I don’t remember her.’

Park Do-joon searched his memories. He drew a blank.

‘Originally, she either went to another province, or she couldn’t become a profiler. Probably the latter is more likely.’

There aren’t many profilers to begin with, so even those in other provinces are somewhat known. Not closely, but you’d hear their names. The fact that he doesn’t even have that memory means she probably didn’t make it as a profiler at all.

‘Well, if she doesn’t pass this year, there’s always next year.’

There’s no guarantee she’ll pass elsewhere.

“Okay, Ji-soo.”

“Yes, Team Leader!”

“You don’t have to shout like that. We work in a relaxed atmosphere. Profilers shouldn’t be rigid. Understand?”

“I understand.”

“Knowing and experiencing are different, but you’ll learn. Detective Park Do-joon here is your mentor.”

“Please take good care of me, Senior!”

Park Do-joon chuckled as he watched Lee Ji-soo bow deeply. He would have been like that last year.

‘Originally.’

But as soon as he arrived, he clashed with the senior profilers, and now he was in a situation he couldn’t go back from.

‘I would have let it go if it wasn’t too much.’

In fact, he didn’t have any particular issues with the other seniors except for Han Sung-ki. But they were caught up in Han Sung-ki’s schemes and kept their distance from Park Do-joon, so he didn’t want to get close to them either.

From the moment a profiler trusts someone else’s words over their own observations, they’ve lost their way.

“Well, don’t be so stiff. We’re all just trying to make a living.”

“Yeah, no. *She’s* not, so don’t believe him.”

The team leader chuckled at Park Do-joon’s words and poured cold water on him.

“If you want to make a living, do the exact opposite of what that guy does.”

“Team Leader!”

“Did I say anything wrong?”

“No, I think it’s appropriate advice.”

Lee Ji-soo, looking a little confused by Park Do-joon and the team leader’s banter, couldn’t say anything and just stared. The team leader looked at Lee Ji-soo, took something out, and tossed it on the desk.

“Let’s start with something light.”

“Are you putting me into action right away?”

“There aren’t any active cases right now, and it’s a bit quiet, so it’s not really action. Well, it *is* action, but it’s not a very demanding case.”

At those words, Park Do-joon picked up the file on the desk, looked at it, and then looked up at the team leader.

“It’s a cold case?”

“Yeah, isn’t that a good place to start?”

“Hmm, it won’t be easy.”

“It’s not exactly your style.”

Cold case.

An American term for an unsolved case. Korea’s case resolution rate is about 80%, but conversely, 20% of cases remain unsolved and are essentially buried. That’s what they call a cold case.

The case might be a petty crime, or it might be a major one, sometimes even a murder.

“It’s the Jang Jin-woo singer case? That remained a cold case?”

“Yeah, it was a big deal back then, but it ended without any progress.”

At the team leader’s words, Park Do-joon looked at the documents again.

‘Jang Jin-woo case… Well, I haven’t heard that it’s been solved.’

Jang Jin-woo was the lead vocalist of the famous group Juggernaut. He achieved great success as a solo artist after the group disbanded but suddenly disappeared before his solo 5th album.

After about a year, he was found dead in the mountains, hanging from a tree.

At the time, the media and the police were in an uproar, and opinions were divided.

Some said he committed suicide because he couldn’t handle the pressure of the 5th album, while others said he was murdered and his body was dumped.

However, the body was badly decomposed when found, and there was no evidence left, so the case was eventually left unsolved.

“After that, they poked around, but there was nothing.”

The team leader shrugged.

“Isn’t it a bit much to give a new recruit such a difficult case?”

“Conversely, it’s good to start with a discarded case. If it were a case where people’s lives were at stake right now, they might feel overwhelmed.”

“Well, that’s true.”

Park Do-joon nodded in agreement. Since this kind of case doesn’t involve any immediate victims, it’s good for gaining experience, and there’s no time pressure.

“And there’s also the saying that beginners are lucky.”

Since she’s new, she won’t have the same biases as other profilers.

“Well, that’s true.”

The problem of bias is a serious one in the profiler world. As seen in the devil worshiper case, most profilers and detectives were convinced of devil worship and investigated accordingly.

‘It was actually another case entirely.’

So, it wasn’t a bad idea to entrust the resolution of this case to someone who knew nothing about it.

‘Of course, there’s also trusting me.’

There’s the hope for beginner’s luck, but there’s also the intention to have Park Do-joon take a look at it.

Even if that’s not the case, a new recruit can learn a lot from this kind of case.

“Okay. Then let’s take this case.”

“Yeah, good thinking. Who knows, maybe it’ll become a big story and get some media attention?”

Leaving the smiling team leader, Park Do-joon took Lee Ji-soo outside and handed her the documents.

“First, read it. And tell me your honest opinion.”

“Yes? Ah, yes!”

Lee Ji-soo sat down calmly and studied the investigation records for a long time. Then she looked around and said.

“First of all, there seem to be many circumstances pointing to suicide. He had depression and panic disorder, and he seemed to be under a lot of pressure about his 5th album.”

“Yeah, it looks that way on the surface.”

Even if he was the lead vocalist of a well-known group… and even if he succeeded as a solo artist, releasing a 5th album means he’s been in the industry for a long time, so his popularity will inevitably decline.

The screaming middle and high school girl fans have now become mothers. Naturally, his popularity would have decreased a lot compared to the past, and he might have felt he’d reached his limit in the music industry.

“He often worried about creative limitations, took depression medication… According to the case records, it’s reasonable to see it as suicide.”

“But if that were the case, it would have been closed as suicide. What doesn’t seem like suicide?”

“First of all, the vehicle wasn’t found at the scene.”

The place where Jang Jin-woo’s body was found wasn’t accessible on foot. It was in the mountains, discovered by a *Simmani* [wild ginseng hunter] who went in search of wild ginseng.

That shows how remote it was. A forest where people go to find wild ginseng is a place where people don’t go at all.

“It’s far from home, and the route he took to get there is unclear. Furthermore, the car wasn’t found. And we can’t confirm where he bought the rope he used to hang himself.”

The possibility of suicide is high, but there’s no evidence that he committed suicide at the scene. There’s no will, and no one knows how he even got there.

That area isn’t even served by public transportation.

“If it’s murder, who is the most suspicious person?”

“It would be his family. But his parents are dead, and he only has one younger sibling… Oh? She was in the United States at the time?”

“Yeah.”

His parents died early, and he only has one younger sister. But his younger sister immigrated to the United States and lived there, and according to the records, they were usually on good terms, so there was no reason for her to kill him for his inheritance.

“And according to this record, she was pregnant at the time, so it was impossible for her to even enter Korea.”

If you’re about to give birth, it’s not easy to take a plane. From the airline’s point of view, it’s really difficult to prepare for childbirth on a plane.

That’s why they can’t install obstetricians and childbirth-related facilities on the plane for one pregnant woman, right?