My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 175

“Those damn bastards…!”

“No matter what, you failed because of yourself, not because of Jang Jin-woo. In the first place, Jang Jin-woo is the one who should hold a grudge, not you.”

“Don’t talk nonsense! If that bastard… if that bastard had just given me the money, this wouldn’t have happened! It’s only 2 billion! If he had given me just 2 billion, I wouldn’t have failed!”

Someone must have told him that if he gave them 2 billion, they could cover up the case. But Jang O-gi, whose accounts were frozen, couldn’t get the money.

So he went to borrow it. Asking to borrow just 2 billion. Saying that he could survive if he had it. But Jang Jin-woo didn’t even meet him and instead, he was dragged out by the police called by the company.

“I know, 2 billion. You think you could have survived if you had that money, right? I know that too.”

Park Do-joon nodded at those words.

“But what a pity, what should I do?”

“What?”

“The guy who asked for that 2 billion was also a scammer.”

“What, what did you say?”

“Do you think a case of that magnitude could be covered up with just 2 billion? Are you kidding me? How much loss do you think the company suffered because of that? There are people like that, who go to desperate people and say that if they give them a little money, they can bribe their way out of the case. But that’s impossible.”

If it succeeds, those guys will run away with the money, and even if it fails, they have nothing to lose.

“They probably told you that they work under a high-ranking executive at the company. An executive director or a president. And they would have said that if you secretly give them the money, the higher-ups will cover up the case.”

At those words, Jang O-gi’s face turned pale. Because that’s exactly what he had heard.

“But you couldn’t give them the money, and you ended up failing. But what a pity? Those guys were scammers from the start. Even if you had gotten the money, the company wouldn’t have survived.”

“Th, that’s…!”

“You weren’t just caught for corruption, but you were discovered through an internal audit of the company. That whole faction would have been wiped out, do you think you could have prevented the collapse of that faction with just 2 billion? That’s nonsense.”

At those words, Jang O-gi looked completely defeated.

“Th, then what on earth was I… why did I kill that bastard?”

“You did something stupid.”

At those words, Jang O-gi grabbed his face. Then he let out a desperate scream.

“Aaaaaagh!”

Park Do-joon left him there and slowly came out.

“Detective, how did you know that?”

Lee Ji-soo and the other detectives who were watching Park Do-joon rushed over.

“Know what?”

“No, about the private investigation firm and the case details just now… how did you know so accurately? Did you really regress or something?”

‘Well, I did regress.’

He did regress. But that doesn’t mean he remembers all the case records. No, in the original history, this case ultimately remained a permanent cold case.

“I deduced what he desperately wanted.”

“Deduction?”

“Yes, Jang O-gi would want Jang Jin-woo’s phone number or contact information, but there’s no way to get it.”

The personal information of celebrities is subject to very strict security. In fact, celebrities tend to change their phone numbers frequently because they keep getting leaked. In severe cases, they even open phone lines under their family’s names to prevent their own names from being revealed.

“There’s only one place that would give that kind of information.”

“A private investigation firm.”

The agency wouldn’t be crazy enough to give out his phone number directly. But it’s no secret that stalker fans pay private investigation firms to secretly dig up phone numbers.

“So you poked around the private investigation firm?”

“Yes.”

“Wow.”

But Jang O-gi was fooled by those words.

“No, then what about the cell phone?”

“He can’t use a cell phone under his own name. He can’t even use a phone under his family’s name. So what would he do? In the end, it’s a burner phone [a prepaid, disposable phone used to avoid tracing].”

And after checking Jang O-gi’s cell phone usage history, it was found that he started using it around the time of the murder.

“In other words, he got a burner phone around that time, so who would have given it to him?”

“That’s true.”

Lee Ji-soo was surprised that he could pinpoint it with just the timing. It was something she had never thought of.

“Then what about the story about the personal effects?”

“Jang Jin-woo lived to protect his younger sibling. He worked as a celebrity for his sibling, and he spent money for his sibling. He never even got married.”

He made a lot of money and was a star. There’s no way there weren’t people around him who liked him. But he never met a woman in his life, and he never even had a scandal until the moment he died.

“There are often people like that. People who feel an enormous sense of responsibility when their family dies.”

So they try to take good care of the remaining family members even if it means sacrificing everything.

Jang Jin-woo was that type of person.

“But he didn’t care about the money and didn’t even file a lawsuit, right?”

“Because money is just money. Money has no memories or longing. It’s just money. But personal effects are different.”

Park Do-joon handed over the documents he was holding earlier. It was a signature from the person who received the personal effects when Jang Jin-woo’s parents passed away.

“The underage Jang Jin-woo isn’t qualified. In the end, the only one left is Jang O-gi.”

And no one knows what Jang O-gi did with it after receiving it. Whether he threw it in the trash or sold it off.

“But personal effects are like the last memory that etches memories into the minds of the survivors.”

A person like Jang Jin-woo probably wouldn’t have hesitated to give any amount of money if he could return his parents’ personal effects to his younger sibling.

“There’s no other reason to get Jang Jin-woo to come out. Especially given the situation.”

Jang O-gi was ruined and cornered, and he was desperate for any amount of money.

“Jang Jin-woo probably didn’t think Jang O-gi would go as far as murder, though.”

Park Do-joon turned his head and muttered while looking at Jang O-gi, who was raging with anger beyond the window.

“Another case solved like this.”

-Today, Mr. Jang was arrested as a suspect in the murder of the late Mr. Jang Jin-woo. Mr. Jang is a family member of Mr. Jang Jin-woo and has had a grudge against Mr. Jang Jin-woo….

The news was in an uproar. It was a case where the police were heavily criticized for leaving it as a cold case even though a famous singer had died.

But it was finally solved. The police boasted about it and bragged about their achievements. But….

“No, does that make sense? Why can’t they process the expenses?”

“Hey! It’s not just a few bucks, how can we process millions of won as expenses?”

“No, if I hadn’t gone to the United States, I wouldn’t have been able to solve it, so what else could I do!”

“The higher-ups think differently. They say it would have come out if we had dug around anyway, even if you hadn’t gone.”

“No, tell them not to bullshit. If that were the case, they would have solved it a long time ago.”

“That’s true….”

In the first place, it was a case that no one was investigating after it was turned into a cold case. He solved it by spending a fortune, but they won’t process the expenses.

“Are they really going to do that?”

“What can we do?”

“Then, well….”

Park Do-joon shrugged lightly. And Lee Ji-soo felt terrible about it.

“I’m sorry, Detective. Because of me….”

“Huh? No, it’s not because of you, and I haven’t given up either.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“An interview will solve everything. Wow, I solved this with my own money, and if I do an interview saying that the police are taking it for free, the media will love it. Right, Team Leader?”

“Yes, I understand what you mean.”

The team leader wasn’t angry. He would have done the same himself.

“I already told them that story too. But they seemed skeptical.”

“‘Never say never.’ Should I schedule an interview?”

“No. I’ll say it one more time. If not, well, I’ll call some reporters I know.”

It’s obvious. The police’s nature of wanting to take all the credit while not wanting to give money isn’t something he’s only experienced for a day or two.

‘I can’t live like that anymore.’

Before the regression, he would just give up and not receive the money, saying that he solved the case with his own money, but Park Do-joon had no intention of living like that in this life as well.

“If you’re going to interview with me, tell them not to process it as expenses. Ah, what’s the name of the person in charge….”

“Stop it, I’ll try to talk to them no matter what.”

Probably, if the story of the interview comes out, they’ll be like, ‘Oh my goodness!’ and process it as expenses.

“Then I’ll trust you, Team Leader, and go home.”

“Okay, go. Oh my, my head!”

The team leader grabbed his head and shook his head.

“Let’s go have a quiet celebratory drink among ourselves.”

“Yes, Detective.”

Park Do-joon was going to buy Lee Ji-soo a drink to celebrate the resolution of his first case. But before that, someone else intervened between the two.

“Who said anything about a quiet celebration!”

“Lee Yeon is here?”

“Detective, is this junior the rumored junior?”

“No, what rumors are already spreading?”

Park Do-joon frowned at those words. Suddenly, rumors?

“I heard they assigned a pretty female profiler under you, Detective.”

“That’s not a rumor, it seems like my personal information is getting leaked.”

Park Do-joon chuckled at those words and replied.

“Oh, who is this?”

“Ah, this is Attorney Jung Yi-yeon, my high school junior.”

“Junior?”

Lee Ji-soo looked at Jung Yi-yeon with a suspicious face.

“It doesn’t seem like a simple senior-junior relationship.”

“Oh, closer than friendship but further than love?”

At Park Do-joon’s words, Jung Yi-yeon’s elbow suddenly dug into his side.

“Ugh!”

“If you can’t speak well…!”

“Ugh, that hurts. But what brings you here?”

“I came to see you, Detective.”

“Why?”

“I have news to tell you. And there’s someone who wants to meet you, Detective.”

“News to tell?”

Park Do-joon tilted his head at those words. There was nothing she could tell him at this time.

“What is it?”

“Han Sung-gi, you know. He officially joined the Hong Woo-jong camp. It seems like he’ll be running in the election soon.”

“Oh, really?”

“Aren’t you surprised?”

“I don’t think there’s anything particularly surprising about it.”

Park Do-joon scratched his head at those words.

‘Well, it’s what I expected.’

The only difference is that before the regression, he secretly helped, but now he’s helping openly.

‘In the first place, Hong Woo-jong isn’t a stupid guy.’

He wasn’t a guy who would awkwardly end up as a one-term assemblyman. He had been aiming for the position of president from the beginning, operating psychological warfare and fighting with a definitely different election strategy than others.

‘I was curious about who was behind him.’

Now I know for sure.

“I don’t care about that guy. By the way, who is it that wants to see me?”

“It’s our client. What on earth have you been up to that Woo Joo-hye is looking for you, Detective?”

“Who?”

“Woo Joo-hye. Top star Woo Joo-hye.”

At those words, Park Do-joon remembered her, whom he had briefly passed by a while ago.

“I wonder? It must be an unwelcome case.”

At that time, he told her to report it to the police if there were any strange signs. But if she’s hiring a lawyer, it’s a more serious problem than I thought.

“Okay, I’ll make time. By the way….”

“Yes.”

“I hate harem stories.”

“Oh, really, if you can’t speak well!”

“Ugh!”

This time, Park Do-joon grabbed the opposite side and collapsed.

Profiler