My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 186

“But, what a pity? It seems like your prison life won’t end anytime soon.”

At that moment, a voice was heard from behind.

Everyone’s eyes turned to the voice.

There stood Park Do-joon, smiling.

“You son of a bitch……”

“Take your hands off him, right now.”

At those words, the subordinates looked at their boss.

But at the next words, they raised their hands in the air.

“It’s an emergency, so I have no choice but to use a gun.”

As the gun pointed at the people pulling the rope, they desperately raised their hands.

Naturally, Joo Dong-kyung, who was being held up by them, fell to the ground and rolled around.

“Ji-soo.”

“Yes, Detective.”

Lee Ji-soo rushed over and untied the rope around Joo Dong-kyung’s neck, and Joo Dong-kyung gasped for air.

“Cough, cough!”

“Mr. Joo Dong-kyung, fancy meeting you in such an unexpected place?”

“You… you bastard.”

The boss looked dismayed, seeing the police behind Park Do-joon.

“Why? Did you think I’d come to a place like this alone?”

Unless he was an idiot, there was no reason to think that.

“I think we have a lot to talk about. Don’t you think?”

“Lee Don-joong ordered it! It’s true! The cash that bastard gave me is still at my house!”

Having narrowly escaped death, Joo Dong-kyung had no choice. If Lee Don-joong survived, he would die. With the thought that he had to put him in jail no matter what to survive, he shouted the truth in the interrogation room.

“So, you’re saying Lee Don-joong commissioned the murder?”

“That’s right. That bastard told me to run him over with a truck!”

Joo Dong-kyung shouted in anger at the fact that he almost died. And the police wrote down his words. But Park Do-joon, who was watching Joo Dong-kyung from a distance, had no smile on his face.

“Detective, do you think this case isn’t solved yet?”

“Not yet.”

“But there’s a clear testimony, isn’t there?”

“There is a clear testimony. But the credibility of the witness giving the testimony is too low.”

“Pardon?”

“Joo Dong-kyung isn’t very intelligent. He can’t even think about the possibility of being betrayed.”

You can tell just by the fact that he followed along without thinking when he was told he would get money.

“I don’t think that type would have prepared a recording or CCTV [closed-circuit television] in case something happened.”

“Then?”

“The only thing that can come out as evidence is the money in his house. But how much would that be?”

These things are usually paid in two installments. A small down payment is given, and the rest is paid when the job is done.

“But the down payment alone won’t prove that Lee Don-joong commissioned Joo Dong-kyung. Lee Don-joong is a smart guy. He’s a professional criminal. Would such a guy not use a burner phone [a disposable cell phone used to avoid tracking]?”

“Ah……”

In other words, no matter how much he gets worked up on his own, it will be difficult to get it recognized in court if there is no evidence.

“Furthermore, he’s the one who almost killed Woo Joo-hye.”

The possibility of shifting the blame onto someone else to reduce his own guilt is also very high.

“But what about the gangsters who were at the scene?”

“There’s no evidence of who ordered those guys.”

They are likely to be punished for attempted murder. But attempted murder is at most a 3-year sentence.

Whether they reveal the mastermind or not, they cannot avoid punishment.

“If they make a plea bargain, the sentence is halved. But the maximum sentence is 3 years, so would they agree to a plea bargain that only reduces it by 1 year and 6 months? If that’s the case, it’s much better for Lee Don-joong to be in his current position.”

If they keep their mouths shut and endure for about a year and a half longer, Lee Don-joong will use them handsomely when they get out.

Since they belong to a company that makes hundreds of billions of won in profit every year, they don’t have to worry about the future.

“But if they report Lee Don-joong?”

“That’s true.”

If Lee Don-joong falls, they have to worry about Lee Don-joong’s retaliation, and even if that’s not the case, they have to worry about their livelihood.

“In order to request the other party’s help through the threat of punishment, you have to threaten them more than they expect. But would guys who directly commit murder not anticipate a mere 3-year sentence and act? I’ve said it many times, not all gangsters are the same.”

At the scene, they showed no reluctance at all. They even showed meticulousness in going to a place without CCTV and buying a ladder with Joo Dong-kyung’s card to fabricate a suicide.

What if the police had discovered the scene later? They would first investigate Joo Dong-kyung’s card usage history and find out about the ladder purchase.

And since that ladder was found at the scene, they would naturally think that Joo Dong-kyung committed suicide because he couldn’t overcome the surrounding attention and pressure.

In fact, the people who are interested in this case now wouldn’t think it was strange even if Joo Dong-kyung committed suicide.

“And I told you before. This organization is too well-organized. It’s too coincidental.”

“Ah……”

“They’re experienced guys.”

They can just keep their mouths shut here and live for 3 years, and if they carelessly open their mouths, there’s a high possibility that their past crimes will be revealed.

“Lee Don-joong probably knows what those guys did.”

If they open their mouths, Lee Don-joong will also open his mouth, and if that happens, their crime will be changed from attempted murder to at least one murder.

In addition, organized crime is subject to aggravated punishment under Korean law, so the sentence will inevitably increase several times.

“Furthermore, Lee Don-joong still has power and influence.”

No matter how much Joo Dong-kyung claims, if he hires a lawyer and says that the perpetrator is simply talking nonsense to get out of compensation, the possibility of it being accepted is too high.

“Hmm, then what should we do? Is Lee Don-joong just going to get away with this?”

“That’s what the lawyer has to solve, not me.”

“Pardon?”

Lee Don-joong shrugged.

“If you want to be a proper profiler, you need to understand the psychology of the group a little bit. Hehehe.”

As expected, Lee Don-joong started to move, spending a lot of money to hire public opinion manipulators and lawyers.

“So, you’re telling me to drop the case?”

“That’s right.”

Even Park Do-joon, who was not involved at all, felt the force of that power.

“The higher-ups are saying it’s not a murder case, just a simple traffic accident, so what’s the point of profiling and wasting time, and they’re telling me to drop it.”

“No, is the case all solved?”

“Well, to be exact, it’s not solved, but…”

The team leader clicked his tongue. Even he could see that Lee Don-joong was the culprit. But the higher-ups were being swayed by Lee Don-joong’s immense power.

And in that situation, Lee Ji-soo was staring with a stiff face.

It was inevitable, as this was the first time such a thing had happened to her, a rookie police officer.

“Ji-soo, don’t make that face. This is what being a police officer is like.”

But Park Do-joon was not very surprised or angry.

“Being a police officer means you have to shut up when the higher-ups tell you to shut up.”

“……You’re teaching the kid something good. Anyone would think you’ve been working in this industry for about 30 years. You’re only in your second year.”

At the team leader’s words, Park Do-joon just chuckled.

“Isn’t the basis of profiling starting with properly recognizing reality, Team Leader?”

“But aren’t you angry?”

“I have no reason to be angry. There’s nothing we can do after this anyway.”

Park Do-joon shrugged. Lee Ji-soo asked Park Do-joon.

“Detective, why? We can still investigate and report, right? Of course, the higher-ups will hate it.”

Park Do-joon scratched his head at those words.

‘I used to think like that too.’

During his early days with plenty of a sense of justice, he believed in that justice. But as he got older and learned about the world, he realized that such justice only threatened him and was never enforced.

At least not with his own power alone.

“Ji-soo.”

“Yes, Detective.”

“Do we have the right to indict [formally accuse]?”

“Oh, we don’t, do we?”

“Do we have the right to punish?”

“Oh, ah, um……”

“Even if we investigate and report, they won’t be punished.”

This is the reality. Let’s say we somehow investigate and get evidence of Lee Don-joong’s crime.

If we report it to the higher-ups, will the prosecution accept it?

Even if the prosecution somehow indicts, will the court accept it?

“This kind of fight is not a fight between justice and injustice, but a fight between power and authority.”

“Then what do we do? Do we just get beaten like this?”

Park Do-joon confidently said to Lee Ji-soo’s words.

“The Constitution of the Republic of Korea has these words. ‘All power comes from the people.’”

“Yes, it does.”

“Learn that directly.”

“Detective, so you’re saying we should disclose this first?”

“Yes, the other side is desperate to cover up the case. So, if Woo Joo-hye comes forward this time, it will become an issue.”

Park Do-joon met with Jung Yi-yeon and discussed the next steps.

“Lee Don-joong is trying to cover up the case by using his power around him. In fact, Joo Dong-kyung is not being reported in the news.”

Joo Dong-kyung is claiming that Lee Don-joong ordered the contract killing. But no media outlet is reporting the news.

It’s not that reporters didn’t come. A huge number of reporters came to cover him.

“But the fact that there hasn’t been any talk about it so far means only one thing. It’s being cut off at the desk level [meaning the news editors are preventing the story from being published].”

“But will it be broadcasted just because we hold a press conference?”

Lee Ji-soo said worriedly. Cutting it off at the desk level means that the press conference content won’t be broadcasted either.

“No, it will be broadcasted.”

But Park Do-joon was sure.

“Cutting it off at the desk level and cutting it off at the company level have slightly different meanings.”

Jung Yi-yeon tilted her head at those words.

“What does that mean?”

“Next World is virtually a company that engages in illegal activities. Of course, there’s no reason for the company to protect it. I told you, companies like this can never publicly come forward for self-protection. That’s why understanding group psychology is so important.”

Next World is a fairly large company and makes a lot of profit, but it doesn’t do any print advertising. It’s a loss even if they advertise.

Rather, if they advertise and someone starts to nitpick about its illegality, the image will inevitably be further damaged.

“In other words, there’s no reason for the media to block it.”

It’s a newsworthy and profitable case. Would the media block it?

“Then there are two possibilities. First, the owner blocks it. But that’s unlikely.”

Park Do-joon moved his fingers alternately and said.

“The existence of conglomerates [large business groups] is divided into grades within them. The top 100 affiliates and those below are different. The same goes for media companies. What do you think about the power of media companies?”

“Um…… You can’t ignore it.”

“I guess so. As Detective said, everyone knows that the media is scary.”

Jung Yi-yeon and Lee Ji-soo nodded. They were also aware of the immense power of the Korean media.

Even if they are not in the top of the business world, the reality is that even the president can’t be safe if the media tries to kill someone’s reputation.

“Yes, the media has absolute power. How likely do you think it is that Lee Don-joong is related to such people?”

“Ah……”

“I guess so.”

“The reason Lee Don-joong targeted Woo Joo-hye in the first place was because he needed a channel and a trophy to publicly exert his power.”