My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 220

With those words, Park Do-joon slowly headed home. Fortunately, Jung Yi-yeon had the key, so getting into the house wasn’t difficult. The house was surprisingly tidy, with a spacious kitchen and neatly arranged sofas.

“You said the victim was murdered in the backyard, right?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go to the backyard.”

“The police didn’t find anything significant there.”

“We still need to go. Profiling is about seeing the scene, not just the evidence.”

Park Do-joon led the way, and it wasn’t hard to open the back door and go to the backyard.

The backyard wasn’t very large compared to the front. That was to be expected. Generally, backyards are mostly used as storage for small household items or as vegetable gardens.

Indeed, as they went to the back, there was a storage shed and various items piled up.

“The murder happened here?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

Park Do-joon looked around. The backyard was also surrounded by a low fence, about five feet [150cm] high.

A typical adult could see inside by just tilting their head.

“Was there anything else besides this? The records said the murder weapon was a nylon rope, right?”

“Ah, that was here. The police took it as evidence.”

“They took it as evidence, huh…”

Park Do-joon looked around again at those words. It was a space that didn’t seem to have anything special.

“The wound is definitely from being strangled with a nylon rope.”

It was hard to deny since the wound clearly indicated strangulation from behind.

“Was there anything else in the report?”

“Nothing at all. The National Forensic Service [NFS] came, but they didn’t find anything either.”

Park Do-joon nodded at that. If the NFS had been at the scene, they wouldn’t have done a sloppy job, so there was a high possibility that there was really nothing there.

“It seems like we’ve seen everything here.”

“Just a bust?”

“Not a bust… more like, it’s still uncertain? I’ll tell you later.”

“What is it?”

“The existence of this place itself is evidence.”

Jung Yi-yeon frowned at Park Do-joon’s words.

“Sunbae [senior colleague/mentor], can’t you just tell me?”

“Surprise~”.

“Surprise, my foot. Where are we going now?”

“Let’s meet that client tomorrow. Then we’ll have a rough idea.”

The next day, Park Do-joon was able to meet the client at the detention center. He was sitting still, looking gaunt.

“Who is this person?”

“Ah, this is Detective Park Do-joon from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Wide Area Profiling Team.”

“Profiling?”

“Yes.”

“I heard I was meeting with a lawyer?”

It was a serious violation for a police officer to impersonate a lawyer. Naturally, the client was sensitive about it.

“I’m just providing some help. Anything said here will only be used as evidence in court if you allow it.”

“Isn’t that illegal?”

“Of course, it is, but I hate seeing innocent victims go to jail.”

“Victim?”

“Yes.”

Park Do-joon stared at the man as he said that.

“You said you didn’t commit the murder?”

“That’s right. I didn’t kill my wife.”

The man spoke calmly. Park Do-joon asked him.

“Then you found her at the scene?”

“Yes.”

According to him, he went home thinking he might try to reconcile with his wife, but she was already dead. Afterward, he was half out of his mind and blankly reported it to the police in a hurry.

“But the police suspected me of being the murderer and arrested me.”

“It’s certainly suspicious in the middle of a divorce lawsuit. But you said you went to see her just now, so where have you been staying usually?”

“Hoo, I’ve been staying at a hotel during the divorce proceedings.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“What was your relationship with your wife usually like?”

The man frowned at those words. Then, with a long sigh, he replied.

“I can’t say it was good. I’ve said it several times, but my wife was mentally unstable.”

She had severe paranoia and often lost control of herself, with her emotions running wild.

He knew she had some of those tendencies before, but he thought she could control it.

But as her paranoia developed, it became severe, and as a result, they even filed for divorce.

“So, do you regret it?”

“I’m telling you, I didn’t kill her.”

“No, I’m not talking about the murder. I’m asking if you regret the marriage.”

“Regret? I don’t know.”

The man smiled bitterly. Then he said weakly.

“Honestly, I do regret it. I often think, what if I had treated her better? What if I had given her more trust? But it’s too late now.”

Park Do-joon quietly stared at the man.

# Twisted Conscience

The next day, Park Do-joon headed to Wolgwang after work. Some cases are difficult to profile, but this one wasn’t as difficult as he thought.

“Hello. I’m Park Do-joon.”

“I heard about you from our Yi-yeon. I’m Jung Soo-gwan.”

Jung Yi-yeon’s father, Jung Soo-gwan, was a lawyer who led Wolgwang Law Firm, one of the top 10 law firms in Korea, and was quite famous.

“I don’t think I told Sunbae [senior colleague/mentor] much?”

Jung Yi-yeon said, pouting. Jung Soo-gwan chuckled at her.

“Did you think I wouldn’t find out if you told your mother?”

“Ah, Mom! Seriously!”

“Don’t worry. I won’t ask about marriage prospects like someone else.”

“Why are you bringing that up again?”

“Oh my, my only daughter is hitting her dad.”

Park Do-joon felt strange watching the two of them bickering.

‘They look happy.’

They look happy. There are no secrets or hesitation between family members. They can lean on each other when they’re having a hard time, and they don’t force their demands on each other.

‘Happy?’

He couldn’t remember when he last felt happy.

Before the regression? Even then, he just lived reluctantly. He never even looked for happiness.

After the regression? Maybe it’s because he came back with worn-out emotions, but he feels more of a sense of duty and responsibility than happiness.

‘This feels strange.’

While thinking about the minds of murderers and criminals and tracking their twisted mental worlds, he never thought about the emotion of happiness.

In the world of profiling, which measures and infers mental worlds, the word happiness was, in a way, an emotion that could never be fully standardized.

‘But it’s not bad.’

The ticklish feeling he felt little by little in his heart. That wasn’t a bad feeling at all.

“I’m sorry. My only daughter is so immature, hahaha. I’m sorry to meet you like this for the first time. I should have greeted you in a better setting.”

“It’s okay. The situation is urgent for me, and it’s urgent for you, CEO [Chief Executive Officer].”

“Thank you for understanding. So, you came to me like this, so it seems like something came up.”

Park Do-joon nodded at Jung Soo-gwan’s words. Then Jung Yi-yeon carefully straightened her posture. She knew it wasn’t the time to chatter as a family.

Then Park Do-joon carefully opened his mouth.

“As I’ve said many times, this is just a possibility. Sometimes, some people treat profiling like it’s the correct answer, but it’s just a possibility. You need to keep in mind that there are other variables.”

“Hahaha, don’t worry. I know that well. I’m a former judge.”

Fortunately, Jung Soo-gwan was knowledgeable in this area. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t have been able to build this huge law firm called Wolgwang in such a short period.

“I understand. Then I’ll tell you. The suspect probably cheated. But he’s not the murderer…”

“What?”

“What did you say?”

Jung Soo-gwan and Jung Yi-yeon were surprised at Park Do-joon’s words. That’s because the client had been denying the fact that he had cheated until now.

“How do you know that?”

“Are you mistaken? The client said he never cheated.”

Jung Soo-gwan also tilted his head and asked. Of course, the fact that he cheated was an important factor, but it wasn’t such a secret that the client wouldn’t tell his lawyer.

“You can tell us that, Sunbae [senior colleague/mentor]. It’s not that big of a deal to hide from us, is it?”

Of course, it would be clearly disadvantageous to testify in court. But the lawyer isn’t stupid. Even if the client tells him that, there’s no reason for him to reveal it himself in court.

It’s not illegal for a lawyer not to disclose evidence that is unfavorable to his client.

“This is just the beginning. Profiling is complicated. I’ll explain it one by one from here.”

“Um, I see. But why do you think the client is cheating?”

“Looking at the case records and the suspect’s actions, the suspect feels guilty toward the victim.”

“Guilty?”

“Yes, while claiming he didn’t commit the murder, he continues to regret his wrongdoings.”

For example, just the act of leaving the house and living separately in a hotel.

“I heard the ownership of the house belongs to the suspect. If he didn’t do anything wrong, he would have told the victim to leave instead of leaving himself. That’s usually the case.”

“He could just be annoyed and want to avoid it, right? In fact, in divorce lawsuits, it’s more common for men to leave the house than women.”

In fact, men don’t have that many belongings when they leave. Since men can live outside with just the bare minimum, it’s true that men often leave when these lawsuits begin.

“Of course, that’s generally the case. But in that case, the emotion shown is annoyance and anger, not regret. It’s like he’s been deprived of his rightful rights.”

He earned the house himself and bought it under his own name. The issue of property division due to contribution to the property is a legal issue, but for someone who is annoyed and leaving, it feels like he’s wasting money living outside while a frustrating person who is in a lawsuit with him is occupying his perfectly good property.

“Then the feeling you get is anger and annoyance, not guilt.”

But looking at this trial record and analyzing his words at the detention center, it was clear that even during the divorce proceedings before the murder, the suspect felt guilt or sorry for the victim.

Furthermore, he said that the reason he discovered the scene of the murder was that he wanted to reconcile.

This is a very contradictory action considering the current situation where he filed for divorce first.

“Furthermore, in the case of a divorce lawsuit, who is at home is a more serious issue than you think.”

“Why?”

“Men generally don’t know how many physical assets are in the house.”

It’s not difficult to check things like houses or bank accounts if you try to check them. But they don’t know how much gold, like gold rings or necklaces, is in the house, or how many luxury bags there are.

“You’re right. Men usually don’t know about the physical assets in the house.”

“That means the person in the house has the opportunity to take out the assets in the house.”