My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 239

“So, they’re trying to pin the blame on the victim’s family to cover up their failure to conduct an initial investigation properly….”

Park Do-joon stroked his chin.

“Well, this isn’t something I can help you with.”

“Pardon?”

“Sunbae [term of address for a senior colleague], what are you talking about?”

“It’s obvious. Even if I tell them to investigate properly, do you think they’ll listen?”

Their goal is to protect the reputation of the police, not to catch the culprit. Therefore, no matter how many times Park Do-joon speaks, there is no chance they will listen.

“Realistically, the first thing to solve in this case is finding the culprit, not the police’s abuse of power.”

“That’s true, but….”

The problem is that there is no way to solve it.

“It’s not that there’s no way. You have the police investigation records, right?”

“Yes? Ah, yes, I do.”

“Can I see them?”

At those words, Kang Soo-won handed over the police investigation records he had secured in advance. No matter how secretly the police try to investigate, investigation records must be provided to the opposing lawyer to prevent evidence manipulation.

“……As expected.”

“As expected? What is it?”

Kang Soo-won’s eyes were full of anticipation at those words. Seeing that, Park Do-joon smiled bitterly inwardly.

‘He’s a good person, but he’s still lacking as a lawyer.’

Everything the police investigate will inevitably be handed over to the opposing lawyer. So, what will the police do to avoid handing over evidence to someone?

“A lot is missing from this investigation record.”

“What? But we went there ourselves to copy it?”

There are no police officers who will give you the documents and send them by email or fax. So, if you need documents, the lawyer has to go there in person, apply, and copy the documents on the spot.

Of course, it is impossible to steal something. If a document is intentionally omitted and later submitted to the court, it becomes complicated if the lawyer latches onto it.

“There probably isn’t anything missing in the sense of being physically removed. But the most powerful evidence of who entered in the first place is missing.”

“What?”

“I heard the front entrance has a digital door lock. Digital door locks record when they are opened.”

At those words, Kang Soo-won’s face hardened. He had not seen such a record in the documents at all.

‘It’s the most common mistake lawyers make.’

They judge based only on the data provided by the other side or the data provided by the client.

But the police investigate with the thought of what to give to the lawyer already in mind. And the client doesn’t know what kind of data is needed or how, so they can’t provide everything that’s needed.

As a result, the really important data is missing.

Lawyers who are not former prosecutors make this mistake especially often.

“If everything you said is true, there will be a record of someone opening the door.”

Then, of course, the direction of the investigation should change. The simple act of someone opening the door means that someone broke in, and it becomes the strongest evidence that there is another culprit.

“The police are not checking that record because they know that.”

Checking it would mean that someone entered while the house was empty for a while, and it would become the strongest element of suspicion that a third person is the culprit.

“The important thing is to check that first.”

“How do we do that? Should we call a locksmith?”

At those words, Park Do-joon sighed deeply.

“A locksmith can open the door, but they can’t check the door’s records. This is in the realm of programming.”

The National Forensic Service [South Korea’s primary forensic science institution] would check it if it were the police, but the National Forensic Service would not grant a personal request.

“You should find the manufacturer of the digital door lock or a related expert.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

In Kang Soo-won’s position, he was already under pressure from the other side, and he was having a headache because he didn’t have any evidence to overturn it. This was very important information.

“It’s too early to thank me. You can thank me after you catch the culprit.”

Park Do-joon said with a bitter smile.

#An Unexpected Culprit

“This is it.”

Lee Ji-soo, who came with Park Do-joon, glanced around. And Jung Yi-yeon also looked around and asked.

“Sunbae, do you think there’s another culprit here?”

“There will be. From what I’ve heard from the people I met at the time, they’re definitely not the culprits.”

“Sunbaenim, why are you so sure?”

Lee Ji-soo tilted her head and asked at Park Do-joon’s words.

“You told me not to be sure?”

“I’m saying don’t judge based on information that others say. And if those people were the culprits, they wouldn’t have such bitter expressions.”

“Bitter expressions?”

“A lot is revealed in a person’s face.”

If they were the culprit, or even if they knew about the culprit, what would be revealed in their expressions would be fear and worry. Worry about whether their actions would be caught.

“But their expressions were like they had given up halfway.”

Giving up is one way of expressing despair.

“Murder and despair are surprisingly incompatible.”

“Yes? Why?”

“You can commit murder out of despair. But having despair after murder is a reaction when you can’t hide your crime.”

The emotion of despair is also the emotion of giving up. So, the bitterness on their faces doesn’t make sense. Bitterness is not giving up entirely, but a self-deprecating feeling about the current situation being abnormal.

“If they gave up, there’s no need to be bitter, is there?”

“That’s right.”

Park Do-joon nodded at Lee Ji-soo’s words.

“But what if they’re lying?”

“They would appeal their innocence more actively. But they didn’t.”

They wouldn’t have given up protecting themselves, so the result is that they don’t trust us.

“They don’t trust us?”

“Yes, because we’re also police.”

If they were the culprit, they would try to shake us up by actively appealing their innocence.

“And if they were the culprit, they should have shown some change of heart when I talked about the door lock’s entry records.”

But there was no reaction at all.

They didn’t even look like they were expecting anything.

“Is that meaningful?”

“It’s an act that can prove their innocence. But the fact that they can’t expect anything from it means that they either don’t care what we’re saying or they don’t understand it.”

Of course, the culprit can’t react like that. They would try to find a way to escape by any means.

“They don’t trust us because we’re police… so they’re not interested in what Sunbaenim is saying. Is that it?”

“You can see it that way. That kind of mental state is only possible when they clearly recognize that they are innocent.”

“Hmm, it’s complicated.”

“It’s complicated, right?”

Jung Yi-yeon shook her head at Park Do-joon’s words.

“Still, if they’re innocent, I feel a little relieved. Honestly, I wouldn’t want to help if they were the real culprit.”

“That’s true. If we investigate, we’ll probably find a record of someone opening it.”

“But even if we do, we can’t identify who it is, can we?”

“It’s impossible now.”

If they had investigated the fingerprints right when it happened, it would be different, but a considerable amount of time has already passed, and since the family members have been going in and out and using the door, all the fingerprints on it have disappeared.

“But we can still greatly reduce the possibility of the culprit, right?”

Jung Yi-yeon said with expectant eyes, and Park Do-joon nodded.

“That’s right. It’s possible. At least, the very act of opening the door here means that they have personal contact, and that they are very close.”

It is impossible to open an electronic door lock and enter within about 10 minutes unless you are an expert. Even if they were an expert, there is no reason to open it, enter, kidnap, and kill a child.

“So, in the current situation, the culprit is someone who knows about this place.”

Park Do-joon said, looking at the shabby villa.

“In the case of these villas, the people nearby would be the suspects.”

“Suspects?”

Lee Ji-soo tilted her head at those words.

“Giving someone the password to your house is not as easy as you think.”

Even if they are relatives, people are reluctant to give them the password to their house.

These days, people don’t even want their parents-in-law to come over unannounced, so they don’t give them the password. Giving it to people nearby? That doesn’t make sense.

“Moreover, this villa has a poor security structure. There’s no front door either. The only line that separates the outside and the inside is the digital door lock.”

Of course, the bereaved family cannot rashly tell it to them.

“So, it’s someone who is close enough to know it….”

Jung Yi-yeon frowned upon hearing those words.

“If that’s the case, their name should have come up already, right?”

Kang Soo-won was already investigating from various angles, including people who knew about the child’s existence and had the possibility of committing another murder.

“But there wasn’t. They said they had never told anyone else the number.”

In fact, most deliveries were usually left in front of the door.

“What about Park Ho-yeon’s school friends?”

“Park Ho-yeon doesn’t really have any school friends. Now, everyone is right in front of their senior year of high school.”

“Ah, I see.”

Park Ho-yeon is a sophomore in high school, but she hasn’t been to school for a long time due to childbirth issues. In fact, failing a grade is confirmed. In that state, the children in the school who are now seniors will be busy studying.

“No, still, there must be someone who is close enough to visit, right?”

Lee Ji-soo asked Jung Yi-yeon as if it didn’t make sense. It’s not like she didn’t go to school at all, and she gave birth while going to school, so she might have one or two close friends.

“That’s true, but most of them can’t visit.”

“Can’t?”

“What would parents think if a sophomore in high school gave birth to a child?”

“……They would think she’s a bad kid and tell them not to meet her.”

“That’s right. So, her friends have no choice but to disappear. Moreover, the school will tell them to distance themselves.”

“That’s right. The school said they haven’t contacted her even once since she gave birth. Moreover, the school is an all-girls school.”

In fact, there were children who came for a while after giving birth, but that doesn’t mean that those children would kill a baby who is only 8 months old.

“Moreover, the expected time of the crime is when the school is in the middle of class.”

Of course, it is not difficult to confirm who was at school, so realistically, it can be said that there is no possibility that they are the culprit.