My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 291

Traces Left Behind

“You said your father is missing?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Jo Gang-so greeted Park Do-joon with a noticeably uneasy expression. It was understandable. His father had suddenly disappeared, and his good-for-nothing older brother had immediately fled. Anyone could see that something was amiss.

“Has there been any news since you reported your father missing?”

“…No, but…”

Jo Gang-so asked Park Do-joon, his voice trembling slightly.

“Has my father perhaps been found?”

“No, but there are some suspicious aspects.”

“Suspicious aspects?”

“I’m considering the possibility that your father may have been murdered.”

“Ugh…!”

Jo Gang-so groaned at those words. It was inevitable, as he himself had entertained that very possibility. His brother had lived a disastrous life, but he desperately wanted to believe that his brother wasn’t capable of such an audacious act, especially not against their own father. Still, they were siblings.

“Your father didn’t have any plans to leave or go anywhere, did he?”

“No, he had no such plans.”

“And you haven’t contacted him separately since then either?”

“No, but why are you asking about that?”

Park Do-joon said with a serious expression.

“From what I see, the possibility of murder cannot be ignored.”

“Murder, you say?”

“You know about your brother’s escape, right? In that situation, I can’t help but be suspicious.”

“No, my brother often does that. He suddenly goes abroad to show off and waste money.”

“Of course, that could be the case. But usually, he books a ticket in advance and then leaves, doesn’t he?”

“That’s…”

He usually books a first-class ticket in advance, packs his bags, and leaves. But this time, he’d taken an economy seat instead of first class.

“In such cases, the purpose is usually to leave as quickly as possible.”

Jo Gang-so groaned at Park Do-joon’s words. Even he couldn’t understand why his brother, who would complain about even taking business class, would opt for an economy seat.

“But you reported your father as missing.”

“Yes, but?”

“If it’s murder, the story changes.”

“What changes?”

“The police’s initial investigation. Basically, in Korea, a missing person is treated the same as a runaway.”

“A runaway?”

“Yes, especially the disappearance of a man is almost always considered a runaway and investigated as such.”

Korea doesn’t readily acknowledge the disappearance of adult men. To be precise, when a missing person report comes in, they often quietly classify it as a runaway case and only begin a serious investigation later if a body is found or evidence related to a crime surfaces. In other words, they often don’t take immediate action to find a missing adult man.

“What?”

Jo Gang-so was shocked because he didn’t know that.

“Of course, your father is a wealthy man, so it might be a little different. But that’s only to a very small extent. The police’s administrative power is limited.”

“…I can’t believe it.”

Jo Gang-so, who still held onto some hope, tried to deny it, but he couldn’t help but waver at the next words.

“Did the police come and check the CCTV [Closed-circuit television]?”

“That’s…”

“Surely there’s CCTV at home, right?”

Jo Tae-woo’s house is a fairly large mansion. It’s not unusual for someone with that much wealth to have that. And surely someone living in such a house wouldn’t be without CCTV.

“Missing and murder have completely different starting points.”

Missing persons are assumed to have disappeared from outside the home. And that’s often the prevailing assumption. Because of that, in the case of missing persons, they don’t investigate the point of origin, that is, the house. From the beginning, the assumption is that contact was lost after leaving the house.

“But that’s not the case with murder.”

In the case of murder, it’s unknown who killed whom, when, or where. Of course, the possibility that a murder occurred in that house cannot be ruled out, so in such cases, the CCTV in the house is also subject to verification.

“That’s why the police’s initial action is important. But this time, it seems that the police’s initial action is insufficient because they thought it was a missing person case.”

Jo Gang-so felt uneasy at those words. Certainly, after reporting the missing person to the police, he didn’t feel like anything was progressing.

“Then what should I do?”

“Can I check the CCTV at your father’s house?”

“That won’t be difficult.”

He nodded and turned on the computer, turning the monitor towards Park Do-joon.

“These days, we set up a server so that we can check it remotely.”

“Just show me the footage of him leaving for work that morning.”

“That’s not difficult.”

At Park Do-joon’s words, Jo Gang-so showed the video from that morning. The first scene that appeared was the parking lot located in the basement. A man who appeared to be Jo Tae-woo came out of the house, loaded a golf club into the car, and left.

A scene that wasn’t particularly strange. But Park Do-joon’s eyes sparkled as he watched it.

“You said your father didn’t go to work that day, right?”

“Yes.”

“Does your father play golf?”

“He does.”

“But does he leave to play golf without saying anything like this?”

“No. He plays golf for business, but he doesn’t particularly enjoy it.”

“I see.”

Park Do-joon watched the footage and stared at a car in one corner. Then he chuckled.

“That Ferrari, is it a company car?”

“Yes.”

“Can you see if it’s still there?”

“That’s not difficult.”

It wasn’t difficult because it was a camera that could be checked in real time. And Jo Gang-so had a strange expression as he watched.

“It’s still there.”

“That’s the car your brother usually drives, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then why didn’t he take that and leave?”

“Well, he often leaves it behind for long trips, but—”

“Yes, that’s important. He often leaves it behind for long trips. But there’s no sign of your brother leaving, is there?”

Jo Gang-so was taken aback by Park Do-joon’s words. He hurriedly checked all the videos from that period in fast forward. And as a result, he realized that there was no sign of his brother leaving in any of the videos.

“Your father can carry a golf bag and go play golf.”

Park Do-joon delivered unfortunate news to him.

“But generally, not many people wear hats even in an underground parking lot.”

It’s not strange to wear a hat to avoid the sun when playing golf. But why would you wear a hat and get in the car in an underground parking lot where there is no sun?

“Is the body type of the person in this car closer to your father or your brother?”

Jo Gang-so’s eyes began to shake at those words. His father and brother had similar builds.

“Could it be… really?”

“It might be a good idea to go to the scene and check.”

At those words, Jo Gang-so jumped up from his seat.

“Let’s go to my father’s house right away. The police…!”

“There’s no reason to call the police yet.”

Park Do-joon had already anticipated this situation. That’s why he had prepared what he needed in advance.

“Let’s go and check first.”

The drive to the house didn’t take long.

“Mother, I’m home.”

Jo Gang-so called out to his mother as he entered the house, but there was no answer.

“It seems she’s gone somewhere.”

“That’s strange.”

“Yes?”

“Usually, when a missing person case originates from a house, the family tends to stay there.”

The belief that the missing person might return is a common feeling among the families of missing persons.

Because of that feeling, they can’t bring themselves to leave the house for decades and continue to live in it, and even if they have to move, they periodically contact the new residents to ask if the missing person has been in touch. That’s the mindset of a family with a missing loved one.

“But to leave the place when it hasn’t been long since he went missing…”

“Could that be possible?”

“Well? This is the realm of investigation. Sometimes, unwanted truths come to light.”

Park Do-joon said with a bitter smile.

‘It seems like she’s involved in some way.’

If she is involved, this place is a source of psychological distress for her. As such, there is a high possibility that she does not want to be here.

“But there’s nothing here. There’s no CCTV inside either.”

From the beginning, the purpose of CCTV is to prevent intrusions from the outside, not to monitor the people inside. So it’s natural that there is no CCTV in the house.

“I know. I wasn’t expecting to find anything like that in the first place.”

Park Do-joon said that and asked Ji-soo, who was following him.

“Did you bring enough?”

“Yes, but what did they say? The profiler team asked why we need so much of this.”

“Sometimes it’s necessary.”

“What is it?”

“It’s Luminol.”

“Luminol?”

“It’s a substance that reacts to blood and emits light.”

When liquid luminol is sprayed, it reacts to blood and reveals a fluorescent glow.

“Of course, it also reacts to other things, but usually those are animal blood or fertilizers, but I don’t think there will be any of that here.”

“Why here…?”

“Jo Tae-woo is an adult male. If there was any trouble with Jo Gang-hwa, it is likely that there was a physical confrontation.”

And in the process, blood often splatters.

“Can I spray it now?”

“…Yes, go ahead.”

Jo Gang-so nodded with an uneasy heart. Park Do-joon and Lee Ji-soo soon began to spray luminol there.

“Uh…”

And as the fluorescent color slowly rose from the carpet, Jo Gang-so’s face turned dark.

“That can’t be! This is something…!”

“Blood is a very difficult substance to wash away. Pouring bleach on it doesn’t make it disappear. Especially with things made of fabric like this.”

Movies show people pouring bleach to hide murder, but that can only hide it temporarily, and realistically it doesn’t completely remove the blood.

“Not seeing it and it not existing are completely different issues.”

“But, you said it could be other things, right?”

“That’s right. Usually, bleaches containing iron also cause this reaction.”

“Yes, that must be it.”

‘Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s the case.’

If that were the case, the entire carpet should be glowing, not just a part of it like this. But instead of saying that, Park Do-joon turned his head and looked at Lee Ji-soo.

“Did you bring that?”

“Yes.”

Lee Ji-soo nodded and took something out of her bag.

“Why a pregnancy test kit?”

“It’s not a pregnancy test kit. Human blood is very different from other animals.”

Park Do-joon took it, rubbed a cotton swab on the area where the luminol was shining, and shook it in the reagent.

“Usually, you would think that you need to do a genetic test to confirm it, but modern technology has made it possible to do a simple test on the spot without having to do that.”

“Could it be…”

Park Do-joon stared at the object that looked like a pregnancy test kit for a long time, and slowly two lines began to appear there.

And what that meant was only one thing.

“I think we should call the police now.”

Jo Gang-so was sitting in his father’s house, utterly devastated. The police raided the house, and a full-scale murder investigation commenced.

The Job of a Profiler