My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 307

And companies that promote such sycophants usually fail before long. However, public positions, like those in the police force, rarely face bankruptcy. Therefore, individuals skilled in flattery or bribery often advance more readily than those who excel in their duties.

“I’d prefer dealing with someone utterly corrupt; then I could simply take them down.”

Unfortunately, while the officer might be incompetent, he wasn’t significantly corrupt.

“Can’t we just report him?”

“Do you think that would actually work?”

In the original timeline, Lee Chang-man was eventually transferred to a regional post for sexually harassing female officers. Unable to cope, he resigned. However, the female officers who exposed him didn’t emerge unscathed. They were all fired for taking what could have been resolved internally to the media.

Ironically, Lee Chang-man, despite being transferred, resigned voluntarily and received his retirement pay. But the female officers who exposed him were caught on some pretext and dismissed, forfeiting their retirement pay.

“If Ji-soo can’t stand it and blows up, she’ll be fired.”

Of course, even if Lee Ji-soo were fired, she’s still young… young enough to start over. But she has dedicated years to becoming a police officer and a profiler.

Could she risk losing that dream to expose him?

“Hmm, Ji-soo must be in a tough spot.”

“Yeah.”

“Since we have time, let’s solve this methodically. But isn’t the senior officer more concerned than he should be? This doesn’t make sense. Why are they requesting profiling for a simple no-show case? Shouldn’t they just track the phone number?”

Park Do-joon shook his head.

“If it were that simple, that bastard wouldn’t have brought it to me in the first place.”

“Is there something else?”

“This guy is vicious. The phone is a burner phone [a disposable, untraceable phone].”

“A burner phone? Who uses a burner phone for a no-show?”

“That’s true, but there’s a reason I’m calling him vicious.”

Park Do-joon sighed deeply. After all, there’s no established profiling method for no-shows. Who would profile no-shows when they’re busy with serious cases?

“But sometimes, I think it might be necessary.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, there are quite a few of these no-show cases. But not usually as meticulously planned as this one.”

No one uses a burner phone for a simple no-show. Even if someone does, they usually keep it within their circle because burner phones are closely linked to criminal activity, and they want to avoid exposure.

Using a burner phone for a no-show case, where an investigation is almost guaranteed, suggests the no-show itself is the primary objective.

“Moreover, there are four numbers. I didn’t even realize.”

“Four? You mean he’s changed numbers four times already, Senior?”

“Yeah, that’s what’s amazing.”

He uses one number for a while, and when it becomes compromised or rumors start spreading, he discards it and switches to another burner phone for making no-show reservations. When he gets tired of that, he switches again.

“There are many businesses that have been hit by these no-shows four times.”

“Hit four times?”

“No one remembers a voice for years. They usually remember the number.”

So, when a reservation comes in from a different number, they have no choice but to accept it, and if it’s a no-show, the business suffers the loss.

“At first, I thought Lee Chang-man was trying to mess with me by giving me something ridiculous to do.”

No-show cases don’t require profiling, so I assumed he was challenging my pride with a nonsensical case.

“But after investigating, that’s not it. The local police are also suffering from the damage, so they had no choice but to ask for help.”

“How much damage are we talking about?”

“The total damage so far is 160 million won [approximately $120,000 USD].”

“Wow, crazy…! That much damage from no-shows?”

“Yeah, that’s why it’s so vicious. And the problem isn’t just the amount, it’s the type of business he targets.”

“Huh? Why?”

“When you look at the no-shows this guy makes, he only targets places that can’t recycle the food.”

For example, a meat restaurant isn’t as severely affected by a no-show because the meat is refrigerated. Even with a no-show, they can sell the meat later.

Of course, they lose potential customers during that time, but they don’t have to discard all the food.

“But this guy makes no-shows at various places, from kimbap shops [Korean seaweed rice rolls] to Chinese restaurants to sashimi restaurants. Do you know what these places have in common?”

“Places where the food doesn’t have a long shelf life.”

“That’s right.”

Chinese restaurants often have everything pre-cooked and ready, from the noodles to the ingredients, and kimbap shops will have piles of kimbap prepared. Sashimi restaurants, of course, have to discard all the fish they’ve prepared due to the risk of food poisoning if it sits too long.

“He never makes reservations at places where they can store the food, like meat restaurants or soup restaurants.”

“This guy is vicious.”

Jung Yi-yeon shook her head. Just from what Park Do-joon said, he’s already a terrible person, but deliberately choosing places where they have to discard the food is truly wicked.

“So, I’m thinking of handling this properly this time.”

“You are, Senior?”

“Yeah, Lee Chang-man is annoying, but this is a problem causing massive damage.”

“Wow, profiling for no-shows… That’s amazing.”

“All criminals have their own psychology. If we can understand that, it’ll be easier to catch them later.”

“So, you want me to help you with that.”

Jung Yi-yeon smiled knowingly.

“The police probably won’t help, and even if they do, the punishment won’t be severe.”

“You know it well since you’re a lawyer.”

“It’s ambiguous.”

It clearly falls under the category of obstruction of business. The problem is that obstruction of business almost always results in just a fine.

“We need a prison sentence… But I don’t know.”

“The no-show amount is large, but there’s a perception that it’s not a socially significant crime. Even I think this will end with a hefty fine.”

For obstruction of business to result in a prison sentence, the business must suffer severe damage from the action. Realistically, a prison sentence is unlikely unless the business is almost ruined.

So, at most, it’ll be a fine, and that’s what Park Do-joon is worried about.

“I don’t think this guy has the money to pay the fine.”

“You’ve already figured that out?”

“I’ve got a rough idea. The important thing is that this guy will work it off with his body even if he gets a fine [referring to community service or other forms of labor].”

“But how can I help with that?”

“If we don’t take him down through civil means after he’s worked it off, he won’t break this habit.”

To be precise, if we don’t continuously pressure the criminal through civil lawsuits, he’s likely to continue this behavior.

Some people can’t break their habits unless they feel like someone is tracking them and aware of their actions.

“So, you want us to handle the civil case?”

“Yeah, at least if a civil lawsuit is filed, he’ll be a target of tracking.”

Of course, actually receiving compensation is a different matter, but in this case, the victims will probably want to avoid getting involved with this crazy guy.

“Well, that sounds interesting. I’ll do it, Senior.”

“Okay.”

“But to do that, we need to get a request first, right?”

“We’ll find out when we go to the police station.”

And all we have to do is officially receive the case from them.

“Ah, the no-show case?”

Joo Joong-tae, the head of the detective division at Gwangmyeong Police Station, nodded as if he knew.

“I did submit it. I didn’t expect you to come.”

“The damage amount is significant. 160 million, you said?”

“No, it’s 180 million [approximately $135,000 USD].”

“Pardon?”

“It’s been a few months since I submitted that.”

Although he submitted the documents, the higher-ups couldn’t allocate personnel to a mere no-show case, so it was completely sidelined.

‘Wow, he found it meticulously.’

It seems that Team Leader Lee Chang-man, who was looking for a case to mess with me, found it and assigned it to Park Do-joon.

“He’s changed his phone again in the meantime.”

“That’s the fifth phone change already.”

“Don’t even mention it. We’re trying to catch him, but it’s not easy.”

“It wouldn’t be.”

He’s talking on a burner phone. We already got a warrant and tracked the phone, but it only shows a completely unrelated Chinese name.

“So, there’s no tracking at all?”

In fact, it’s not impossible to track if you try. Because these days, all phones can be tracked with fairly precise methods. There are more than a few location-based services, and it would be impossible to use them if the location wasn’t precise.

“This guy has completely turned off location-based services. He turns off the power completely when he’s not using it.”

“Even with a warrant, it’s not impossible, is it?”

“Plus, this guy always calls while moving.”

“Hmm.”

He calls and makes reservations while moving. Generally, he reserves around 7 PM and reserves seats for a significant number of people.

“He’s a very vicious bastard.”

Park Do-joon also admitted that he’s a vicious bastard. 7 PM. The reason this is vicious is that it’s a time when restaurants lose their entire evening.

If the reservation time is 7 PM, they can’t take the evening customers who start coming in at 6 PM. Moreover, they don’t realize it’s a no-show until after 7:30 PM. In other words, unless something special happens, they lose their business for the night.

Of course, they can try to do business even if it’s a no-show after 7:30 PM, but with a loss of hundreds of thousands to millions of won [tens to thousands of US dollars], the owner’s will to do business is likely to collapse, and they’re likely to lose business not only that day but also the next day.

“Of course, I feel sorry. It’s just a no-show case. But if we leave this guy alone, he’ll keep doing this.”

“You did well. We need to step in at this point.”

Although serious crimes such as murder and robbery are important, we can’t ignore ordinary crimes. In particular, the way this criminal creates victims continuously gives the victims psychological shock, which can even endanger their livelihoods.

In the case of sashimi restaurants, the shock is enormous when a no-show occurs.

The price of fish used for sashimi isn’t cheap, and freshness is essential due to the nature of sashimi, so it can’t be sold if it’s been caught for a few hours. However, if they only start preparing after the customers arrive, they can’t serve sashimi for dozens of people in a short amount of time. Therefore, sashimi restaurants generally catch the fish and start preparing at least 30 minutes before the reservation.

A Profiler by Trade