My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 33

“Demanding money from newly moved-in residents is so common in a village that it’s not even treated as a case. Of course, even if you report it to the local police, they just tell you to pay up and be done with it.”

It’s blatant extortion, but that’s the reality.

“What if the police actually punished those people?”

“The mayor would step in and get that cop fired.”

It’s only natural that the local police would become complicit.

“Then, wouldn’t there be too many potential murder suspects?”

“Well, it’s ambiguous. It’s hard to pinpoint a clear motive for murder.”

“Huh? Why is that?”

“Murder is an extreme choice.”

The prevailing emotion these people have is hatred, not extreme animosity.

“But there are people who kill for trivial reasons, right? Like psychopaths or sociopaths.”

“That’s true. But do you know what the defining characteristic of those people is?”

“What is it?”

“They’re selfish.”

They are selfish.

They don’t care about others and can’t stand to lose out themselves.

“Would such a person have tolerated these disadvantages for decades?”

“Ah, I see.”

If such a deranged person was in the village, a murder would have already occurred, or they would have joined forces with those people and wielded power.

“It’s possible. But they’d probably be one of the dead.”

In contrast, the others aren’t like that. They are in a disadvantageous situation and annoyed, but that’s not enough reason to commit murder.

“Then who killed them?”

“I don’t know. I need to meet all the villagers first.”

Park Do-joon said that as he continued to meet the villagers.

Most people had similar reactions.

‘They deserved to die.’ ‘They’re not particularly pitiful.’

The most favorable comment was, ‘They’re a little pitiful.’

That’s how isolated the deceased were in the village.

“Nothing.”

But regardless, Park Do-joon couldn’t help but fall into *gomin* [deep contemplation or worry].

“You mean there’s no one suspicious?”

“Yeah. There’s no one particularly suspicious.”

It didn’t take long to meet the villagers in a small village with a population of ninety—no, now only eighty.

But looking at those people, there was no one who seemed strange.

“If they committed murder, there should be some emotional turmoil.”

At the very least, they should show strong animosity towards the deceased. That’s how they justify their murder.

“Most people said they deserved to die; isn’t that hostile?”

“A murderer’s hostility doesn’t end there.”

It’s not just that the other person is a bad guy. They need to gain the justification that they are right, so they portray the other person as the worst kind of scoundrel.

“But no one showed that level of high-intensity hostility.”

That’s the problem. Everyone is at a level where they don’t feel sorry about the death, but no one is really saying that the other person should have died.

“That difference is huge.”

“Then who killed those people?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

Kim Woo-chang is the only one who went into the village hall and came out.

There’s no back door. I inspected the windows and other areas, but nothing came out.

“Didn’t they put poison in it in advance? Like in a pot or something.”

“Was the goal indiscriminate murder? No way.”

If you put pesticide in a pot, that really becomes indiscriminate murder.

“No, I heard they used it as a base [as in, the stew was the foundation of the meal]?”

“It could be, but as I said before, no villagers had enough animosity to commit murder.”

Murder is never something you can do easily.

“Then what, did someone else come and do something? But who would have such a grudge?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

It didn’t seem like the villagers would have that much of a grudge. Park Do-joon blankly stared at the setting sun.

‘The evidence clearly points to Kim Woo-chang as the culprit.’

But Kim Woo-chang doesn’t look like a murderer.

Then what’s the other answer? How could they put pesticide in the spicy fish stew without anyone knowing?

Park Do-joon squinted slightly as he stared blankly at the setting field.

“Aren’t there more people over there than I thought?”

“Huh? It looks like there are a lot. Didn’t we meet all the villagers?”

“We did.”

I met most of the villagers since morning. But about thirty people were working in the field over there.

“Let’s go.”

As they headed there, the farmer they first met in the village was working hard with other people.

“Oh, police officer! So, did you find anything?”

“Only that they’re bad guys.”

“Yeah, they’re bad guys.”

The farmer nodded.

Park Do-joon agreed with him and glanced at the people.

“Who are those people?”

“Who? Those people? They’re workers, right?”

“Workers?”

“Yes.”

At those words, Park Do-joon tried to take a closer look at them.

At that moment, the farmer subtly blocked him.

“Hey, don’t do this.”

“Yes?”

“No, the situation is a bit… like that.”

“What’s wrong with the situation?”

“We can’t work without these people in the countryside.”

Park Do-joon looked at him with a puzzled expression.

In the meantime, Jung Yi-yeon quickly went to them to check their faces and shouted to Park Do-joon.

“Detective, these people aren’t Korean?”

“They’re not Korean?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, so they’re foreign workers.”

“Oh, ah… can you just let it go this time?”

Looking at the troubled farmer, Park Do-joon could see one thing.

“They’re working illegally.”

“No, well… that’s the thing… the countryside is a bit like that. Who wants to work in the countryside these days?”

Park Do-joon nodded at those words.

“I’ll pretend I don’t know because it’s not my jurisdiction.”

“Oh? Really?”

“It’s not like I don’t know the situation in the countryside.”

Korean workers don’t like working in the countryside. That’s because the money is not much compared to the work. Of course, that little money is 100,000 won per day [approximately $75 USD], but if you work a regular job in the city, you can earn more than that.

That doesn’t mean you can use foreign workers as you please. That’s not true either. Under current law, the employment of foreign workers has a permanent employment clause attached, but from the perspective of having to use people only during the short farming season like now, there is no reason to maintain that number of people.

‘Moreover, the countryside is more comfortable for illegal workers.’

Because these rural areas pay in cash on the spot when giving money. In the case of companies, account transfers must be made due to accounting issues, and even if they give money, they must upload foreign registration numbers.

Otherwise, it will not be recognized as an expense. However, in the case of day labor, there is no reason to do so, so they can report only the amount and settle in cash on the spot. The countryside is the best workplace for foreigners who cannot receive money into their accounts due to illegal stay.

‘It’s true that many people actually come.’

Park Do-joon thought so as he looked at the people working hard. And suddenly, a thought came to mind.

“Can’t you work if you don’t use foreign workers?”

“I can’t. It’s impossible. There are things that can be done by machine and things that can be done by people. Who would want to live in this countryside?”

Even villages with hundreds of people don’t want to go, so if it’s a village with only ninety people, people definitely won’t want to come.

“Then what do the victims do?”

“Victims?”

“Yes, the deceased.”

“Those people have an orchard over there.”

The data Park Do-joon received only stated that the victims were farmers, and it didn’t specify what crops they grew. In fact, that’s not very important in a criminal investigation.

But for a profiler, that’s quite important.

“There’s almost no machine work in an orchard, right?”

“No.”

In an orchard, people have to pick the fruits themselves or prune the branches. Therefore, there is not much that machines can do.

Even when harvesting, you have to cut them one by one, so machines cannot do the work in the orchard.

“Then do they use a lot of foreign workers there too?”

“It’s more there, not less. The field can be plowed by machine. The orchard doesn’t even have a machine, what.”

All you can do with a machine is spray pesticides or fertilizers.”

“So everyone works there.”

“That’s right.”

“Ah, then would the deceased have treated those people well?”

“There’s no way… wait a minute. Seo! Come here!”

At those words, a man who was supervising the people working in a slightly distant place approached.

“This person is the one who sends people to our neighborhood. Mr. Seo, this is a police officer from Seoul.”

At those words, the man called Seo flinched and tried to run away. Then, he looked at the working people and wondered if he should shout for them to run away. Fortunately, Park Do-joon was expecting that, so he stopped him.

“I don’t intend to do anything. I just want to ask some questions. I don’t intend to report or deport you.”

“Yes? Ah, yes. Well, if that’s the case…”

“You know about the recent accident, right?”

“I know.”

“Did you send workers to the field that they were working on?”

“Yes. Well…”

He said that he sent them because even if they were thugs, they couldn’t not give money, unless they didn’t want to send workers next time, and then they would have to farm alone, which would be impossible.

Of course, they could not give money if they wanted to, but of course, they would not send workers next time, and then they would have to farm alone, which would be impossible.

“Then are there many people working there?”

“It varies depending on the season.”

Park Do-joon nodded at the words that they use a lot during the fruit picking season, and relatively less during the growing season when they just give some fertilizer.

“Have there ever been any disputes with foreign workers?”

“Well, there have been some from time to time. The personality is too *simhaeseo* [rough/intense/severe]. Some workers don’t even go to that house.”

The contractor called Seo spoke slowly as if recalling his memories.

‘I guess those guys with that kind of personality wouldn’t treat the workers well.’

As Park Do-joon asked questions, Jung Yi-yeon lowered her voice and asked.

“Detective, do you think one of the workers committed the murder?”

“It’s not impossible.”

The workers are the ones who come and go as closely as the villagers. For people who work at a company but live separately, their main living space is their workplace, not their home.

In other words, if you only think about the population here, there are not many people, but if you think about the workers, the story is a bit different.

“Was there any big incident in there? Like an incident that made you want to kill them.”

“An incident that made you want to kill them?”

After thinking for a while, Seo said something as if he had remembered something.