My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 335

“Ultimately, the investigation stalled, and it became an unsolved case.”

It was a grotesque case involving a dismembered and frozen body, but because that was the end of it, no further investigation was conducted, and the case was simply left unattended.

“But after hearing the story today, it seems very much like…”

“A cannibalism case, definitely.”

A method focused on the act of eating.

“What about the victim?”

“We couldn’t identify them.”

“You couldn’t identify them?”

“No.”

Only the torso was found; there was no face, arms, or legs, and of course, no identification, so it was impossible to know who the victim was.

“The medical examiner only said it was a man in his twenties. They couldn’t determine the cause of death either.”

“Hmm.”

In the end, something was suspicious, but there was no suitable way to resolve it in that situation.

“Let’s solve this case first and then look at that one. This one is more urgent.”

“Thank you. Oh, by the way, I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Song Pil-man.”

The detective, Song Pil-man, introduced himself and handed Park Do-joon his business card.

“But you mentioned earlier that there was another method of tracking?”

“I’m thinking of looking into the gas usage first.”

“Gas?”

“As I said, this guy lives in an isolated place.”

There is a high probability that he is hiding and living in a place where he doesn’t interact with others.

“But that doesn’t mean he’s chopping wood to cook his meals.”

In other words, he would need some convenience items for his livelihood. He needs electricity and gas.

“It’s hard to see him living a completely isolated life, considering he has a vehicle.”

Furthermore, the fact that a woman is involved in the case means that, realistically, there is some social connection.

“Electricity is available in most places these days, and if needed, there are solar power generators or household generators.”

He might not be able to run power-hungry devices like computers, but he can certainly charge a refrigerator or cell phone.

“Moreover, when you look at that pot, the outside is completely clean.”

If he were using a wood-burning stove, it wouldn’t be so clean. The sides could be scorched from overflowing flames.

“You mean he’s using a gas stove.”

“That’s right.”

“How did you know that?”

“Profiling is a job where you have to assess the situation.”

Something that doesn’t exist is not recognized by others, but sometimes, even considering what doesn’t exist is what profilers do.

“I didn’t see the bottom of the pot, but it’s probably only scorched on the bottom.”

And the only way the flame could cleanly touch the bottom like that is with a gas stove.

“And it probably isn’t a small gas stove. It’s probably a commercial-grade, oversized burner.”

Oversized burners used in *seolleongtang* [ox bone soup] restaurants aren’t as expensive as you might think, and they’re easy to install. Regulations require a professional to install them, but with a little study, it’s not impossible for an ordinary person to install one.

“A commercial burner, why didn’t you mention that earlier?”

“I didn’t see the bottom of the pot.”

There are evidence photos taken from the side, but none showing the bottom, and I couldn’t see the bottom at the scene yesterday either.

“If I throw out uncertain information, it could lead to chasing the wrong leads.”

So, he didn’t say anything because he wanted to confirm it himself first before speaking.

“I’m telling you now, Song Pil-man, because you asked.”

“Gas…”

“There probably aren’t as many sellers of 1-ton tanks as you might think.”

Of course, it’s not like there are no places that sell them, but at the same time, there aren’t that many buyers either. Usually, businesses buy them in bulk, so it’s rare for an individual to buy one and take it away.

“That’s certainly true.”

“Of course, that won’t be easy either.”

Because we don’t even know where the culprit lives.

“We have to look for it anyway.”

Song Pil-man nodded at Park Do-joon’s words.

“If you think of anything, please let me know.”

“I will let you know immediately.”

We need to find the culprit as soon as possible.

Park Do-joon went directly to check the bottom of the large pot. And looking at it, he was able to confirm a few things.

“First of all, the culprit is definitely poor. I think we’ll have to search the used market.”

“The used market?”

“Look at these pots. They’re all discolored, right?”

“Yes.”

Especially the bottom, which was constantly exposed to gas, was discolored. No matter how good the firepower of a gas stove is and how little soot it produces, the pot cannot avoid discoloration if used for a long time.

“It hasn’t been used just once. What does that mean?”

“Unless the culprit runs a restaurant, it means he bought it from the used market.”

“Exactly.”

Indeed, such a large pot wouldn’t be cheap. Of course, it’s not a very expensive item either.

“The perpetrator is likely to be engaged in agriculture.”

Isolated life. The ability to move freely with a 1-ton truck. And if there are few people around, it would be an area with cheap land, making it easy to farm.

“But there’s something I don’t understand.”

“What is it?”

“The culprit doesn’t have a high IQ, right? But could he take such a sophisticated action as disposing of the body to harass the police?”

“I didn’t say he had a low IQ, did I?”

“Huh? I was sure he was isolated from people… Ah, that’s right.”

“It’s true that criminals *seem* to have low IQs.”

That’s because crime is fundamentally committed when someone makes an inaccurate judgment about how their actions will affect them.

In simple terms, when committing a crime, they often think, ‘If I don’t get caught, isn’t that it?’ Of course, there are many other issues to consider afterward, such as the problem of fleeing after committing the crime, the problem of living during the escape period, the problem of cutting off contact with family, etc., but criminals with low intelligence cannot make such precise judgments.

“And this is still uncertain, but the culprit may be a former journalist.”

“A former journalist?”

“Ordinary people don’t know what the police fear most.”

“Ah!”

To the average person, the police are an all-powerful authority. From the perspective of an innocent victim, they think of the police as the authority that will protect them, and conversely, from the perspective of a criminal, they think of the police as holding the power to punish them.

“But how would they think of messing with the police? What would you think if you were treated unfairly by the police?”

“A lawsuit.”

“Right, a lawsuit. But they chose to make the police look bad. What does that mean?”

“Does it mean they accurately recognize what the police fear?”

“That’s right.”

And that fear is basically judged by experience. For example, people who sue the police mostly show a tendency to protect their safety through social litigation.

But in reality, really rich people prefer to give bribes to those in higher positions to cover up the case or ask for retaliation. That’s cheaper and easier.

“Is there a possibility that an ordinary person would choose to pressure through the media?”

“Almost none.”

Even pressuring the other party based on the crime they committed is an absurd act.

“High intelligence and a high probability of being a journalist?”

“Yes.”

“But why didn’t you say that yesterday?”

Park Do-joon sighed deeply at those words.

“Because of the journalists.”

“Yes?”

“What do you think the police would do if I said that?”

“I see.”

Would they call the media and ask, ‘Do you have a journalist of this type?’ Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen. First of all, there are too many media outlets in Korea to ask, and no media outlet would answer the questions of the police without a warrant in the first place.

“Rather, only our information will leak out.”

And in Korea, the media is a powerful group with absolute power. Regardless of the truth, the media will tear them apart for the sole reason of tracking down a former journalist.

“And this case will leak to the outside.”

Until now, they have been secretly investigating, but if it leaks out, the police organization will be torn to shreds.

To be precise, the journalists will gleefully attack the police at the thought of them digging into their past. Frankly, there are very few decent people among journalists, and that’s why journalists hate the police tracking their crimes.

“Even if he is a serial killer.”

It’s not that a serial killer who is a former journalist is bad, but that the police who can’t catch the killer are bad. This kind of shifting of the argument is not difficult for the media.

“And the culprit knows that.”

“That’s why you didn’t say it before?”

“Yes, and frankly, no one knows how long this case will be kept secret.”

There are plenty of police officers who take bribes and leak information. Of course, most of them stay quiet when told to do so from above, but sometimes there are people who need money more urgently.

“Even in this case, there’s a very high possibility that someone will leak information to the outside for money.”

Of course, the possibility of the media imposing an embargo on it is very low.

“And if this fact leaks to the media, the culprit will show one of two reactions.”

One is to go into hiding. And in that case, the media is likely to lean towards protecting him.

“The media protects that crazy bastard?”

“Do you have evidence?”

“Yes?”

“There’s no evidence that he did it, is there?”

There is no evidence. The media will probably portray him as having been unfairly framed, just because he is a former journalist. If that actually happens, the government will have no choice but to release him without clear evidence.

“This is a headache.”

Just tracking down the killer is complicated enough, but Lee Ji-soo shook her head, overwhelmed by the fact that she had to secretly arrest the culprit while using her brain against the media.

“It’s always like that. People’s psychology is like a spider web. It’s not over just because you cut one strand.”

Arresting someone based on suspicion without clear evidence only makes the other person more wary.

“You shouldn’t approach this publicly, but personally.”

“Personally?”

“Yes, if you approach it publicly, they think you’re protecting the journalist and attack the police, but if you think that a guy who had a falling out with them is being attacked, then conversely, they’ll gleefully tear him apart. That’s human nature.”

Lee Ji-soo didn’t understand those words. But as she talked with the person Park Do-joon met next, she finally understood why Park Do-joon said those words.

A Professional Profiler