My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 357

In reality, Germany has a significantly lower installation rate of black boxes or CCTVs compared to Korea. This isn’t because Germany is poor, but because Germans readily come forward as witnesses when they see an incident. They don’t hesitate to get involved.

There’s even a joke in Germany that retired old men watching out the window are substitutes for CCTV.

“Then what about deleting them now?”

“Yes, I told them to send the texts, but I didn’t expect the real culprit or accomplice to be among them from the start. As I said before, everyone suspects different people based on their individual opinions. There’s something I always tell the police when I talk to them: ask clear questions.”

If you vaguely ask, ‘Did you see anyone suspicious?’ no one will see anything, or it will only create unnecessary confusion.

“Take a look at the texts.”

Park Do-joon handed Kim Man-hyuk the pre-printed texts. Most of the texts weren’t very long. From simple reports of who was suspicious to slightly longer messages saying that Oh Bang-hwan seemed to be close with a certain teacher, that was mostly it.

“What’s different about these?”

“There are no question marks.”

“Question marks?”

“Yes, they’re not interested in the case.”

They just care about themselves, so they’re either trying to protect their own safety or expressing some aggressive feelings towards someone they don’t like.

Within those feelings, there’s no one who’s interested in the case.

“But what about this teacher?”

Park Do-joon sent the separately extracted text history. Kim Man-hyuk’s eyes widened as he looked at it.

-I think Mr. Lee, who is in charge of the 3rd grade, class 3, is suspicious. He is close to Oh Bang-hwan.

-Also, in the case of Mr. Park, the homeroom teacher of the 1st grade, class 2, it seems like he is having an affair.

-The head teacher of the 2nd grade saw Mr. Oh Bang-hwan meeting separately outside before with her own two eyes.

-But how is the case going? Will it affect our school? Should I start preparing for a job change too?

-But did Oh Bang-hwan really kill someone? If he really killed someone, what will happen to the foundation?

“What is this person?”

There were many people who suspected more than necessary, and there were also many questions.

“Lee Ji-soo said that there are three reactions. Run away. Hide. And try to get involved in the case.”

“The third one!”

At those words, Kim Man-hyuk seemed to understand why Park Do-joon bothered to go to the school and provoke the other teachers.

From the culprit’s point of view, the police who came to their surroundings would be unsettling, so they would likely show one of the three reactions.

“And in this case, they mostly show the third reaction.”

“Why?”

“We’re assuming that Oh Bang-hwan didn’t commit murder. So I expressed it as an accomplice, but I didn’t say an accomplice to what crime.”

“I see. If the culprit knows that he is being falsely accused?”

“Yes, knowing that he is not an accomplice to murder, he will be more mentally comfortable.”

Then there’s no reason to run away. But it’s also too unsettling to go into hiding. Then what’s the method?

“They’re going to try to actively get involved in the case?”

“That’s right.”

Park Do-joon said that while tapping the text message content.

“But this person……”

Kim Man-hyuk checked the person’s name on the list and asked, tilting his head.

“It’s a man?”

Didn’t Park Do-joon himself say that this shows a similar pattern of behavior to an affair? But this teacher is a man.

Of course, it’s possible that Oh Bang-hwan is bisexual.

“Um, but this person is also…… married?”

This teacher and Oh Bang-hwan are both married men. But why are they meeting in secret?

“I guess we’ll know once we meet them.”

Park Do-joon smiled bitterly.

“Well, I can guess what the ending will be.”

But he didn’t say anything more than that.

# Rotten Rope

“Detective! Detective!”

Park Do-joon barely opened his eyes at the sound of someone knocking on the door. Then, yawning widely, he started to put on some clothes.

“Wait a minute. What’s going on at this hour?”

After roughly putting on his clothes and opening the door, Jung Yi-yeon was standing there, not as perfectly made up as usual. Normally, Jung Yi-yeon never shows a disheveled appearance. It’s not just because she’s a lawyer, but because she herself is the type of person who dislikes showing a disheveled appearance.

But today, she was wearing a wrinkled suit and her makeup felt like she had barely put it on, as if she had come in a hurry.

“No matter how much I want to see you, suddenly coming like this……”

“This is not the time for jokes. The situation has suddenly changed.”

“What changed?”

“Haven’t you seen this morning’s newspaper yet?”

“I haven’t seen it yet. I just woke up.”

“Look at this.”

Park Do-joon frowned as he received the newspaper that Jung Yi-yeon handed him.

“Is this bastard crazy?”

He is tracking Oh Bang-hwan. But Hong Woo-jong suddenly intervened. With unexpected information.

-Assemblyman Hong Woo-jong reveals that Oh Bang-hwan did not commit murder.

“What is this? Why is this happening?”

“Ugh, come in first.”

Park Do-joon let Jung Yi-yeon inside and read the newspaper all the way through. In fact, there wasn’t really any content. The content was obvious.

Hong Woo-jong was shielding Oh Bang-hwan, saying that he was not a murderer.

“Do they know each other?”

“Well? Maybe they do. This is Hong Woo-jong’s district, after all. But why did you come all the way here?”

“What else could I do when I couldn’t reach you? Do you know how chaotic it has become right now?”

“Well, I can roughly understand the situation.”

“You understand?”

There’s no way other politicians would just let this situation pass.

Politicians don’t officially convey their opinions to the outside world. No, they can’t. Especially in cases related to crimes like this.

This is because many people feel that a politician conveying their opinion is realistically giving orders to the police or prosecutors.

And that’s actually the case. When a politician says to a reporter, ‘I think someone is being falsely accused,’ it’s not just because they know each other, but it’s a signal to the police and prosecutors.

A signal to cover up this case.

“And there’s no way other assemblymen would just let that happen.”

Especially the assemblymen in the opposition party. Even if you don’t watch the internet or TV, they’ll be gleefully tearing him apart and cursing him.

“Does this make sense?”

“Don’t get excited. I told you. There’s a very high possibility that Oh Bang-hwan is not the culprit.”

“That’s true, but……”

Jung Yi-yeon also heard those words. But still, in one corner of her mind, she thought that Oh Bang-hwan was the culprit. But suddenly, when a member of the National Assembly, no less, intervened in the case, she was so surprised that she rushed over.

“Well, looking at the situation, it seemed like Oh Bang-hwan wasn’t the culprit, but.”

“No, isn’t that just a prediction?”

“I was going to find out about that today.”

“Today?”

“Yeah.”

“Then does that mean Hong Woo-jong’s words are correct?”

“I have to see it as correct. But this is…… really interesting.”

Simply speaking out publicly because they’re on your side? Assemblymen aren’t as stupid as you think. They all have plans and move for specific purposes.

In the first place, an assemblyman who is that stupid can’t do politics.

For example, let’s say a certain politician suddenly shouts, ‘Tenno Heika Banzai! [Long live the Emperor!]’ Even if that happens, would that person really be pro-Japanese and respect the Japanese army?

No. It means that there is someone he has to protect even if he throws himself as bait, and he is dedicating himself to protect them.

And of course, the people who can exert that much pressure on an assemblyman, or who can compensate him for such actions, are extremely limited.

‘There’s no way Hong Woo-jong wouldn’t know that.’

He’s a guy who prepares for years to kill his own brother. There’s no way such a guy would go to the media that the whole nation is watching and shout, ‘Oh Bang-hwan is being falsely accused,’ without any purpose.

“Hmm.”

“Detective, something terrible has happened! On the news right now…… uh?”

At that moment, Lee Ji-soo, who was rushing in through the door, flinched when she saw Park Do-joon and Jung Yi-yeon.

“I’m sorry. It’s not a big deal. Have a good time……”

“It’s not like that. Come in. I just heard about it from Yi-yeon too.”

“Ah, yes.”

Lee Ji-soo quickly came and took a seat across from Park Do-joon at those words. Park Do-joon organized the variables in his head instead of making excuses, even though she had come.

“Detective, what do you think? No matter how I look at it, it seems like something’s going on.”

“That’s probably it. Hong Woo-jong probably knows who the culprit is.”

“What?”

“Yes, Detective? What do you mean by that?”

“It’s as it sounds. Hong Woo-jong is not a guy who does something rashly.”

Hong Woo-jong hates taking risks. He’s a guy who prepares very meticulously when he prepares something. I’m not just talking about the Hong Geun-jong issue. It’s Europe, where countless refugees and criminals are rampant.

Did he accidentally pick and hire a guy who was already wanted for terrorism in that place? Two of them, at that?

‘There’s no way.’

He must have hired such a person to prevent him from being half-alive or not being able to handle the job properly because he has no experience in murder.

Would such a guy just take sides because he’s close to him? A human who tries to kill his own family?

‘There’s no way.’

In the end, it means there’s some kind of purpose.

“It seems like he’s trying to do Oh Bang-hwan a favor of some kind.”

“A favor?”

“Yeah, I don’t know what it is, but there’s an element to use Oh Bang-hwan, and to use that, he’s doing him a favor…… no, it would be more accurate to say he’s trying to get a hold of his weakness.”

“You’re making a weakness?”

“Yeah, that’s actually the case with criminals a lot.”

Cases of committing crimes by taking advantage of the other person’s weaknesses are so common that they’re overflowing. Threatening family, threatening lives, or extorting money by threatening the other person’s weaknesses.

“And sometimes they make weaknesses.”

“You’re making weaknesses?”

“Yeah.”

‘Although it’s very rare.’

Of course, I don’t remember the details of the case. But I know enough that there are guys who use the other person in that way.

‘Especially in the political world, they prefer that method.’

To put it nicely, it’s doing them a favor, and to put it badly, it’s making weaknesses, using them, and then abandoning them later.

“But what kind of weakness is this? Knowing that he’s being falsely accused? Of course, I’m grateful, but even if the police accept this interview as an order, it’s not a case that can be covered up, right?”

Furthermore, Hong Woo-jong is only a two-term assemblyman. No matter how much the police are subservient to power, Hong Woo-jong’s power is not enough to accept the interview of a mere two-term assemblyman as an order.

“I know. It won’t be an order. But it’s creating a piece of evidence externally.”

“What kind of evidence?”

“I did Oh Bang-hwan a favor.”

Then later, Oh Bang-hwan has to work for him.

Profiler by trade