My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 358

“He’s risking his entire political career for just that one thing?”

Of course, that’s absurd. Given her family background, Jung Iyeon had met countless politicians. And none of them would risk their political careers for a small favor.

“Especially in the current situation?”

“That’s why I suspect he knows the real culprit.”

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to make such a bold move. Hearing that, both Jung Iyeon and Lee Jisu’s faces hardened. There was only one explanation.

“Are you saying Hong Woojong killed Teacher Kwon Kangwon?”

“We can’t rule it out.”

“Just to exploit a weakness?”

“Think about what he’s done.”

At that, the two were speechless. They couldn’t ignore the possibility.

“Senior, then there’s something I don’t understand.”

“What is it?”

“How can Oh Banghwan being acquitted be used as leverage?”

The principle of double jeopardy [being tried twice for the same crime]. You can’t be tried again for the same crime unless there’s some powerful evidence to overturn it.

Realistically, it can’t be used as leverage unless there’s solid evidence that he’s the culprit.

“Of course, that’s generally true. But if you assume Oh Banghwan is innocent, the solution is simple.”

“Simple?”

“Yes, we don’t know who the real culprit is, do we?”

“That’s right.”

“And what was Detective Kim Manhyuk’s initial theory?”

“A contract killing. Ah, I see.”

If it was a contract killing, the real culprit must be someone else. So, if Oh Banghwan can submit that evidence, he’ll be acquitted.

“But conversely, it’s not difficult to fabricate evidence that Oh Banghwan paid the hitman.”

Unless the real culprit is caught, if someone can present evidence that he committed the murder? And if they can submit evidence that he was hired by Oh Banghwan?

“Could it be…!”

“Surprisingly, it happens often. Framing someone is one of the oldest criminal acts.”

And as long as that weakness exists, Oh Banghwan will have no choice but to be absolutely loyal to Hong Woojong.

‘But this isn’t a strategy a typical congressman would come up with.’

Especially if it’s something that would inevitably lead to political attacks.

‘Someone must have advised him… Han Sunggi?’

He’s the only one who comes to mind. And if this wasn’t recognized as a crime, it should be in my memory. But this isn’t something I remember.

‘So, it’s something that never happened originally.’

Then the only variable is Han Sunggi.

‘I don’t know why he’s risking his political life for this, but I roughly understand the situation.’

Han Sunggi and Hong Woojong plan to exploit Oh Banghwan’s weakness for the future.

“Then what do we do? Should we find out if it’s a false accusation and announce it?”

“That would be playing into their hands.”

It’s not that Oh Banghwan directly killed him, but there’s no evidence that Oh Banghwan didn’t commission the contract killing in the first place.

“Could this be a problem later on?”

“It’s highly likely. The media has already spread rumors that Oh Banghwan is the culprit. That image doesn’t go away.”

“I guess so. That’s why celebrities can’t make a comeback.”

Having seen several cases, Jung Iyeon nodded as if she understood.

“Many celebrities are unfairly targeted, and that eventually erodes their image.”

From false accusations of sex crimes to assault and threats, there are countless people trying to extort money from celebrities by falsely accusing them.

Michael Jackson, who once dominated the world, never shook off the false accusation of being a child molester until the moment he died.

Later, the person who was a child at the time said, ‘My father told me to lie,’ but Michael Jackson, who had to shed that false image, was already dead.

“If a self-proclaimed hitman comes forward with fabricated evidence after a long time, Oh Banghwan will fall into the abyss.”

Because he already has the image of a murderer.

Moreover, he was an enemy of Kwon Kangwon, and crucially, Oh Banghwan is rich enough to commission a contract killing.

“Leverage…”

Jung Iyeon frowned at Park Dojun’s cold judgment. But even with Jung Iyeon’s judgment, this wasn’t a normal statement.

“Then how do we break this?”

“It’s simple. Make sure Oh Banghwan gets punished.”

“But Senior, you thought Oh Banghwan was innocent, didn’t you?”

“I did.”

He was still certain about that.

“But I didn’t say he was innocent of other crimes.”

“Huh?”

“You’ll understand once you see today’s investigation records.”

Park Dojun said with a bitter smile.

Ogi Middle School is a private middle school. It’s not exactly considered prestigious, just a typical middle school. There’s nothing particularly strange about it. Unlike Seonghong High School, it hasn’t manipulated grades.

That’s natural. What’s important for getting into college is high school grades, not middle school grades.

Of course, manipulating grades would be convenient, but it’s also risky. If a student who was first in middle school suddenly drops to 30th in high school, it becomes even more disadvantageous.

Moreover, high school is compulsory and has a random assignment system, so you can’t even know which school you’ll go to or whether grade manipulation will be possible at that school.

“And realistically, getting into a high school where grade manipulation is possible is almost a miracle.”

So, it’s safer to leave middle school alone and manipulate grades in high school. The goal is college, and there’s no verification process before that.

“But why is Teacher Ju Gibeom suspicious?”

Ju Gibeom. He was a teacher at Ogi Middle School who actively tried to intervene in the case. He was 45 years old, and his reputation within the school wasn’t very good. In particular, there were many messages from fellow teachers stating that he was power-hungry and flaunted his closeness to Oh Banghwan.

Lee Jisu still looked puzzled.

“You analyzed that he was suspicious, didn’t you?”

“That’s why it’s strange. According to Senior’s judgment, it’s related to the opposite gender, right? But Teacher Ju Gibeom is a man, isn’t he? And you said he doesn’t seem bisexual, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. That’s why I’m expecting the worst.”

“The worst? What’s the worst that could happen in this situation…?”

As she spoke, Lee Jisu’s eyes flickered. There was only one worst-case scenario in this situation.

“Could it be?”

“It’s not just a possibility. It’s not like it’s an unprecedented event, is it?”

“Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Who would easily consider that possibility?”

One of the many occupational hazards of being a profiler is always assuming the worst in every case.

Because if you can predict it, you have to prevent it.

It’s natural, but Lee Jisu, still a novice, didn’t have that occupational hazard of predicting the worst yet.

In fact, it’s an occupational hazard you want to avoid if it’s not necessary.

“You two, I don’t understand what you’re talking about?”

Jung Iyeon, who had followed them, interjected and asked, and Park Dojun sighed deeply and said,

“This is a middle school. And it’s co-ed [mixed gender].”

“That’s right.”

“And teachers have a significantly superior position over children. Sometimes, they use that superior position to lead children in a bad direction.”

“I know that, Senior. If you’re in the legal profession, you see all sorts of things. There was even a guy who deceived some kids into thinking he loved them and slept with them…”

As she spoke, Jung Iyeon’s face turned pale.

“Could it be… no, right?”

“I hoped not.”

“But you’ve never met him, have you? How do you know?”

“I checked the student records Ju Gibeom wrote.”

Writing reflects a person’s thoughts. Especially when writing about evaluating others, those thoughts are even more strongly reflected.

“And he wrote based on extremely personal criteria, not general standards.”

“Extremely personal criteria?”

“Yes, usually teachers try to write positively in these student records unless there’s a special problem.”

Unless it’s a child who causes serious social problems or extremely problematic children, teachers don’t want to ruin their students’ futures.

“Moreover, there aren’t many students in a class these days.”

Right now, there are only fourteen students in a class at Ogi Middle School. It’s a structure where individual relationships between teachers and students are easily connected, and naturally, teachers want to give children a good future.

“But to put it bluntly, he shows animosity towards the children. Especially towards children who are out of his control.”

“Children out of control?”

“Yes.”

“But writing negatively about problem children isn’t illegal, is it? No, in the first place, I think it’s a problem to hide the problems of problem children and only write good things. When I read the student records of school violence offenders, it’s disgusting. They beat up a kid and hospitalized him and stole tens of millions of won [Korean currency], but what does it say in their student records? They have leadership skills. Since when is a criminal record leadership? I think that’s worse.”

Park Dojun smiled bitterly at that.

In reality, student records have a stronger influence on admissions than you might think.

In the past, student records didn’t have a big impact. But as social interest in school violence and character issues has increased and the proportion of rolling admissions has increased, the importance of student records has inevitably increased.

Logically, which school would want to select someone with a history of violence? Can such a person really enhance the school’s reputation?

It’s a relief if they don’t cause violence in the school.

“I agree with you on that point. Those who should be weeded out should be weeded out. But Ju Gibeom isn’t like that.”

He wrote seriously insulting remarks in the student records about children who didn’t cause social problems but expressed slight dissatisfaction with his control or didn’t move as he ordered.

“The problem is that it’s not easy to fix those student records.”

It’s a part of the child’s future, so once a student record is written, it can’t be changed arbitrarily so that it’s written carefully.

“People probably don’t know how many lawsuits there are from people asking to rewrite student records written about their children because they don’t like them.”

Student records are legally protected to the extent that people are willing to sue.

“But writing ‘They have no concept of rules or respect and are likely to become criminals in the future’ is absurd.”