My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 368

“So?”

“But, you know, if you kidnap and torture someone right away, do you think they’ll easily admit fault?”

Unless they’ve been tortured to some extent and their mind is broken, why would they apologize before anything even starts?

If torture has occurred, they might do anything to survive, but apologizing before anything has even happened implies fear of the subject.

“Why do you think all four people simultaneously believe the culprit is punishing them?”

“Who knows? Maybe they stole something from his store or committed fraud…?”

“Four people of different ages and genders?”

Unfortunately, that’s unlikely. That’s why Park Do-joon wanted to dismiss this possibility.

But he couldn’t rashly dismiss it either.

“Perhaps the culprit is… a police officer.”

“…What?”

“Police?”

“A police officer?”

Everyone’s voice rose in disbelief.

And some were openly angry.

“I’ve heard you’re hostile to the police, but now you’re just spouting nonsense?”

“No, this isn’t right!”

They already knew that Park Do-joon didn’t side with other police officers, so they were about to get angry.

Seeing this, Kim Si-deok raised his hand to stop them.

“Stop it!”

“Team Leader!”

“I said stop it, you bastard! What if the real culprit is a police officer? Will you take responsibility?”

“……”

“Is there anyone here who doesn’t know there are corrupt cops? If there are corrupt cops, why can’t there be a murderer? Are you sure? Want to bet your job on it?”

“……”

Kim Si-deok coldly pressed them, and although they had dissatisfied expressions, they didn’t say anything more.

But that didn’t mean Kim Si-deok was finished.

“Park Do-joon.”

“Yes, Team Leader Kim.”

“I hope you’re not joking about this. If you are, I’ll deal with you myself.”

“I wouldn’t joke about something like this.”

“Why a police officer, of all people?”

“They all begged the culprit for forgiveness. And in Korea, criminals apologize to the police or prosecutors more than the victims.”

“Hmm…”

There’s definitely something to that. Knowing they’ve done wrong and that the other person has the power to punish them makes them a target of fear.

“Just based on that?”

“It’s not just that. There are no injuries on the victims’ bodies. That means they were kidnapped without resistance. How many people are capable of that?”

He could understand it if it were female victims. In a situation where multiple men are threatening them, they would freeze up instead of resisting.

But if it’s a man? He would naturally struggle to avoid being captured.

“So, what’s a way to prevent the other person from resisting?”

“Hmm!”

What if one of the culprits is actually a police officer?

The victim would have no choice but to back down just because of their presence.

“But they’re criminals. Why aren’t they running away?”

“That’s why I suspect there’s a police officer among the culprits.”

“Why?”

“Actually, impersonating a police officer isn’t difficult.”

It’s possible to make and wear a fake police uniform, and it’s not impossible to act as a plainclothes officer and present a fake ID.

“You know that, and you’re suspecting your colleagues?”

“The victims didn’t run away. But they did apologize. So, I think they’re not currently being pursued, but rather suspects in a case that’s already closed.”

“Suspects in a closed case?”

“Yes, and if they’re already suspected by the police, they have no reason to resist the police.”

If they were committing a crime and running away, they would try to escape.

But if they don’t think they’ve done anything wrong, there’s no reason to run away. The image of the police is both criticized by the entire nation and, at the same time, seen as protecting the people.

“And the police’s investigation methods are simpler than you think.”

“What do you mean?”

“When a case occurs, they start by tracking down people who have committed similar crimes. Knowing that, would they suspect these people are police officers?”

“Hmm.”

Kim Si-deok couldn’t deny that. That’s what they actually did. When something happened, the first thing they did was look for repeat offenders with similar methods.

The problem is that there were too many similar crimes.

For example, if a burglary occurs somewhere, the primary suspects are those with a history of burglary convictions.

In reality, criminals mostly commit crimes in ways they’re familiar with. And this isn’t a bad thing, because this action alone makes repeat offenders shrink back and give up on additional crimes.

“If the victims have a history of being punished for such things in the past, as I expect, they’ll naturally know about this process.”

“I guess so.”

The police will visit them frequently and ask what they’re doing, so they can’t not know.

“Humans adapt to continuous actions.”

“…Damn it.”

The police visit them frequently and act like that, so they won’t act hostile to the police.

Moreover, the police ask for cooperation in the investigation and ask them to accompany them… Would any repeat offender refuse?

“This is driving me crazy.”

It’s not that he doesn’t understand. But even so, Kim Si-deok didn’t want to believe Park Do-joon’s words. A police officer among the culprits? This is beyond the country being turned upside down; the president would have to bow his head in apology!

“That’s just suspicion, though. Okay, let’s say you’re right. But still, it’s just suspicion. There’s no evidence, and you yourself said it’s not impossible to impersonate a police officer…”

Kim Si-deok desperately pointed out the loopholes. And the other police officers nodded in agreement. Of course, Park Do-joon knew that too. Why else would he say that impersonation is possible? But even so, there was another reason why Park Do-joon suspected the police.

“The victims are too good-looking.”

“What are you saying!”

“You horny bastard, were you checking out the victims’ bodies in the meantime?”

“Aren’t you the pervert?”

Seeing the other police officers flare up once again, Park Do-joon smiled bitterly.

‘This is why the police get cursed at.’

Just because he mentioned the possibility of a police officer being the culprit, they immediately branded Park Do-joon as a pervert. Just as Lee Ji-soo was about to say something in disbelief, Park Do-joon raised his hand to stop her. He had to go through this anyway.

“It’s not that I have a perverted desire. It’s because of marketability.”

“Marketability?”

“Yes, marketability. All four of them are good-looking. Whether they’re women or men, they have good bodies.”

“Crazy bastard, are you into that kind of thing?”

“It’s not that I’m into that kind of thing. The important thing is that the victims were ‘selected’.”

“Selected?”

“Yes, you can kidnap someone and film a snuff film [a film depicting the actual killing of someone]. But it’s completely different to have value as a product that’s good to sell.”

“Crazy…! You look at people with that kind of gaze?”

“It’s not me, it’s the culprits who are looking at them that way. Profilers are in the business of tracking that down. You have to understand the culprit to catch them. Don’t you think?”

No one could deny that. In fact, the better they understood the crime and the criminal, the more exponentially the police’s performance increased.

“But you could just randomly see them on the street and kidnap them, right?”

“There have already been four victims. But I looked through the missing persons list, and they weren’t there. How likely do you think that is?”

“That’s…”

Whether it’s family, lovers, or coworkers… If someone suddenly disappears, they’re bound to worry and report it.

But there were no missing person reports.

“But criminals are a bit different.”

“Why?”

“Appearance isn’t correlated with personality.”

The victims are pretty and handsome. But no one is looking for them.

“That means they’re living isolated lives. People who are aesthetically outstanding often have many people around them.”

The fact that they don’t have people around them means they’re likely to have bad personalities.

“What job allows you to find out about criminal records and cohabitation status?”

“This is fucked up.”

The jobs that allow that are extremely limited. No, the police are almost the only ones.

“But isn’t it still possible that they’re not police officers?”

“Of course. But if you investigate, you’ll probably find the answer.”

“The answer?”

“If the victim’s criminal history comes out.”

Perhaps that was the most solid evidence.

As Park Do-joon said, Kim Si-deok began searching for the victims in criminal records instead of the missing persons list. And Park Do-joon advised him.

“Look into fraud.”

“Fraud?”

“Yes.”

“No, why?”

“The victims all appear to be in their mid-20s. The fact that no one is reporting them missing at this age means there’s no one around to report them. And among crimes, the one that touches the people around them first is fraud. Moreover, fraud is a crime where the perpetrator’s appearance is likely to influence the other person. People are fond of pretty and handsome people.”

“Ah…”

Of course, they have to track them down until they find them all. But even having some direction makes tracking much easier.

“If you look, you’ll find something.”

At Park Do-joon’s words, Kim Si-deok mobilized all his personnel to start tracking them down. And when their identities came out in the criminal records, as Park Do-joon had said, Kim Si-deok couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

“One assault, two frauds, and one false accusation.”

Lee Ji-soo also smiled bitterly as she looked at the criminal records. Two of the victims had prior convictions for fraud. Looking at the records, they were people who had lost all their assets in gambling and Bitcoin and committed fraud against people around them to make up for it.

“Only one isn’t fraud, though.”

“If the culprit is a police officer, as I expect, the charge of fraud isn’t important. What’s important is marketability.”

“Well, this woman lives alone too.”

Only one had a history of being punished for false accusations. In fact, the issue of false accusations by women is a serious problem in modern times.

There were too many women who, if they didn’t like someone, would start with a false accusation and try to ruin the other man’s life.

“Moreover, if you make a false accusation like this, you’ll be abandoned even within your family.”

Of course, if the target of the false accusation was another man, perhaps even the family wouldn’t cut ties. But the target of the false accusation wasn’t just any other man, but her own brother.

She falsely accused her own brother of rape when they were alone.

But as a result of the investigation, this turned out to be a lie. At the time she claimed to have been raped, her brother was playing a game.

Of course, if he was simply playing a game, a third party could have played on that account, so it wouldn’t be accepted as evidence, but her brother was doing what’s called a ‘ranked game’ [a competitive video game mode where players are assigned a rank based on their skill level], so he was constantly communicating through the microphone for smooth communication with his teammates.”