My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 457

“Let’s go this way first.”

Park Do-joon was certain that this Ivory Store held some vital information.

“Liquor? Of course, we sell it.”

“Did you report that?”

“Report what?”

“If you sell liquor in large quantities, you have to report it to the tax office.”

“Huh? Is there such a thing? I’ve never heard of it.”

As expected, the grandmother who seemed to be in charge looked genuinely surprised.

“Originally, this place was managed by my late husband, so I don’t know much about it.”

“Pardon? When did your husband pass away?”

“It’s already been 12 years.”

“Ah….”

It was understandable that she wouldn’t know much, having inherited the business after her husband, who actually managed it, had passed away. The National Tax Service probably wouldn’t bother checking up on a small store like this.

“Then who buys the liquor, Grandma? Do you have many customers here?”

“Well, not many customers.”

As expected, she said there weren’t many customers. The surrounding salt farms had almost disappeared, and there were only a few houses nearby.

“Just people passing by from time to time.”

The grandmother said she spends her days chatting with those people and sometimes making ramen for tourists who stop by.

“Then how do you manage your living expenses?”

Lee Ji-soo was surprised by that question. It didn’t seem like the store generated enough income to cover her living expenses.

Of course, she still sold liquor, but the taxes on liquor were so high that there wouldn’t be much profit left over.

“My children in Seoul send me money. What money would I make here?”

“Ah~!”

The grandmother waved her hand dismissively, as if there was no money to be made here.

“Don’t you ever go to Seoul?”

“I don’t like it there; it’s too hectic.”

Indeed, it would be difficult for an old woman who has lived quietly watching the sea her whole life to adjust to the complicated and bustling city of Seoul.

“Then do many people come to buy the liquor?”

“Yes, there are some people who come regularly and ask me to order liquor for them.”

At those words, Yoo Gi-tae’s eyes widened.

“Really? Who are they? Where do they come from?”

“I don’t know. They ask me to order it, so I order it.”

“Ah, do you happen to know when they come?”

“They already picked it up. You’ll have to wait about a month for them to come next time….”

She said they came a week ago and ordered liquor. At those words, Lee Ji-soo unknowingly let out a frustrated sound. A month. It was a short time if it was short, but a long time if it was long. Someone could die in the meantime, or there could be another kidnapping.

Moreover, they were in a situation where they couldn’t just wait here for a month.

Seeing Lee Ji-soo’s expression, the grandmother asked worriedly.

“Did those people do something bad?”

“Yes, they did.”

“Bad people should be punished.”

“Aren’t you upset?”

“What’s there to be upset about at my age? It’s not like I’m making much money anyway.”

The grandmother said in a relaxed voice.

“Even if I don’t want to live in Seoul, I have to go when it’s time.”

It seemed like it was getting too difficult to live alone.

“Did you come all the way here? Should I make you some ramen?”

“No, thank you.”

“Eat it. You don’t need to pay. I’m closing down soon anyway.”

Come to think of it, there were many empty spaces on the shelves. In the past, she would have restocked them, but she wasn’t doing that anymore, which meant she was thinking of closing up shop and was in the process of organizing her things.

“You’re not going to wait here anyway, are you? I’ll call you when they come, so eat some ramen and go.”

“Yes, then I’ll gladly eat it.”

When Park Do-joon said he would eat it as a matter of course, Lee Ji-soo was slightly surprised but nodded her head helplessly.

“Ramen is delicious, but… is it okay to accept this?”

“This is welfare.”

“Welfare?”

Lee Ji-soo tilted her head at Park Do-joon’s words. Getting ramen is welfare. But she was soon able to understand Park Do-joon’s words.

“It’s not like she’s running a store here because she needs the money. Old people of that age miss having company.”

“Ah….”

“What more would she want than to make ramen for someone?”

In fact, the price of ramen hanging on the wall is only 2,000 won [approximately $1.50 USD]. In these days when a bowl of ramen costs well over 5,000 won, what would she have left if she only received 2,000 won while also making ramen and giving kimchi [a traditional Korean side dish of fermented vegetables]?

“She just misses chatting with people while they eat ramen.”

Park Do-joon knew that, so he gladly accepted the ramen.

“And thanks to that, we were able to get good information, right? Originally, chatting is seemingly random but also systematic. As I’ve said many times, in most situations, the reason you can’t get information is often because you’re asking the wrong questions.”

What if it was another police officer? Perhaps they would have only asked what they needed and left without saying anything if she said she didn’t know. The investigation time would have been no more than 20 minutes.

Because that grandmother wouldn’t have committed a crime anyway.

“But conversation stimulates memory the more you have it.”

So he was able to hear many unexpected stories from the grandmother.

“First of all, they’ve been regulars for over 20 years. And they buy liquor in large quantities every time. They always bring a 1-ton truck, but the car changes. And two rough-looking men come together. And they also buy other snacks. And finally, women sometimes come with them. But the women wait in the car.”

They were seemingly trivial things, but they were very valuable pieces of information to Park Do-joon.

“If it’s been over 20 years, that means they’ve been running a bar for at least that long.”

“Yes, at least that long. And at least one crime has been committed during that time.”

According to the grandmother, the women looked like they were “lacking something” in most cases. No matter how old the grandmother was, she wouldn’t be unable to distinguish between normal and disabled, so there was only one conclusion.

“They’re probably kidnapping women and dragging them in on a regular basis.”

“…You son of a bitch.”

Yoo Gi-tae, who was listening next to him, gritted his teeth. He suspected it, but he never thought this would really be happening.

“Now it’s moving on to kidnapping and murder.”

“If they show leniency again, citing local customs, I’ll shoot the judge in the head with a gun.”

Yoo Gi-tae said, gritting his teeth.

“That won’t happen. No, don’t worry, I won’t let that happen.”

In the first place, in a situation where even infanticide is suspected beyond kidnapping, it is impossible to say such nonsense as showing leniency.

“The fact that the truck changes every time probably means that they can’t bring their own vehicle, so they borrow a vehicle to move it.”

Because they use a freight transport service called Yongdal [a Korean moving service] to move it, the vehicle changes every time. In addition, the fact that two men come and move hundreds of boxes means that there are guys who work on a fixed basis.

“And the fact that they also buy snacks means that they actually run a bar.”

No matter how physically demanding and difficult fishing or salt farming is, there is no reason to buy over a hundred boxes of liquor. Even if they drink it all, they usually just eat side dishes from home as snacks, and they rarely buy large quantities of snacks, including dried snacks.

“Anyway, do we have to wait a month again?”

Yoo Gi-tae said as if he was frustrated.

“It might not be a month; it might be the end.”

“The end?”

“If the grandmother said she was closing the store, they won’t come again.”

“Ah!”

“Damn it!”

At those words, Lee Ji-soo and Yoo Gi-tae were taken aback. They were so focused on the case that they had forgotten about it.

“Did she really say that?”

“She probably did. The store is almost empty. If she was going to be open until a month later, she would have filled it with goods.”

“Then should we look for another store? Damn it!”

If they were to check the suspicious amount of traffic, it would take more than a month, so the tracking would be completely blocked. But Park Do-joon wasn’t without a way.

“Don’t worry. I’ve roughly figured out how to track them.”

“You figured it out?”

“Yes, looking at their patterns, they’re probably engaged in fishing.”

At Park Do-joon’s words, Yoo Gi-tae tilted his head. He talked about the men, but he couldn’t know whether it was fishing or salt farming. There were no photos, so he couldn’t even infer it. But Park Do-joon had already profiled it in his head.

“Fishing, you say?”

“Yes, I checked the regular ships while listening to the story. But when I looked, there was no ship that matched the time they came.”

Regular ships move on a fixed date and time. The larger islands go once or twice a day, but the smaller islands go around this island and that island about once a week.

Monday is A Island, Tuesday is B Island… like that.

“But when I roughly heard the dates they came, it wasn’t that.”

They come about once a month, but the day of the week is irregular.

“That means they have a ship, a ship that can carry hundreds of boxes of liquor.”

Of course, people who do salt farms on the island also have ships, but they are not the size of ships that can carry hundreds of boxes of liquor. It’s just a size that people can ride and go back and forth.

“Well, if there are a hundred boxes of liquor, the amount is already in tons.”

Of course, you can force it onto a small boat, but in the case of a small boat, the balance is likely to be broken even with that much.

“But still, isn’t it possible to load it at all? I think it’s possible if small boats are well balanced. And salt farm owners often have quite large boats, right?”

“That’s right. But salt farms take up a lot of space. Decisively, the terrain of fishing and salt farming is completely different.”

“Terrain? Aha! I keep forgetting.”

Lee Ji-soo was taken aback. Terrain is a very important factor in profiling. But in the case of Lee Ji-soo, who still lacks experience, she often forgets about factors such as terrain. It seems that profiling has a strong feeling that psychology is the priority.

“Terrain, you say?”

“In order for a ship to dock, the water depth must be deep. Conversely, salt farms must have a large area of land. If the water depth suddenly becomes deep, there will not be enough space.”

“Aha!”

“And decisively, it’s a matter of which one is more labor-intensive.”

“Isn’t it naturally a salt farm?”

“No. You have to think in terms of consumption.”

Of course, salt farms also require a lot of labor. However, the main principle of salt farms is to dry seawater with sunlight to make salt.

“In other words, it doesn’t require a lot of labor compared to the space.”

It is a labor-intensive business, but that is only the case with the old methods.

“Would they really have enough commercial viability in such a place?”

“Ah….”

Most salt farms eat, drink, and live in their own units. Naturally, the space between salt farms is quite wide.

“Even if they are legal workers, it is difficult for them to easily go out and play. On the other hand, fishing is different.”

Unless it’s a deep-sea fishing boat, they have to come into port once a day to unload and sell the fish. Small fishing boats don’t have refrigeration facilities, so they usually just store the fish with ice.