My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 463

And this is where the real problem begins.

It seems those islanders are all complicit.

Most of the people arrested, and even the staff who worked there, are accomplices to human trafficking and perpetrators of rape.

‘And a guy like this gets himself into a very tight spot.’

The man fidgeting in front of me, the village chief, looked incredibly uncomfortable.

“Why did you do it?” I asked, pressing him.

“No, what are you talking about?” he stammered.

“They’ve already told us everything. They said you gave them the orders, Chief. Is that true?”

“What? Who said that? Who would say such a thing?” he blustered.

“The criminals did. They said they received your orders, every single one.”

If it were just a typical woman engaging in prostitution, they wouldn’t have noticed anything amiss unless she reported it or asked for help. But these women…

In that case, at worst, there would be a punishment for prostitution. But they could clearly see that these women had disabilities and even knew that they were physically abused, covered in bruises and injuries.

Nevertheless, they didn’t report it; they concealed everything.

With hundreds of people on one island becoming accomplices all at once, it painted a grim picture.

‘And the position of village chief is like being the local kingpin.’

Outsiders can never become the chief on the island. Even if someone moves there, they’re treated as an outsider who can never be fully trusted.

‘That means the village chief actually knows the truth of what’s been happening.’

According to the previous homeowner, the house was built about eight years ago, and it had been empty for almost seven. From the moment they moved in, they faced relentless bullying from the locals.

They demanded a usage fee of 20 million won [approximately $15,000 USD] just for using groundwater, and another 30 million won [approximately $22,500 USD] for receiving electricity from the generator. Since it’s an island, you can’t even leave except through the port, but using a boat at the port was made impossible for them.

Regular ships came only twice a week, and in an emergency, they couldn’t get out, so they felt their lives were constantly threatened. Later, during a festival on the island, a wealthy person even pressured them to donate millions of won.

And when they refused, they scattered rotting fish around the house, making it unbearable to live there due to the stench. They thought, ‘These guys are going to kill me,’ so they gave up everything and fled the island.

They didn’t even put the house up for sale because they feared that if someone else moved in, those people might actually be killed.

‘This bullying isn’t just about trying to assert dominance because they settled there first.’

It’s about trying to gain financial benefits by exploiting their position. And the person who instigated all of it is this village chief. He has lived here for a long time, dominated this area for a long time, and controlled the people here for a long time.

‘In other words, there was some kind of agreement with the criminals.’

I don’t know exactly when they started using that empty house, but they’ve been buying alcohol for 20 years. In contrast, the house was built only 10 years ago. That means they had been operating somewhere else on the island even before that.

And there’s no way the village chief, who has held power for so long, wouldn’t know about such a place. Even if the owner doesn’t visit the empty house, can they just use it as they please? No way.

‘Empty houses in such isolated spaces are practically considered communal property.’

Moreover, it’s a well-built and well-maintained house. There’s no way there wouldn’t be other people who want to use it. In that situation, who would allow or condone a criminal group using that house?

“The criminals said you took most of the profits,” I stated, watching his reaction.

“No, what are you saying?” he repeated, his voice rising in pitch.

“You told them where to move when they were working in the village, you took most of the money, and they said you were practically the main culprit.”

Of course, the criminals never explicitly said what Park Do-joon was implying. But inferring that much wasn’t difficult. After all, the house is in a village on an island, and the chief controls everything.

‘Moreover, the village chief is old.’

He’s not the right age to be sexually interested in the victims, and in the first place, it’s impossible to sexually gratify mentally disabled women. “Entertainment” isn’t just about the act itself, but also about catering to their desires and whims.

‘In fact, as men get older, their desire for power often becomes stronger.’

There are many cases where people who weren’t like that in the past suddenly change as they age. This is because as sexual desire decreases, the desire to dominate is projected into the desire for power rather than sexual gratification.

In fact, what works well for the elderly is power and money, not sexual favors. That means this village chief would have received money rather than sexual favors.

“They said you were the main culprit. Then that situation makes perfect sense. It explains why you mobilized dozens of people to try to prevent the police from landing at all costs, and why you desperately ordered people not to cooperate with the investigation even when they were arrested.”

At Park Do-joon’s words, the village chief’s heart pounded. It was true that he had turned a blind eye and provided some convenience, and it was also true that he had received a considerable amount of money in return.

“Circumstantially, it’s enough to see you as the main culprit,” I said, driving the point home.

“No! It’s not!” he cried out, his composure crumbling.

“What do you mean it’s not? They all told us! They said you told them to take the women they were holding to the sea and throw them away if they died from illness or violence.”

“No, no! It’s really not!” he insisted, sweat beading on his forehead.

“And they said you took the babies and threw them into the sea when they were born!”

‘There’s no way the village chief wouldn’t know.’

A baby being born on a small island is such an unusual event that the villagers can’t possibly not know. Once a woman is pregnant, they wouldn’t be the kind of people to give her time off work for the sake of the baby and the mother.

Moreover, there’s no way they wouldn’t know if they heard a baby crying on an island where there are no other children. And if that happened repeatedly, the village chief, who has lived there for a long time, would have to know, even if no one else did.

Of course, it’s not like the village chief was directly involved in the murders.

‘The important thing is to make them believe they are being suspected.’

And if the other person believes that you have uncovered a considerable truth, especially if they think they will take the blame, they will desperately try to make excuses.

“No! It’s really not. It’s true that I received some money from them, but that doesn’t mean I was involved in murder or killing babies!” he exclaimed, his voice cracking.

“They said you took the boat and threw them into the sea yourself?” I pressed.

“I’m going crazy! Why would I do such a thing if I were crazy! Embankment No. 4! Yes, Embankment No. 4 is their boat! It’s the boat they used to ride! Why would I lend them my boat for such a thing if I were crazy!”

“But it’s true that you helped with human trafficking!” I accused.

“No, I didn’t. Of course, it’s true that I turned a blind eye a little……!” he admitted, his voice barely a whisper.

The village chief’s hands trembled. He never thought that the criminals would pin the charge of infanticide on him.

“I didn’t throw them away……! No, I didn’t kill them! Usually, they did it themselves!” he blurted out.

“They did it themselves?” I asked, feigning surprise.

“Yes, when a baby was born, they, they took the babies to the island by boat, saying they were sending them to an orphanage!”

“Orphanage?”

“Yes, so I thought all the kids were safe there. I may not have lived a morally upright life, but I’m not such a shameless person!”

The village chief’s hands trembled even more violently. Park Do-joon changed his tone back to polite speech and said to the desperate village chief,

“Can you testify to that?”

“Of course. I, I really didn’t know…….”

In law, if there is a witness, punishment is possible even if there is no concrete evidence. And the criminals hadn’t revealed what they did with the women they killed and the newborns.

“Did you check?” I asked Yoo Gi-tae, turning to him with a hopeful expectation.

And Yoo Gi-tae shook his head.

“Yes, there are no infants who entered any orphanage during the time the village chief mentioned.”

“Did you check properly?” I pressed.

“We checked not only Mokpo and Gwangju but also the entire Jeonnam area [South Jeolla Province].”

“Shit!” I cursed under my breath.

“H, how can they be so cruel……!” Lee Ji-soo gasped, trembling all over as if shocked.

“These damn bastards, in the end……!” I muttered, frustration boiling over.

According to the village chief, they said they took the babies to the orphanage after they were born. But there is no record of them receiving any children anywhere during that time.

Then there is only one possible answer.

“Are these guys even human?” I asked, disgusted.

“They’re monsters,” Yoo Gi-tae replied grimly.

The shell may be human, but the things inside are monsters.

“The people in that area just leave it alone?” Lee Ji-soo asked, incredulous.

“They pretend not to know,” Yoo Gi-tae said, his voice heavy.

“No, how can they pretend not to know when they clearly do?” she persisted.

“They pretend not to know because it’s related to them,” Yoo Gi-tae explained.

“Yes?” Lee Ji-soo asked, confused.

“You can’t know whose child it is. But what if you *do* know whose child it is? That guy has to take responsibility. Would guys who rape disabled people for one night of pleasure have any intention of doing that?”

Such guys have no sense of responsibility. There are so many such men all over the world right now. Back in the day in Korea, when a child was born between a Korean woman and an American soldier, they were ridiculed as mixed-race, and most of the so-called fathers ran away back to the American mainland.

It’s not just the American soldiers that are the problem; Korea is the same. There are so many kids that Koreans have fathered and abandoned in countries like the Philippines that it’s becoming a significant social problem.

“They don’t want to take responsibility, but someone else is dirtying their hands instead,” Yoo Gi-tae concluded.

Of course, they subtly turn their eyes away and pretend not to know. They may pretend not to know, telling themselves that the criminals might throw the newborn babies into the sea, but they could also have been adopted by good parents from an orphanage.

“You son of a bitch,” Yoo Gi-tae spat out, biting his lip so hard in anger that blood flowed from his lips.

“Now that the testimony has come out, the punishment itself won’t be difficult,” I said, trying to steer the conversation back to the case.

It would be different if there was no testimony, but the testimony has been given.

“What if they reverse their testimony? Frankly, that’s highly likely,” Lee Ji-soo asked worriedly. She doesn’t know yet because a lawyer hasn’t been assigned, but if a lawyer is assigned and tells them to shut up, they might change their words then.

“Well, that could happen,” I conceded.

“Tell them to prove it,” I said, a plan forming in my mind.

“Yes?” Yoo Gi-tae asked, tilting his head in confusion at Park Do-joon’s words.

“If you tell them to tell the truth, the lawyer will definitely tell them to exercise their right to remain silent in order to gain legal advantage.”

From the lawyer’s point of view, they don’t know how the suspect’s words will be used, so it is common practice to tell them to unconditionally exercise their right to remain silent until the case is properly reviewed once they take the case.

“And lawyers basically protect their clients,” I continued.

Who cares about other people? There is no reason to pay attention to people who have not hired them, and there are no such lawyers.

“So, tell them to talk about other people who can prove it,” I clarified.

“Other people who can prove it?” Yoo Gi-tae repeated, still puzzled.

“Yes, people who can prove that the village chief told the truth. If you appeal to the fact that you haven’t forgotten one of the many mistakes the police make, the lawyer will try to seize that opportunity.”

“The police’s mistake?”

“The police’s right to investigate is not just to prove guilt.” I stated.