My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 467

It’s only possible to persuade or talk to someone when they’re at least trying to respond. But Director Lim had completely shut down, not even attempting to engage.

“God damn it! I can’t even torture him.”

Director Lim seemed to realize he was in a seriously dangerous situation. He hired a lawyer as soon as he arrived and clammed up, while the lawyer was busy raising hell, demanding evidence first.

“Hmm.”

Park Do-joon looked at Director Lim in that situation and asked,

“So, two villas, you said?”

“Yes.”

“Where are they?”

“Pardon?”

“You said you have two villas in the countryside?”

“I did.”

“Where are they located?”

Yoo Gi-tae wondered if that was important in this situation, but Park Do-joon thought it was more important than it seemed.

“Perhaps that place is his second hometown, or where he’s planning to retire.”

“What do you mean?”

“Terrain, or rather, a region, is not something you can easily change.”

People who live in Busan don’t suddenly move to Daegu or Ulsan.

“Moving to a different region means severing all your existing connections and livelihood and leaving for that place.”

Park Do-joon said, tapping the file.

“In Seoul, Director Lim is an unmarried, single man living in a rented room. And realistically, he doesn’t have much time left before retirement.”

He had worked at Sang-ah Hospital for a long time, but he wasn’t young.

“He’s a rehabilitation therapist at the hospital.”

“That’s right.”

“Generally, if you’ve worked for 20 years, you usually get something.”

Whether it’s a team leader, a part leader, or a section chief, they usually give you some kind of title. With experience, you can control the subordinates. But if that were the case, the head nurses would have known him. He would have participated in meetings and such.

“But he was just a regular employee. Not giving any title to someone who has worked for 20 years is, in fact, absurd from a general company’s perspective.”

“Um, so?”

“In other words, we can assume that he has a rather serious personality problem.”

We’d have to investigate the people around him to know for sure, but he’s likely someone who doesn’t get along with people, or rather, can’t.

“However, he doesn’t cause any major problems, and Sang-ah Hospital is so famous as a black hospital [a hospital with a poor reputation due to difficult working conditions] that it’s not easy to find employees, so they just left him alone.”

In fact, Sang-ah Hospital is famous as a specialized hospital for the disabled, but it was rumored to be a very difficult place to work.

“But he bought two villas in the countryside.”

“Yes.”

“Generally, if the conditions allow, you’d use the money to rent a larger place or improve your current living environment.”

But Director Lim lives in a small studio apartment and pays rent.

“The price of villas in the countryside is different, but considering the rent for a studio in Seoul, it might be better to do that.”

Instead of owning a villa in the countryside and receiving about 500,000 won in monthly rent, you could get a two-room apartment in Seoul and improve your living situation.

“Buying two houses in the countryside means that, in addition to investment, you’re also considering the possibility of going down there to live if things go wrong.”

But why would a guy who doesn’t even have proper relationships in Seoul go to the countryside?

“He might go because it’s his hometown. But if it’s not his hometown, it could be because he wants to use existing connections.”

“Could it be?”

“Yes, birds of a feather flock together.”

A criminal who commits such crimes can never get along with ordinary people. It’s not a matter of common sense or understanding.

“Their way of thinking is completely different.”

Who would want to be close to someone who secretly believes that anything is okay as long as they get money?

Especially when there’s a high possibility that you could become a victim of that ideology.

“It’s possible if they associate with someone who shares the same mindset but can’t betray them.”

Park Do-joon frowned and said,

“And we can assume that this has been going on for at least 20 years. If people have been working together with a shared secret for 20 years, it’s strange if the relationship exists only in the business realm.”

Especially if they’re similar and get along well, it’s even more likely.

“Are you saying there might be another criminal there?”

“It’s highly likely.”

It’s not certain. But humans are quite picky about moving their residence.

“Moving to an area without any basis usually means they’re tired of the people around them and don’t want to be involved with them.”

But looking at Director Lim, he’s not the type to be tired of his surroundings and want to leave; rather, people distance themselves from him.

“A gang in the countryside?”

“It’s true that there are many people in Seoul and Gyeonggi, but not all criminals are in Seoul.”

Especially in the case of criminals who operate nationwide.

“Wait a minute.”

At that, Yoo Gi-tae hurriedly checked the area where the house was located. And he told them where that area was.

“Pyeongchang, huh.”

“Pyeongchang, huh…”

Park Do-joon stroked his chin at that. Then he said,

“We’ll know once we go there.”

Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province. A city famous to people for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. But after the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics ended, the situation in that city wasn’t very good.

“The curse of the Olympics, they say.”

“The curse of the Olympics?”

Lee Ji-soo, who was looking at the scenery of Pyeongchang flowing outside the window, tilted her head.

“Ah, I’ve heard of that too.”

“What is it?”

“It refers to the process of the economy collapsing after hosting the Olympics.”

To host the Olympics, you naturally have to build all sorts of facilities and do a lot of construction.

Like accommodations for athletes or accommodations for tourists.

“It’s not just that that needs to be built.”

You also have to build all sorts of amenities and stadiums, and since the influx of tourists has to eat and drink, you have to increase the number of stores accordingly.

“The problem is after it’s over.”

The number of tourists decreases, and after the athletes leave, buildings start to empty. Athlete villages are usually built with permanent rentals in mind, but local private buildings are not.

“The local commercial district immediately becomes difficult.”

Originally, if there were 300 tourists, but 2,000 come during the Olympics, the problem is that you have to create facilities for those 2,000 people to eat and drink.

Even if you reduce it as much as possible, you have to cover at least 1,500 people. But after they leave, even if tourism increases due to promotion, more than 1,500 people don’t continue to come. At best, about 500 people.

“Then, in an instant, the space and restaurants for 1,000 people become empty. And that affects the entire region.”

It’s not just restaurants, but also accommodations. In particular, stadiums are often abandoned altogether.

“So the economy plummets dramatically in a short period of time. That’s why they call it the curse of the Olympics.”

Of course, it’s not just something that happens at the Olympics, but it happens a lot in international competitions.

“Is that so?”

“Men like sports, so.”

Park Do-joon said, looking out the window.

“But it’s not entirely bad.”

“Why?”

“You can’t avoid the decline in the economy in the short term. But in the long term, it brings about the improvement of infrastructure.”

And when infrastructure improves, the population tends to increase.

“And Pyeongchang is not yet in a situation where that infrastructure expansion is stable.”

Of course, it’s not to the point where the economy collapses to the level of a curse and goes bankrupt, but the economy is still quite bad.

“But it’s not bad to live in. If you have some money, that is.”

The hospital was also newly built, and the building is new. The villa that Director Lim bought is also one of those new villas.

“So it’s not a bad choice for the purpose of living there long-term.”

“But, Detective Park, how do we track him down?”

It’s true that Director Lim bought a house in Pyeongchang. He bought two houses based in a fairly close area. But Director Lim still isn’t saying anything.

“That’s right. That’s the problem. This bastard won’t open his mouth.”

“The lawyer is claiming innocence?”

“Yes, it seems inevitable.”

They couldn’t hide from the opposing lawyer that there was no evidence that Director Lim had committed a crime. So he’s taking the direction of innocence and pushing forward.

The fact that they identified Director Lim was not because they found the culprit or evidence of the crime, but only because they identified a place where he might be through incident analysis.

If Director Lim hadn’t fled that day, they wouldn’t have been able to arrest him, let alone investigate him.

“Is there any attempt to escape?”

“He heard from the lawyer that the police have no evidence, so there isn’t really.”

“What about the hospital?”

“It seems they’ve suspended him.”

“Well, it would be unsettling.”

From the hospital’s point of view, they’d be horrified to have a trafficker of disabled people among their employees.

“And currently under investigation, but as Detective Park Do-joon expected, there are quite a few missing people among the patients who have visited that hospital.”

Especially among the mentally disabled, there are a lot of missing people.

“So we’re investigating.”

The problem is that there’s no evidence that Director Lim is behind it at all. Of course, it’s true that Director Lim accessed the patient’s records, but in the first place, Director Lim is a rehabilitation therapist, so he has no choice but to access the patients’ medical records.

The problem is that in the case of Sang-ah Hospital, even if it’s recorded whether they access the medical record system, there’s no way to check when and whose records they checked.

“If we can’t find any evidence, we’ll have no choice but to release him.”

“If we go to a real estate agent, we’ll probably find something.”

“But it’s already been four years.”

Yoo Gi-tae said worriedly. Of course, they checked the transaction records, confirmed the name of the real estate agent who brokered the deal, and knew that he was still active. But apart from that, the problem is that it’s unlikely that he’ll have memories from four years ago.

The electronic record is just that, an electronic record.

“As I’ve said many times.”

Park Do-joon said calmly, looking at the passing scenery.

“If the question is wrong, people won’t remember anything.”

“Hwangdo Real Estate. Where Director Lim bought the villa.”

“If you say someone who came here four years ago, I won’t remember.”

And Park Hwang-do, the president of Hwangdo Real Estate, said as if it were natural.

“We don’t just broker one or two properties.”

“Are there many villa transactions?”

“Well, it would be a lie to say there aren’t. It’s a bit cheaper than apartments. And if it’s been four years…”

Park Hwang-do shook his head, looking at the records at the time as if trying to recall his memory.