My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 494

Being a member of the National Assembly only allows one to stage protest visits. Of course, even that is annoying and gives headaches, but it doesn’t actually strike a blow to the police’s power.

“Well, I guess the Chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection is a different story.”

But the Chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection is different. If necessary, the Chairman can inflict severe damage on the police’s power, even to the point of firing the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency.

Whether it’s central or local, bribery and negotiation are essential to climb to the position of Commissioner General.

“So, they’re feeling a little nervous now. And Song Won-nam is such a principled person.”

“So, you want me to make a good impression so he’ll go easy on us?”

“Something like that.”

Then, while looking for a capable person, Park Do-joon caught their eye. Park Do-joon let out a hollow laugh at that.

“Are you kidding me?”

“You dislike it that much?”

“It’s not that I dislike it. It’s just that I don’t think he’s the type to just let things go even if the case is solved.”

“Well, probably not.”

If he’s such a principled person, he’s not the type to cover up corruption just because you found his granddaughter, thinking of it as a favor.

“Whatever they say above, that’s their problem.”

Park Do-joon nodded at Jo Sang-gyu’s words. Jo Sang-gyu was definitely not wrong.

Regardless of whether Song Won-nam has power or not, the police should be trying to find his granddaughter.

Rather, it’s more of a problem that they left it unsolved and neglected it all this time just because he didn’t have power.

“But I’d like you to keep this a secret. You know the saying ‘beat the grass to scare the snake,’ right?” [A proverb meaning to act indirectly to achieve a goal, often by alerting someone without directly confronting them].

“I know what you mean.”

What would happen if they told Song Won-nam they would find his granddaughter but ultimately failed? Of course, Song Won-nam would be angry. Then, they might suffer even worse retaliation.

“Since we have all the necessary data, anyway. It’s already been 16 years, so I don’t think there will be anything additional that comes out.”

“Understood. I’ll investigate quietly.”

Park Do-joon took the file that Jo Sang-gyu handed him and went outside. Then, he sat down and started reading it.

“Detective, can we solve this? It’s a case from 16 years ago? The statute of limitations has passed, too.”

“Well, that depends on the situation.”

“Huh?”

“There are things like that. Let’s look at the documents first.”

Park Do-joon and Lee Ji-soo started reading the documents together. It was a case from 16 years ago, but the investigation had been conducted thoroughly.

“16 years ago, the granddaughter disappeared from her home.”

At that time, Song Won-nam was a successful sociologist who traveled around giving lectures. He had a son, and the son gave Song Won-nam a grandson and a granddaughter after he got married. But 16 years ago, the granddaughter disappeared due to that incident.

“And the child disappeared while they were away from home.”

The time they were away from home was very short at that time. About 10 minutes. The daughter-in-law, who was taking care of the child, went next door to return something she had borrowed, and the child disappeared.

“It was summer, so the door was open, but there wasn’t really an opportunity for the child to disappear.”

The daughter was asleep, and she confirmed that and quickly returned what she had borrowed from the neighbor.

The time was about 10 minutes at most.

“The scene was a corridor-style apartment, and there were no CCTV cameras at that time.”

After the child disappeared, the whole neighborhood was searched thoroughly, and people around searched for the child here and there, but eventually, they couldn’t find the child.

“No evidence either.”

There were no CCTV videos, and it wasn’t an apartment with entry records, and there were no witnesses.

The daughter-in-law has been suffering from chronic depression since the incident, and Song Won-nam’s wife died a few years later, worrying about her missing granddaughter.

“She’s been holding on well.”

“Do you think so?”

“Yes, in these cases, it’s common to put the blame on the person who was watching them.”

So, in many cases, the mother commits suicide or can’t stand it and gets divorced. But the fact that they are still living together, even though she is suffering from depression, means that they are taking good care of her.

“Since it’s a family of scholars, they seem to be quite rational.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean there won’t be any shock. You can tell just by the fact that Song Won-nam, who had kept his distance from power as a sociologist all his life, entered politics because of that incident.

“According to the case records, they thought someone wanted money and kidnapped her.”

“Yes, it seems that’s what they thought at the time.”

Park Do-joon said that, scratching his cheek.

“The police in charge at the time did a terrible job. I guess it’s true.”

“Huh?”

“The police in charge at the time were the guys we were involved with last time, Do Go-bong.”

“Wait a minute. That Do Go-bong? The one who was giving us a hard time?”

“That’s right.”

When the Bunghwa-dong Squirrel was arrested, Do Go-bong gave Park Do-joon all kinds of attitude. He asked why he didn’t tell him.

But it’s not that Park Do-joon didn’t tell him. Park Do-joon requested a meeting and submitted a report, but it was Do Go-bong who threw it in the trash.

“Ah, I didn’t know.”

“I didn’t think I’d be involved like this either.”

The records left by Do Go-bong and the investigation team stated that it was a kidnapping for money, and the perpetrator kidnapped the child to demand money but got scared when things got out of hand and abandoned or killed the child.

“But this is not the opinion of a profiler.”

“Huh?”

Park Do-joon said that and checked the profiler’s records at the time. It was the opinion of a profiler who had already retired.

“The profiler’s analysis at the time is definitely not wrong. It’s completely different from what Do Go-bong and the investigation team did.”

“What does it say?”

“When you’re still learning like you, it’s better to think for yourself first and then listen to other people’s opinions. That way, you won’t be influenced.”

At those words, Lee Ji-soo thought for a moment and said.

“I don’t think it was a kidnapping for money.”

“Why?”

“You said the house was a corridor-style apartment. Wow, a corridor-style apartment. I’ve never even been in one. I’ve heard of them, though.”

“That’s right.”

16 years ago may seem like a very long time, like a memory of the past, but in terms of the development of modern science and technology, especially in terms of the architectural trends of that era, corridor-style apartments were practically not used.

Already at that time, the trend was apartments with elevators in the middle and people using them on both sides.

“Corridor-style apartments were almost last built more than 30 years ago.”

“Yes, hearing that makes me think that the house wasn’t exactly an expensive place.”

“That’s right. It’s not an expensive place.”

Of course, it’s not an era where corridor-style apartments have all been demolished after a long time. In fact, many corridor-style apartments still remain. But even at that time, corridor-style apartments were behind the latest trends, so they weren’t relatively very expensive.

“But if they were after money, there’s no reason to kidnap her from there.”

“That’s right. Moreover, Song Won-nam wasn’t exactly rich at the time either.”

A principled sociologist. Just hearing that tells you that it’s not a job that can make a lot of money. Of course, Song Won-nam had no choice but to continue living without making a lot of money.

“The daughter-in-law is also a teacher, and the son was working as a contract part-time lecturer at a university at that time.”

A typical family of scholars. Kidnapping a child from such a family for money? That doesn’t make sense.

“The police thought at the time that the perpetrator got scared because things got out of hand and abandoned or killed the child.”

“That’s not wrong, but…”

It’s definitely not impossible. As much as child abduction cases have decreased significantly as times have changed, the media at the time reported on the incident extensively.

“But even looking at it from that perspective, there are things that don’t make sense.”

“What is it?”

“What do you think is the commonality of child abduction cases?”

“Um, ah, that’s right. It was that the perpetrator is someone they know, right?”

“That’s right.”

In the past, people used to educate children to be careful of strangers. They were afraid that they would kidnap them.

But statistically, abductions by people they know are much more common than abductions by strangers.

“First of all, if the purpose of child abduction is to extort money from the other party, they need to know the other party’s wealth properly.”

But Song Won-nam is not exactly a rich person, and he is not now either. But kidnapping such a person for their wealth? Then there’s something even more nonsensical about it.

“What’s even stranger is that there has never been a demand for money.”

If there had been an attempt to demand money or even an attempt to make contact, the police’s claim would be correct. But there was nothing like that at all.

“It doesn’t make sense that they kidnapped her for money but never demanded money even once.”

“Do Go-bong thought they gave up because the incident got out of hand.”

Song Won-nam may be poor, but he is a prominent sociologist who has appeared on television several times. As a result, the media quickly noticed the incident and reported it on the news, and the perpetrators claimed that they gave up and abandoned or killed the child.

“But here, he falls into the trap of his own words.”

“You mean in demanding money.”

“That’s right.”

From the perspective of someone demanding money, they need to know the other party well. That way, they can accurately specify the desired funds.

There’s no way to get 100 million won [Roughly equivalent to $75,000 USD] from someone who earns a living day by day, but if it’s a scion of a chaebol family [A large South Korean business conglomerate], demanding 1 billion won [Roughly equivalent to $750,000 USD] wouldn’t be burdensome.

“So, a stranger can kidnap a child, but someone who knows nothing about the kidnapped child’s family can’t kidnap them.”

But in this part, two facts collide. They kidnapped the child for money, but they didn’t know that the other party had no money.

“It just feels like they’re roughly piecing things together.”

“That was the police’s investigation method at the time. It’s still the same now, though.”

It’s a little less so now, but back then, the atmosphere inside the police agency was to create a criminal if they couldn’t catch one.

“Does it feel like they practically abandoned the case?”

“It’s not that they abandoned it. It was a case that was broadcast on TV.”

In fact, they created a special investigation headquarters, and the number of police officers mobilized for the case exceeded fifteen. But nothing came out.

“It’s more accurate to say that they didn’t do the work, but personal feelings caused confusion in the investigation.”

Do Go-bong ignored the profiler’s opinion and only investigated it as a child abduction threat.

“Let’s see what the profiler at the time said.”

Park Do-joon thought that Lee Ji-soo had finished analyzing it enough, so he checked the profiler’s records at the time. The profiler in charge of the case placed weight on two possibilities.