My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 544

“No, then you should just tell them the reason why you can’t return the children…”

“Then they’ll complain about why they have to be criticized.”

“Ah…”

And they’ll return the child before it even becomes news.

“After all, the DNA test results come out in 3 days.”

From the parents’ perspective, it’s a frustrating and infuriating situation, but work can’t simply be driven by emotions.

“It’s fortunate that we found them even now. If those guys see the kids grow up and become good at talking, do you think they’ll just return them?”

There’s no way. They’d probably kill them or sell their organs.

“For now, sending them to a shelter and letting the child be with their parents is okay, right?”

If they recognize each other and feel reassured, they’ll be much more mentally stable.

“Of course, we can’t help it if they grab a reporter out of resentment and criticize us.”

To be precise, Park Do-joon, who wanted that, smiled slyly.

“So, you’re the scapegoat.”

“In the end, it’s normal for the police to be criticized. The moment they say they won’t take criticism, they can’t do anything.”

Park Do-joon drew a firm line. That’s how the world is.

In the end, it’s impossible to do public work without taking criticism.

“For now, I’ll accompany them to the childcare facility.”

“Yes.”

The convinced police officer nodded and turned away, and Park Do-joon watched him and licked his lips.

“I managed to block one, but what about the other?”

With a serious problem remaining, Park Do-joon couldn’t help but frown.

-From the police’s perspective, we cannot ignore the possibility that the kidnappers might impersonate the parents and come to take the children back. Children between the ages of 3 and 5 are psychologically easy to manipulate, so even if they are not the parents, if they have been together for a considerable period, they may recognize them as parents or similar figures and follow them. Therefore, for the safety of the children, we have determined that handing over the children until the DNA test results are available is not a good idea.

The police chief even held a press conference to calm the angry people. Of course, he asked the profiling team, specifically Park Do-joon, to write the statement. Because making pointless jokes would be like pouring oil on a fire.

“He speaks well.”

“If he couldn’t even read that, he should just quit. Being a police chief and all.”

“There’s a subtle barb there?”

“I heard he almost screwed up and got burned? I heard about it.”

Lee Ji-soo pouted and said. Park Do-joon nodded at her words. She wasn’t stupid, and she knew that if she had done what the police chief wanted, it would have made things difficult for him, or rather, the entire profiling team.

“By the way, the people’s reaction is… more accepting than I thought?”

“Because the children’s issue is involved.”

If the rights and interests of parents and children conflict, who do people prioritize and think about? It’s obviously the children.

“Besides, it’s not like they’re not allowed to see the children.”

They were allowed to meet the children and stay with them as long as the shelter was open. They were just being protected here until the DNA test results came out.

“So, from the parents’ perspective, there’s nothing particularly problematic other than some minor inconvenience.”

So, people had no choice but to agree with the police’s opinion this time.

“And the kidnapping story keeps coming up?”

“That’s right.”

The children were rescued, but the kidnappers who abducted them escaped. People felt more uneasy about the fact that the kidnappers had escaped than the fact that the children were not being returned.

“They won’t be able to kidnap children for the time being.”

Even if they do kidnap, the police will immediately sense something unusual.

“So, it’s not a missing person case, but a kidnapping.”

“That’s right.”

When a child disappears, parents report it to the police. But currently, when children disappear, it’s first treated as a missing person case, not a kidnapping.

In fact, the child who was rescued this time was also registered as missing in the police records, not as kidnapped.

“But now the situation has changed.”

Since the fact that a kidnapping organization is rampant has been revealed, the police will be aware of and investigate any possible kidnappings.

“I hope the criminals are caught soon.”

“I hope so too, but.”

At that moment, the door opened, and Jo Sang-gyu grumbled as he entered the office.

“God damn it.”

“Team leader, what’s wrong this time?”

“Did you get chewed out again today?”

“No, maybe it’s because of sending Officer Yoo last time, but they’re watching their step. So, I didn’t get chewed out.”

“Well, I guess so.”

He sent a message. It was a warning that they could get hit in the back of the head from this side too if necessary. He thought he was threatening them, but now that the threat has become his weakness, the police chief has no choice but to be anxious.

“Then why?”

“It’s not just our station that’s turned upside down.”

“Yes.”

“They’re creating a special investigation unit.”

“Well, I thought they would.”

It’s not just a simple kidnapping, but the emergence of guys who accurately manipulate public sentiment. Any decent police officer would know how dangerous this is.

“And Park Do-joon, Lee Ji-soo, you’re being assigned to the special investigation unit.”

“Well, I guess so. I brought up the case.”

Park Do-joon brought up a case that no one else knew about, so it’s only natural.

“That’s not something to be angry about, is it? It’s not like there aren’t other teams.”

“It’s not that you guys are going to the special investigation unit. There are already 7 suspected cases reported from across the country.”

“7 cases?”

“Yeah.”

Lee Ji-soo’s eyes widened at those words. Of course, she thought there would be additional crimes. Since there’s no system or program that compares similar cases, when this kind of incident occurs, each local police station investigates and reports it.

So, she knew that additional crimes would occur.

But 7 cases?

“Really?”

“Yeah, of course, it’s just suspicion, it hasn’t been accurately investigated yet.”

Well, there might not be anyone at the kidnapping site, or it might really be a runaway case.

“Still, it’s not a number to ignore.”

“Hmm, I guess so. Among them, the victim’s characteristics are probably long hair, early to mid-20s, and a slim, beautiful figure under 50 kilograms [approximately 110 pounds], right?”

“Huh? How did you know that?”

Before he could even speak, Jo Sang-gyu looked at Park Do-joon as if he was dumbfounded. Then Park Do-joon shrugged and said.

“The victim this time is exactly that style.”

“You can figure that out without any other examples? I thought statistics were important?”

“The victim’s appearance is not the statistic; the *purpose* is the statistic.”

Park Do-joon pointed out the error in Lee Ji-soo’s words.

“They planned and carried out the kidnapping with a team of three and even mobilized a child. Why would they do that?”

“Uh, I don’t know?”

Lee Ji-soo was momentarily speechless at those words. Because she still doesn’t know the situation. In fact, other profilers were also not yet understanding the purpose.

“Team leader, don’t you know either?”

“I don’t know either. This is the first time something like this has happened.”

“Maybe the purpose is sexual assault.”

“Sexual assault?”

“Yeah, it’s about taste.”

“But you can already figure out the victim’s style with that?”

“No, I’m not comparing tastes, I’m comparing purposes.”

“Purposes?”

“Where are there the most young women in their early to mid-20s with long hair and a slim figure?”

“Of course, it’s the city.”

“But what happens if a kidnapping occurs in the city?”

“Of course, people will… ah.”

Of course, people will rush in and subdue the kidnappers, rescue the victim, or call the police. Of course, it might be possible to kidnap quickly and escape.

“But it’s not possible in this day and age.”

First of all, city roads have a lot of traffic, so a quick escape is impossible. The reason why kidnapping and trafficking of women were possible in broad daylight in Korea in the 1980s was that there were not many cars at that time, so the roads were not congested, and there were no CCTVs [closed-circuit televisions], so tracking was not easy.

But now the roads are congested, there are many signals, and there are many CCTVs everywhere.

“From the moment someone reports it, the police will recognize the kidnapping and investigate. But until now, they’ve been using such psychological methods to prevent reporting.”

“They have.”

“So, would guys who plan such a scheme kidnap just anyone?”

“That’s… probably not.”

They will have a purpose and kidnap someone who fits that purpose. But it’s not reasonable to see it as kidnapping for organ trafficking.

Rather, if a woman of that age and figure is considered pretty, she will inevitably be someone who diets.

You can’t diet without harming your body, so realistically, she’s not a good candidate for organ trafficking.

“Rather, men are more suitable for organ trafficking.”

Then labor? That doesn’t make sense either. Men are more suitable for labor as well.

“Considering that the social evaluation of that type of woman is that she is pretty, it is highly likely that the purpose is sexual abuse of women.”

At Park Do-joon’s words, Lee Ji-soo’s face became serious, and she tapped the desk with her finger. And Jo Sang-gyu’s face became disgusted.

“The other guys are still saying they need to see more cases.”

“It can’t be helped. According to the principle, cases must be analyzed separately.”

But in such cases, the analysis may be delayed, so Park Do-joon considered the possibilities and derived the results.

“What about the possibility of working in a bar or something?”

“It won’t be. The victim’s style is too consistent for that.”

It’s not that keeping people locked up and forcing them into prostitution in bars or prostitution businesses has completely disappeared. It’s probably happening secretly somewhere.

“But those places think of women as commodities. They try to have as many different commodities as possible.”

That way, people who come once will come twice.

“Moreover, they don’t kidnap victims from such places on the street. They’d rather kidnap women in the nightlife industry.”

“I guess so.”

In the case of women in the nightlife industry, their occupational characteristics often lead them to hide their place of residence or movements from their families. So, if a kidnapping occurs, rescue is almost impossible. Because no one knows where they are.

But this young woman is not like that. Her movements are often revealed, and if the investigation follows those movements, the possibility that a kidnapping will be revealed increases.

“Maybe the three guys aren’t the main culprits. There must be someone who ordered them.”

“Why?”

“First of all, the old man won’t be the main culprit.”

He’s just playing the role of a hype man, and old people are pushed back in power and can’t become the main culprits.

“But there are many cases where old people are the leaders of organizations, right?”

“That’s right. But in the case of such criminal organizations, they are usually intelligent crimes or experiential crimes.”