My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 547

But Park Do-joon didn’t say anything.

“Just tell me honestly. Even though it’s called Ansim Convenience Store, it can’t really help everyone. That security camera was installed because the police asked you to, and you couldn’t refuse, right?”

“Ugh, you know it well? I couldn’t refuse the police station’s request.”

“I know, because I’m a cop.”

Moreover, convenience stores deal with the police frequently. They have to call them several times a day because of troublemakers and underage kids trying to buy cigarettes or alcohol. There’s no way not to call the police.

“Honestly, it’s annoying. There’s nothing we can do. Besides, we didn’t know those guys were kidnappers.”

“I know. That’s why I’m asking. But if someone with a sense of responsibility like you didn’t report it, I have to assume there’s another reason.”

Park Do-joon subtly gives the convenience store owner a way out while encouraging him to shift the blame. The convenience store owner nodded.

“Well, there is someone like that.”

“Who is it?”

“It’s a young woman who works in the building across the street. She comes every day to buy small office supplies or snacks.”

“Does she pay in cash?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm, was she there that day too?”

“Huh? Oh, now that I think about it… she was definitely there.”

“Can I see the CCTV footage from that time?”

“That’s not a problem.”

The convenience store owner nodded at Park Do-joon’s request and showed it to him right away, saying, “Do you think this lady did something? She doesn’t seem like that kind of person.”

“I don’t know.”

Park Do-joon quietly said while examining the woman’s face on the screen.

“We’ll have to find out.”

Park Do-joon and Lee Ji-soo went around the surrounding shopping district to gather information.

The information they gathered was consistent: a friendly and kind woman in her 30s with bobbed hair, who was very close to the people around her.

“What do you think?”

“I think she’s part of the criminal gang.”

“Why?”

“She said she’s an employee of the company, right? Then she would have paid with the company’s corporate card, not cash. Even if that’s not the case, if the company buys that many items, wouldn’t it be cheaper to order them online in bulk? It’s also convenient because they deliver to the company.”

“You’ve improved a lot.”

Park Do-joon said with a smile, noting her progress from when she was a beginner.

“That’s right. When you look at it that way, there’s no realistic reason for someone to go to a convenience store to buy things and become friendly.”

Moreover, most office supplies are usually purchased directly by the company, not by individuals.

“And you said that person is a woman, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then women are even less likely to try to become friendly.”

“Why?”

“Men have a chronic disease.”

Lee Ji-soo didn’t understand Park Do-joon’s words for a moment.

Men have a chronic disease? What does that have to do with not becoming friendly?

“What is it?”

“It’s a disease where they imagine a future relationship when a woman is friendly to them.”

“Huh?”

“If a young woman acts friendly to an older man… what do you think that man will think?”

“Oh? Ah, I see. That’s a problem. It happens regardless of age, right?”

“Yeah.”

A disease commonly known as ‘Does she like me?’ It’s a kind of incurable disease that developed as men instinctively sought opportunities to spread their genes.

“So women don’t even talk to that person unless they’re really interested.”

Because there are guys who start hitting on them if they’re friendly or even smile a little, thinking, ‘Does she like me?’

“I guess most women have experienced it.”

“Yeah. Even married men have that disease.”

But a young woman who knows that, especially a young woman in her early to mid-30s, approaches them in a friendly manner? That’s unlikely.

“You mean someone is intentionally approaching them to be friendly.”

“Yeah, probably. And that person is likely hiding around here.”

She said she works in the office over there, but that’s unlikely, because there’s a convenience store below that office building.

Even if there wasn’t a convenience store in the office district, there’s no reason to come all the way here.

“It’s hard to become friendly by coming once or twice a day.”

So she must have a place to stay somewhere nearby.

“A motel?”

“Probably.”

Renting an office or a house to live in has many problems, because you have to reveal your identity and it costs a lot of money.

“But there are no motels around here?”

The problem is that there are no motels in this immediate area. Of course, there are some motels around the station, but that’s only because it’s an entertainment district or a train station where people traveling long distances need a place to rest.

There is no need for a motel near a subway station like this. People can just take the subway home.

“Besides, this isn’t an entertainment district.”

You might think that an entertainment district would be created around the station, but surprisingly, that’s not the case. You might think that if a station is built, the surrounding area will develop, but on the contrary, when a station is built, the central commercial district often absorbs the local commercial district based around that station.

“That’s right. This area has been absorbed by the main commercial district.”

For example, Suwon and Osan are connected by a station, but people go to the Suwon commercial district to hang out, not in front of Osan Station.

When Osan Station was first built, people who invested in the area lost money.

Why does that happen? Because the main commercial district in front of the station isn’t a place to go alone.

If everyone lived in Osan and gathered in the commercial district in Osan, then the station would be irrelevant.

But if it’s connected to other regions and there are people from other regions, they will gather in a relatively well-developed commercial district to hang out.

The restaurants in front of Osan Station or Suwon Station will have similar menus, but there’s a certain atmosphere that draws people to the larger commercial area.

“So she wouldn’t be able to find food and lodging around here.”

In the end, she would come here like commuting to work, observe people, and then go back.

Because the merchants working here won’t talk to each other about customers. They’re not that close.

“Then which direction should we track?”

“The parking lot.”

“Not public transportation?”

“She bought all sorts of things here.”

From drinks to office supplies to even flowers. It’s risky and annoying to use public transportation while carrying them.

It’s also impossible to throw them all away.

“So she’ll use a car.”

But this is an old downtown area with not many parking lots, and she wouldn’t take the car out and put it back in just to buy one thing.

“She’ll use the parking lot.”

If we can find information in the parking lot, we might be able to track the case.

Park Do-joon and Lee Ji-soo were about to search the parking lot first. In the meantime, they clicked their tongues at the decisions coming from above.

“So you’re saying the investigation is finally moving forward?”

“That’s right. They say they’re proceeding with the investigation focusing on the victims first.”

Park Do-joon asked back at Jo Sang-gyu’s words.

“Focusing on the victims?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s not wrong, but…”

If they picked the target on the street as expected, it wouldn’t be very meaningful.

“Is there any separate analysis of the perpetrator?”

“Well, everyone is in a serious mood. They are expecting the perpetrators to commit crimes for monetary purposes.”

That was already expected by Park Do-joon, so it wasn’t really new information.

“You’re going to analyze that for a few days?”

“Rather than doing it, you could say the discussion took a little longer.”

“Ugh!”

Of course, discussion isn’t bad, but time is of the essence in this kind of case. Park Do-joon didn’t like the fact that they were just discussing it.

‘Well, I understand.’

Profiling has indeed developed now, but Park Do-joon’s experience or career is no shorter than theirs. He just can’t remember the case, but he has all the memories of the analysis method.

‘Come to think of it, this is not in my memory either.’

It’s probably an unsolved or completely unrecognized case.

“Wait, then does that mean the perpetrator is targeting the wealthy?”

Lee Ji-soo, who had been quietly listening, asked in surprise. If the perpetrators committed the crime for money, it means that the other party has the ability to provide that money.

“Yeah, probably.”

“No, you’re drawing that conclusion just from the kidnapping?”

“Ah, you don’t know much about it. Well, you haven’t experienced the analysis method for this kind of case yet, have you?”

“Yes, well… I’m pretty confident in the major cases now.”

Lee Ji-soo had not properly analyzed contract crimes yet. There’s no way to avoid it because contract crimes are rarely revealed in Korea.

To be exact, it’s more accurate to say that they hide it exquisitely rather than not having them.

“Um, it’s a natural result if you understand human coping mechanisms.”

“Coping mechanisms?”

“Yeah, humans are not equal. Criminals know that better than anyone else.”

Kidnapping for money. That information came out through discussion, but people won’t know why that conclusion was reached.

Of course, there may be people who doubt it, but most kidnappings for sexual purposes are done to satisfy personal desires.

“In the end, crime also has the problem of opportunity cost and value management. No, all products have the same problem.”

Lee Ji-soo tilted her head as if she didn’t understand Park Do-joon’s words.

“I don’t understand?”

“I guess so.”

Park Do-joon sighed deeply. ‘I understand.’

“Does the school teach you about the inherent nature of humans and do a lot of human rights education?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“But do criminals care about human rights?”

“Of course not?”

“Then why do we care about human rights for the victims?”

“That’s for protection. To prevent secondary harm.”

“Yeah, that’s generally the case. It’s right for ordinary police to care about the victim’s psychological stability or secondary harm. But we’re not. We judge only with information and catch criminals through that judgment. The job is different.”

Their priority is to catch criminals, and the victim’s well-being is not their primary concern. They are profilers, not psychotherapists.

But the police can’t treat the victim that way. If secondary harm occurs, they will be criticized.

“To put it harshly, we have to judge from the criminals’ point of view.”

A Natural-Born Profiler