My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 559

Song An-nyeo was going crazy with anxiety. Why was the National Intelligence Service [South Korea’s primary intelligence agency] suddenly involved? Of course, she knew that what she had done was a crime, and she knew how severe the punishment would be if she got caught. But she had never even considered overthrowing the state, so why was she suddenly being accused of it?

“What the hell is going on?”

As Song An-nyeo trembled with anxiety, a scruffy-looking police officer entered.

“I told you to call my lawyer!”

“Ah, well, duty calls. It’ll take at least six hours for your lawyer to arrive.”

“I won’t say a word!”

“Suit yourself. We have our job to do too….”

The man, seemingly annoyed, scratched his head and sat across from her to begin the interrogation.

“You’re Song An-nyeo, correct?”

“……”

“Hey, lady. If I were you, I’d say something. Silence can be held against you.”

“Ah, lady?”

Song An-nyeo’s eyes widened at that. Of course, considering her age, she could be called a lady, but to be called one so bluntly… Still, she couldn’t get angry. She wasn’t in a position to get angry at that.

“Hoo~!”

The tired-looking police officer, Park Do-joon, scratched his head with a pen and said,

“So, Ms. Song An-nyeo, you need to answer the basic questions. Failure to cooperate can result in additional penalties. Ever heard of contempt of court?”

“……”

“Come on, you’ve been caught violating the Special Act on Sex Trade before, you must know that.”

“……”

“So, let’s get this over with. I didn’t come in here with high expectations anyway.”

Park Do-joon said nonchalantly, checking the documents.

“Ms. Song An-joo, is it?”

“……”

“Ah, sorry. Ms. Song An-nyeo.”

“……”

“So, age 45….”

Unable to hold back, Song An-nyeo finally spoke.

“I’m only 42.”

“Oh, really? My apologies.”

Park Do-joon scratched his head and corrected the information with his pen.

“And you came here after selling drugs.”

“……”

“The NIS says you were trying to pass information to China using drugs? Is that correct?”

“……”

“Geez, lady. You’re tough, really tough.”

“……”

“And the number of people you kidnapped is nine?”

“……”

“Not talking, huh? You didn’t do it?”

“……”

“Wow. Tough.”

Even as Park Do-joon said that, he was grinning inwardly.

‘You might be tough, but not that tough.’

You can refuse to speak, but the body doesn’t lie. It’s a line that sounds like it’s from an adult comic, but it’s surprisingly true. Of course, everyone’s reaction is different. There are standard reactions, but there are also unique, personal habits.

For example, if avoiding eye contact is a common and standard defense mechanism for humans when lying, they might also show other reactions like picking their ear or crossing their legs depending on the situation.

‘Is this enough?’

The reason Park Do-joon deliberately kept making mistakes and confirming information was to analyze Song An-nyeo’s behavior patterns when presented with incorrect information.

‘She definitely reacts when it’s disadvantageous to her.’

Her emotions are heightened by being called “lady,” and if we act hostile, those emotions become even more apparent.

The good cop, bad cop routine only works when the crime is relatively minor. For extreme crimes like this, no one confesses just because of that.

In fact, even lie detectors mix numerous false and true questions to obtain clear data before moving on to the main questions.

And profilers analyze not only psychology but also behavior. That’s how they can tell if the other person is lying or not.

“Uh, so….”

Park Do-joon flipped through the documents and said,

“You handed all the victims over to the Chinese.”

“……”

‘Okay.’

Judging by her reaction, she seemed to know that the other party was Chinese.

“Then, do you know this person?”

Hoping for the best, Park Do-joon slid Wang Woo-hwan’s photo over to her. Of course, Song An-nyeo didn’t say anything.

‘She doesn’t know him? Then it’s one of two things.’

Either Wang Woo-hwan isn’t the mastermind behind this case, or he’s only directing from behind the scenes without appearing on the front lines.

‘Considering Wang Woo-hwan’s style, he’d probably prefer to direct from behind.’

“Were the two people you worked with both Korean?”

“……”

‘Okay, Korean.’

By narrowing down those reactions one by one, he was ultimately reducing the variables. That was Park Do-joon’s interrogation method. Of course, Song An-nyeo, unaware of this, was dumbfounded.

‘What is he doing?’

He asks all sorts of questions, but she doesn’t answer anything. Yet, he nods on his own, writes on his own, and seems to be doing his job haphazardly. He just seemed like a typical cop who doesn’t want to work.

Moreover, when you look closely at the questions, there were more than a few that were similarly duplicated. And judging by the fact that he was asking them without realizing it, he seemed utterly incompetent.

And that feeling naturally lowered her guard, and naturally, her physical reactions became even more pronounced in that situation.

Of course, including the same questions wasn’t a coincidence. Similar or identical questions aren’t included simply out of ignorance, but to observe reactions to subtly different questions.

For example, the questions “Are the accomplices in the Seoul Metropolitan Area?” and “Are they in Gyeonggi Province?” seem very similar. Usually, the Seoul Metropolitan Area is recognized as Gyeonggi Province [the province surrounding Seoul].

However, strictly speaking, people recognize the Seoul Metropolitan Area as a smaller area than Gyeonggi Province.

For example, Suwon or Anyang are still recognized as part of the Seoul Metropolitan Area, but Osan or Hwaseong are not.

‘So that’s how it is.’

Park Do-joon asked those questions one by one, and only after more than three hours of interrogation did he finally get up from his seat.

“Well, I guess I should say thank you for your cooperation….”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“I know. But that’s how the rules are.”

Park Do-joon waved his hand dismissively and left. At that moment, the door opened and the lawyer entered.

“What do you think you’re doing? Interrogation without a lawyer present is illegal.”

“Not illegal,”

The lawyer lied, perhaps thinking of making a preemptive strike, but Park Do-joon said nonchalantly.

“And she didn’t answer anything.”

“What?”

“Suit yourself.”

Park Do-joon waved his hand dismissively and left the place. Then, he slowly headed towards Lee Ji-soo.

“Detective, when did you create such a questionnaire? To work on that, wow….”

“Well, if you make it in advance, you can just modify it slightly later.”

Lee Ji-soo was also a profiler, so she knew what Park Do-joon had done and shook her head. Creating such a questionnaire itself takes a considerable amount of time and effort, but it was as if he knew this was going to happen, and he brought it out right away.

“And I really don’t understand it.”

“Well, this is also an area of talent, in a way.”

Profiling is a discipline, but like all disciplines, there is an area of talent in it. If you learn enough, you can recognize lies in words, but extracting information from actions is a completely different matter.

It takes much longer and requires much more sensitive observation.

Park Do-joon had a lot of experience with that even before his regression, so it wasn’t difficult for him, but in fact, most profilers have limitations in such behavioral analysis. It’s difficult to learn, and in fact, this behavioral analysis puts a tremendous amount of stress on people.

For example, if a person shakes their head in a negative manner when asked, “Did you have lunch today?” the profiler can recognize that it’s a negative action, but they can’t know if it’s because the person really didn’t eat or if they’re just reluctant to speak.

In other words, the profiler is only left with the fact that ‘that person lied.’ So, if they keep experiencing such things, profilers can develop a serious distrust of people.

People also reject those who notice everything, even the vague answers.

In fact, that’s why many skilled profilers suffer from depression. Counseling? If they see a counselor, they know whether the counselor is really listening to them or not, so how can they really trust them?

Of course, Park Do-joon made a lot of effort to escape from those remnants of the past as he regressed, so he was much brighter compared to before his regression.

“So, did anything come out of it?”

“Well, it seems the criminals are in the downtown area. Probably around Anju-dong. It seems the person giving the orders is Chinese. And they seem to be using motels as their accommodation.”

That alone greatly reduced the scope of the investigation. But the problem is that even if it’s a motel, you can’t just go into any place.

“We need to narrow it down further. There are dozens of motels in Anju-dong alone, and if you add the surrounding area, there will be hundreds.”

“There will be many Chinese people in the places that manage that area.”

“Chinese people?”

“Yes, they seem to be ordering food according to their tastes.”

“……”

All sorts of unnecessary questions. For example, the signs of annoyance that arose when asked what they ate for a particular lunch.

“Every time the story of eating food came up, they showed a reaction close to physical dissatisfaction. That means they didn’t like what they usually ate.”

If they live alone or mainly with Koreans, they would have eaten according to their preferences, so they wouldn’t have been dissatisfied.

“But the fact that they didn’t means they couldn’t eat according to their tastes.”

When ordering meals in a group, it is common to order fixed products from one place. So, there may be some inconvenience, but they wouldn’t be so dissatisfied.

“For example, I want to eat jajangmyeon [black bean noodles] today, but they order from a Korean restaurant. Something like that.”

“Yes, and if it’s in the city, they can just go outside.”

There are plenty of restaurants around. Criminals aren’t going to worry about each other’s harmony or combination and build friendships, so they can just go out and eat alone.

But if they are constantly dissatisfied with the food? Then you have to assume that they have no choice in the food. That means the guys in control ordered the food, and if they are Chinese, then the food they ordered would naturally be Chinese food with strong spice smells.

“A motel located in an area where Chinese food can be ordered….”

“And when looking at Song An-nyeo’s situation and the records of virtually living together, the mastermind is showing a tendency to control everything.”

There are various types of masterminds. Some don’t care what you do in your free time as long as you stick to the plan, while others try to completely control the other person.