My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 569

Then the police, pressured by public opinion, would likely push for Park Do-joon’s demotion, or more likely, outright dismissal.

“Wow.”

“Someone, I don’t know who, really shut it down. Or is it obvious?”

Wang Woo-hwan and Hong Woo-jong. It had to be them. No one else could exert that much pressure.

‘Wang Woo-hwan is one thing, but how on earth did Hong Woo-jong…?’

It didn’t make sense.

‘Is there something I’m missing?’

There had to be. And Park Do-joon couldn’t shake the feeling of how dangerous that kind of backing was.

“This isn’t going to be easy.”

Park Do-joon could only manage a bitter smile.

# Cases Are Cases

The police station was in chaos after Han Sung-ki’s death. Even if Han Sung-ki was the actual culprit, the way the case was handled was absurd.

Everyone suspected someone was pulling strings, but no one investigated, and the case was quickly closed. Instead, to bury the issue, the profiling team was flooded with all sorts of unrelated cases.

“Are you kidding me?”

“Team Leader, this isn’t right.”

“No, damn it, we’re still the profiling team, aren’t we?”

“Are they trying to screw us over?”

“They’re definitely trying to screw us over. It’s the way of the police, or rather, politicians.”

“Damn it, this is fucked up.”

The reason for everyone’s anger was the nature of the tasks assigned to the profiling team.

“No, do we really have to handle these cases?”

“What can we do? These damn bastards are obviously lying, but it’s also true that these cases need to be processed.”

“Still, even so…”

When a situation like this arose, the police needed someone to take the fall. They couldn’t let the higher-ups be held responsible.

So, the profiling team, Park Do-joon’s team, became the scapegoat.

“Ha, this is really fucked up…”

Originally, there was always a shortage of profiling personnel. What was the point of creating the Metropolitan Profiling Team? It was supposed to provide support to local police agencies when they lacked profiling resources.

Instead of increasing the number of local profiling teams, Park Do-joon’s team was being used and abused under the guise of being ‘Metropolitan’ to save on labor costs.

That’s how understaffed and overworked the profiling team was.

“And then ‘approaching police’? What a load of crap.”

Nevertheless, the cases suddenly assigned to the Metropolitan Profiling Team were easy, no, beyond easy—trivial cases.

Cases that no one bothered to investigate. Even front-line police officers ignored them. While assigning these throwaway cases, the police announced, ‘Approaching police. And we will expand the deployment of the profiling team for professional investigation.’

“I also think it’s bullshit. But it’s not entirely wrong either.”

“No, who said it’s not wrong? But why are they dumping it on us?”

It’s called expanded deployment, but the plan to disband the Metropolitan Profiling Team under the pretext of poor performance by assigning cases that wouldn’t generate results was too obvious.

“Do-joon, what do you think?”

“Yeah, are you okay with this?”

“What… it’s not wrong, and…”

“Are you siding with those bastards?”

“It’s not that, it’s just that there’s no rule that profiling should only be applied to violent crimes like murder and kidnapping, is there?”

“That’s true.”

“In that respect, I don’t think it’s a bad thing.”

“No, the problem is their motive.”

“That’s true.”

Park Do-joon scratched his head. He felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

‘Is this how it’s going to play out?’

Originally, one of the things Park Do-joon had strongly advocated for before his regression was the expansion of profiling.

It wasn’t just about increasing the number of personnel, but also about increasing the number of professional investigators and providing better training.

The idea was to apply profiling, which was mainly used for violent crimes, to general cases as well, thereby speeding up case resolution and addressing the manpower shortage.

‘But the police academy graduates went crazy opposing it.’

That’s because if that happened, the profilers’ performance would increase dramatically, and the more their performance increased, the more power they would wield compared to the police academy graduates.

For the guys who graduated from the police academy and formed a cartel, Park Do-joon’s proposal was absurd.

That’s why they obstructed Park Do-joon’s plan at every turn.

‘But they’re bringing it up first?’

Of course, their purpose was completely different: to undermine the profiling team by handing over virtually abandoned cases and reducing their performance.

“Still, this is too much, isn’t it?”

The problem was that these cases had only two things in common.

First, they were trivial cases, so-called hit-and-run cases, that even the police didn’t bother with because they didn’t generate results.

Second, they were cases that were truly troublesome to investigate, such as pickpocketing, where there were no traces and tracking was difficult, and that didn’t generate results.

“Think of it positively. It’s good for us to publish a new theoretical book anyway.”

“Theoretical book?”

“Like an analysis of these petty criminals. It will help the police later.”

“Help the cops my ass!”

It seemed that everyone was upset by the use of the term ‘cops’ for fellow police officers. Park Do-joon smiled bitterly at that.

Well, it’s inevitable that doing something voluntarily is different from doing it under duress.

“Let’s at least work hard. That way, it will be helpful later, right?”

“At best, it’s a demotion to the countryside, or that’s the best-case scenario.”

Even while grumbling, everyone had no choice but to take on a case one by one. They were frustrated and angry, but in the end, they were civil servants, and there was nothing they could do by quitting.

“Ah, this is yours.”

Jo Sang-gyu handed something to Park Do-joon with a bitter smile. And Park Do-joon also smiled bitterly as he looked at it.

“This isn’t easy either.”

“That’s why it’s an abandoned case, isn’t it?”

Freeloading case. The culprit is a trio traveling around the country, freeloading [eating at restaurants and leaving without paying]. The amount of damage ranges from as little as 18,000 won [approximately $15 USD] to as much as 40,000 won [approximately $30 USD].

“It’s been happening for about five months.”

“Ha. Shameless bastards.”

They keep eating and running while traveling around the country, so it’s difficult for the police to catch them and hard to track them.

It’s also hard to justify issuing a nationwide wanted notice, and the amount of damage is not significant.

As a result, it’s completely neglected.

The victims have reported it, but they don’t expect to catch them.

“I’m counting on you.”

“Yes, Team Leader.”

Park Do-joon shrugged and took it back to his seat. And he opened it.

“Wow, assigning it in such a mean way is too much, really.”

Lee Ji-soo gnashed her teeth while looking at the documents together.

“Think of it as an opportunity. When else would you learn something like this?”

“It’s just freeloading, isn’t it?”

“It’s ‘just,’ but there’s still a lot to learn. Profiling isn’t about the scale of the case, but about understanding people’s psychology.”

“I have nothing to say when my senior says such righteous things.”

Lee Ji-soo pouted and looked at the documents together. Then she frowned.

“It’s really hard to catch them.”

“Isn’t it?”

You can’t issue a wanted notice for just 40,000 won in damages. It’s not like a hundreds of thousands of won sashimi set [expensive raw fish dish].

“They’re a group of three men…”

Freeloading happens everywhere. The only unique thing is that they travel around the country doing it.

“They have no conscience.”

“Well, if the world was full of conscience, we’d all be unemployed, right?”

Park Do-joon shrugged and looked at the photo.

“First of all, there’s no vehicle information? Are they traveling without a vehicle?”

“That’s impossible.”

They’re freeloading while traveling around the country. Of course, they might not have a car. But the travel time doesn’t add up.

“No matter how fast they are, they can’t eat and travel around like this by public transportation.”

“But it didn’t show up in the parking lot records.”

“If they’re planning to freeload from the beginning, would they park in the parking lot?”

“That’s right?”

“That’s right.”

They probably left the car somewhere else. So there’s nothing to find in the parking lot.

“If you’re going to travel, travel responsibly. These guys are going to chuckle later, talking about the memories, aren’t they?”

Park Do-joon pondered for a moment. Then he shook his head.

“Maybe not.”

“Maybe not?”

“Yeah.”

“No, these guys are too obvious.”

“Well, it may seem that way, but…”

Park Do-joon flipped through a document. Freeloading records filled it. Even so, most of them are probably not listed here. Only what they found out is listed here.

“There are too many for that.”

“Too many?”

“Yeah, too many. Memories are only made to the extent that they are not dangerous.”

“What do you mean?”

“Wait a minute.”

Park Do-joon glanced at the record and checked the photos taken on CCTV [closed-circuit television]. There were so many that even though they only took one photo each time they moved from one place to another, it filled a document box.

There are almost no related investigation documents, but there are many photos.

“Hmm, it’s definitely strange.”

“What is it?”

“First, look at this photo. Ah. Don’t look at the investigation documents. It’s obvious anyway. It only creates prejudice.”

Freeloading case for a few pennies. The police will probably just pass it on as unsolved, and there will be no proper testimony or investigation. As such, there’s no information to be gained from looking at the investigation documents, and there’s nothing that will help.

“Just look at this photo?”

“Yeah, look at the photo. What’s the feeling?”

“Photo…”

Lee Ji-soo took it and started flipping through them one by one. Lee Ji-soo, who was initially indifferent, had a strange expression each time a photo was turned, and later frowned.

“What is it? Why are the clothes…?”

“The same, right?”

Of course, not everything is exactly the same. But almost all the clothes are similar. No matter how you look at it, the amount of clothes doesn’t seem to be more than three sets per person.

“No one travels like this.”

Park Do-joon shrugged and said.

“Even men don’t travel like this.”

Men carry much less luggage than women, but still not this little. Moreover, the incidents occurred over a period of five months.

“Isn’t it strange?”

“It’s really strange.”

Traveling with only three sets of clothes? It doesn’t make sense.

“But they may be pursuing extreme minimalism? Honestly, it’s not impossible either.”

“That could be.”

Minimalism. It means living lightly. People who live by minimizing things that are not necessary for life are called minimalists.

“If you pursue extreme minimalism, three sets are definitely possible.”

One set for washing, one set for spare, one set for wearing.