My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 612

“Don’t we have our own investigative direction?”

“I saw the report too. It seems like he came from overseas, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. Everyone agreed on that.”

“Then the National Intelligence Service [NIS; South Korea’s primary intelligence agency] should handle it, since it’s not our jurisdiction.”

“Pardon?”

“That’s right. If it’s a foreign criminal, that’s the NIS’s area, not ours.”

“Well… but…”

“So what about us? Are we just going to twiddle our thumbs? We can’t do that, can we? We have to do something, right? So go dig into this.”

“Leaving the criminal?”

“Who said to leave him? Leave that to the NIS and dig into this.”

The chief waved his hand dismissively and turned away.

“Consider yourselves unable to leave until you’ve confirmed everything here.”

As soon as he left, one of the profilers, unable to contain himself, threw his chair.

“What the hell is he trying to do?”

“Putting on a show.”

Park Do-joon calmed him down.

“As you know, catching the real criminal isn’t important in this situation. What’s important is putting on a show of doing our best.”

They are doing their best. They are turning the country upside down. By doing so, they want to protect their positions.

“I don’t understand, Senior. We pretty much know there’s no criminal here, right?”

“We know. The Ministry of National Defense knows, the NIS knows, and we know.”

“Then why are they making us…?”

“There’s a 99% chance there isn’t, but there’s a 1% chance there could be.”

“So they want to catch that?”

Park Do-joon shook his head at that. How great would it be if they gave the data with such sincere feelings? But sadly, that’s not the case.

“No, it’s the opposite.”

“The opposite?”

“I think they want to prove that we’re not responsible.”

“What?”

“If there’s a 1% chance the criminal is here, we have to catch him.”

That’s why the profiling team exists.

“And if there’s a 100% chance there’s no criminal here, we have to guarantee that.”

“Guarantee? Don’t tell me?”

“Yeah, whatever happens, we take the fall.”

What if there really is a criminal in here and we catch him?

Then the Ministry of National Defense has done its part by handing over the data. What if there’s no criminal in here? Either way, they handed over the data, so they’ve done their part. What if there’s a criminal in here and we don’t catch him? Then it’s not the Ministry of National Defense’s fault. They handed over the data.

“So they’re using us as a shield to escape their responsibility?”

“Yeah. It’s a good excuse, right?”

We’re soldiers, so we can’t investigate civilians. So please do it for us.

“And the police higher-ups need an excuse too.”

An excuse like, ‘We did our best, but we couldn’t find the criminal.’

“But the criminal is more likely to be a foreigner, right?”

“Exactly. That’s why they’re even more desperate.”

“Why?”

“Whose responsibility is it to prevent this?”

“That’s… the NIS…”

“Exactly.”

Preventing a bomb terrorist from entering Korea or operating in Korea is the NIS’s area. But they failed at that.

And if the police catch him? Then the NIS would be incredibly embarrassed.

“So you’re saying they’re putting on a show even though they know all this?”

“Yeah. Now, the important thing isn’t catching the criminal. Frankly, I think the higher-ups have already come to a conclusion.”

“What conclusion?”

“He’s already fled.”

Park Do-joon isn’t the only one who has determined through analysis that the criminal isn’t Korean. Other profilers have also concluded that it’s highly likely. So they reported that.

Would profilers or investigators in other organizations not know? Of course not.

Naturally, catching him now is impossible. They don’t even know who he is, and they can’t go abroad to catch him.

“In that situation, all that’s left is the issue of responsibility.”

Who will take responsibility? That’s a serious problem and the core of this situation.

“The military wants to pass on the responsibility. And when this incident breaks in the media in a few days…”

“The police.”

“Correct.”

The NIS works in the shadows. So the public isn’t very aware of the NIS’s existence. The military has handed over evidence that it’s not them. So who’s at fault for not catching the criminal?

“It’s the police’s fault.”

The fault of letting a bomb terrorist get away. They want to pass this fault on to someone. Such power struggles between organizations. And the spearhead is directed at none other than the police.

Lee Ji-soo was shocked by that fact.

“Does that mean our team is…?”

“That’s right. Scapegoats. They tried to kick you out last time for doing something wrong, but they’re not going to forgive you that easily, are they?”

Jung Yi-yeon looked dumbfounded.

“Is that why everyone is angry?”

“That’s right.”

It’s impossible to arrest the criminal at this point.

And someone has to take the blame for the resulting anger.

“This is really messed up.”

“That’s reality.”

Park Do-joon said that and then checked his phone. Then he turned to look at Jo Sang-gyu.

“Team Leader, the victim’s family wants to see me for a bit. I’ll go and come back.”

“The victim’s family?”

Jo Sang-gyu, who had been momentarily still at those words, understood in an instant and nodded.

“Go ahead.”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

“Who are you talking about when you say the victim’s family?”

“Who else could it be?”

It’s obvious. And it’s probably the most precarious time in the current situation.

“I’ll go talk to them.”

Regardless of Hong Chang-sik’s death, the funeral was not being held yet. This was because the police had not yet returned the body. However, regardless of that, they couldn’t refuse funeral guests, so they had rented out the entire funeral hall, and the funeral proceedings themselves were taking place even without the body.

“May he rest in peace.”

Park Do-joon went to the funeral hall and greeted Hong Geun-jong, and Hong Geun-jong bowed his head to receive Park Do-joon’s greeting.

“Thank you for coming.”

“A lot of people came.”

“Because of the situation.”

“By the way, did he come?”

Although it was a short sentence, Hong Geun-jong immediately understood and nodded.

“Of course, he’s here. He’s receiving guests inside.”

“I see. I’m sure you want to go talk to him.”

“It will be uncomfortable for you if you go inside.”

It’s full of high-ranking people. Among them are people who have been harmed by Park Do-joon, so it’s likely that they won’t look kindly on him.

“Let’s move to another place.”

At Park Do-joon’s words, Hong Geun-jong limped and moved to another place. And Park Do-joon looked at that figure with pity.

“Is there no cure?”

“They say there isn’t. I’m lucky to have survived. Don’t you think?”

He lost his fingers and limps on one leg, but at least he lived. Considering that he was eaten alive by dogs in the original history, it was truly a stroke of luck this time.

“That’s true.”

“Come this way. No one will come here.”

When they went up one floor, they saw an empty funeral hall, and Hong Geun-jong pulled Park Do-joon and Lee Ji-soo into the family lounge inside.

“Aren’t other people coming?”

“I rented out the entire funeral hall. I don’t know how many people will come. It will probably be more crowded than this at night.”

It’s still daytime, so there aren’t many people. Of course, the people who come here are not in a position to worry about working hours, but as the incident is an incident, some people who know about it will be reluctant to go now. Because they haven’t even received the body back yet.

“Ugh… it’s hard.”

Hong Geun-jong, who was sitting down, frowned and said.

“It must be him, right?”

“It probably is.”

“But it’s too extreme, isn’t it?”

“Aren’t you very sad that your father passed away?”

“Well? I feel empty and like something is missing. But it’s not to the point where I can’t work because I’m sad.”

“That’s understandable.”

Hong Chang-sik was not a good father. He taught Hong Geun-jong and Hong Woo-jong to judge like machines and move for profit, and that was applied even in family relationships.

“If I think about it without family ties, it was strange.”

Maybe he pretended not to know because he was family.

“But after that incident, when I saw him siding with Woo-jong, it was honestly hard to think of him as a parent.”

He tried to kill himself and his brother. There is no evidence, but psychologically, it was a situation where suspicion was possible enough.

Of course, it wouldn’t be easy to believe that another child could do that. But Hong Chang-sik completely ignored it. Not investigating, not warning, but complete ignorance.

“I only knew the reason after hearing what you said.”

Fight and take it. Hong Geun-jong couldn’t help but be shocked by the fact that that was the reason.

“I guess he didn’t know he was going to die.”

“Criminals don’t think much about the distant future. If they think it’s the best at the moment, they choose regardless of the future.”

Park Do-joon said sadly.

“And he probably had that thought too.”

As long as Hong Geun-jong and Hong Min-young are alive, he won’t care about himself. The confidence that you dare not touch me.

“Do you think that far?”

“Yes, that’s highly likely. Understanding the other person means predicting the other person’s actions.”

That’s why psychopaths can never become profilers. They may understand it in their heads, but they don’t understand emotions.

“Your father must have been like that too.”

He knew that they would fight for the position of successor. And when the winner came out, he would give everything to him, like something out of an absolute monarchy era.

“But most of them don’t know that they will be the target of attack in order to win.”

“Hmm…”

In fact, it is impossible to know how many kings in the monarchy era were killed by their successors. There were quite a few cases where their heads were cut off for treason, or they were poisoned or assassinated.

Of course, the successors will take the position over time. But how precious is that time? If you just kill them, everything becomes yours right now, so would you want to waste that time?

“He didn’t know that?”

“That’s right.”

At Park Do-joon’s words, Hong Geun-jong smiled bitterly. Whatever the case, it was a sad thing that the human being who was his father died so miserably that even his body could not be properly recognized.

“It must be Hong Woo-jong, right?”

“There aren’t many people who would use that kind of method.”

“But I don’t understand why Hong Woo-jong is going so far.”

Of course, it is true that he is cracking down on the company and Hong Woo-jong’s future is gradually being blocked. But killing his father…

“It’s probably because of the election funds.”

“Election funds? It’s not like he doesn’t have that much money.”

There’s no way Hong Woo-jong doesn’t have money. In the first place, even if it rots, it’s still a crucian carp [a common saying meaning even in decline, there’s still value]. Hong Woo-jong is the second son of a chaebol [family-owned conglomerate] family, and he actually has a lot of money set aside separately.

He’s not running for president, but he has enough money to run for a local election.

“And I know that the party supports him to some extent in the election, right?”

“That’s right. However, there are rumors that the nomination is uncertain this time.”