My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 630

To kill people by poisoning something. So, in order to say, ‘Give me money or your company goes bankrupt,’ there must not actually be any deaths. That’s how you avoid being traced.

“But there were multiple deaths.”

Fourteen deaths. And ten injuries. Even then, many patients are critically ill, so the death toll is likely to rise.

“Given the clear intent to kill, it’s not a blackmail crime aimed at money.”

“Then, is it a random killing, or rather, a killing by an abnormal person?”

If it’s killing people indiscriminately like this, it’s possible. But Park Do-joon shook his head.

“No. Even random killings are still incidents, and they are somewhat interpretable. Of course, stopping it is a completely different matter.”

Random killing is basically a process of resolving resentment and inferiority towards the world. It is also a process of giving up on one’s future.

“In simple terms, the purpose of so-called random killings, or killings due to abnormal causes, is that I judge that I am no longer socially valuable, and since the world is the cause, I will take revenge on the world.”

This is different from clear mental abnormality. People sometimes refer to killings by people with schizophrenia or other mental illnesses as random killings, but that is not a random killing but a psychopathic killing.

However, one of the main defense strategies of random killers is to claim mental abnormality, so they tend to be grouped together.

“But the perpetrator in this case is thoroughly hiding himself.”

He travels around the country buying things and uses them to kill.

“I’m guessing he only buys one snack at a time, in cash.”

“Yes? But a box was found at the crime scene.”

“Yes. But if you buy it by the box, you can be traced.”

If you buy food in large quantities, you can be traced. Because no matter how much you sell, it is virtually too difficult to track all items in units of bottles or bags of snacks. So, the smallest unit of tracking when distributing is usually a box.

“Conversely, if you buy things by the box, you can know who bought the box.”

Even if you pay in cash, you can know when it was sold, and it is not impossible to track it using CCTV [closed-circuit television], etc.

“But not by the bag.”

You can’t know when it went out and who bought it.

“Most items are in bag units.”

And no one finds it strange to pay in cash for those bag units, that is, one or two pieces, or one or two bottles.

“Then what about the box?”

“Boxes are easy to get. Supermarkets stack boxes for packaging.”

“Ah~!”

It is not difficult to pick one up and put snacks purchased individually in it.

“But still, there’s no way to give it to the victims, right?”

How do they get that snack?

That’s the problem.

“Is it an acquaintance after all?”

Park Do-joon shook his head at Lee Ji-soo’s words.

That can’t be.

“I don’t think so. I think the important thing here is the box.”

“The box?”

“Yes. Look at these photos.”

Park Do-joon said, showing photos taken at the scene.

“The common thing at the crime scene is that a box was found.”

“That’s right.”

And no one cared about the box. The important thing is the snack with poison, not the box it was in. But Park Do-joon thought differently.

“I think these boxes are a method of delivery.”

“You mean they put it in a box and brought it?”

Park Do-joon shook his head.

“No. I guess they probably dropped the items in a box.”

“Yes? You mean they dropped the items in a box?”

“Maybe.”

Park Do-joon said, pointing to the photo.

“The snacks that people ate definitely contained poison. But the problem is how to give it to them.”

“Right?”

“It’s simple. You just have to make them take it themselves.”

“So you’re dropping it off in boxes?”

“Think about it. What would you think if a box of snacks with intact items was lying around?”

“Well?”

Lee Ji-soo pondered for a while. Then she narrowed her eyes as if she understood.

“I wouldn’t think someone threw it away.”

“Yes. It’s the difference between big and small things.”

For example, let’s say you threw away a bag of snacks containing poison. Not many people would take it. Because they’d think someone threw it away.

“Not many people pick up a bag of snacks that has fallen on the floor these days.”

They would be embarrassed and wouldn’t want to be seen picking up a snack worth only 2,000 won [approximately $1.50 USD].

“But what about a box? The story is different.”

Even if there are only 10, it’s 20,000 won [approximately $15 USD].

“And the purpose of the box is important.”

“Why is that?”

“It’s large capacity. In simple terms, it’s a means of transportation.”

The reason for packing in boxes is simple: to facilitate transportation and improve convenience. You can’t carry those small items one by one in plastic bags.

“For example, what would you think if there was a box lying alone on the side of the road?”

“Uh……”

Only then did Lee Ji-soo realize how the victims were getting the items.

“You mean you used the box as bait?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

If a box is lying alone on the side of the road, someone will check it out of curiosity. And if there are intact snacks inside? Unlike a bag that has fallen, they will think that the snack has not been thrown away.

“They would probably think it was an item that fell during delivery or fell from a truck.”

In fact, such incidents do happen. Of course, most snack boxes are transported in vehicles with tarpaulin covers, but sometimes they are delivered roughly tied with rubber bands.

“A box is a kind of proof. That it’s new.”

“That’s right. People usually think it’s new when they receive a box.”

“Then what would those who acquire it think?”

At those words, Lee Ji-soo’s face hardened. Because they usually take the box with them. Realistically, they don’t know who dropped it, and even if they report it to the police, the police won’t find the owner.

They wouldn’t waste time going back and forth to the police station to find an item worth 20,000 won. Furthermore, since the consumer price is 20,000 won, it will naturally be cheaper than that, and the gas money to go around to find it is likely to be more, so the driver or other people will just make up for the minus part with their own money.

“You mean they didn’t give it to them, but they took it?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

It’s something they picked up and they can’t find the owner, so they usually take it with them. And Lee Ji-soo’s face hardened. If Park Do-joon is right, it’s a random killing.

“Then there will be a huge number of victims nationwide.”

“That’s right. There aren’t many testimonies from the victims, right?”

“No.”

There are fourteen deaths and ten injuries, but most of the injured are still in a coma. It’s natural. Potassium cyanide is known as the most heinous poison.

Furthermore, the perpetrator actively used the fact that it was a snack. Due to the strong scent of the snack, the unique scent of potassium cyanide disappears.

“Wait a minute. There’s… there’s one testimony.”

Lee Ji-soo rummaged through the documents and said, as if she had found something.

“A colleague brought snacks that day, and then they shared them and collapsed.”

“Hmm…….”

Park Do-joon understood why the situation had become like this.

“You must have been fixated on the words ‘bought it.’”

“Yes?”

“Who would say they picked it up? They would say they bought it.”

“Ah~!”

Perhaps the person who brought it picked it up.

“But few people would openly say, ‘I picked it up.’”

They could brag about their luck, but usually they would just say they bought it.

“And they shared it?”

“That’s right.”

Unfortunately, if the person who brought it had survived, they could have found accurate circumstantial evidence, but because they died, the police had no choice but to judge based on the words ‘bought it,’ and that caused confusion.

“Huh.”

Lee Ji-soo was dumbfounded by the fact that a confusion that started from something so trivial shook everything.

“Then isn’t there really no answer if this happens?”

The police were searching the entire neighborhood based on the word ‘bought it.’ They were even wondering why they had to go all the way there to buy snacks because the source of the box was completely different.

“But if it’s as you said, Detective Park?”

The perpetrator can commit the crime easily. After all, the box can be picked up from items used for packaging at the supermarket.

“No. Rather, the direction may be narrowed.”

“The direction may be narrowed?”

“If you think about it on the condition that they picked it up, these places start to have meaning.”

Park Do-joon said, tapping the case record.

“One is a construction site on the outskirts of the city, another is a senior citizen center, and another is a home.”

And the testimony came from the construction site. Unfortunately, at the senior citizen center, all but one of the five people died, and at the home, one person is in a coma and the other four have died.

Four people died at the construction site and eight are now in a coma.

“We should consider the construction site lucky.”

Perhaps the senior citizen center and the home did not have time to ask for help when they felt something was wrong. Potassium cyanide is an extremely strong poison.

“But it won’t be the construction site.”

In the first place, there are many people at the construction site, and even if they open the snacks all at once, the amount of poison ingested is likely to be relatively reduced because they share it.

“And someone wouldn’t have eaten it.”

“Oh, that’s right. It says that the person who gave this testimony didn’t eat it.”

“That’s right.”

Usually, when you ask to share something, there are people who refuse for various reasons, even if they share it all together. For reasons such as being allergic to the food or having different tastes.

“Yes, so the number of victims was relatively small.”