My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 703

“Um…….”

“You have to tell us. Otherwise, we’ll have no choice but to investigate properly.”

At those words, Jo Yu-soon conveyed her feelings with a long sigh.

But soon, as if giving up, she said quietly.

“The timing didn’t match.”

“Timing?”

“Yes, it seems he testified that he was with someone else in a certain case, but he called me several times that day.”

“Aha!”

And the prosecution must have been trying to confirm it with Jo Yu-soon to verify. If he was with someone else and with Jo Yu-soon at the same time, that would be the most definitive evidence of perjury.

“But he was with me that day. For now, I told the prosecution that I didn’t remember and would contact them again after checking.”

“He was with you.”

“Because I sponsored him.”

That meant that at the time he was supposed to be having fun at the hotel, he was with another man.

But from the sponsor’s point of view, getting involved with the law was bound to be unsettling, so he pressed her about it.

“So he said he committed perjury by being with someone else.”

“Hmm.”

The prosecution probably had almost identified the perpetrator at that point. But suddenly, someone appeared to prove the person’s alibi, so they couldn’t touch him.

“Do you know what case it was?”

“No, I don’t know that.”

However, Jo Yu-soon said that she didn’t particularly contact Kim Song-rim again until she was contacted again after that case. They asked a few more questions, but there was no testimony that would be helpful. In the first place, Kim Song-rim didn’t ask for help, but hired a lawyer in case they got involved while sponsoring.

“Then, one last question.”

Park Do-joon asked, as if confirming with the two of them.

“Do you know about Hong Woo-jong?”

“I don’t really…….”

Jo Yu-soon shook her head as if she didn’t know. But fortunately, Ahn Tae-ik knew something.

“Ah, I’ve heard of Hong Woo-jong.”

“Not personally or in the media, but in relation to the site.”

“Yes, I’ve heard of it.”

“Yes? How?”

“A girl I was sponsoring accidentally said she met him briefly.”

“Met?”

“They probably weren’t dating.”

She probably meant she was sponsored.

At those words, Park Do-joon and Lee Ji-soo’s eyes sparkled.

“Do you have anything else you heard about that?”

“No, she said she met him for about three months, but she got creeped out and ended up cutting him off first.”

“Creeped out?”

“Yes, he was nice to her, but something was strange.”

“Anything else besides that?”

“That was also something she said by mistake, and it was a long time ago…….”

Indeed, it is taboo for a woman who receives sponsorship to talk about other sponsors to the man who sponsors her. It was probably a mistake, as Ahn Tae-ik said.

“I understand. Then let’s end it here.”

Since there was no more information to be gained anyway, Park Do-joon got up from his seat.

And as he was about to go out with Lee Ji-soo, he paused, turned his head, and said to the two of them.

“Stop being a sponsor. Your wife’s family will start to notice soon.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t you think they’ll be suspicious about where you spent the cash? Don’t lie and say you invested it. Those are families that can track it down.”

At those words, the two of them couldn’t say anything.

“Just say you lost it in Bitcoin.”

“Yes.”

“Thank you.”

Park Do-joon, leaving them behind, went to his car and was lost in thought.

Then, Lee Ji-soo, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, tilted her head and asked Park Do-joon.

“Hong Woo-jong met another woman, but that woman avoided him…….”

“There are often people with good instincts.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, you know. People who quickly notice subtle awkwardness or a strange atmosphere.”

“Well, there are such people.”

“And if that’s the case, they’ll probably cut off contact first.”

“Isn’t that usually the case? Should we have asked who that woman was after all?”

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

“That woman is probably a celebrity or someone in a related profession.”

“Yes? How do you know? You didn’t say anything?”

“Sponsorship is, well, the sponsor who provides the sponsorship is absolutely the boss.”

“That’s right?”

“But when you were talking earlier, you said that about that woman. You said it was a mistake and that you didn’t say that again later.”

“You did?”

“But that means you continued to meet.”

“Ah!”

There is a lot of meaning in the choice of words.

If he had said, ‘I don’t know after that,’ it is highly likely that the relationship with that woman had ended.

“But when you talk, you keep mentioning the part about ‘it was a mistake.’ What does that mean?”

“There are feelings involved.”

“Yeah, that’s probably it.”

Park Do-joon and Lee Ji-soo are completely unrelated third parties.

Therefore, there’s no reason for Ahn Tae-ik to make excuses to a third party that it was a mistake.

However, Ahn Tae-ik repeatedly made excuses that it was a mistake.

That means he’s unconsciously trying to protect that woman.

“And considering that, he’s probably still seeing her.”

“But to assume she’s a celebrity or someone in a related profession based on that…”

“Ah, that’s not because of Ahn Tae-ik, but because of Hong Woo-jong.”

“Hong Woo-jong?”

“He said he met Hong Woo-jong for three months. Do you know why we targeted this site?”

“Of course, because this place is suitable as a hunting ground for a serial killer…”

Lee Ji-soo, who was speaking, realized what the problem was.

“There’s no reason to drag it out for three months!”

“That’s right.”

If they’ve targeted prey, the murder should happen quickly afterward.

Since they’re in a position to receive sponsorship [financial or other support, often with an implied quid pro quo], they have no choice but to look good to that person. In such cases, they have to nod, imagining something intimate when asked to go to a secluded place with no people around.

But regardless of that, the longer the meeting period, the longer the tail gets [the greater the risk of being discovered].

Therefore, the hunt must be done in a very short time and very quickly.

“They should settle it within at least a month.”

Otherwise, there’s a high possibility of leaving traces.

“The same goes for the last case. The victim was met only once, just once.”

In reality, the criminals who committed the murders had a rule of meeting only once, and most of the victims were killed during that first meeting.

The phone was also a burner phone [a disposable phone used to avoid being traced], and they changed phones every time, and they were killed at the first meeting, so even the police didn’t even know it was the work of the same person.

“But meeting for three months means one of two things: either they were truly in love, or she was too ambiguous to touch.”

“Um, isn’t that speculation?”

“It might be speculation. But the fact that Hong Woo-jong endured for as long as three months means she was like a white elephant [something expensive and troublesome].”

He was afraid of the aftermath if he touched her, but he couldn’t let go because she was a prey that suited his taste… that’s likely the state he was in.

“If she were a regular person, that wouldn’t be very likely.”

“But if that’s the case, she must be someone who lives comfortably… no, that’s right. If she’s from such a family, there’s no reason to look for a sponsor, right?”

“If they were going to find a man to sponsor them, they would have found one, why would they look for a sponsor?”

Then there must have been another reason why he couldn’t touch her.

“Moreover, there’s another problem.”

“What is it?”

“Women who receive sponsorship don’t tell people around them that they’re receiving sponsorship.”

“Right? That’s why they’re the perfect target for serial killings.”

“That’s right. But celebrities are commodities. Sometimes the sponsorship itself is also a management target.”

In reality, entertainment companies with poor quality often try to get roles or gain fame through sponsorship.

“But what happens if they go missing?”

“Ah!”

Then the company will be turned upside down right away, and in the worst case, whoever was sponsoring them will be on the news immediately.

“How many women would have a job that was targeted when they received sponsorship but was still ambiguous to touch?”

“That’s right. Celebrities are definitely possible.”

“Yeah, moreover, Hong Woo-jong has a strong ego. It’s hard to see him meeting just anyone.”

At least in the early days, that would have been the case. And Ahn Tae-ik said that. He said it was a long time ago.

“Ahn Tae-ik isn’t really meeting her because he loves her, is he? Neither is the woman.”

“Then there are various possibilities, but considering all the circumstances, the most likely is an actress who was once popular but is now slowly losing popularity.”

“Why?”

“Do you think Hong Woo-jong and Ahn Tae-ik are on the same level?”

“Well, that’s definitely not the case.”

Hong Woo-jong is a second-generation *chaebol* [a wealthy family conglomerate] and one of the leading presidential candidates at the current time. Even if it was a long time ago, he’s a member of the National Assembly. But Ahn Tae-ik, who lives off his wife’s money, can’t be on the same level.

“That means the level of sponsorship that woman chooses has dropped to the bottom.”

“Ah, suddenly the level has dropped?”

“Yeah, that woman’s value has dropped.”

If she were a regular person, she wouldn’t meet Hong Woo-jong’s standards, and if she were at a high level, she wouldn’t meet Ahn Tae-ik’s standards.

“Besides, Hong Woo-jong has been supplied with sacrifices from criminal organizations for a considerable period. There was no reason for him to hunt dangerously himself.”

That means Hong Woo-jong’s case of finding sacrifices through sponsorship is a long time ago. And the case where the value drops during that time is when they get older.

“Then it’s definitely more likely that she’s a female celebrity.”

Considering various possibilities, it is highly likely that the woman is a female celebrity.

“She wouldn’t be cooperative.”

“She probably wouldn’t be. She’s a celebrity after all. Besides, they met for three months, right?”

“They did, didn’t they?”

“Would a woman with good instincts suddenly feel uneasy after three months and tell him she wants to break up?”

“That’s unlikely.”

“Yeah, usually money comes first. But because the anxiety grew, she had no choice but to choose to break up.”

“Hmm.”

And in such cases, the woman becomes wary of the man without realizing it.

And Hong Woo-jong also knew that the woman was wary of him, so he probably couldn’t hunt her easily.

“Even lions attack from behind, not from the front, when hunting.”

It’s not that they can’t kill a deer by attacking it from the front, but they want to exert the maximum effect with the least amount of damage.

“It’s the same with humans.”

If the other person is wary and is a celebrity, in a situation where you don’t know how the story will unfold later, the option of unconditionally killing them doesn’t help much.

“In that situation, there’s nothing to gain even if you ask.”

Speaking out would only be a loss for them, and in such a situation, there’s almost no information to be gained.

Profiling is their calling.