My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 718

‘Shit, I stepped in it.’

At first, I thought I just had to cover up one incident. Of course, covering up a murder isn’t easy, but it wasn’t impossible either, not when I considered my political life.

But as time went on, I felt more and more uneasy, and the report that came up recently was too serious.

‘There’s testimony that Hong Woo-jong is committing serial murders.’

Of course, I tried to ignore it. I couldn’t prove it, and if it were true, I, who had covered up the murders, would end up in prison, not just see the end of my political career.

‘But.’

Things were getting too big. The problem was that it was already a matter of necessity. I had climbed on the tiger’s back, so I had no choice but to hold on for dear life.

“I told you to hurry.”

“We can only live together if we do everything together.”

He was speaking indirectly, but the message was clear: If I go down, I’m taking you with me. I was about to get angry and say something when suddenly the door opened and a prosecutor entered the chief’s office.

“What! I told you not to come in!”

“That’s… there’s something you need to know.”

“Something I need to know?”

“Yes.”

The prosecutor looked at Hong Woo-jong with a meaningful look, then approached Pyo Gi-il and whispered something in his ear. And Pyo Gi-il’s face turned paler as he listened.

“I understand. Get out.”

“Yes, Chief.”

After he left, Pyo Gi-il let out a long sigh.

“Hoo!”

“What’s wrong? Judging by the way you’re looking at me, it seems to be related to me…”

“Hong Geun-jong just held a press conference.”

“What is he saying? That I killed him too? That’s just a rumor! He’s just desperate in the succession race.”

“That’s not it.”

“Then what is it?”

“He’s going to run for the general election.”

Hong Woo-jong’s face hardened at those words.

“What nonsense is that! Why would he?”

“I don’t know. But…”

If Hong Geun-jong, of all people, were to announce his candidacy, the political landscape would be completely turned upside down. The anti-China forces, Hong Woo-jong’s support base, and sympathy votes would be split.

“That can’t be. There’s no way he’d give up his chairman position, is there?”

Members of the National Assembly are prohibited from holding concurrent positions. In particular, it was impossible to hold the position of chairman of Daeguk Group, a defense-related company. That’s why his father, Hong Chang-sik, told Hong Woo-jong to go into politics.

“I don’t know the reason. And he’s not the chairman yet, is he? He’s the CEO.”

“Tch.”

Only then did Hong Woo-jong realize his mistake. He is the CEO. Of course, even if he’s not the chairman but the CEO, concurrent positions are prohibited. However, with the shares held by Hong Geun-jong and Hong Min-young, they have enough power to regain the CEO position even if they lose the election. That’s why Hong Woo-jong is desperately trying to prevent him from becoming chairman.

Of course, Hong Woo-jong would oppose it when he loses the election and challenges for the CEO position again, but if that happens, Daeguk Group will become a mess without a leader. And the shareholders of Daeguk Group will not just sit back and watch that happen.

Then, is it possible for Hong Geun-jong to become a member of the National Assembly and Hong Woo-jong to become the CEO?

Of course not. Hong Geun-jong and Hong Min-young would never agree to it.

As a result, Hong Geun-jong can take away Hong Woo-jong’s political position, which is the basis of his power, just by vacating his position once, and if that happens, Hong Woo-jong will lose everything. If he has no power, no one will try to protect him.

That’s why Hong Woo-jong was in a hurry.

“We have to kill them no matter what.”

“Kill them?”

Pyo Gi-il’s eyes widened at those words. Hong Woo-jong realized his mistake at the sight. Because with those words, Pyo Gi-il would see Hong Woo-jong as the one who actually committed all those incidents.

So he hurriedly changed his words.

“No, I mean Kim Song-rim, Kim Song-rim. If that bastard dies, there will be no one to prove the crime.”

“Hmm…”

That’s true. But Pyo Gi-il felt uneasy.

‘Damn it. There’s really no answer.’

It was highly likely that Hong Woo-jong had committed the murders, but Pyo Gi-il had no choice.

Because if Hong Woo-jong goes down, he will go down too.

“I’ll hurry as much as possible.”

That was all he could say.

# No License to Kill

Hong Woo-jong was desperately defending himself, from claiming it was a political attack to arguing that the results of the investigation had already cleared him. And Hong Woo-jong’s supporters acted exactly as Park Do-joon had predicted.

“Hong Geun-jong’s running for office was a stroke of genius.”

Lee Ji-soo clicked her tongue as she examined the atmosphere online.

“I guess so. In this situation, they can’t help but tear him apart.”

And as the fight intensified, scandals related to Hong Woo-jong and Hong Geun-jong continued to surface. The problem is that Hong Geun-jong’s scandals are only about women.

But since he is already officially married and raising someone else’s child, there is a clear limit to criticizing him for that.

Even if he met a lot of women when he was living alone, raising someone else’s child as his own is not an easy choice. That one choice alone is diluting many of his past mistakes.

“Don’t tell me he was aiming for that too?”

“That’s not it. I’m not a prophet.”

But as a result, his approval rating was surprisingly high in that area. On the other hand, the scandals that came out about Hong Woo-jong every time were murders, so it was literally a trade-off of giving flesh and hitting bones, but rather a level of exchange where you get your bones hit instead of getting slapped. [This idiom refers to a disproportionately negative exchange.]

“But will Hong Geun-jong really become a member of the National Assembly?”

“He won’t. He can’t.”

“Why?”

“No matter how much Hong Woo-jong is involved in the case, murder is murder. And Hong Geun-jong is a brother, whether he likes it or not.”

“Ah.”

After Hong Woo-jong collapses, it is inevitable that it will affect Hong Geun-jong. Right now, there is a strong enemy called Hong Woo-jong, so it doesn’t show, but no matter what, it will be difficult for the public to allow the family of a serial killer to become a member of the National Assembly.

“In the first place, all Hong Geun-jong wants is to tear up Hong Woo-jong’s votes.”

Even if he tears up half, or even a third, Hong Woo-jong will lose his seat in the National Assembly. And after that, Hong Woo-jong is nothing.

“So that’s what he’s doing now.”

The more violently he tears him apart, the more the votes will be split.

“And Hong Woo-jong knows that, so he’s probably thinking about covering up the case no matter what. How’s Kim Song-rim?”

“She doesn’t come out of the house at all.”

“I guess so. There’s no way she wouldn’t know that the situation has turned to shit.”

The country is in an uproar, so Kim Song-rim will know that her testimony will be a serious problem.

“In fact, the police have summoned her several times, but she doesn’t come at all.”

“The lawyers are probably panicking too.”

They came in knowing it was just about pimping, but suddenly it became a political situation. Of course, since the cases are different, they have no reason to cover up Kim Song-rim’s perjury case, but in the first place, people will see that the lawyers are protecting Kim Song-rim, so it will be a difficult situation for them.

“She’ll probably resign from her position as a lawyer soon.”

Bulsae Law Firm is a relatively powerful law firm, but it’s not enough to cover up such a fierce political case. No, to be exact, they have the ability, but there’s no reason to get involved if there’s no benefit.

If that’s the case, their choice would be to just resign and pretend they don’t know.

“And at that point, Kim Song-rim will have no choice.”

And if someone sent by Hong Woo-jong approaches her, taking advantage of that gap, she will definitely come out. There aren’t many people who can hold on to their mentality in this kind of political situation.

Moreover, Kim Song-rim is not a politician, nor is she someone who has experienced this kind of situation.

“But there’s still a problem, right?”

Surveillance and access are impossible. Due to the structure of the large apartment complex, it was practically impossible.

“We don’t know who the guys who are going to commit the murder are.”

We could control the timing through pressure, but we couldn’t control the location.

“There’s a way to control the location.”

“How? It’s impossible to track them.”

“Get a warrant.”

“No, the warrant won’t come out.”

“No. The warrant will come out. If the purpose changes.”

Park Do-joon smiled confidently.

‘The other side knows that everything in the world is evolving.’

Park Do-joon applied for a warrant. The warrant was not about Kim Song-rim.

“Do-joon, the warrant is out. How did you know?”

Jo Sang-gyu clicked his tongue.

“I had some discussions with Hong Geun-jong.”

“Aha!”

The warrant that Park Do-joon requested was not an arrest warrant or a search warrant for Kim Song-rim, but a warrant for the apartment management office’s computer. The reason for applying for it was simple: If a warrant was applied for Kim Song-rim, there was a high possibility that the data would be passed on to Hong Woo-jong immediately.

“But the apartment management office is completely separate.”

In fact, a warrant for the apartment management office came out easily with just a little pressure. It was something that Hong Geun-jong could do with a little pull.

Of course, Kim Song-rim could have been caught in the process, but fortunately, the apartment Kim Song-rim belonged to was a large apartment complex, so Hong Woo-jong didn’t react much, perhaps because he didn’t know who they were targeting.

“I definitely forgot about the management office completely.”

“I guess so. Usually, they directly target the subject of the crime.”

But the reason why Park Do-joon applied for a warrant for the apartment management office was simple.

“This apartment has good security anyway.”

The entrance is surrounded by a fairly high fence, and there is no reason for Kim Song-rim to go over it.

“Kim Song-rim will definitely move by car.”

“She will.”

The reason why Park Do-joon and Lee Ji-soo believe that is simple: because the guys who are trying to commit the murder are police officers.

“There’s no way the police officers wouldn’t care about CCTV.”

If they go to pick up Kim Song-rim or hang around the area, they are likely to get caught. What is the biggest reason why Hong Woo-jong was caught right away? Wasn’t it because the scene of him putting the victim in his car was captured on CCTV?

In fact, what is commonly found in the police’s suspicious death cases is that the victims voluntarily entered places where the police’s eyes do not reach, where there is no CCTV.

That’s why even if they insist it’s suicide, there’s no way to track it.

“The culprit is very sensitive to CCTV. Of course, they’re police officers. And since they’re police officers, it wouldn’t be difficult to check where the CCTV is.”

So it wasn’t difficult to call the victim into that blind spot.

“What you can’t see is more important.”

Park Do-joon often says that. What you can’t see is sometimes important. In modern times, tracking the movements of criminals is not as difficult as you might think. Instead of manually going through the videos one by one and tracking the numbers to find the vehicle’s movement path like in the past, if you track the vehicle number, the related videos are automatically analyzed to check the vehicle’s movement path.

“Yes. What you can’t see is important.”

However, we can know the victims’ movements, but we can’t know the perpetrators’ movements. That means the victims are going to the place where the perpetrators are.

“And the vast majority need a car.”

In the first place, if you don’t have a car like that, there are few places you can go or places without CCTV.

Even if you use public transportation, your route will be revealed immediately if you pay with a card.

“That’s why, realistically, the victims will go there.”

“And the security office with tight security controls the entry and exit of all vehicles.”

“That’s right.”

It is common to control entry but not to prevent exit. But does that mean they don’t leave a record of the exiting vehicles? No. They leave it for the sake of emergency.

“And to get out, you have to register your vehicle number, of course.”

Of course, the number of the exiting vehicle is also recognized.

“And if that comes out, we don’t have to track it.”

If we only know which door they are leaving from, we can track it if we move quickly.

“We can follow them secretly.”

“Yes, and Hong Woo-jong will be in a hurry, so he will make a mistake.”

Job is Profiler