My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 76

#Questions Are Important

Was it really a coincidence that a vehicle registered under the name of Jeon Wan-gu’s secretary, a vehicle unrecognizable from the outside, was found in Yoo Jung-ah’s underground parking lot?

“Did he really just get caught while meeting his mistress?”

“Secrets are most effective when few people know them.”

Park Do-joon said with a smirk.

“But judging by the looks of it, it seems like the aide knows too?”

“Knowing the facts and proving them are two completely different things. Anyway, from Jeon Wan-gu’s perspective, the aide is a disposable card, so he needs to prepare for when the aide might try to cling to him later.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“There are often cases of aides blackmailing politicians.”

“Huh? No, does that really happen?”

“Yes. It does happen sometimes.”

Aides are civil servants who receive a salary from the government.

But if a member of the National Assembly loses an election, they simply become unemployed.

“Of course, not all of them become unemployed.”

In the case of capable or good-natured National Assembly members who have maintained good relationships, they can ask the newly elected National Assembly member to continue working.

“But if not, things get complicated.”

For example, if the elected person already has experience as a National Assembly member and has aides, or if they move constituencies, or if they are from a different party, then the aide will naturally be fired.

“Some people just quit, but others blackmail.”

Aides learn many secrets of National Assembly members while working.

If they saw them taking billions in bribes, wouldn’t they demand compensation when things go wrong?

“So they will try to minimize anything that could be a weakness.”

“Uh…? So, the aide doesn’t know about this place?”

“Probably, that’s very likely. No, even if they do know, it would only be one person. Someone very trustworthy.”

Jeon Wan-gu wouldn’t have come in person to find the house.

“So, they couldn’t tell us.”

“Because they know it’s an illegal act.”

It varies from country to country, but in Korea, adultery is a serious issue. If a problem arises due to adultery, they have to give up almost all of the female vote.

If 50% of the votes are lost like that, there is almost no chance of being elected.

In reality, affairs and receptions are very common among National Assembly members, but the reason they are not revealed to the outside is precisely that.

“Um, it seems like they were kidnapped from here, then.”

“Probably. Otherwise, there’s no reason for the vehicle to be here.”

“But how do we track them? Should we inform the police?”

Park Do-joon shook his head at those words. Of course, he is also a police officer, and he should inform the police and proceed with the investigation.

“But if we do that, the police will know that we are tracking Jeon Wan-gu in this case. Do you think I would let you work with me?”

“Ah…….”

Working with Lee Yeon is currently a secret. Naturally, they wouldn’t let someone with a record work with a lawyer.

“So, I think we should officially investigate this case as the disappearance of Yoo Jung-ah.”

“As expected, you’re still the same, senior.”

“What about me?”

“No, you’ve always been so chic and cool-headed in assessing situations.”

“I can’t help it if I was born that way.”

Park Do-joon said that, glanced at the vehicle, and turned his head. Then, he slowly moved forward.

“Uh? Senior, where are you going? Aren’t you going to investigate this car?”

“Nothing will come out of it anyway. That’s the vehicle Jeon Wan-gu came in.”

Of course, Jeon Wan-gu’s belongings might be found inside, but for the two people tracking Yoo Jung-ah, not Jeon Wan-gu, the vehicle is meaningless.

“Oh, is that so? What about the culprit?”

“The culprit didn’t even board it, so what would be there?”

“Uh…? Then what should we do? Should we go to the entrance and check the CCTV?”

“No. That would be meaningless too.”

The vehicles here are operated by an automatic entry-exit system. If it’s captured on camera, it will naturally be recorded. Moreover, the payment system here is card-based.

Since you can’t use cash, it means your traces will remain.

“The culprit probably left the vehicle outside.”

Perhaps if it were the police, they would have made a fuss about searching the vehicles that came inside, but Park Do-joon didn’t want to waste time like that.

“I’ve said it many times, these guys are professionals. For those guys, the blind spots of CCTV are very important.”

“Really?”

“Conversely, if you investigate the blind spots of CCTV, you can find out where they were.”

Park Do-joon said that while looking around. In fact, there aren’t many CCTV cameras in this neighborhood. But despite that, there are still a few CCTV cameras.

“This is too few.”

Lee Yeon clicked her tongue while looking at the CCTV cameras scattered here and there.

“It’s a lot if you say it’s a lot, and it’s few if you say it’s few.”

Park Do-joon nodded and looked around.

“But what you see isn’t everything.”

“What do you mean?”

“You have to think about private CCTV.”

“Private? Ah, I see.”

Unless it’s an old downtown area, most buildings install private CCTV for security. And it’s constantly recording.

“I told you, they’re professionals. They won’t just think about what we see.”

Park Do-joon moved along the road, identifying places with private CCTV and excluding them one by one from the route.

After moving around the neighborhood for a long time, they were able to identify a route without CCTV.

“This must be a road that’s not used.”

“How do you know?”

“See? The air conditioner outdoor unit is sticking out towards the road. And legally, air conditioner outdoor units are required to have covers on the air outlets so that they don’t obstruct traffic.”

However, the air conditioner outdoor units sticking out were not just one or two, and they didn’t have covers.

In fact, the road was so narrow that only one or two people could move through it.

“People usually avoid places like this. Since there’s no traffic, there’s naturally no reason to install CCTV.”

After passing through that alley and going outside, a building that appeared to be under construction blocked the way.

“Uh…? A dead end? This is a bust?”

“It’s not a bust.”

Park Do-joon said that while looking at the site where excavation had just begun.

Then, he came out of the alley and approached the construction site from the outside.

Park Do-joon asked the worker there a question.

“When did the excavation work here start?”

“About three days ago.”

“What was here before that?”

“It was an empty lot.”

Until recently, this place was an empty lot, which meant that people could park their cars there.

“Wow, senior, how did you know?”

“Excavation is the very first stage in construction. It doesn’t take that long.”

These days, they use excavators to dig it up in an instant, so it naturally doesn’t take long.

“And if it was originally an empty lot, people usually use it as a parking lot.”

If the owner doesn’t really care, it’s an easy place to park because it’s spacious.

So, even if there’s a vehicle there, no one suspects anything.

“Moreover, look at the road.”

If you park a vehicle right next to a narrow road and load someone in, what would happen? Naturally, it’s not visible from the outside. It means that people can get in or out secretly without being noticed by anyone.

“And since it’s quite a distance from Yoo Jung-ah’s house, it’s naturally easy for the culprit to move quietly.”

Park Do-joon said that while looking around. So, how will they track them now?

“The vehicle is probably a van. It’s obviously a stolen car. They probably abandoned it after this incident.”

“How do you know?”

“Because there are two kidnapping targets.”

When taking a kidnapping target, you need at least four people.

The reason is simple. You have to avoid people’s attention. When kidnapping, they will definitely threaten them with a weapon like a knife from behind and take them out.

“But it’s hard to see Jeon Wan-gu and Yoo Jung-ah as being in a relationship where they have to protect each other.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“Yes. So, one person has to stick to each of them and threaten them from behind. But if you only threaten them from behind, the problem is that it’s too easy to run away while shouting for help as they jump forward. That goes for all directions.”

In other words, one person has to stand behind each of them, and one person has to stand in front and on each side.

Then, you need at least five people, and you have to take two victims with you.

“The problem starts from there. You also need someone to drive.”

Then you need a vehicle that can carry more than eight people. So, there are two options. One is to prepare two passenger cars. The other is to use a van to transport them all at once.

“Criminals try to minimize their numbers as much as possible. And one van is easier to control than two passenger cars.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. So, the culprits probably used a van.”

Naturally, it’s much safer to dispose of one car than to dispose of two cars after the incident. The possibility of getting caught while going to dispose of it is reduced by half with simple calculations.

“So, if we assume they used a van.”

“Then… is the tracking over here? We can’t track the abandoned stolen car.”

“Of course not. People have to eat to live.”

Park Do-joon said that while looking around. Park Do-joon came here not really to track the vehicle. Park Do-joon is a profiler. In other words, he is a person who tracks people.

“What we really need is a place like that.”

Park Do-joon said while pointing to one place. There was a sign that said ‘Baekban’ [a Korean set meal, usually inexpensive and consisting of rice, soup, and several side dishes].

“Baekban?”

“People have to eat to live. Moreover, I told you? They identified Yoo Jung-ah’s house as the place to commit the crime and waited. So, while waiting for that opportunity, would they have followed Jeon Wan-gu or monitored Yoo Jung-ah’s house?”

“Ah!”

Naturally, they would choose the latter.

“Moreover, it’s a distance from here to Yoo Jung-ah’s house. The police probably won’t investigate this far.”

Even if they do, they will just look at the CCTV around the restaurants and end it there.

“The problem is that we can’t tell who is suspicious.”

No matter how hard the police look at the CCTV, they can’t tell who is suspicious.

“Still, they will ask questions.”

“The direction of that question is wrong. Most of the police’s questions are actually in the wrong direction.”

The most common question the police ask when they start an investigation is whether they have seen anyone suspicious.

A Profiler’s Calling