My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 81

“That can’t be. This is the most expensive daycare around here. It’s an English-speaking daycare, and the tuition alone is over 2 million won a month [approximately $1,500 USD].”

Indeed, this neighborhood is more than just well-off; it’s a truly affluent area. The average apartment price exceeds 3 billion won [approximately $2.25 million USD].

“First of all, these guys have been practicing for a long time. They’re probably from the sports field [likely referring to athletes or individuals with a background in physical training].”

“You think so too?”

“Yes. And their goal is probably money. It seems like this is their first time, but there’s no record of similar cases with the same method, right?”

“None.”

“Then it’s their first time, but it’s too systematic. I can only think they practiced. Especially breaking the window is intelligent. You can’t learn that with simple brute force.”

You can easily tell that you can’t open a door by pushing it. But right before they ran away, they took out a baton and smashed the window.

Why did they do such a seemingly meaningless thing?

‘It’s not meaningless. They were aiming for it.’

The reason is simple: to prevent the other person from reacting.

The person inside is about to step out and stop them. In that situation, if they’re startled and lose their balance, they’ll hesitate to come out.

They may be fast, but that doesn’t mean there’s no chance of being caught. But what if they break the window like this?

The person inside instinctively shrinks back to protect themselves from the glass. And if the kidnappers move during that brief moment of hesitation, the person might think the door is still closed.

In fact, the two people got out of the car quite late on the screen.

“It seems like they solved problems one by one while practicing?”

“You think so too?”

“You think so too? Is there a problem?”

“Haa, don’t even mention it. When I came to see, the cops were grilling the driver and the teacher, saying that the two people getting out late was suspicious behavior.”

“Again?”

“The police always act like this, so they get cursed at.”

Instead of catching the real culprit, they just try to pressure someone until they get a confession, so the investigation doesn’t proceed properly and only wastes time.

“In my opinion, they’re men in their 20s to 30s who graduated from a sports university. Including the driver, there are about five people. And the goal is probably money.”

“I see.”

“However, the crime itself seems random.”

“Random?”

The team leader looked surprised at the unexpected words.

“What do you mean? Random?”

“Looking at the screen, the time it took to open the door and forcibly pull the child out was too short. I think the victim child was near the entrance? You haven’t checked the location, have you?”

“Not yet. The police are treating the two as suspects right now.”

“Idiots.”

They’re not focusing on the important details and are just treating them as suspects, so they don’t even know where the child was.

“We need to check, but judging from their speed and the angle they moved, they pulled the child out from near the entrance.”

“Just grabbing whoever they can?”

“It’s possible. The closest apartment to this daycare is here, right?”

“That’s right. Hmm. I see.”

The teachers will naturally arrange the seats considering the order in which the children get off. The closer the child lives, the closer they are assigned to the entrance.

“The average price of this apartment is 3 billion won [approximately $2.25 million USD]? Then, on average, people in this neighborhood are quite wealthy.”

Of course, they could be renting. But if the house price is 3 billion won, the deposit would be at least 2.5 billion won [approximately $1.87 million USD], and the monthly rent would be 4 million won [approximately $3,000 USD].

In other words, living in this area means you’re a wealthy person with considerable financial resources.

“You’re saying it’s a crime simply aimed at money?”

“Yes. That’s how it seems.”

At the words that it was simply a crime aimed at money, the team leader seemed to be contemplating for a moment. That’s because he thought they were targeting the victim specifically.

This needs to be clarified because the characteristics of the criminals can change completely. If they were targeting, it’s someone from around here, but if not, the scope of the investigation becomes too broad.

“Couldn’t it be a coincidence? The one in the front is just occupying a fixed seat, right?”

Since they have to get off in order, they have to put the kids in order.

Even if he’s a profiler, it’s difficult to track whether this is a planned crime or a random crime.

“Moreover, although you can’t know who’s rich in this area, the victim’s family has assets of 130 billion won [approximately $97.5 million USD]. To extort money, you should definitely consider the characteristics, right?”

“I thought so at first, but as I looked at it, there were parts that I didn’t understand.”

“What is it?”

Park Do-joon stopped the screen and showed it.

“The child is wearing a mask.”

“So? Ah, I see. They didn’t check the children’s faces.”

“Yes. You didn’t ask about the mask, did you?”

“They probably didn’t think it was important. Hmm, am I getting old… my senses aren’t what they used to be.”

The mask is an important factor. If they’re wearing a mask, you can’t check the children’s faces. Of course, you can check name tags, but the child’s name tag is small and usually attached to the bag.

“But looking at the time and the actions, there wasn’t enough time to check the name tag.”

They opened the door, unbuckled the child’s belt, pulled them out as if snatching them, and ran away. In a situation where they’re wearing a mask, there’s not enough time to take it down and check their face.

No matter how much they practiced, there are variables.

The kidnapping took place in broad daylight. Would the people around just watch? If people who feel something strange approach, the escape is out of the question.

Moreover, there are many cars around, so if they deliberately block the escape route, they’ll have no choice but to be arrested on the spot.

And even if they took off the mask and checked, there’s not a high chance that the guys who kidnapped them in broad daylight would put the mask back on the child.

“Then they didn’t check the face. There are two possibilities: they either knew exactly where they were sitting from the beginning, or they didn’t care who it was.”

“Hmm……”

If it’s the former, there must be an accomplice among the driver or the teacher, as the police claim.

“Team leader, you saw the two of them, right? What did they look like?”

“First of all, there’s no reason for either of them to do such a thing.”

“Why?”

“The person driving is the husband of the daycare director.”

To be the director of a 2 million won per month kindergarten in this expensive neighborhood, their wealth must be no joke. Rather than working because he doesn’t have money, her husband would be working as a hobby, and there’s no reason to kidnap a child and demand something.

Because if that happens, the daycare will go bankrupt.

“What about the teacher?”

“She’s thirty-eight years old, married with two children. Both are elementary school students, and her husband works for a large company.”

“Are there no financial problems?”

“No. Her husband is a researcher at a large company, so his annual salary is around 150 million won [approximately $112,500 USD]. Her salary is also 4.5 million won per month after taxes [approximately $3,375 USD]. They have a loan for buying a house, but it’s not to the point where they can’t pay it off.”

“Then there’s no possibility.”

In the first place, to work in such an expensive English daycare, you can’t just graduate from the Department of Early Childhood Education. Due to the nature of the English daycare, you have to teach English to the children.

Instead of sitting these young children down and educating them in the concept of education, you have to encourage them to use it continuously in real life, so a certain level of teacher’s conversational English is essential.

Of course, you have to find someone with an early childhood education certificate and English conversation skills, but there’s no reason for such a person to work in a daycare while receiving low pay.

“What about other academy teachers?”

“I need to check, but as you said, the possibility is not high.”

There won’t be a teacher who checks the seats of children in other classes, not just their own.

“Just grabbing anyone?”

“Yes. And I think that’s what happened by chance.”

“Hmm.”

At Park Do-joon’s words, the team leader pondered and looked at Park Do-joon.

“You know this is a very serious problem, right?”

“I know.”

Because in this case, the two types of profiles are completely different. If it was targeted, the criminal in the profiling is bound to be someone nearby. On the other hand, if it’s random as Park Do-joon said, the criminal in the profiling is less likely to be someone nearby and more likely to be someone who knows the area well geographically.

The difference was enough to confuse the police, and especially in the case of a child’s kidnapping, there is generally a golden time, so confusion should be avoided as much as possible in that time.

“It’s 48 hours. You know?”

“Yes. I know.”

48 hours.

This refers to the time the kidnapped child can survive. After 48 hours, the child’s survival rate drops sharply.

Because after that time, the child’s confusion subsides, and they begin to remember the criminal’s face or characteristics. And the criminal recognizes this situation and is more likely to kill the child for their own safety.

From a physical point of view, the time a child can endure is approximately 48 hours. After that, they have to be given water or food, and the more contact there is, the more memories there will be.

“Then let’s start the investigation separately. I’ll assign someone to you, so you can dig into the possibility that it’s random.”

The team leader made a decision. Generally, they move as a team because that’s safer. Nevertheless, the fact that he told Park Do-joon to move alone meant that he trusted Park Do-joon that much.

“Are you sure?”

“Is performance the problem? It’s fortunate if either one is right. If we both fail, the child dies.”

“That won’t happen.”

The criminals are guys who have trained in advance and are moving by forming an organization.

Naturally, there will be a code of conduct, and the code of conduct of these criminal organizations prioritizes their own safety.

“I can’t assign many people, but I can do some investigation.”

“Yes, Team Leader.”

The team leader immediately called someone and talked to them, and he approached Park Do-joon and shook hands.

“I’m Kim Seong-gyun. You want me to help with the investigation in a different direction?”

“Yes.”

“Sure. Saving the child is the priority. So, what should we do first?”

“Hmm……”

Park Do-joon pondered at the words. If the other party is a group that randomly tracks criminals, what actions would they take first?

‘No. That’s not it. First, you have to think about the human composition inside.’

Just kidnap and extort money because it’s hard to make a living? That can’t be. Considering that these criminals acted so simply, their actions are quite systematic.

“Let’s head to the daycare first.”

“Daycare? Why there?”

“I’ll explain on the way. Eight hours have passed, so it’s time for them to contact us.”

Generally, the time it takes for contact to come after a child is kidnapped is after six hours. In other words, it’s time for contact to come. That’s why the police are moving urgently.

“Let’s go in my car.”

Park Do-joon took Kim Seong-gyun to his car and headed straight to the daycare.

A Natural-Born Profiler