My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 93

“Gu Bonseong probably didn’t know the exact location. That alone suggests he wasn’t at the scene. Of course, as the second-in-command, he might have known the general area.”

Everyone frowned at Park Dojoon’s words. They had all given the area a cursory look, and hadn’t realized the fallen leaves haphazardly concealed the body.

“Then, are you saying the other culprit is another believer here?”

“Probably not.”

“What?”

“Framing someone for murder isn’t just about ensuring their own safety. Heo Gangsoo is quite intelligent.”

Even in the kidnapping case, he didn’t step into the spotlight, and the same was true in other instances.

“This type knows how to turn a crisis into an opportunity. Perhaps framing those three is, in a way, to erase related records.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The others aren’t psychopaths.”

Those who heard him looked at Park Dojoon, puzzled. Seeing their expressions, Park Dojoon smiled wryly.

‘They’re only applying profiling to the direct perpetrator.’

Of course, profiling the culprit is the most basic step.

But that approach limits the types of culprits you can catch.

“Heo Gangsoo wouldn’t have persuaded those three with just faith.”

If he only used faith, that faith might later crumble, or they might come to their senses and realize they were being manipulated. If that happened, they’d tell the police the truth about him, and he’d be finished.

“One of the three died of cancer. He feared the afterlife, so he would have pledged allegiance to go to the so-called heaven.”

“That’s true, but…?”

“Then, what did he use to persuade the other two?”

“That’s……”

Simply believe in me, the god? Of course, he could do that. But that’s not persuasion; it’s an order, and such orders are short-lived.

“I think it was probably conscience.”

“Conscience? What conscience does a murderer have?”

“Just because someone kills doesn’t mean they lack a conscience. Do you know why PTSD [Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder] occurs?”

“That’s true, but……”

“Just because they felt it was necessary doesn’t mean they weren’t traumatized.”

PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, occurs when someone experiences a shocking event.

“Soldiers also kill people, but they aren’t necessarily murderers.”

The team leader nodded, as if understanding.

“In this situation, their emotions are closer to those of a soldier killing on the battlefield than the emotions of the murderers we’ve encountered so far.”

“A soldier’s emotions?”

The team leader clicked his tongue, seeing the profilers looking at each other with bewildered expressions, as if they didn’t understand.

“That’s why you need to study, you bastards. You only think of people who died as simple murderers, so you don’t understand.”

“They aren’t soldiers, are they?”

As Han Sungki spoke, sounding wronged, Park Dojoon elaborated.

“That’s why I’m saying they have the *emotions* of soldiers, not that they *are* soldiers. Everyone knows what process you go through to become a soldier, right?”

“That’s right.”
You go through training camp, join your unit, and train to become a soldier.

“That process is also a kind of brainwashing. Of course, the government won’t admit it.”

But there’s no other way. If you tell 20-year-olds who have never even caught a bug, let alone killed someone, that they’ve become soldiers and may have to kill, who would easily accept that?

“Think about why punitive units are inefficient.”

“Why is that relevant here?”

Perhaps feeling bad that he was being lectured, Han Sungki snapped. The team leader clicked his tongue at Han Sungki and said,

“You bastard, this is common sense. You need to know this to be a profiler.”

“That’s……”

“You crazy bastards, criminals have too much resistance to rules.”

In fictional works like novels, there are many stories about forming armies with violent criminals, but realistically, there are no such units.

Because they can’t be controlled. It’s like giving weapons to a group of murderers; controlling them is impossible.

What would happen if you created such a unit, put a commander in charge, and gave the order to charge?

People unfamiliar with psychology might think they’ll enthusiastically charge because they’re violent, but that’s a superficial understanding.

They’re violent criminals, not suicide hopefuls.

They prioritize themselves over others, and their survival over organizations or rules.

Perhaps the moment the order to charge is given, they’ll shoot the officer in the head, desert with weapons, form a paramilitary organization, and commit all sorts of crimes.

In fact, when war breaks out, there are more than a few soldiers who arm themselves in that way and steal or cause disturbances.

“Brainwashing works better on ordinary people than on criminals. That’s why Do Sikhwan and his gang were swayed.”

Ironically, if Do Sikhwan’s gang had been a gang of criminals, Heo Gangsoo wouldn’t have been able to brainwash them. But they weren’t criminals; they were just ordinary people despairing from failure, so they were easily susceptible to brainwashing.

“And it’s the same with these criminals. And even those guys aren’t completely without conscience.”

That’s why PTSD occurs. They do as they’re told, but they aren’t inherently murderers.

“Perhaps in the process of persuasion, the three people agreed. But one or two are missing. Someone probably didn’t agree.”

“Then, is he among the believers?”

“No. That’s probably not the case either.”

If he were among the believers, Gu Bonseong wouldn’t have left him alone. He was so loyal to Heo Gangsoo that he would commit murder.

Decisively, if that guy had switched his allegiance to Gu Bonseong, there would be no reason to turn everything upside down like this.

“After the incident, many people probably left the Cosmic God Church. And the people who remain here are probably those with really strong faith.”

“Then……”

Only then did someone begin to understand.

“Did he leave the church?”

“The moment you disobey the leader, that’s pretty much a certainty. And in that situation, Heo Gangsoo can’t kill anyone.”

Perhaps he refused to take the blame alone for fear of punishment and chose to flee. He would have disappeared into the world.

“No, but why didn’t the three say anything? Shouldn’t they have implicated him, even if they were wrongly accused?”

“They probably don’t have much affection for each other. What’s keeping them together isn’t friendship or camaraderie, but loyalty to Heo Gangsoo.”

But if they’re only going to jail, and they reveal his involvement? Of course, he’ll be caught. But if a guy caught like that implicates Heo Gangsoo?

“Ah……”

“So they kept their mouths shut for Heo Gangsoo’s sake.”

Either way, the runaway is also an accomplice. If they leave him alone, he won’t talk.

“Then what should we do with these guys? No, we need to find out who he is in the first place.”

The problem is that there’s no way to know who it is. There’s no way there’s a list inside. First of all, this isn’t the Cosmic God Church; it’s the Galaxy Order.

Of course, they would have made many lists. Furthermore, many people left at the time of the transition from the Cosmic God Church to the Galaxy Order, so it’s impossible to know for sure who the culprit is.

“Can’t we ask the people of the church?”

“I don’t think so.”

The people of the church are hostile to the police right now. The police were able to enter here because of Gu Bonseong’s orders, not the church’s internal decision, so they are still distancing themselves from the police.

No, in the first place, Gu Bonseong allowed them to enter, but he didn’t allow them to contact the people of the church. In fact, all the people of the church were glaring at this side with scary eyes, and those who seemed to be higher-ranking members were blocking them.

“You should give up if you’re thinking of getting any help. Other police officers seem to have asked a few questions, but they don’t even answer.”

Even Seo Juwon said that, so it seemed that Gu Bonseong had absolutely told them not to contact the police.

“No, why? Didn’t he tell us to dig up the corpse?”

Han Sungki spoke, sounding dumbfounded, and the team leader clicked his tongue and looked at Han Sungki.

“Think a little, you bastard.”

“Yes?”

“Murder isn’t the only crime there is. Did you trade aiding and abetting for *엿* [Korean taffy, often used as a metaphor for a worthless deal]?”

“Ah!”

“These bastards, really……!”

Park Dojoon smiled wryly as he watched the team leader scold them.

‘Yeah, that’s the problem.’

Since they don’t hire enough profilers, the cases they’re involved in are mostly serious crimes, and as a result, most profilers’ thoughts are fixed on serious crimes.

Of course, aiding and abetting murder is also a serious crime, but generally, aiding and abetting is an area that the police take care of on their own, so it doesn’t come into the profilers’ area, so they naturally don’t think much about aiding and abetting.

‘So profiling for aiding and abetting is probably weak.’

“Gu Bonseong is afraid that if Heo Gangsoo is caught, he’ll blab and get him involved as an accessory.”

Park Dojoon told him that Heo Gangsoo was trying to frame Gu Bonseong, but the possibility that he would give up on that even when Heo Gangsoo was caught is not high.

No, in the first place, from Heo Gangsoo’s point of view, he has to cover this up as not his crime.

In other words, it’s obvious that he’ll claim that the murder occurred after Gu Bonseong became the leader.

Because with only the skeleton left, it’s impossible to know for sure when he died.

The best way to get rid of such suspicion is to cooperate with the police.

If they try to frame him, he can claim that he discovered it and reported it, and the police or prosecutors’ thoughts will be focused on this side.

“But other believers might make mistakes.”

So there’s a very high possibility that he told the believers not to contact them at all.

“Ugh! Why is this case so difficult?”

“Where in the world is there an easy case?”

The team leader clicked his tongue and asked Park Dojoon.

“Hey, what would you do if you were you?”

“Hmm, first of all, contacting the believers and asking questions is inevitable. If you talk to Gu Bonseong and get permission, Gu Bonseong won’t be able to refuse.”

He called the police to get rid of his guilt, but if he refuses the police’s request for cooperation, he will naturally be suspected.

“They won’t talk about the case, will they?”

Then he threw a question as if he was testing him. Everyone nodded. But Park Dojoon wasn’t unskilled enough to be caught in such a test.

“You can change the question.”

“You can change the question?”

“Either way, they won’t talk about Gu Bonseong.”

They will never talk about it.

To them, Gu Bonseong is God himself.

“So you ask a different question.”

“What kind of question?”

“Who left.”

“It won’t be just one or two people, will it?”

“Yes. But they’ll know the atmosphere when they left better than anyone else. There will probably be two types that are distinguished: people who left quickly, and people who left later.”

“Is there a difference?”

Someone on the team asked in a grumpy voice.

My natural talent is profiling