The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 126

126. Insurance Murder

Shin Hae-soo nodded, looking at Ahn Seo-eun with serious eyes.

“Yes.”

It might seem strange, but in this urgent situation, there was no time to come up with a proper excuse.

“Ah, ah, okay….”

Without any explanation, he was asking her to find a place to dive. Seo-eun started the yacht, thinking he must suddenly want to dive like crazy. Her lips were pouting as she grabbed the steering wheel.

Hae-soo narrowed his eyes and looked around.

This was a first. His precognitive visions had always been related to the cases he was working on, but this time, he had a completely random vision of someone’s death.

Perhaps because the place he saw was the sea, the proximity allowed him to see it.

Save him.

He checked the time on his phone. Based on his previous experiences with precognitive visions, he knew that the vision would skip if the subject lost consciousness. Due to the nature of drowning, it was impossible to accurately predict when it would happen.

It would definitely be less than an hour. To save him before he suffered brain damage, he had to find him as soon as possible.

“What’s the maximum speed?”

“You seem to be in a hurry. Okay, I’ll go full speed.”

Seo-eun frowned slightly and increased the speed. She had known Hae-soo for a considerable time, but his unfamiliar behavior flustered her.

The beach quickly came into view. Hae-soo pointed to a hill on the far left that was vaguely connected to the land.

“There, let’s go there.”

They went closer and circled around, but he didn’t see the people from his vision.

“This isn’t it….”

“Have you been here before? What are you looking for?”

“Diving, a place to go diving.”

Seo-eun shielded her eyes from the blazing sun and said,

“I don’t think there’s any place like that around here, unless it’s an island.”

“Island?”

At her words, Hae-soo turned around and looked around. There was a very small island nearby, quite far away. A red line indicating danger was marked around it.

‘That’s it!’

Hae-soo urged Seo-eun to head there. People were visible on the side of the island, which was not easily seen until the boat got closer.

Two men and one woman. One man was floating on the water, only his back visible.

In the distance.

They saw Hae-soo and Seo-eun’s boat and panicked, approaching the man.

Getting closer, the scene was a spectacle. They were shaking the man they had pulled out of the water with urgent expressions.

“Honey! Honey!”

“Bro! Are you okay? Bro!”

“Q, quickly, do CPR, do some CPR!”

“How am I supposed to do that? You should do it, he’s your husband!”

“Ugh, fine, I will.”

The woman kissed her husband’s lips as if she were giving him a peck, then patted his chest with both hands. It was a terrible CPR, with no chest compressions at all.

Hae-soo, knowing the whole situation, realized that she was stalling for time to kill him.

“Call 119 [South Korean emergency services number].”

He jumped onto the island before Seo-eun’s boat could even dock properly.

“Oh my!”

The yacht rocked violently due to his heavy weight, but he had no time to worry about that.

“I’ll do it.”

Hae-soo pushed her aside with his shoulder and took a CPR stance. The woman started to freak out.

“Wh, what! Who are you! This man is my husband! I’ll do it! Will you take responsibility if he dies because of you?”

The woman tried to hit and push Hae-soo’s back. However, Hae-soo was like a rock, steadily performing CPR without budging.

Seo-eun belatedly docked the yacht and joined in to stop the woman.

Then, the man glanced at the woman and approached Hae-soo. He was quite large and had a good build.

“Who the hell are you? What right do you have…!”

Seo-eun was no match for the burly man either. At that moment, Hae-soo grabbed his hand with one hand. Then, he slightly twisted it to the side and pushed it down.

“Ah, ah, ah…!”

The man was immediately dragged down and knelt on both knees, even though Hae-soo was only holding his wrist. He struggled desperately with his free hand, but it was no use.

Hae-soo continued to perform CPR, compressing the husband’s chest with one hand even in that state.

Then.

“Cough, cough! Keh!”

The husband finally coughed up water and regained consciousness. Hae-soo clearly saw the woman’s face contorted in despair at that moment.

The woman quickly changed her expression and approached her husband.

“Honey, honey, are you okay?”

The husband, still in a confused state, met his wife’s eyes and shuddered. He looked afraid, enough for both the woman and Hae-soo to notice.

“Honey, we were just playing a prank to help you get over your fear of water, but the prank was too much, right? I’m so sorry.”

“G, get away!”

The husband pushed away the woman’s hand, causing her to frown. Then, she glanced at Hae-soo and Seo-eun before raising the corners of her lips again.

“H, honey? Why are you suddenly like this? There are people here….”

Hae-soo watched the scene, took a step forward, and showed his police ID.

“I’m a police officer. I performed chest compressions. Do you have any discomfort or pain?”

The husband looked back and forth between Hae-soo and his wife with trembling eyes, then touched his chest with his hand. Then, he shook his head and replied.

“N, no. I’m okay. Th, thank you.”

“We can take you to the hospital if you need help now.”

The husband glanced at the yacht behind Hae-soo, then looked at his wife and shook his head slightly. His complexion quickly returned to normal.

“No. I’m fine. Thank you.”

“Yes, please contact us if you need help.”

Hae-soo handed him his business card and turned around.

On the way back, Seo-eun looked at Hae-soo with a complicated expression.

“How did you know? Do you have some kind of psychic power?”

Hae-soo looked at the approaching beach and made up an excuse.

“I have a knack for being a detective. You could call it a jinx. If I suddenly have a bad feeling, something bad happens. I tend to search around like this to prevent the worst-case scenario. Or maybe not, that’s what I think.”

“Hmm… okay. No comment.”

“…?”

Seo-eun, who had been pouting, sighed.

“Never mind. Anyway, they’re kind of strange people. That’s why you gave him your business card, right?”

“That’s right. You’re practically a detective now.”

“Hmph, I have two years of experience supporting detectives, you know.”

Hae-soo glanced at Seo-eun, who was shrugging her shoulders, before turning his gaze back to the front and saying,

“I’m sorry for today. I ruined your vacation, Seo-eun.”

“That’s right. I worked so hard to get this vacation, so you better make time for me properly next time.”

“I understand.”

Seo-eun reached out to offer her pinky finger, but then lowered her hand again.

Hae-soo’s face, looking at the island, was still stiff.

* * *

Summer police substation support.

When the team had their original work, they would return there, and when the work was finished, they would support again.

It was more difficult because it was not entirely in one place.

There had been no special events in the meantime, but today, on Hae-soo’s day off, he received a call from the husband who had fallen into the water. The Violent Crimes Unit was assigned to the case.

Violent Crimes Unit headquarters.

“Our Dol-gyeok [Shin Hae-soo’s nickname, meaning ‘Assault’] always brings in cases even on his days off, he’s so great. So great, really.”

“Right, he’s like Conan [a reference to the detective anime series *Detective Conan*]. So when is Park Je-won coming?”

“He’s almost here.”

Knock knock.

At the same time as Hae-soo answered, a knock was heard. The husband, Park Je-won, had arrived.

He said that he had stayed up all night since the accident yesterday, afraid that his wife would kill him.

Then, he came to see Hae-soo without his wife’s knowledge, saying he was going to work.

“…That look, it was the look of waiting for me to die. I’m sure of it. It was exactly the same look she had when she boiled a frog to death because she was curious?”

“Hmm….”

“Ahem.”

He was trying to report his wife for attempted murder, but Team Leader Kwak and Officer Oh sighed softly because the evidence and circumstances were very lacking.

His wife pushed him from behind with her foot, but that was right before he jumped, so it couldn’t be seen as coercion. There were no witnesses to the fact that she didn’t give him the tube and watched him until he lost consciousness, only the husband’s statement.

“What is your relationship usually like?”

“Um, it’s okay. She gets angry sometimes.”

“Park Je-won does?”

“No. My wife does, so can I report this? For attempted murder?”

Before the team leader could say anything, Hae-soo stood up from his seat and answered.

“We will investigate. You contacted us well.”

After Park Je-won left, the team leader scolded him.

“Dol-gyeok, how can you take on a case with no evidence other than a look in her eyes?”

“We’ll know if we investigate, isn’t it possible that it’s real?”

“I agree with Hae-soo, honestly, I’m not confident, but I’ve never seen Hae-soo make a mistake.”

“Me too! I will follow you diligently!”

While Officer Oh and the youngest were defending Hae-soo.

He was already tightening his motorized wire [preparing for investigation].

* * *

The woman’s name was Kang Sa-hyun, thirty-one years old.

As they investigated her, new facts kept coming out, like peeling an onion.

“…So, to summarize, the man who was with her at the scene, Lee Eung-tae, is her lover.”

Officer Oh took the team leader’s words.

“There are three death insurance policies under her husband’s name, but the husband doesn’t know about them.”

Hae-soo continued.

“The woman is remarried, and her ex-husband is also dead.”

“This, this smells fishy.”

“As expected, our Hae-soo doesn’t make mistakes.”

Hae-soo didn’t even need to call her husband Park Je-won, he just asked over the phone.

-Yes, Detective.

“Are you alone now? Are you with your wife?”

-I’m alone. Otherwise, I would have turned off the phone.

“Did you know that your wife remarried?”

-…Re, remarried?

There was silence for a while.

He didn’t know. He must have been quite shocked, as he couldn’t say anything.

“Then, you probably don’t know that your wife’s ex-husband died in a hit-and-run accident either.”

-Huh, huh…

There are only circumstances, but the evidence is insufficient. The fact that she took out three death insurance policies under her husband’s name is also insufficient as evidence of guilt.

However, with these suspicious circumstances and small pieces of evidence, they were able to obtain an arrest warrant.

The team leader immediately handed out the warrants and said.

“Officer Oh and the youngest go find Lee Eung-tae, Dol-gyeok and Officer Ha go find Kang Sa-hyun, go!”

“Yes, I understand!”

Hae-soo and Ha-roo immediately went to find Kang Sa-hyun, and she greeted them confidently.

“What’s going on? It’s that ignorant police officer from before?”

“This is an arrest warrant. Let’s go together.”

“A warrant? Ha, I’m going crazy, let’s go.”

* * *

Violent Crimes Unit headquarters.

The Violent Crimes Unit investigated the death of the ex-husband in detail, rather than the attempted murder of the current husband, which lacked circumstances and evidence.

Kang Sa-hyun received the death insurance money from her ex-husband and withdrew 200 million won in cash, but it was unclear where she spent it.

And, her lover suddenly had a large sum of money deposited into his account.

Hae-soo faced her in the interrogation room and asked.

“Where did you spend the 200 million won you withdrew at this time?”

“Hmph, am I obligated to tell you that?”

“You gave it to Lee Eung-tae, right?”

“Me? Why? Why would I give him money?”

Hae-soo gestured, and Ha-roo entered the interrogation room and handed over a few 50,000 won bills. Hae-soo held them out to Kang Sa-hyun and said.

“The serial numbers of the cash you withdrew match the serial numbers of the cash Lee Eung-tae deposited. Are you still going to deny it?”

Of course, it was a sting operation [a deceptive operation designed to catch a person committing a crime]. It had been several years, so there was no way to check the serial numbers of the bills at that time.

However, at Hae-soo’s words, Kang Sa-hyun frowned and lowered her head.

“Ah… damn it.”

“And the hit-and-run driver who hit your ex-husband, Lee Eung-tae, right? And-”

Ziiiiing

At that moment, the vibration rang. It was her husband, Park Je-won. It had been an hour since he called to confirm whether she had remarried….

A chilling feeling came over him. Hae-soo got up from his seat, moved to the door, and answered the phone.

“Yes, this is Shin Hae-soo.”

-H, Detective, it seems like someone is chasing me right now…

– Kuung Kwajik!

With a loud noise, Park Je-won’s phone was cut off. Hae-soo jumped up and burst out of the interrogation room.