The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 218

< #218. Con Artists >

Gangjin Police Station, Violent Crimes Unit Office.

Kim Garyang, the well-dressed homeless man, stared at Oh Geng with a sulky expression and said,

“I don’t know… Haa.”

“Ugh.”

“Ugh, puke.”

Every time he opened his mouth, a foul smell of alcohol wafted out. He just kept repeating that he didn’t know, grinning.

Unable to watch any longer, Detective Woo grabbed him by the collar and shouted,

“Where’s the guy who took my money! You met him, didn’t you? Where’s the guy who bought you these clothes and glasses!”

“Ah, I don’t know… Just send me to jail. Jail.”

“You little…!!”

Thud.

Already at rock bottom, he was acting out, saying he didn’t care if he went to jail.

At the homeless man’s brazen attitude, Detective Woo lost his temper and raised his hand, but Haesu grabbed his wrist.

Detective Woo turned around sharply, eyes blazing, but then he saw Haesu’s face and finally snapped back to his senses.

“H-Hey, I’m sorry!”

“No, Team Leader, just a moment.”

Haesu moved Detective Woo aside and placed his hand on Kim Garyang’s shoulder, and Oh Geng nodded and stepped away.

Haesu sat facing him, close to his face, and said in a very small voice, only audible to him,

“Jail… is a good place, warmer than where you are now, it blocks the wind, provides three meals a day, and even gives you exercise…”

Kim Garyang nodded, looking ecstatic at Haesu’s words. Then, Haesu’s expression changed drastically, and his tone became threatening.

“But you know, will the other inmates in your cell think so too? I know a guy… who’s 2 meters 20 tall [approximately 7’3″], weighs over 150 kilograms [over 330 pounds], and is naturally strong as an ox. Guys like that are popular inside, where strength is law, but no one wants to get close to him, do you know why?”

Kim Garyang listened as if hypnotized, then tilted his head, expressing his question.

“That guy’s nickname is Director Kim.”

“Director Kim…?”

Haesu nodded and continued.

“He likes men, and all the guys who shared a cell with him… wear diapers.”

Even a dazed homeless man could understand this. Kim Garyang frowned and gagged at the thought.

“Ugh, puke…”

Thud.

Haesu grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, brought him close, and whispered forehead to forehead.

“There’s a spot open, I’ll make you… his best buddy, have fun.”

Haesu got up and turned away without hesitation.

Kim Garyang’s face was pale, and he was completely dazed. Seeing this, Oh Geng widened his eyes and tapped his cheek.

“Hey, hey? What did you do? What did you do? Hey, Mr. Kim Garyang, wake up, wake up!”

Kim Garyang shook his head after being slapped a few times and grabbed Oh Geng’s sleeve.

“I! I’ll say anything. Please don’t send me to that… Director Kim!”

Haesu, who was just about to leave the office, smirked.

* * *

Kim Garyang told them in detail where he first met the con artist, what he looked like, how he was made to open bank accounts and cell phones, and how much he was given as compensation for the house sale.

“…1 million won [approximately $750 USD] when I lived there, 1 million won when I sold it… I don’t have that money. I blew it all…”

Haesu felt something was strange at his words and raised his index finger.

“Wait, 1 million won when you sold it too? What does that mean?”

“Selling is selling, what else could it mean…”

Haesu narrowed his brows and threatened in a low voice.

“Do you want to see Director Kim?”

“Ah, no, I mean… I was forgetting about it for a month, and then he suddenly appeared and bought me these clothes and glasses, and this time he told me to sell it, so I went with him and sold it.”

This time, Detective Woo chimed in.

“Was that… Gyeongseong Real Estate?”

“Well, it sounded like a similar name…”

Haesu and Detective Woo exchanged glances.

While the con artist was making a lease transaction with Detective Woo, the real Kim Garyang was making a sales transaction with con artist number 2 at another real estate agency at the same time.

Detective Woo suddenly remembered what the new homeowner had said.

-He was a bit slow…

“Accomplice, there was an accomplice.”

“Did you get the CCTV from the real estate agency?”

Oh Geng turned around and asked, and the rookie who was just coming in answered.

“Here it is!”

The special team analyzed the scene of withdrawing the transaction amount, the scene of coming out of two real estate agencies, and the subway CCTV on the day the homeless man Kim Garyang claimed to have met the con artist.

Although two people were identified, their faces were covered with glasses and masks, so only their appearance and gait could be seen.

Driving in the car, Detective Woo sighed deeply.

“Ha, these guys are really meticulous. Can we catch them?”

Oh Geng immediately replied to Detective Woo’s words.

“Yeah, definitely, I’ll definitely catch them, don’t worry.”

At Oh Geng’s confident answer, Detective Woo felt like something would happen as he said.

His gloomy expression naturally eased slightly.

“Thank… you.”

“Let’s talk about that after we catch them.”

“…Yes.”

However, contrary to Oh Geng’s will, the con artists were not easily caught.

In two days, they found out their faces and which area they lived in, but they still couldn’t identify who they were, so they couldn’t request a travel ban.

The more time passed, the lower the chance of finding them became. There was a possibility that they had already flown overseas.

Knowing that, not only Detective Woo but the entire special team was impatient. At that moment.

Bee, bee, bee.

Haesu took out his main cell phone, realized it wasn’t his, and got up.

“I’ll be back in a moment.”

He went up to the roof and answered the burner phone in his inside pocket.

“Yeah.”

-Detective Shin, we found them. As you said, we were glued to the airport and port CCTV, and…

“Where are they?”

* * *

A large cruise ship heading to Japan.

Two men in expensive suits and sunglasses stood on the deck, looking around at the other people.

“Are there only old people on this ship?”

“Of course, even if I see a hot girl, she’s always with some old CEO.”

“Tch.”

“Wait, aren’t we going to the land of sex?”

The man smiled lewdly at his friend’s words.

“Hehe, that’s right. I want to go and have some fun… who’s this?”

A man in a suit was standing next to them, as if he had been there all along.

He had muscles that looked like they would tear his suit at any moment.

Detective Woo turned his head, took off his sunglasses, and said.

“It’s me. You son of a bitch.”

Con artist 1 recognized Detective Woo’s face and took a step back in horror.

Thud.

Then he felt something like a rock touch his back. He turned around and saw Shin Haesu, who was as big as Detective Woo and had an even more intimidating look, standing with his arms crossed.

“If you run away, you’ll get hit twice instead of once.”

“Hee-hee!”

Con artist 1 turned around in horror and ran towards Detective Woo, who raised one arm and struck his torso with his forearm.

Thwack!

Con artist 1 flew backward faster than he was running and rolled on the floor, landing at Haesu’s feet.

Haesu looked down at him and opened his mouth.

“I was worried you wouldn’t run away, I’m glad you did.”

Haesu’s huge palm slammed down on con artist 1’s face.

* * *

Violent Crimes Unit Office.

Detective Woo stared intently at con artist 1’s face and muttered.

“Wow… amazing, he really looked twenty years older than me, talent is talent. The talent of the devil.”

“Hahaha… thank you…”

Thwack!

Then, Oh Geng hit con artist 1 on the head.

“Thanks my ass, you con artist bastard, do you know how hard you made my brother’s life?! Huh!”

“H-Hey, are the police allowed to hit people like this? Huh!”

Swoosh.

At his words, Haesu, who had been quietly in the corner, stood up.

“You shouldn’t hit people, but you guys… aren’t human, so it’s okay to hit you.”

As Haesu approached, exuding murderous intent, con artist 1 raised both hands, cowered, and said.

“Ah, no. I’m sorry. Please just sit there. Mountain bandit hyung [older brother/term of respect]…”

“Mountain bandit… Pfft.”

Oh Geng finally burst out laughing at the word mountain bandit, then quickly regained his composure and continued writing the report.

“So you two were special effects makeup artists, right?”

“…Yes.”

The con artist duo were masters of disguise like reed warblers [known for their mimicry]. Their previous job was special effects makeup artists, and they committed fraud by disguising themselves as closely as possible to the homeless man they had bought off.

They believed they would never be caught and kept the evidence as it was, and the investigation proceeded smoothly because the text messages and KakaoTalk [Korean messaging app] messages on their phones were full of criminal conspiracy.

There were more than 12 confirmed cases of fraud so far, and when they called the victims, most of them had reported it to the police but had given up and were just living their lives.

After looking into it in depth, there were so many scams that could be done if you just looked similar.

* * *

Cough, cough!

A rooftop studio apartment with a chilly draft.

A middle-aged man put on two jumpers [sweaters] and coughed as he left the house.

Cough, cough, hack!

At the sound, his sleeping son woke up, rubbed his eyes, and stood up when he saw his father standing in the doorway.

“Dad, where are you going? Again!”

“Oh, uh, I’m just going out for a bit.”

The son grabbed his father’s arm and pulled him inside. The father gave a apologetic smile as he looked at his son, who had grown so much that he was stronger than him.

“Come in, just for a month, just stay home and rest for a month. I told you I’ll earn the money.”

“The son should go to school, how can I, as a father, sit at home and live off the money my son earns…”

“Ah, really…”

The son’s face clouded over.

His father had been scammed out of the money he had painstakingly saved for 15 years to sign a contract for an apartment, and then he got divorced and got sick from extreme stress.

Two years had passed since he was scammed, and his son, who was in middle school at the time, had become a mature high school student while going through those difficult times together.

The father stroked his son’s head several times with his rough hands and opened his mouth with difficulty.

“Son, I’m sorry, Dad is sorry…”

“What are you sorry for again? You have nothing to be sorry for, just sit here. I’ll make *bap* [rice/meal].”

The son got up, took out the gas burner, put water in the pot, and skillfully turned on the gas.

At that moment.

Knock knock knock-

Both the father and son froze at the sound of knocking on the door. They held their breath and stayed still.

-Are you there.

A heavy voice, the father sighed deeply without a sound and lowered his head.

It was definitely a debt collector. The loan he had received when he tried to buy the apartment had been transferred to a private collection agency.

Swoosh- Click.

The son turned off the gas as carefully as possible. But the person outside seemed to have heard the sound.

-I think you’re there, Mr. Kang Hyun-seok, if you’re there, please open the door.

He had never avoided them until now, but he wanted to avoid them as much as possible because he had no money to give.

However, since it was certain that they would make a scene in front of the door if they stayed like this any longer, the father got up weakly and opened the front door.

Creak-

He was convinced that he was a debt collector when he saw the man with a menacing look and a large build waiting in front of the front door.

“Mr. Kang Hyun-seok?”

“Yes… uh, the money…”

Then, the man took something out of his pocket and showed it to him.

It was a police ID.

“This is Shin Haesu, an investigator from the Gangjin Police Station’s Special Team. I came to see you before work because you weren’t answering the phone.”

Kang Hyun-seok instinctively flinched at the word police. The son also came closer with an uneasy feeling, grabbed his father’s arm, glared at Haesu, and asked.

“What’s the matter, officer?”

Haesu glanced at the son, then looked back at Kang Hyun-seok, and opened his mouth with a bitter smile, guessing a little about their lives.

“We arrested the apartment sales con artist you reported to the Hwaseong Police Station two years ago.”

“…Yes?”