The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 23

Inside the van, on the way to the 신고자’s [reporter’s] house.

Shin Hae-soo, the youngest member with eight years on the police force, was behind the wheel.

The team leader, sitting in the passenger seat, muttered while reviewing the 신고 [report] details.

“A 신고 [report] two days after the abduction… This doesn’t look good.”

“You can say that again.”

“Our junior detective, do you know the chances of a child returning alive after being kidnapped?”

“I don’t know the statistics, but I know it’s rare.”

“Then, do you know the average time it takes for a kidnapper to kill a child after abducting them?”

Oh Kang-seok chimed in.

“Twelve hours?”

The team leader held up three fingers.

“Three hours.”

“…Because of the uncontrollable nature of the child.”

“That’s right. They commit the act because they’re already psychologically unstable from committing the major crime of kidnapping, and the child keeps crying, making them afraid of getting caught. She’s nine years old, right…”

“I hope she’s alive…”

However, the atmosphere inside the van was pessimistic.

Anxiously, they arrived at the apartment where the 신고자 [reporter] lived. From the entrance, they could hear the couple arguing.

“…He said he’d kill our Arin if we 신고 [reported it]!”

“I’ve searched everywhere too. 신고 [Reporting it] to the police is the best way…”

“He said he’s watching us. What if he sees the detectives coming in! What if our Arin never comes back? Will you take responsibility for that?!”

“Stop it! Get a grip!!”

The husband had 신고 [reported it], but the wife was against it. The team leader, who had been listening at the door, burst in.

“The husband is right. It’s best to 신고 [report] a kidnapping as soon as possible. The younger the child, the harder it is for the criminal to control them, so the safe window is short.”

He phrased it as ‘safe,’ but everyone there understood what he meant.

The team leader stepped between the husband and wife and continued in a calm tone.

“Depending on the kidnapper’s intentions, even if you negotiate, the chances of getting the child back are slim. 70% of kidnappers know the child’s parents.”

At the team leader’s words, the husband muttered with a serious face.

“If it’s someone we know… the child saw their face…”

“That’s right.”

He calmly presented the reality. In an instant, both the husband and wife looked dazed, as if they had been shocked.

“Now, shall we hear the details?”

The kidnapped child was a nine-year-old girl, Jung Arin.

After school and 학원 [private academy], she would play in the apartment complex’s playground for a while before going home. There were always kids playing there at the same time.

The apartment’s fence was high, and car numbers were recorded at both the front and back gates, so they had felt safe.

But when the child didn’t come home, the parents started looking for her after 6 PM, and then they received a call after 9 PM.

“…He let us hear the child’s voice. Then he told us to prepare 50 million won [approximately $40,000 USD]. He said if we contacted the police, we would never see the child again, and that he was always watching us…”

While they were talking, two intelligence officers arrived. Support from the intelligence department was needed for wiretapping and tracking the other party’s number in a kidnapping case.

They immediately tried to track the number the kidnapper had called from, but the location didn’t show up.

“The 명의 [registered owner] is a woman in her 70s. It’s a 대포폰 [burner phone]. 대포폰s [Burner phones] are usually 2G phones, so they’re not easy to track. If the call doesn’t last more than 30 seconds, it’s difficult to track.”

The intelligence officer took the couple’s cell phones and installed a wiretapping app.

Meanwhile, the team leader sat them down side by side and said with a serious face.

“From now on, you both need to listen to me carefully. ‘Don’t contact the police, I’m always watching you’ is a very typical pattern for kidnappers. They’ll try to confirm whether you’ve 신고 [reported it] to the police in any way. In this case…”

The team leader diligently explained to the couple how to respond if the kidnapper contacted them. Meanwhile, Hae-soo and Oh Gyeong started analyzing the CCTV files near the playground.

What kidnappers fear most is 신고 [being reported] to the police. They become more anxious, fearing that the noose will tighten while they have the child, and the probability of making extreme mistakes increases.

That’s why kidnapping investigations are difficult. They can’t ask residents for cooperation to collect black boxes [dashcam footage], and they can’t go around investigating the surroundings.

Since the time and place were specific, it wasn’t difficult to find the child on CCTV.

The children were playing happily in the playground, and a pregnant woman with a large belly was sitting on a bench in the shade of the trees, looking at her cell phone.

“Who is this pregnant woman?”

“That person… is a resident of the same building. I ran into her then and asked, but she said she didn’t see anything and apologized…”

“I see.”

Before they knew it, it was getting dark outside the window.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Hae-soo suddenly raised his hand.

“I found it.”

“Where? Let me see.”

Hae-soo’s laptop screen showed a side view of someone holding the child’s hand and leading her away. They were wearing a hat, all black clothes, and a mask.

“Arin, our Arin… *sob*”

“5:57 PM, heading north. Quickly check the CCTV in that direction at that time. Judging by the build, it’s a man, right?”

“Yes, the height is approximately…”

Hae-soo continued as he passed by a streetlight.

“About 175cm [approximately 5’9″]. On the thin side.”

The detectives accelerated their CCTV analysis again. However, even in the places where the front was captured, they couldn’t properly see the face because they were looking down from above.

“At this rate, we won’t know anything other than height and weight?”

More importantly, the route suddenly disappeared even though CCTV was installed everywhere.

“Where did he go…”

He disappeared like smoke. He couldn’t hide while taking the child, and there were no suspicious vehicles that seemed to have picked him up in the middle.

Then Oh Gyeong said.

“The underground parking lot?”

“That’s right. If he went to the underground parking lot, it would have been cut off here.”

The underground parking lot only had CCTV installed at the exits and entrances.

It was back to manual labor. Hae-soo, Oh Gyeong, and the team leader checked all the cars coming out of the underground parking lot and even ran vehicle inquiries.

The CCTV location was good, so it was easy to check the driver’s face inside.

“But we don’t know how long they’ll be there, so this is really manual labor.”

“Won’t they come out soon? If they have the child with them.”

“That’s right, within a maximum of 3 hours. They’ll come out before the child’s parents look for them.”

Time passed, and it became past 12 AM and into the early morning. The violent crimes team checked all the vehicles from the time of the kidnapping, but there were no suspects.

There were only a few unregistered vehicles, and after checking their personal information, they were far from the suspect.

Back to square one. They had analyzed it with their eyes falling out for a long time, but there were no results, so their strength was drained.

“Ugh…”

Oh Gyeong stretched his stiff body and looked at the couple. How hellish must the parents’ feelings be, having their only child kidnapped? Every little gesture was cautious.

The couple was sitting on the living room sofa, nodding off.

Then.

Ring, ring.

The husband’s phone rang. The husband jumped up and reflexively tried to answer the phone, but he made eye contact with Hae-soo. Hae-soo looked at the intelligence officer and nodded in agreement, sending an okay sign.

“Ye, hello.”

-Did you prepare the money?

A distorted voice. The calm tone without inflection felt emotionless.

“Yes, yes! Please let me talk to my child. Is our Arin okay?”

-She’s sleeping.

“Slee, even if she’s sleeping, can’t you let me hear her? Please.”

-I’ll tell you the 거래 [exchange] location tomorrow.

Click.

The call was cut off cruelly without even hearing the child’s voice once.

The husband called that number again, but the phone was completely turned off.

The detectives all looked at the intelligence officer. The officer frowned and shook his head.

“It seems like he’s very cautious. It wasn’t even 20 seconds, let alone 30 seconds.”

“Ha…”

“Damn it, do we have to wait until tomorrow?”

The couple and the detectives forced themselves to sleep for tomorrow.

The next day, in the middle of the day, the cell phone rang again. The husband got up convulsively and looked at the cell phone, but this time it was a text message instead of a call.

[Stand in front of the crosswalk in front of the Dion convenience store at Gaeseong Intersection with the money bag. Time is 6 PM]

“Location 뜨다 [confirmed]. Request support from Team 2 and Team 3.”

“Yes, sir!”

If they tried to apprehend him and missed, it would be over. Oh Gyeong radioed Team 2 and Team 3 to request support, and Hae-soo identified the location.

Gaeseong Intersection was a busy area near high schools and universities. Moreover, at 6 PM in the evening, there would be a lot of foot traffic.

He was planning to 거래 [make the exchange] while blending in with the crowd.

The detectives from Violent Crimes Team 1, 2, and 3 at Gangjin Station were all waiting near the 약속 [agreed upon] location. And when the 약속 [appointed] time came, the husband headed to the location with the money bag.

The husband was also carrying a walkie-talkie and had an earphone in, so he could hear the team leader’s words.

-Don’t be nervous, we’re all nearby, so don’t worry.

“Yes… yes.”

-Don’t answer, just listen. Only answer when I ask you.

“Yes, ah, um…”

The husband stood in front of the crosswalk with a stiff face. Five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes passed, and no suspicious person appeared in front of the detectives who were sharply on edge.

-When is this bastard coming?

-It seems like he’s trying to…

“A text… came.”

-Has the location changed?

“Yes, he says to leave it at the first bench at the 5 o’clock direction entrance of Seongju Park and go home. Don’t look back.”

-Damn it, he’s planning to run us around in circles.

The detectives hurriedly moved to the park, and the husband left the bag on the bench as instructed and moved away.

At that moment, a man wearing a bucket hat approached the bench. He looked around suspiciously, checking his surroundings.

The detectives held their breath and watched him.

-He looks about 175cm [approximately 5’9″].

-The build is similar too.

슥 [sound of rustling]

He sat on the bench and slyly opened the bag.

Hae-soo frowned slightly at the sight. Then he heard the voice of Team 2’s team leader.

-Take him down!

The detectives moved. Hae-soo urgently, but quietly, shouted.

“Wait, wait! Stop!”

-What is it, why?

“He’s opening the bag. He’s not the 범인 [culprit]. We can’t reveal ourselves now.”

At Hae-soo’s words, the detectives acted naturally again and observed the man.

He looked at the cash in the bag and his hands were visibly trembling, and he was looking around a lot. Then he hugged the bag and sat still. As if he were the owner of the bag.

At that moment, the husband received a call.

“Hello…”

-You did well. If you 신고 [reported it] to the police… you know, right? We’ll 거래 [make the exchange] again tomorrow.

The call was cut off immediately. The detectives, who had received the information from the intelligence officer, took off their earphones and cursed.

“Damn it!”

“This bastard is not ordinary.”

The husband went back to retrieve the money bag, and as soon as the suspicious man saw the husband coming from afar, he was startled and ran away, leaving the bag behind.

Teams 2 and 3 returned to Gangjin Station, and Team 1 was on their way back to the 신고자’s [reporter’s] apartment. Oh Gyeong punched his knee and muttered.

“This 개새끼 [son of a bitch] is crazy cautious, really.”

“I know, we almost got caught if it wasn’t for the 막내 [youngest member]. We did dog training [wasted our time]. Damn.”

Hae-soo, who was driving, stared ahead and said.

“We’ll be up all night analyzing again today.”

“We have no choice.”

It wasn’t like they didn’t get anything at all. Judging from the phone call, he must have come near the park and watched to see if the detectives appeared.

They returned to the apartment and started analyzing the CCTV again.

“This 아줌마 [middle-aged woman] is walking around well even though she’s pregnant.”

The video that Oh Gyeong was analyzing showed the pregnant woman they had seen at the playground. The team leader casually replied.

“Originally, the best 태교 [prenatal education] is for pregnant women to not get stressed. Breathing in the fresh air at the park…”

They analyzed until late into the night, but they couldn’t identify any suspicious people.

At that time, the integrated control center was also intensively monitoring in real time, but they didn’t find anything.

*

The next day, daytime.

Bzzzz, bzzzz.

The wife’s cell phone rang. Since the calls had always come to the husband, the wife answered without much thought.

Unlike before, the number was not a cell phone number but a number with the Gangjin city area code, so she answered without suspicion and defenselessly.

“Hello…”

-Arin’s mother, this is Detective Kang In-soo from the Gangjin Station Violent Crimes Team. Detective Lee can’t be reached, can you put Detective Lee on the phone?

“Ah, yes, Detective Lee is here…”

The wife turned to the detectives and asked, but she froze. The detectives were silently and desperately making X signs.

At that moment, a cold voice was heard over the receiver.

-I told you I’d kill your daughter if you 신고 [reported it].

<#23. The Kidnapper> End