The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 50

“>Good morning.”

“>Good morning.”

Team 1 Leader was the first to carry his luggage into the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency’s Investigation Headquarters, offering greetings. The musclemen followed behind him in a line.

“>Yes, good morning.”

“>Come on in.”

The reaction from the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency detectives was lukewarm. It was an expected response. After investigating for months, admitting their incompetence and bringing in outside help was a blow to their pride.

And it was ninety-nine point ninety-nine percent likely that the joint investigation was forced upon them by superiors like the Chief or Commissioner, not by the field detectives.

Team 1 managed their expressions, understanding their feelings to some extent.

At that moment, the door opened again, and a woman in her thirties appeared.

“Hello~ Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency, nice to see you again. Oh, there are some new faces. You must be from Gangjin City? Nice to meet you. I’m profiler Yang Ji-eun.”

“>Yes, nice to meet you.”

Only now did they recognize the seriousness and decide to station a high-level profiler.

The original staff of the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency consisted of six people. Team 1 from Gangjin roughly unpacked and received a case briefing from the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency team.

“Haa… First, as of yesterday, the sixth victim has died. All had their ten fingers cut off and taken. There were no CCTV cameras in the area, and only the back of the suspect was captured from a distance by a dashcam.”

It wasn’t like the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency had been idle. Quite a bit of information had been collected.

The culprit was bold, not wearing a mask or hat. So, their height, age, and gait were analyzed from the frequent shots of their back, but their face was cleverly concealed.

And the incidents were scattered all over Gyeonggi Province, even reaching Gangjin City, making it impossible to predict the next location.

The victims were women in their 20s and 30s living alone, all murdered in their homes.

Several characteristics of the culprit were identified: the murders were thoroughly planned, not impulsive; they stalked the victims for days, figuring out their routines and schedules before approaching them.

“…So, the hair found at the scene was DNA-analyzed, but there were no matches among known offenders.”

Hae-soo raised her hand as the briefing concluded.

“The last detail mentioned that the suspect was wearing a t-shirt with the word ‘Police’ on it. Has the specific t-shirt been identified?”

A Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency detective sighed softly at Hae-soo’s question.

“You’re new here, so you might not know, but this guy is no ordinary idiot. It’s not easy to get a real police t-shirt, so he obviously made it himself. To deceive the victims.”

Oh Gyeong bit her molars at the subtly dismissive tone towards Hae-soo.

“This is excluded because of this, that is excluded because of that, then what are you investigating?”

“>What?”

Several Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency detectives bristled at Oh Gyeong’s provocation.

“Watch your mouth. You guys only investigate with your bodies, so you might not know, but investigations require selection and focus. If you’re ignorant, at least watch your words…”

Oh Gyeong jumped up. At the same time, the musclemen also rose, flexing their bulging biceps.

“That’s right, want to be persuaded by force?”

As Oh Gyeong continued to provoke, the most physically imposing detective from the other side stepped forward, clasped his hands, and flexed his pectoral muscles.

Hae-soo subtly stood up next to the youngest member, adding her bicep to the display.

Team 1 Leader made eye contact with the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency Team Leader and subtly shook his head.

At that moment, profiler Yang Ji-eun stepped into the middle and raised her hand.

“Ah… May I say something?”

“>Please do.”

“Yes, I will. The perpetrator doesn’t feel any psychological pressure from the narrowing investigation, even after successfully committing five crimes. That’s why they’re not wearing the mask and hat they initially used. Criminals who commit murder for the sake of killing, not for financial gain or sexual assault, have a strong sense of accomplishment and superiority from their successful crimes. And now, ironically, the police’s repeated failures have created the perfect opportunity by making the perpetrator complacent.”

The detectives couldn’t respond as Yang Ji-eun spoke like a machine gun.

Then, the youngest member leaned towards Hae-soo and whispered.

“Sunbae [term for a senior colleague], what did she say?”

“Um, well…”

Hae-soo trailed off. Then Yang Ji-eun pointed to the whiteboard with her index finger and said,

“We need to investigate that police t-shirt.”

Only then did the youngest member snap his fingers as if realizing something and nodded. Either way, it supported Team 1’s opinion.

And they began a detailed analysis, looking at CCTV footage of the t-shirt from various angles.

“This looks like a number behind the word ‘Police’.”

“It is a number. The first one is definitely a 1, but I’m not sure about the rest.”

“If it’s a number, there’s no need to put it there, so it’s more likely they got it, not made it. Where’s that guy who did the briefing earlier?”

“Hey, don’t worry about that and just analyze it.”

Then the youngest member muttered while looking at his phone.

“1…45?”

“What, did the youngest figure it out?”

“Ah, I think it’s 145. I wrote it in a similar font and took a picture of it from a distance with my phone, and the blurred shape is almost the same.”

“Wow, that’s it. That’s a good method. The youngest is smart.”

Hae-soo nodded approvingly at the youngest member and said,

“If it’s ‘Police 145,’ it must be a class number. It doesn’t match the patrol officer class number, not riot police, so it’s auxiliary police.”

“We have to find all the auxiliary police from the 145th class?”

Hae-soo nodded as if it were obvious.

“It’s only 300 people at most. We can narrow it down a lot by filtering by height or region.”

“Damn it, it might not even be…”

Oh Gyeong glanced at the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency team before quickly changing her words.

“No, we have to try. Investigations are originally done with the body.”

The detectives narrowed down the list to eleven people from the 145th auxiliary police class, filtering out those whose height was similar to the suspect’s, around 175 centimeters [approximately 5’9″], and whose current residence was very far away, such as Busan or Gangwon Province.

Team 1 Leader and the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency Team Leader spread out the personal information of the eleven people and said solemnly to their team members.

“Alright, it’s time to hit the ground running.”

“Go! Musclemen! Oh Gyeong! Charge!”

“What, I don’t like how that connects.”

*

There was a simple method of calling and requesting their presence, but if they requested the presence of people who had nothing to do with the case, half of them would ignore it, thinking it was a voice phishing scam.

The most important thing was that if they requested their presence and the culprit was among them, it would alert them that they had been caught in the police net, allowing them to prepare in advance. So, although it was difficult, they had to run in person.

“Hoo… How many is this?”

“This is the last person we’re in charge of.”

“It’s a neighborhood with a lot of stairs. It’s leg day, so it’s fortunate.”

“Ugh.”

The last person in charge was Jung Sung-cheol, thirty-seven years old, a freelance video designer.

They came to his current address and looked around, but there was no sign of anyone.

Tung! Tung-!

When the youngest member knocked, the old iron door shook as if it would break.

“Are you there? Is anyone inside? Mr. Jung Sung-cheol?”

“Hae-soo, make a call.”

“>Yes.”

While Hae-soo was making a call, Oh Gyeong put her ear to the door and focused on hearing a ringtone or vibration. But she heard nothing.

“I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Let’s do some reconnaissance around the area.”

Hae-soo went down the stairs and into the supermarket in the corner of the hill.

“Do you know Jung Sung-cheol who lives in the blue gate on the hill? He’s about 175cm tall…”

“Ah? That strange bachelor?”

The woman with pink hair rollers narrowed her eyes and asked.

“Are you a police officer? Did that bachelor do something?”

“No, I just have something to ask.”

“Really? That bachelor… he’s very suspicious.”

Oh Gyeong listened intently to the woman’s words. Then she covered half of her mouth with her hand as if telling a secret and whispered.

“I came out to smoke a cigarette early in the morning, and I saw that bachelor carrying a huge bag that looked like it was as big as him, struggling to carry it down the hill. What else could it be but a person?”

Hae-soo and Oh Gyeong exchanged glances. Oh Gyeong asked urgently.

“When was that?”

“It’s been a few days?”

“Why didn’t you report it to the police?”

“What if he finds out I told and retaliates? I almost peed my pants that day!”

Oh Gyeong gestured to Hae-soo and questioned the woman in more detail.

Hae-soo stepped back and radioed the team leader.

“This is Two-One, suspicious person found among the search targets.”

-One-One reconnaissance complete, will join you.

The Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency also joined, parked their van near Jung Sung-cheol’s house, and began their stakeout.

Before they knew it, darkness had fallen, and the detectives’ eyes were closing on their own.

“Why isn’t he coming? Are we going to be here for days?”

Ignoring Oh Gyeong’s grumbling, she checked the time. One o’clock in the morning, when a rickety car rolled up and stopped in front of the stairs.

Hae-soo nudged Oh Gyeong’s shoulder and poked the sleeping youngest member’s arm with her elbow.

“Ah, I wasn’t sleeping!”

“>Shh.”

A man got out of the old car where Hae-soo pointed with her finger.

The face illuminated by the moonlight was similar to Jung Sung-cheol in the photo. The height and build were also the same.

“Package arrived.”

-One-One package confirmed.

“Standby.”

-Song-Eight.

Song-Eight was the code word for ‘understood.’

The Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency, waiting in the van across the street, also watched the man with shining eyes.

The man opened the trunk of the car, took out a large golf bag, and started climbing the stairs with difficulty.

Something was strange. The serial killer didn’t move the bodies.

The youngest member said in a trembling voice.

“Something’s wrong. He’s into golf?”

“There’s no way a golf bag would be that heavy.”

“Th-there, there’s something visible in the slightly open part at the bottom…”

Hae-soo narrowed her eyes and confirmed it. White in the moonlight, it was clearly a person’s…

“Finger.”

At the same time as Hae-soo’s words, Oh Gyeong zipped up her jacket, and the youngest member grabbed the handcuffs. In an instant, the air inside the van was filled with tension.

“Two-One is launching.”

-One-One is launching.

Hae-soo frowned. Oh Gyeong grumbled quietly and carefully opened the car door.

Clank Sss-

As Team 1 got out, the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency detectives also got out in droves. The suspicious man was far enough away, but if he turned around, he could see everything below the stairs. A funny scene unfolded with eight burly men standing close together on the hill next to the stairs.

With the stairs in between, the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency’s chief and Oh Gyeong fought with expressions and lip movements.

‘Stay here when I’m being nice, you don’t even know the exact location of his house.’

‘You stay here, we were the ones investigating this.’

‘Are you going to take responsibility if we miss him?’

‘Why would I? You should take responsibility.’

While they were in the middle of a silent argument, Hae-soo lowered her posture and passed between them.

‘?’

‘?’

Clank Clank, Squeak-

The man arrived in front of the blue gate, dragging the golf bag, opened the door, and went inside. The door closed again, just before locking.

Bang!

Hae-soo violently threw the door open and pounced on him.

“Uwaaak!”

Hae-soo twisted his arm behind his back, pressed down on his back, and said,

“Mr. Jung Sung-cheol, you are under arrest for corpse abandonment and…”

Hae-soo stopped speaking and her gaze stopped at one place. It was the slightly open zipper at the end of the golf bag.

There seemed to be a person’s finger, but something was a little strange.

At that moment, the detectives poured in through the iron gate.

Jung Sung-cheol, with his arm twisted by Hae-soo, shed tears and said,

“I-I’m sorry! Please forgive me just once!”

The reaction was a little strange. Hae-soo left him to the other detectives and went to the golf bag as if possessed and opened the zipper.

“A-ah, no, Miku-chan!”

Inside was a person-shaped doll with its limbs and torso separated into pieces.

“Um…”

“Wh-what is this?”

The other detectives couldn’t help but be dumbfounded when they saw the doll.

It turned out that Jung Sung-cheol had secretly imported a sex doll, a sex toy that was currently causing controversy over customs clearance.

What the supermarket woman had seen before was when he was selling an old model secondhand.

The detectives were completely drained from the false alarm.

Hae-soo apologized to him and gave him a rough explanation of the situation so that he wouldn’t recognize what kind of case it was.

“…So we came here during the reconnaissance investigation. I’m sorry for twisting your arm. If you go to the hospital and submit a diagnosis…”

“Ah, it’s okay. I’m fine.”

His tone was a little strange, but fortunately, he was an understanding person. Hae-soo took this opportunity to ask him a question.

“You were in the 145th auxiliary police class, right? Is this clothing a supply activity suit?”

“Yes? Yes, 145th… Ah, I think that t-shirt is right. We return it when we get discharged… Oh?”

Jung Sung-cheol’s reaction to the suspect’s back view on the screen was different from the others. Hae-soo’s eyes lit up.

“Do you know him?”

“Ah… I don’t know, there’s just one person I can think of, but he’s not my classmate.”

“Who is it?”

“He’s a senior who served in the military with me. He’s kind, but sometimes he’s creepy… Im Gi-sung, 141st class. He’s usually a pushover, but when it comes to suppression training, he flips his eyes and rushes in. That’s why he almost went to jail for hitting protesters in the head with a shield in the field.”

The youngest member, who was listening next to him, showed him the CCTV video on his phone.

“Is this the person?”

Jung Sung-cheol stared at it for a long time and nodded.

“Looking at the way he walks… I think it’s him.”

The detectives’ eyes, who had been disappointed by the false alarm, were filled with anticipation.

< #50. Joint Investigation > End