The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 59

It was Haru’s silhouette. Though her face wasn’t visible, she was distinct enough to be recognized immediately.

‘Could it be…’

But the knife work wasn’t Haru’s style. No, while advanced techniques are hard for a novice to imitate, a skilled person can mimic clumsy knife work.

Moreover, the cuts were aimed at the liver and lungs, designed to cause pain and suffering rather than instant death.

“Why, did something come up?”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing.”

Shin Hae-soo quickly walked past the scene at Oh Gyeong’s words.

This location wasn’t one you’d stumble upon by accident unless you came here on purpose.

A hasty judgment could deeply hurt her. He needed to be cautious, but the investigation had to proceed.

Hae-soo went to find Kim Ji-an and questioned her urgently.

“Ji-an, did you see Haru at the scene?”

Ji-an’s eyes widened at Hae-soo’s question, then began to tremble as if an earthquake had struck.

“No.”

“You did meet her.”

Ji-an avoided Hae-soo’s gaze and lowered her head.

*

A few days prior, Kim Ji-an had run into someone while fleeing from her uncle under the bridge.

“Uh…”

It was Haru, an unexpected figure. Ji-an couldn’t understand how she was there.

Haru’s empty, dry eyes seemed to know everything Ji-an had been through.

She leaned close to Ji-an and said in a monotone voice,

“Should I kill him for you?”

She spoke those chilling words with an innocent face, making them seem all the more sincere.

“No. No, I don’t know.”

Haru led the confused Ji-an to a spot under the bridge where the stream flowed.

“I’m from an orphanage.”

“…”

“When I was five, the director sold me to some man.”

Ji-an, who hadn’t reacted to the mention of the orphanage, turned her head.

“I even had my flesh torn off there, to survive.”

Ji-an covered her mouth with her hand at the horrifying words she couldn’t even imagine. Somehow, she didn’t think it was a lie.

“I don’t do that anymore. I’d rather die.”

Seeing herself in Haru’s calmly spoken words and the deep sorrow in her expression, Ji-an felt somewhat comforted.

“If you catch the Landlord’s eye, your life will be blessed. That’s what happened to me. It’ll happen to you too.”

“…Really?”

“Of course.”

Haru’s answer was without a hint of hesitation.

Haru stood up and offered Ji-an her hand. As Ji-an took it and stood up, Haru brought her lips close to Ji-an’s ear and whispered,

“Today’s conversation is our secret. You’ll be in trouble if you tell anyone.”

“Yes? Ah… Okay, yes.”

It was a strange encounter with a strange older sister who was both warm and frightening.

*

Ji-an suddenly remembered that her uncle had been stabbed to death, and she wondered if Haru might be the culprit.

‘What should I do? Should I insist that I killed him?’

She couldn’t tell the truth as it was. Haru had killed him for her sake.

“I don’t know.”

“Saying nothing isn’t helping Haru. CCTV [closed-circuit television] footage shows Haru following you. You’ll be considered a suspect if this continues.”

Ji-an’s face quickly turned pale. She shook her head violently.

“I… I don’t know. I really don’t know.”

“Understood.”

She hesitated for a moment, but Haru’s warning not to speak came to mind, and she ultimately kept her mouth shut.

Ji-an only repeated that she didn’t know, but Hae-soo had learned a lot.

That she had some kind of conversation with Haru, that there was a reason to hide the fact that she had met Haru, and… that she hadn’t seen the moment Haru committed the crime. The possibility that Haru wasn’t the culprit increased.

‘It’s not Haru.’

But the more his thoughts leaned positively, the more thoroughly he had to investigate.

He couldn’t let the other detectives put Haru on the suspect list and investigate her. He had to find perfect evidence that she wasn’t a suspect.

***

Shin Hae-soo went to Kim Ji-an’s house address after work. It was in the basement of a three-story house about a kilometer away from Reed Building.

Ding-dong-

“Uncle’s here!”

“Hello! I’m Kim Ji-won!”

“I’m Kim Ji-gu!”

The children greeted Hae-soo brightly. Fortunately, he had seen them a few times before, though they hadn’t spoken.

“Good, you greet well. Your sister called me earlier, right?”

“Yes.”

“My sister said you’re a really, really good police officer.”

“She said that too? That’s unexpected… Let’s stay with Uncle while your sister is studying. Pack what you need to bring.”

“Awesome!”

“Let’s go play!”

The children, knowing nothing, were simply happy and packed their toys haphazardly. Hae-soo had to pack the real luggage.

*

Beep, click-

The children’s eyes widened as the door opened.

“Wow…”

“Wow!”

Haru had been informed in advance via text and greeted the children.

“Hello.”

“Hello…”

They were strangely subdued. It didn’t seem to be because of Haru, but rather because of the big, spacious house.

Hae-soo unpacked the children’s luggage in the empty room.

“Make yourselves at home, like it’s your own house. You can run around and touch anything, except for what’s in that sister’s room.”

“That’s right, don’t touch my stuff.”

“Really?”

“Wow! Yay!”

Only then did the children get excited and run around like crazy. It had been unnecessarily large when two adults lived there, but it was good for the children to run around. It was fortunate that the floor below was empty.

Hae-soo smiled briefly at the children’s innocent appearance, forgetting about the case for a moment.

He went to the kitchen and made string sausages and bulgogi [Korean marinated beef barbecue] that the children would like.

For the first time, four chairs were filled at the newly bought dining table.

“Let’s eat.”

“Yes!!”

“Yes!”

During the meal, the children marveled at even the simplest dishes, just like Haru, with every bite they took.

At that moment, the youngest burst into tears.

“Sniff, waaaah…”

Hae-soo was taken aback by the youngest’s sudden crying.

“Ji-gu, why are you crying?”

“It’s too, too delicious… My sister should eat this with us, but she’s not here.”

Hae-soo’s chopsticks stopped. How had they been living for this one meal to be so precious?

Hae-soo put a sausage on the youngest’s spoon and said,

“Your sister is eating something even better, don’t worry.”

“Really?”

“Of course, and we can eat together with your sister again later.”

“Awesome!”

After eating, Hae-soo checked his phone.

‘Feed them, then bathe them.’

Hae-soo filled the outdoor tub with warm water for the first time. He put the children in first, then took off his shirt and got in as well.

The children were so skinny that you could see all their ribs.

“Wow!”

The second child, Ji-won, pointed to Hae-soo’s scars and asked,

“Why is your body like that, Uncle?”

“This? It’s because I caught a lot of bad guys.”

“Cool!!”

“I want to be like you, Uncle!”

“Then eat a lot and exercise a lot.”

Ji-won became dejected at Hae-soo’s words.

“I can’t eat a lot…”

“No, you can eat a lot now. Uncle will make sure of it.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

Creak.

At that moment, Haru opened the door to the outdoor tub. She was wearing dolphin swimsuit pants and a workout t-shirt, as if she was planning to come in.

“Oh, this is a place for men only!”

“Don’t you want me to come in?”

“N, no.”

“Sister is pretty! Our sister is ugly!”

“Your sister is pretty.”

“No, she looks like an elephant.”

“Hahaha, elephant, elephant!”

Haru sat on the edge of the tub, dipped her feet in, and splashed around.

Hae-soo looked at her, and his mind became complicated again.

At that moment, Ji-won splashed water at her.

“Take that!”

The moment water hit Haru’s t-shirt and face, a murderous intent flashed in her eyes.

“Waaa, me too, me too!”

The youngest also splashed water at Haru. He was too scared to splash Hae-soo, but Haru seemed relatively easy to handle. He had no sense of who to mess with.

Haru stood still and took it for a while, then stepped into the tub, spread her hands as if gathering energy, and began to splash water at the children.

With optimal movement and maximum efficiency, the water streams looked sharp.

“Ugh, st, stop!”

“S, Sister, surrender, surrender!”

“The beginning is up to you, but the end is up to me. You should have been prepared for this when you attacked.”

Even when the children surrendered, Haru didn’t hesitate and continued to splash them. Eventually, the children couldn’t even open their eyes and were pushed out of the tub, grabbing towels and running away.

After the children were chased out(?), only Hae-soo and Haru remained in the outdoor tub. Hae-soo stared at her quietly, and their eyes met. She quickly averted her gaze.

“Haru, what did you do today?”

“Ah… I exercised. I played games. I went for a walk.”

“What did you do yesterday?”

“Yesterday… Why are you asking?”

Hae-soo was slightly taken aback by Haru’s question.

“I’m just worried about what you’re doing, and curious.”

“Are you curious about what I’m doing?”

Haru seemed to be excited for some reason.

“Yeah, kind of.”

“I’m not going to tell you.”

“…Why? What’s the reason?”

Hae-soo quickly became serious.

“So you’ll be more curious.”

She had a slight smile on her face and left the tub first.

Hae-soo stared at her back, and his head became even more complicated.

What does she mean? Is she giving me a hint?

*

The next morning.

Haru decided to send Ji-won and Ji-gu to school and kindergarten, and Hae-soo left for work first.

Then, he checked the CCTV [closed-circuit television] footage of Reed Building and confirmed the time Haru went out and came back on the day of the incident.

‘From 5 PM to… 9 PM.’

He had checked until the report came in the day after the incident, but she hadn’t gone out after that.

Hae-soo followed the CCTV footage and checked Haru’s movements on the day of the incident. However, he couldn’t find her on CCTV. She had moved to blind spots or places without cameras.

When he went to the police station, the youngest, Woo Gang-cheol, was banging on the keyboard with messy hair.

“Did you stay up all night?”

“Ah, you’re here? Senior, I felt so bad for that young kid in the detention center…”

Hae-soo patted him on the shoulder, impressed by his heart, and asked,

“Did anything come up?”

“Well, I accidentally fell asleep and skipped to the next file and saw the screen…”

Seeing that he was saying something, Hae-soo leaned in.

“This screen is the CCTV [closed-circuit television] on the main street coming out of the victim’s house. This car comes out here at this time.”

“What?”

Hae-soo zoomed in on the screen and checked the car number. It was certain.

It was 2 AM. She hadn’t disappeared after leaving the day before. She had come out again in the early morning.

Ji-an’s aunt had clearly said that she hadn’t come in since going to meet Ji-an the day before. Her statement was false.

Hae-soo immediately contacted the National Forensic Service.

“…Yes, this is Shin Hae-soo from the Violent Crimes Unit. Has the estimated time of death been determined? 2 AM to 5 AM? I understand.”

Hearing the estimated time of death, he felt relieved rather than happy that a clue had been found.

Haru had been with him at home long before that time. He had a precise alibi that she wasn’t the culprit.

“Who went to this woman’s house?”

“It was me and the team leader. We didn’t search it, but… it was as clean as a new house.”

“As clean as a new house?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go.”

“Yes, Senior!”

At Yongsu-dong Potato Stew Restaurant, Ji-an’s aunt was smiling and running her business as if nothing had happened.

When Hae-soo appeared with the youngest, she was startled.

“You are…?”

“I’m the detective in charge. I need to check something inside the house.”

“Yes? Why suddenly?”

“I need to check your husband’s belongings. Is that okay?”

“Ah… J, just a moment. The house is very messy.”

“We’re fine. All people live in messy places.”

Hae-soo and the youngest pushed their way into the house attached to the back of the store before Ji-an’s aunt could stop them.

As the youngest had said, the house was clean. The floor and wallpaper, too, but the other rooms besides the living room were the same old rooms.

“Usually… when you redecorate, don’t you do it all?”

At Hae-soo’s question, Ji-an’s aunt frantically smoothed her hair and didn’t know where to look.

“Yes? Ah, th, there was a lot of dirt on the living room.”

“Ah…”

Looking closely, it was strange. The wallpaper was very wrinkled, as if an amateur had done it.

Hae-soo looked closely with sharp eyes and also looked at the floor. The adhesive hadn’t been applied properly either.

There are times when that happens. When various questions circulate one by one and then fit into place, a hunch close to certainty comes.

“Youngest, close the door.”

“Yes!”

As the youngest closed the door and stood guard like a gatekeeper, Hae-soo grabbed the wallpaper and tore it off widely.

There was a considerable amount of bloodstains on it. At the same time, a sharp scream was heard.

“It wasn’t me!! I didn’t kill him! That bitch killed him, so why are you harassing me!”

Ji-an’s aunt was holding a kitchen knife with both hands, aiming at Hae-soo.

“Auntie, if you don’t put that down… it’s going to hurt a lot.”

<#59. The Real Culprit (Free Last)> End