The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 68

Sex crimes are serious offenses. Therefore, when one is reported, both the local precinct and the Gangjin Police Station’s Violent Crimes Unit are dispatched simultaneously.

That day, Violent Crimes Team 1 and detectives formerly of Violent Crimes Team 2 were dispatched to the scene. They were quite taken aback when they discovered Shin Hae-soo.

“D-Detective Shin…”

“This person is a rapist! Arrest him quickly!”

Hye-jung didn’t even seem surprised that Hae-soo was being called a detective. She just frantically demanded that they arrest him.

*

Inside the Gangjin Police Station’s Violent Crimes Unit office.

Hae-soo sat on the opposite chair, a suspect for the first time in this familiar place.

“…So, you’re saying a stranger knocked on your door and asked you to come, but as soon as you arrived, you were attacked?”

“That’s what I’m saying! Why do you keep making me repeat the same thing? I’m exhausted…”

The detective looked back and forth between Hae-soo and Hye-jung, sighed softly, and continued, “Detective Shin, or rather, Mr. Shin Hae-soo, the time you were caught on a car’s dashcam running towards Lead Building was 12:07 AM. The time the resident reported the incident was 12:13 AM. It takes at least three minutes to get there from where the dashcam caught you. So, you’re saying you committed the sexual assault in three minutes?”

Hye-jung flinched, glared at the middle-aged man who had reported it, and then shouted at the detective again, “What does time have to do with sexual assault?! Are you accusing me of being a fraud? Do you want me to show you? Show you the evidence?”

Hye-jung jumped up and flipped up her skirt. The detective turned his head away and tried to calm her down.

“No, no. I’m just checking because the victim might be at a disadvantage if the circumstances are insufficient.”

“My tears are the evidence! What more do you need? Ah, are you siding with him because he’s a fellow officer? I’m going to report this to another police station!”

The detective was at a loss. As she said, he was trying to prove Shin Hae-soo’s innocence because he believed him one hundred percent.

At that moment, Hae-soo lowered his head and spoke calmly.

“It’s my fault for being careless.”

Hye-jung’s eyes widened in surprise at Hae-soo’s reaction.

The detective, understanding Hae-soo’s signal, sighed softly and nodded.

“Mr… Shin Hae-soo, with the victim’s consistent statement and a witness, this case has to be filed.”

Hae-soo waved his hand, and the detective looked at Hye-jung and spoke again.

“Alright. Then I will formally file the case.”

“Don’t you offer me any personal protection or anything?”

“Since the perpetrator will be in the detention center here, we will take personal protection measures if you wish.”

“No, it’s okay.”

“I’ll take you home. Hey, you.”

While another detective took Hye-jung home, the detective in charge approached Hae-soo and asked urgently.

“It’s obvious what’s going on here. You met her at Lead Building, asked her where she lived… It’s clear she’s a gold digger trying to squeeze money out of you. Why are you being so compliant? It’s already a headache with the witness being so proactive. What are you going to do?”

“If I’m confident… it’ll be alright.”

“Aish, you know better than anyone how absolutely disadvantaged men are in sex crime cases. Anyway…”

Bang!

At that moment, the office door burst open violently.

“Where’s our Dol-gyeok [literally ‘Stone Strike’, likely a nickname or term of endearment]!!”

“Hae-soo-yah [term of endearment]!!”

It was Team Leader and Oh Gyeong. They must have heard the news because their faces were flushed red as they strode in.

Then, they spotted Hae-soo sitting in the suspect’s seat and grabbed the innocent detective across from him by the collar.

“You bastard!! How dare you make him sit here!”

“Aigoo [expression of frustration], Hae-soo-yah! Why are you here! Let’s go!”

They were out of their minds. Just as the other detectives were barely managing to calm them down, the office door burst open again, and a large bear of a man entered.

“Detective Seonbae-niim [senior/respected colleague]!!!”

“Aigoo, my ears are ringing.”

“Is that a human voice? It’s a beast, a beast.”

The youngest ran over, grabbed Hae-soo’s hand tightly, and looked around with murderous eyes, saying,

“Who is it! Who framed our Seonbae-nim [senior/respected colleague] with such a dirty accusation!”

“Lower your voice first. My ears hurt.”

Still, a team member is a team member. Even though their outburst was a nuisance to the other Violent Crimes Unit detectives, it felt like having family, and it was reassuring.

However, no matter how much everyone was convinced it was a false accusation, no matter how close they were, they had to proceed according to procedure.

When Hae-soo entered the detention center, the large Violent Crimes Unit team members stood shoulder to shoulder at the entrance, squeezing out tears and snot.

After sending all the team members back, Hae-soo spoke to the detective before handing over his cell phone.

“Can I use the phone just once?”

“Yeah, do something, or you’ll really get screwed if you’re not careful. You know how easy it is to process sex crimes in this country, right?”

“Thank you.”

Hae-soo smiled slightly without saying anything and picked up the phone. The detective closed the detention center door with a bitter expression.

Hae-soo watched the detective walk away and then called Jung Young-soo.

-Yes, Detective Shin.

“You always answer the phone so quickly.”

-I have to answer quickly when it’s you, Hyung-nim [term of respect for an older brother or close male friend]. A second can be crucial.

“Good, that’s the attitude. If I give you a phone number, can you listen to the recording files saved on that phone?”

-Hmm, hacking someone else’s phone… That’s only possible if the owner clicks on a text or KakaoTalk [popular Korean messaging app] message.

“Is it impossible?”

-It’s usually difficult these days because people are so suspicious, but I’m a specialist in this kind of thing, so don’t worry.

“You shouldn’t be a specialist in that kind of thing… I’ll give you the number. 010…”

Hae-soo hung up with Young-soo and was about to return the phone but stopped. There was one more person he needed to call.

-Where are you?

Ha-ru’s voice was chillingly subdued. She had seen Hae-soo answer the phone and rush out. It was fortunate that she didn’t chase after him, or did she?

“I’m in the detention center right now.”

-Isn’t that where only people who have done something wrong go? Why is the Landlord-nim [term of endearment] there?

Strangely, she sounded like she knew everything.

“That woman asked for my help, and I was framed as a rapist and arrested on the spot.”

-…

“There’s only one reason I’m telling you this. Don’t do anything and just stay still. I have a plan, so don’t kill that woman or stalk her.”

-I will wait.

“Good girl.”

*

A few days later, in front of Hye-jung’s house.

Oh Gyeong and the youngest from the Violent Crimes Unit were staking out in a van.

In front of the detention center, when they were standing shoulder to shoulder and squeezing out tears, Hae-soo had told only his team members something important.

-I don’t think this is a simple gold-digging case. That woman’s attitude is firm. Please investigate quietly. If that woman was paid to frame me, she would have received money through some route.

-What if it’s not?

-If it’s not, I have secured all the evidence that I am not the perpetrator. She probably already received the initial payment and hid it somewhere, and she will receive the final payment now that the job is done. Please track it down.

-Alright, we’ll catch her for sure in the name of the Violent Crimes Unit. Wait for us.

The Violent Crimes Unit had searched Hye-jung’s account, but it was clean. There were two possibilities: she had received cash directly, or she had received a cash-filled bank account under a false name.

“Oh Gyeong-hyung [term of respect for an older brother or close male friend], she’s out.”

“Oh, it’s really her, in that outfit…”

Hye-jung came out wearing a hat and mask and carrying a black bag, close to two in the morning. Then, she went to an ATM in a secluded part of the neighborhood and withdrew money several times.

The scene was being filmed in real-time.

Shred shred

She put the money in her bag and then put the card into the receipt shredder.

“More work to do.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“Hang in there.”

“Yes?”

After Hye-jung left, the youngest immediately called the bank security to secure the shredded card, and Oh Gyeong continued to track Hye-jung.

Hye-jung went home, then took a car to a one-room apartment in another area in the early morning, stayed overnight, and then came back to the Haetnim Mansion.

*

A few days later, the Gangjin Police Station requested Hye-jung’s attendance to write a statement, and Hye-jung came to the police station with a neatly dressed man.

“Who is this person?”

“Hello, I am Kim Mu-go, a lawyer from the law firm SM.”

“Aigoo, you’ve already hired a lawyer. You must have a lot of money.”

Hye-jung crossed her arms and frowned at the detective’s words.

“Your tone is very unpleasant. Is that how a detective should treat a victim of a sex crime?”

At that moment, a reply came from behind.

“That’s how you treat a criminal of false accusation. Lawyer-nim [term of respect for a lawyer], you have a very nice name [likely a pun or sarcastic remark].”

Team Leader, Oh Gyeong, and the youngest came forward imposingly and surrounded her. Kim, the lawyer, instinctively cowered at their energy.

Oh Gyeong handcuffed Hye-jung’s wrist and said,

“Lee Hye-jung, you are under arrest for false accusation and fraud. This is just a formality, but wear it since it feels unpleasant.”

“W-What is this! What are you doing?!”

While Hye-jung and Kim, the lawyer, were panicking, Team Leader brought a laptop in front of them and continued.

“It was hard to handle the work before sending it to the prosecution. You should have looked at your opponent before doing this. How dare you try to frame a detective?”

If it were sent to the prosecution, reporters who could not be stopped would flock to it, and even if the false accusation were revealed later, Hae-soo’s image would suffer irreparable damage.

The laptop screen that Team Leader showed had a video of Hye-jung withdrawing money when she received the initial payment, and a video that the youngest had directly filmed when she received the final payment.

Hye-jung’s eyes shook at the video, and she pointed at the screen with her index finger and shouted.

“Wh-What is that? It’s just withdrawing money, why?! What kind of evidence is that, you crazy bastards!!”

“Lee Hye-jung, watch your language. How dare you curse at detectives in a police station? I’ll just add a defamation charge.”

“Why are you holding back? Add it, right now. There’s CCTV too.”

While they were talking, the video moved on, and a transcript was played.

-No, suddenly she came and said she would give me money if I just rented this room for a month… She told me not to tell anyone, and I really didn’t know it was related to a crime! Really!

-Her face is pretty… and a woman like that even gave me money and told me to rush in and cover the scene if a stalker came and screamed, so of course… I did it.

It was the testimony of the homeowner who originally lived in Hye-jung’s house, and the false statements of the residents who played the role of witnesses.

Hye-jung was not originally someone who lived there. She even rented the place for the job.

As the final touch, a video was played showing Hae-soo leaving his house and entering Hye-jung’s house, and the part where screams were heard as soon as he entered the house.

Ha-ru had secretly followed him and filmed it herself. With this, there was no need to submit the file that Hae-soo had recorded at the scene.

Hye-jung’s face turned white. She was muttering incoherently, causing an earthquake in her pupils.

“No, so, I felt bad that the man bumped into me, uh, that look, uh…”

Thud thud thud

Steady pace, weighty footsteps, the detectives’ gazes were focused on one place. Following them, Hye-jung turned her head, and Shin Hae-soo was standing right in front of her.

Hae-soo looked down at her with emotionless eyes.

As soon as Hye-jung met Hae-soo’s eyes, she realized. This man already knew.

“Wh-When did you know…?”

Hae-soo let out a cynical laugh and replied coldly.

“From when you dropped the broken phone.”

Hae-soo’s physique, specialized for combat, was not only related to strength. His dynamic visual acuity was also naturally superior to others and had been trained.

When Hye-jung ran into Hae-soo and dropped her phone, he saw that the phone was already broken.

She had prepared a phone that was broken and would not turn on from the beginning.

“From now on, I will tell you how to reduce your sentence. If you cooperate well, I will drop the false accusation charges.”

“R-Really?”

“Really. Show me the phone first.”

Of course, it’s a lie.

< #68. Broken Cell Phone > End