The Inspector Is Getting Promoted! [EN]: Chapter 116

Prosecutor, You’re Going Places! – 116

Winter (3)

“So, you’re saying you have information about Special Investigations Department Prosecutor Choi Seo-joon’s corruption?”

Wait a minute.

Corruption about me?

I couldn’t hide my bewilderment.

This was an unexpected turn of events.

PD [Production Director] Song Jae-hoon naturally responded, pressing the record button on his phone and switching to speakerphone.

A man’s voice was soon heard.

– Yes, that’s right. About that Choi Seo-joon, the so-called star prosecutor.

It was a voice I’d never heard before.

“Could you tell us more details?”

– So, that Choi Seo-joon guy took money from a conglomerate.

“You mean he took a bribe?”

– Yes. 100 percent.

“Could you be more specific?”

– You know those big companies, right? He got it from there.

“Could you tell us specifically which conglomerates?”

– Ah, geez… you know? Juok Electronics, Juok Foods, those places.

‘Nideo?’ [A slight Gyeongsang dialect ending]

He was clearly using standard Korean at the beginning, but a slight Gyeongsang [a southeastern province in Korea] dialect popped out at the last syllable.

But only for a moment, as he calmly continued.

– I’m sure he received at least 10 billion won [approximately $7.5 million USD] in bribes from there.

Perfect standard Korean.

This is 100% certain.

He’s practicing standard Korean to hide his Gyeongsang dialect.

As PD Song Jae-hoon kept asking questions, I figured he must have gotten frustrated and the dialect slipped out unconsciously.

When it comes to the Gyeongsang dialect, the first person that comes to mind is Chief Kang Joong-sik, aka Viper.

Something felt fishy.

But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that.

What was more important was whether what the person claiming to be the informant was saying was true.

Juok Group and a 10 billion won bribe.

Something felt off.

PD Song Jae-hoon, noticing my expression, slid a sticky note towards me.

He probably meant for me to write down anything I wanted to ask.

I immediately wrote ‘When, where, how, evidence’ on the sticky note and handed it to him. PD Song Jae-hoon saw it and naturally asked.

“I see. But just claiming that he received a bribe isn’t enough for us to actually start an investigation. We need evidence or a witness… Is the informant involved in any way?”

– No, I’m not a witness, and I don’t have any evidence, but I’m sure about this.

“Then, could you tell us when, where, and how he received it?”

– Before Prosecutor Choi Seo-joon came to the Special Investigations Department, wasn’t he in another department? The Inspection Department at the High Prosecutors’ Office, or something… I know it was around the time he moved from there to the Special Investigations Department.

“I see. Then, do you know how the bribe was delivered?”

– That’s…

He hesitated, as if he was about to say something.

PD Song Jae-hoon smoothly coaxed him, as he would with any informant.

“You can speak comfortably. We will absolutely protect the informant’s identity, and the information will never be leaked to the outside.”

Even as he said it, he awkwardly twisted the corners of his mouth, feeling a bit guilty that I was listening, but the person on the other end of the line wouldn’t know.

– Um, can we meet in person to discuss this?

“Yes, of course. I’ll go to you at your convenience.”

– Uh… then, can we meet at Yongsan Station tomorrow at 4 PM?

“Yes. Our production team will be there at that time.”

– Okay.

With that, he ended the call.

“Hoo…”

As soon as the call ended, PD Song Jae-hoon let out a deep breath and looked at me with a flustered expression.

“Seo-joon, what’s going on?”

Judging by my reaction, they probably realized it too.

Since I needed their cooperation anyway, I couldn’t hide it.

And above all, I was already sure that we would be together for life.

We all knew that Reporter Park Soo-hyung had taken a lot from various sources, and although PD Song Jae-hoon was full of justice, I knew that this wouldn’t cause any problems or damage our relationship.

Before we even considered justice, we were close enough to call each other family.

“Please keep what you heard here to yourselves.”

“Yes.”

Reporter Park Soo-hyung answered immediately, and PD Song Jae-hoon closed his eyes for a moment, pondered, and then nodded.

“I will too. I’m ready to hear it.”

Before I could open my mouth, Reporter Park Soo-hyung spoke first.

“PD Song Jae-hoon and I will protect you, Seo-joon, not harm you. We’ll help you as much as we can, so you can be honest.”

PD Song Jae-hoon agreed, having made up his mind, and I opened my mouth.

“When I was in the Inspection Department, I received money from the Juok Group.”

Of course, there was no need to tell them 100% of the truth.

After all, not all 12 billion would be revealed to the world.

“It’s not in the 10 billion won range that the informant mentioned, but 1 billion won [approximately $750,000 USD].”

“Hoo.”

“I see.”

They couldn’t hide their surprise, but they didn’t interrupt me so that I could speak comfortably.

“I can’t tell you the details, but I had no choice at the time. Otherwise, my career as a prosecutor would have been over…”

As I sugarcoated it appropriately, they nodded as if they understood.

“At that time, the battle for the throne of the Juok Group was fierce, so it’s understandable. You were caught in the middle, so you would have had to take off your robe [resign from your position].”

“Thank you for understanding.”

PD Song Jae-hoon clasped his hands together and opened his mouth with a serious look.

“So, we need to come up with a plan for this. How are you going to deal with it?”

“First of all, if the production team goes, can you confirm their face or personal information?”

“Yes. It’ll be mosaic-ed [blurred] on the broadcast, but I can secretly get it to you, Prosecutor. I’ll also give you the informant’s information.”

“That seems very important. Thank you.”

“Is there anything else you need?”

“For now. The direction will be determined by whether or not they have solid evidence.”

If there was solid evidence, I would have to come up with a plan, and if not, I would have to watch the situation.

“Ah, but what if the informant refuses to be filmed?”

“Yes. In that case, it’s hard to film the informant, no matter how much we mosaic it.”

“Then… do you have any women on your production team?”

“We have quite a few female writers.”

“I’ll give you a necklace.”

“A necklace?”

“Yes. It’s a necklace with a camera attached, and the female writer just needs to wear it. It’s an emerald necklace, so it would be too suspicious for Jae-hoon to wear it.”

“Okay. That’s not difficult.”

“And after that…”

***

I made a rough plan according to the situation and returned home immediately.

It wasn’t a situation where I could drink anymore.

As soon as I got home, I sat back at my desk and started listening to the conversation between PD Song Jae-hoon and the informant again.

He even knew the exact time when I received money from the Juok Group.

This means he definitely knows the details.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to make such an accurate report.

However, judging from the fact that he’s not sure about the amount, he probably doesn’t know that far.

I’m still on good terms with the Juok Group, and if this gets out, not only me but also Chairman Lee Cheol-yong of the Juok Group will be affected.

There’s no way information could have leaked from the inside.

The biggest evidence to support that is in this call.

– Yes. You know? Juok Electronics, Juok Foods, those places ‘nideo’.

‘Nideo.’

Gyeongsang dialect.

It’s not like he’s using it openly, and if it came out unconsciously, there’s a higher probability that Viper sent it.

However, one thing I don’t understand is that he must know that I have a close relationship with PD Song Jae-hoon.

My relationship with Reporter Park Soo-hyung in the Judge case, as well as the fact that I’m connected to PD Song Jae-hoon, has been revealed.

If he investigated me even a little bit, he would have immediately realized our relationship.

Of course, Viper would already know this.

But I couldn’t understand why he leaked this to PD Song Jae-hoon knowing this.

Did he want PD Song Jae-hoon to suffer because he was full of justice?

No, did he want to see me get backstabbed by broadcasting this because of his sense of justice?

If that were the case, it might have been a checkmate, but as a result, I found out about it at the same time as the report.

Viper isn’t stupid enough to move based on such a low probability in the first place.

Then there’s only one conclusion.

He deliberately reported it to PD Song Jae-hoon so that this fact would come to my ears.

This is 100% certain.

The fact that he reported directly to his cell phone, not to the broadcasting station’s phone or the writer’s phone, makes it impossible to deny.

Wait a minute.

Did Viper think this far?

So maybe he designed it to make me use the Gyeongsang dialect on purpose as a mistake.

If that’s the case, it’s undeniable that both the guy who planned it and I who realized it are crazy.

Damn it.

As I think more, the possibilities start to open up in too many directions.

Did Viper expect me to fall for my own tricks and trip over myself because of this worry?

Maybe he created this situation with that in mind.

This seems to be a pretty serious situation.

This may be the biggest crisis in my career as a prosecutor.

It’s a problem whether Viper knows or doesn’t know.

My head started to throb.

“Hoo.”

I slowly closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and calmed my thoughts.

Okay, let’s go back to the beginning.

First, the most basic and probable hypothesis.

Viper knew that this fact would come to my ears and reported it to PD Song Jae-hoon.

That means he expected me to know this and see what kind of actions I would take.

If I was very embarrassed, I would try to fill in the gaps in the process of handling the money I had received in the past.

If I started to move like that, Viper would use that as evidence and start a detailed investigation.

Wait a minute.

According to what I heard from Kim PD, Viper started investigating and moving more urgently than expected.

Based on that, the reason for this report is to draw out my actions.

In other words, they have not properly grasped the process of me hiding black money with their own investigation.

To be exact, they either didn’t get a sense of hiding it, or they didn’t have enough time to figure it out in detail for some reason.

Perhaps the latter was more likely.

His nine prosecutors were all cut off, so he must have been in a hurry.

Above all, if he had grasped it accurately, he would have hit it directly with an article, not a tip call.

Then this is rather a green light for me.

Because they haven’t figured out my weaknesses.

Of course, this is the story when there are no special issues in the conversation with the informant tomorrow.

However, if I come to a conclusion at the end of all these thoughts, Viper’s side has not been able to dig into my background.

That probability is the highest.

It’s a bomb that threatens my life if it goes off, but if it remains a dud, it’s just a useless piece of scrap metal.

Things might end more easily than I thought.