The Inspector Is Getting Promoted! [EN]: Chapter 53

Prosecutor, You’re Going Places! – Episode 53

Planning (1)

“I’ll set up a meeting soon.”

“A meeting for what…”

“It’s a meeting to plan a show for the broadcasting station.”

As I pursed my lips, Reporter Park Soo-hyung’s eyes gleamed.

“As expected, you have more decisiveness than I thought, Prosecutor.”

I answered with a smile.

“Of course, even if we prepare quickly, there’s a high chance we won’t be able to designate the seventh murder target.”

It’s already been fifteen days since the sixth murder occurred.

Serial killers usually have a cooling-off period between incidents, but after this much time, the conditions for committing another crime are likely met.

Considering the time needed to designate and plan for the victim, we might only be able to intervene when choosing the ninth target at the earliest, or the tenth at the latest.

Reporter Park Soo-hyung nodded as if there were no problem.

“I’m not worried since that Judge bastard who hasn’t been caught so far isn’t likely to be caught suddenly.”

I nodded and stood up.

“I’ll contact you soon.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“And please don’t leak that artificial tear to the outside.”

“Ah, instead of that, you should keep it, Prosecutor. After talking with you today, I’m convinced that I can trust you.”

He took out the artificial tear from his bag and handed it to me.

I carefully took it and reached out my hand.

“See you again.”

Reporter Park Soo-hyung shook my hand with a satisfied smile.

It was only a short meeting of less than an hour, but it was enough time to be convinced that I had gained a reliable ally.

***

On the day of the establishment of the Joint Investigation Headquarters between the prosecution and the police for the Judge case.

Unsurprisingly, all the prominent figures from the police and prosecution gathered.

This means that the country is taking the Judge case seriously, and the prosecution and police are seeing it as an opportunity for promotion.

In this situation, if I can solve the case by reading the criminal’s psychology and planning the arrest operation, it would be a great opportunity for me.

The thought of arresting the Judge bastard in a cool way and holding a press conference already made me smile.

“Who do you think is the most noteworthy person among those we’ll meet today, Investigator?”

“Um, the prosecutor side is better known to you than me, so I’ll pass on that, and looking only at the police side…”

Yoon Seol-ha said as if it were obvious without much thought.

“Wouldn’t it be Chief Kim from the Metropolitan Investigation Unit?”

“You mean Inspector Kim Hyung-seok?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

She walked beside me and continued.

“He’s a person who rarely misses the Joint Investigation Headquarters.”

“Yes. He’s capable, but from what I remember, I heard he causes quite a few accidents.”

“That’s right. I heard he often talks back and argues with prosecutors.”

“Do the prosecutors just take it? Does the prosecution kowtow [defer] to the police?”

“I heard he has strong connections. I heard from somewhere that he’s connected to high-ranking prosecutors.”

High-ranking prosecutors.

It seems like this guy is also on the right line.

There are only three major lines in Korea.

One is the Prime Minister Choi Kyu-hyun line that I’m in, and the other is our alliance with former Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office Chief Prosecutor Lim Joo-young.

However, both of these lines are centered around prosecutors and politicians, so there are no police officers.

Then, in the end, he must be in the remaining line.

I can vaguely guess the structure of the line, but I don’t know the exact details yet.

The fact that it’s not known proves that the line is strong.

Maybe I should take a peek at that line while working on this Judge case.

Of course, if Inspector Kim Hyung-seok tries to climb on me, I’ll crush him mercilessly.

I said with a sneer.

“He’s just a cop anyway, isn’t he?”

Yoon Seol-ha curved her eyes.

“You’re right.”

“If you can, please find out who that high-ranking prosecutor is that Inspector Kim Hyung-seok is connected to.”

She asked worriedly.

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

I winked and said.

“Do you think I would have been appointed as the head of the Joint Investigation Headquarters for no reason at only thirty-one years old?”

Only then did Yoon Seol-ha smile.

“I’ll investigate as soon as possible.”

“Thank you.”

Before starting the first meeting, I entered the investigation headquarters in advance to greet people.

Prosecutors who had some acquaintance with me, as well as those who wanted to build a relationship with me, came up to greet me one by one…

“Oh, who is this? Isn’t it our Joint Investigation Headquarters chief?”

A loud voice rang out.

As I turned my head, unsurprisingly, a man in a police uniform was approaching.

“Hello, I’m Inspector Kim Hyung-seok from the Metropolitan Investigation Unit.”

I wondered who it was, but it was the guy I had just talked about.

“Ah, Chief Kim. I’ve heard rumors.”

“Wow, my rumors have spread to the prosecution. I’m proud.”

He smiled shamelessly and scratched the back of his head.

“I’ve heard a lot about you too, Inspector. I’ve seen you often on TV.”

The word ‘Inspector’ pierced my ears sharply.

Calling me ‘Inspector’ outright from the first meeting.

It seems like he’s determined to annoy me from the start.

Inspector Kim Hyung-seok is in his early to mid-40s.

Since he’s older than me, I decided to pretend I didn’t hear it this time.

“Is that so?”

“Of course. Whenever there’s a story about a prosecutor on TV, it’s all about you, Inspector.”

The word ‘Inspector’ was mentioned twice in a row, and the prosecutors around me also began to show signs of discomfort.

The word ‘Inspector’ is a derogatory term for prosecutors, and it can be understood as a ‘꼰대(kkondae) [kkondae is a Korean slang term for a condescending older person]’ in slang.

Originally, it’s a word to elevate a person of high status, but in modern times, it has become a word with a bad meaning between the prosecution and the police.

However, because of its origin, if they openly show discomfort, only the prosecutors can be portrayed as authoritarian, so they can’t show it even if they’re uncomfortable.

However, I had no intention of losing in this battle of nerves.

I’ve been hit first.

It’s not just once, but twice, and staying still is the same as making all the prosecutors around me, including myself, look like fools.

It’s only natural to pay back.

“If you search for ‘Metropolitan Investigation Unit cop’ on the internet, Chief Kim, you’ll also appear on the main page.”

At the word ‘cop,’ Inspector Kim Hyung-seok smiled slyly and said.

“Hey, Prosecutor. Are you calling me that because I called you ‘Inspector’?”

I smiled and shook my head.

“Of course not. ‘Cop’ is a dialect. It’s not like I called you ‘짭새(jjapssae) [jjapssae is a Korean slang term for police, considered derogatory]’ either.”

As I emphasized the word ‘짭새(jjapssae),’ a sign of discomfort appeared on Inspector Kim Hyung-seok’s face.

He didn’t utter any curse words, but sparks were already flying in the eyes of each other.

Soon, Inspector Kim Hyung-seok reached out his hand to me with a fake smile.

“Let’s work together well. We have to catch and throw that Judge bastard who commits heinous crimes and packages it as judgment, right?”

“Of course.”

I also reached out and grabbed his hand.

At the same time, we both squeezed our hands tightly and put strength into our arms, as if not to be defeated by each other.

I don’t know if he looked down on me as a prosecutor working in the office, but he was completely overwhelmed by the grip in a few seconds.

“Wow, I can’t keep up with our young Inspector’s strength.”

He gritted his teeth, pulled his hand out, and waved it around, pretending to be calm.

“See you later.”

“Okay.”

Inspector Kim Hyung-seok scanned the prosecutors around me and moved his seat.

***

“It’s been a while, Prosecutor.”

“I know. I’ve been too busy lately to see you. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, why would you be sorry when you’re busy with work?”

PD [Producer] Song Jae-hoon was still a nice person.

“Thank you. Please come inside.”

With a pleasant smile, I led him into the officetel [a Korean term for a building with both office and residential units].

“Would you like some tea or a glass of beer?”

“I’ll have beer.”

I took out two cans of beer from the refrigerator and placed them in front of him and me, then naturally sat down on the sofa.

“Thank you for the drink.”

He took a sip of beer and asked casually.

“By the way, what did you want to talk about?”

“PD.”

Unlike usual, I lowered my voice in a serious tone.

“Can you keep the contents of today’s conversation a secret, whether you accept it or not?”

“I don’t know what you’re going to say, but…”

PD Song Jae-hoon looked surprised, but soon realized that it wasn’t a simple conversation and took it seriously.

“I’ll keep it a secret for life. Please tell me.”

Now it’s the main point.

I need to persuade him to plan the case perfectly.

PD Song Jae-hoon was different in style from Reporter Park Soo-hyung, who rushed to success like a moth to a flame.

He has his own values and beliefs, and he voluntarily entered as a producer of to protect justice and reveal the truth.

No matter how much it’s me, I shouldn’t invade that.

I had to refrain from suggesting things that he would be uncomfortable with.

So I approached it more carefully.

“I’ve obtained a tip regarding the Judge case.”

I could feel his eyes sparkling at the mention of the Judge case.

It’s a case that anyone living in Korea, not just journalists, can’t help but be interested in.

“I found out that all of the Judge’s victims were the perpetrators of the cases mentioned in .”

“Are you talking about my program?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Huh.”

He took a long breath as if he was embarrassed.

“Wait a minute.”

PD Song Jae-hoon stared into the air as if comparing the program and the victims in his head, and then burst into a hollow laugh.

“That’s true.”

“Yes.”

“Then, by any chance, the next victim too…”

He couldn’t hide his surprise even as he spoke.

Instead of answering, I asked a new question.

“What would you do if you could identify the victim of that case?”

“…Excuse me?”

He couldn’t hide his surprised expression.

The fact that this conversation came up would be surprising in itself, and above all, he would know that I wouldn’t bring up this story without a reason.

PD Song Jae-hoon thought for a while and asked.

“Is it to make someone a target of crime and take their life away?”

“No.”

I denied it firmly.

“To be exact, it’s to identify the target of the crime and arrest the criminal.”

“Arrest the criminal.”

He closed his eyes and quietly pondered.

It must be a moment when the two beliefs for justice and public interest that he thinks are conflicting, so he’s thinking hard.

PD Song Jae-hoon opened his mouth with difficulty after a long time.

“We’re not telling the victim that we’ve identified the target, right?”

“Yes, we can’t help it. If we protect them, the Judge will notice. We have to accept the risk that damage may occur in the process of tracking.”

PD Song Jae-hoon swept his hair back as if it were difficult to think.

“It’s a reckless act, isn’t it?”

“That’s right.”

He put his hands together and fell into deep thought.

I added a word to help persuade him.

“If we don’t catch this guy now, there may be a seventh victim, as well as an eighth, ninth, and it’s terrible to even think about it, but more than ten victims may occur.”

PD Song Jae-hoon stroked his forehead and nodded.

“That’s right. But…”

He trailed off.

He seems to be very worried.

Saying more here will only urge him.

All that’s left is to hope that my words had power.

After a long silence, he asked me.

“Prosecutor.”

“Yes.”

“If I help you, can you promise that you will do your best to protect the person from being killed by the Judge, even if they become the target of the Judge?”

Protecting a vicious criminal is not a welcome thing, but it was something that a prosecutor should do.

“Of course, I promise.”

“I understand.”

Only then did PD Song Jae-hoon slowly nod.

“The target of the Judge case.”

He looked up at me.

“Let’s plan it together.”