You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 276

“It’s good that we found the car number, but there’s a high probability it’s a ghost car [a vehicle with false or stolen license plates].”

“It probably is.”

Kang Min-jae sighed, watching the CCTV footage he had already reviewed dozens of times, several times more.

“Still, it’s a shame to give up like this. I should send what I’ve confirmed to Tae-shik and have him look into it.”

“Do you think Tae-shik can find him? There’s not much information. We don’t know his age, we don’t know his name…”

I don’t know exactly how Tae-shik finds people, but whenever I’ve given him a job, he’s always said that a face alone isn’t enough.

“Don’t you know any police officers?”

Kang Min-jae asked as he sent an email containing the CCTV footage to Tae-shik.

I know some police officers, but not well enough to ask them for something like this.

More than anything, with my current situation, there are even fewer people I can contact.

“Even Hyung-nim Jong-hyun [older brother figure] couldn’t find a way. If he had someone to ask for something like this, he would have told me already.”

“We need to be able to check the CCTV. It’s not about the license plate.”

We have to check the license plate because we have no other choice, but there’s a 90 percent or higher chance it’s a ghost car.

To find that gas meter reader now, what we need to do is not to check the vehicle.

We need to check the road CCTV to see where he went and where he stopped.

That’s the only way we can find him or figure out his base.

“I was only a prosecutor for a short time, so I don’t know many police officers. Ha, what should I do?”

Kang Min-jae sighed deeply.

I can prove that someone disguised as a meter reader suspiciously broke into my house.

No, if the police were only favorable to me, if I could just prove that someone broke in, they would have started a search and seizure of the house and would have considered the possibility that they went to put the evidence there.

But to say that….

“How was the investigation?”

At my question, Kang Min-jae’s expression hardened.

I knew he felt a great burden from having to go to the investigation alone, so I didn’t ask too seriously.

“What about the police attitude?”

“The police think you’re the culprit, Attorney.”

“Really?”

“Yes. And… maybe I fueled that thought. But, but I had to do it that way. I had to think about the future. And there were things I needed to find out, so…”

“Kang, I’m not going to blame you. So don’t ramble.”

“……”

“It’s not just that I’m not going to blame you, I think whatever decision Kang made was the right one.”

I was serious.

If he had the same ability as me, I would have wanted him to use it.

“So tell me in detail.”

At my urging, Kang Min-jae finally opened his mouth with an uneasy look.

* * *

“I wasn’t with him the whole time.”

Kang Min-jae answered, making eye contact with the detective with an indifferent expression.

Of course, he wasn’t indifferent inside either.

Having concluded that this was the right answer, and considering that he didn’t have much time to think, it was the best he could do.

He did his best to manage his expression to give the feeling of, ‘I wasn’t with him, so what?’

“You weren’t with him?”

“Yes. When I went inside and looked for former CEO Lee Jung-chan with him, the reservoir was too large, and it seemed like it would take a long time. So, I decided to split up with the suspect and look for him. Since the reservoir was circular, we split up and went to opposite sides.”

“How long were you separated?”

“About 20 minutes.”

In fact, it would have been longer than 20 minutes.

Roughly, it would have been over 45 minutes.

But if it was 45 minutes, it would be easy to think that Cha Joo-han had enough time to meet Lee Jung-chan, argue with him, kill him accidentally, and then abandon the body.

Isn’t 20 minutes too short to do that?

“About 20 minutes…”

The detective nodded, recording Kang Min-jae’s words.

At first, he thought about just saying that they were together.

If there was a time when Kang Min-jae was separated, the police would naturally think that the murder occurred during that time.

But if that happens, there will be a problem if real witnesses or evidence appear later.

Then Kang Min-jae’s statement that he was with him will not match, and he may have to give up the evidence or admit that Kang Min-jae’s statement was wrong.

Also, that’s not the only problem.

Even if we put aside the third-party evidence and witnesses, in the worst case, Kang Min-jae could be charged as an accomplice just for being with him.

Of course, someone set it up, but isn’t there even a murder weapon in Cha Joo-han’s house?

It’s enough evidence to be identified as a suspect.

Even if he’s lucky enough not to be an accomplice, Kang Min-jae, who was with him at the scene, will at least be charged with aiding and abetting.

If that happens, Cha Joo-han, who can’t leave Kang Kwan-woong’s private residence, will have his arms and legs cut off [lose his means of support and protection].

“Okay, this is a map of the reservoir. This side is the entrance where Kang Min-jae bought coffee with the suspect, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Can you draw the route?”

Holding the three-color pen that the detective handed him, Kang Min-jae drew a line from the entrance to the inside with a black pen.

There is only one thing he must do now.

The detective hasn’t told him directly yet, but he said that there was someone who witnessed Cha Joo-han murdering Lee Jung-chan.

Of course, it’s a fabricated witness, but he must have specified where he witnessed it.

To help Secretary Oh’s investigation, he needs to find out where the witness claimed the murder occurred.

‘It was definitely dark from around here.’

Kang Min-jae checked the map, drawing with the pen.

The part of the reservoir that protruded like a peninsula.

There was a light with good luminosity installed there like a lighthouse, and beyond that, the bushes were thick, and people rarely went there.

Of course, when he passed that light, it was so dark that he couldn’t see much.

So, he passed by with the impression that it was dark and the road was narrow.

Kang Min-jae first assumed that Woo-shin had set up the whole thing, so the ‘witness’ at the reservoir that day was watching Cha Joo-han and him.

If so, unless the witness is an idiot, he wouldn’t have said that he witnessed it in a crowded place.

He probably claimed to have found Cha Joo-han beyond this area.

Kang Min-jae and Cha Joo-han split up a little further from here, after walking for about 5 minutes.

Cha Joo-han continued on this road, and Kang Min-jae turned back to the opposite side and looked around in the opposite direction.

‘What if I lie and say that I went there instead of the lawyer?’

A thought suddenly occurred to him, but Kang Min-jae soon shook his head.

If a real witness appears, not an actor hired by Woo-shin, his words must match.

Of course, he didn’t come here to take an oath and testify, so he’s not guilty of perjury, and he can just say that he was confused and misspoke.

But then the credibility of everything he said here could be lowered, so that would be a problem.

“What’s wrong?”

The detective asked Kang Min-jae, who was hesitating while drawing on the map with a pen.

Then Kang Min-jae changed the color of the pen and answered.

“I’m a little confused because it’s on the map.”

“Ah, should we turn it around like this?”

The detective turned the map around without any suspicion.

Then Kang Min-jae started drawing a line with a blue pen.

“The suspect went this way.”

And Kang Min-jae added a red line over the black pen mark, starting from the entrance and drawing straight towards the opposite direction.

“And I went this way.”

“I see. If you went in the opposite direction, you didn’t accompany him to the scene of the incident. So, even if you accompanied him to the reservoir, it’s understandable that you didn’t know there was an incident because you didn’t see the scene where the suspect murdered the victim.”

“Hmm, actually, as I was coming out in the opposite direction, I kept watching the suspect’s movements across the reservoir. The place where I was had lights, so I could see the figure.”

“Really?”

The detective looked at Kang Min-jae with a dubious smile.

“You could see this point from here?”

He marked the point where Kang Min-jae went and the point where Cha Joo-han went with a highlighter and asked.

It was clear that he thought Kang Min-jae was lying to defend Cha Joo-han.

“No. I couldn’t see it when I went that far. But since we walked along the waterfront, I could still see it to the point where the light from the lights installed on this side reached. That light had good luminosity. It seemed like it was installed on purpose for the fishermen.”

Kang Min-jae said, pointing to the lights that were placed where the two had separated.

“I see. You said the light was bright here, how far could you see?”

“I think I could see up to about here.”

Kang Min-jae deliberately pointed to a point where the light didn’t reach.

It was a point that was further past the place where the witness could claim was the scene of the crime.

“Kang Min-jae. You mustn’t lie.”

“What do you mean by lying?”

“The scene of the crime is here, and the witness already said that it was dark and he couldn’t see well. The police went and verified it themselves. We’re not unconditionally claiming that Cha Joo-han is the suspect. All the indicators we’ve pointed to so far are pointing to the suspect, so we’re focusing on him first, and we’re trying to listen to the stories of several people and cross-check them. There’s nothing good that will come of covering it up with lies like that.”

The detective scolded Kang Min-jae in a lecturing tone.

He’s not unconditionally claiming that Cha Joo-han is the suspect?

He felt like laughing.

He knows that from the police’s point of view, the evidence is prepared so naturally and perfectly that they can’t help but think it’s Cha Joo-han.

But even so, is it right to dismiss his words as lies just because they don’t match the witness’s words?

Ah, that’s not to say he didn’t lie.

“I wasn’t trying to lie. I didn’t move while looking at the map exactly, so I’m estimating and telling you about that point.”

“Well, I understand. Besides, from Kang Min-jae’s point of view, Cha Joo-han is a colleague who he’s worked with for a long time, and he was even at the scene with him, so you want to believe that it’s not him.”

The detective smiled kindly like an understanding person and put the map back into the holder.

“Okay. Then, what was the suspect’s condition when you met again 20 minutes later?”

“There was nothing different. He asked me first if I had seen former CEO Lee Jung-chan, and when I said no, he said the same. And he said that Lee Jung-chan didn’t seem to be at the reservoir.”

“Then did you come back to Seoul together right away?”

“Yes. We searched together at the reservoir for about 30 minutes, and if we add about 20 minutes of searching separately, we should say that we stayed for about an hour. Then we left Hwagun Reservoir for Seoul around 12 o’clock.”

“I’ll ask you one last question. What was the relationship between the victim and the suspect usually like? According to Kang Min-jae, the crime time is only about 20 minutes at most. If the suspect had a motive to kill the victim in 20 minutes, what would it be?”

Kang Min-jae inwardly cheered at the detective’s question.

The police seemed to have accepted the fact that Cha Joo-han had only about 20 minutes to kill Lee Jung-chan.

Of course, it could be discarded quickly if other evidence comes out, but who knows.

Maybe it could confuse the investigation.

“I have no idea at all. Rather, I think it would be more natural for former CEO Lee Jung-chan to kill the suspect.”

“Why?”

“Former CEO Lee Jung-chan thought that the suspect had a significant influence on the process of him losing his political power. That’s the case with Lee Se-hyung, and that’s the case with Myung-hwa Pharmaceutical. In fact, it’s also true that the suspect investigated with the prosecution as a commissioned investigator in the Myung-hwa Pharmaceutical case.”

“So, are you saying that the suspect is not actually the person who revealed the victim’s corruption to the world?”

That’s right.

But if he says that’s right, he’ll think that Cha Joo-han usually harbored resentment towards Lee Jung-chan and revealed everything.

And he even killed him because that wasn’t enough.

“I don’t think so. The person who revealed everything was the person who was broadcasting on the internet at the time.”

“Hmm, I understand for now. Thank you for your hard work and cooperation.”

That was the end of the investigation.

He doesn’t know if he did well.

But he succeeded in at least one thing.

Wasn’t the purpose of Kang Min-jae going to the investigation, which Cha Joo-han said at first, achieved?

Accurately identifying the ‘crime scene,’ which is information that has not yet been released.

And confusing the investigation by shortening the crime time to within 20 minutes.