You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 281

“Hmm… If you put it that way, couldn’t all the white Damases [small Korean vans, often used by meter readers] we’ve passed so far be meter readers?”

“That’s right. But look at this. The taillight in the back is broken.”

The reason I pointed out the Damas with the Hallim Corporation sticker was the taillight.

After watching the road CCTV footage, showing the front and back of the car, for hours, I could almost draw the car with my eyes closed.

I didn’t pay much attention to it when I first saw it, but when I saw the car with the Hallim Corporation sticker, I had a sense of déjà vu. Thinking about it, the taillight was broken in the same way.

But the sticker was there, and the license plate was different, which made me wonder. Then it suddenly occurred to me.

The car had been parked in the parking lot for quite some time, so wouldn’t there be enough time to change the sticker and license plate?

“That’s right. The broken part of the taillight is the same.”

Kang Min-jae turned on the road CCTV and put the back of the 2974 we were chasing on the screen.

Comparing the two videos side by side on the screen, it seemed certain that it was the same car.

So were the scratches around the rear bumper.

“That meticulous bastard. Usually, if they kept pretending to be meter readers in the officetel [a type of multi-purpose building used for both residential and commercial purposes], they would feel relieved, right? But they even changed the license plate and sticker to pretend to be a different car… That’s really creepy.”

Kang Min-jae gritted his teeth and said.

It was disgustingly meticulous, but we still managed to find him, breaking through that meticulousness.

I don’t know if he was meticulous even after changing the license plate, but he probably thought he had done enough and became careless.

That’s even better.

“First, I need to contact the section chief and track that license plate to see where it’s going.”

“Ah, yes. Then I’ll call him now.”

“No. It’s already… 8:30. Even if I tell him now, he’ll have to look up the CCTV footage again, so it won’t happen right away. Let’s tell him tomorrow morning.”

“I understand. You should have dinner.”

“Yeah.”

“Then I’ll tell the madam and go wash up. I’ve been staring at the monitor all day, and my eyes feel like they’re going to fall out.”

After Kang Min-jae left the room, I lay on the bed and pondered for a moment.

The guys who killed me in my previous life were also people who had no connection with Wooshin on paper.

If I had to put it, I’d call them ghost subcontractors [unofficial or untraceable workers].

The person who spoke to me on the ship after putting me in the drum was one person, but there were definitely several people around him.

In addition to that, there were the guys who called me out in front of the officetel where I lived, knocked me out, and took me away, and the guys who put me in the drum and poured cement.

At the very least, there were more than five people.

The same goes for killing Lee Jung-chan this time.

It wouldn’t have been the work of one person.

The meter reader we found a clue about this time, the guy who killed Lee Jung-chan, they must all be different people.

So, even if we find the meter reader this time and get him to confess that he left the weapon in my house, we may not be able to find the person who killed Lee Jung-chan.

The thought of such a long fight already made me feel tired.

* * *

Two days later, Park Young-gi sent us the road CCTV footage of the 7519 running with the Hallim Corporation sticker.

This time, I thought we would waste another day if we checked it ourselves, so I specially called in expert Manager Oh to Kang Min-jae’s house.

He was definitely an expert created by numerous experiences.

He seemed to be scanning through various functions for about an hour and soon came to a conclusion.

“It’s here. Hallim Corporation.”

The place where the meter reader stopped was Hallim Corporation, located on the first floor of an old villa building in Myeongjin-gu.

I didn’t know if that place was also a disguise, or if we had found their base.

Among the places that came up when I searched for Hallim Corporation, based on the search results that matched the location on the CCTV, Hallim Corporation had no notable activity history.

Even when I put it on overseas portal sites where something would come out if you searched, there were no results.

Unless it’s a small corner store that trades everything manually, there should be an Excel sheet of transaction records.

What is certain is that Hallim Corporation is not a subsidiary or trading partner of Hanseong Energy.

I even contacted Hanseong Energy directly and asked, pretending to be a victim of impersonation, so I’m sure.

Perhaps it’s a company they created to carry out disguised activities.

“Instead of staying at home like this, it would be better for us to go and see it once.”

Manager Oh, who had been watching the situation, opened his mouth.

“It might be a little dangerous for just me and Attorney Kang to go, so if you could attach a few of Taeshik’s family members [referring to Taeshik’s connections or gang members], I’ll go and come back.”

“If you confirm that the meter reader is there, what do you do next?”

“The prosecution usually arrests them right away. Then they take them and sit them down and investigate until they tell the truth.”

Unlike me and Kang Min-jae, who had only briefly been involved in the prosecution, Manager Oh, who had spent almost his entire life in the prosecution, still had the attitude ingrained in him.

It was the moment when he, who had only been doing paperwork in the office, revealed his wildness for the first time in a while.

“We don’t have the power of the law.”

But Kang Min-jae immediately poured cold water on it.

At those words, Manager Oh sighed deeply.

“Then, since we don’t have the power to arrest, we have no choice but to keep following that meter reader and asking questions until he tells the truth.”

Manager Oh’s voice had lost all its strength in that short time.

“You can’t arrest someone just because you don’t have the power of the law.”

“Yes? What do you mean?”

“Of course, we can’t arrest them in a state institution, but can’t we keep them? That’s entirely possible with just a place and manpower.”

The only clue that will decisively affect us right now is that meter reader.

Of course, it’s not that the person Sang-gil met at the fishing club is useless.

In addition, Sang-gil is still working hard to find out about that area to see if there are any other witnesses besides that person, so I think we’ll be able to dig up some useful information soon.

But even if that happens, unless we find a new person who witnessed the murder scene, isn’t it true that the person Sang-gil contacted doesn’t know the exact identity of the perpetrator?

In the end, the only way we can use that person is to present a candidate group on our side and have them confirm if this person is correct.

Even if, as I expected, the person he saw was not the perpetrator, but really a henchman of Go Sang-joon, we can only use it after the investigation has progressed more deeply.

In this situation, we have a clue to find the meter reader who moved so meticulously under Wooshin’s orders.

I believe that the meter reader is one of the few people who caused this incident, in other words, a member of a small group.

There’s no way we can get information from such a person through simple threats, deals, or gentle means of persuasion.

There’s only one thing that works for such an opponent.

Detaining them and searching their surroundings.

If we search their phone, we’ll find something.

It would be illegal for us to do it without the qualifications granted by the state, but in this situation, some degree of coercion is necessary.

If it were a case I had formally taken on, I would not have made this decision.

But now I’m in a situation where I can’t show myself, and therefore I can’t use my abilities naturally.

Since many things are limited, a somewhat extreme choice is necessary.

Above all, it’s not like I’m going to torture the meter reader, or anything…

If I had to put it, I’m just going to do something like a search and seizure.

Besides, there’s no one who would make an issue of it even if I did.

“…Isn’t that illegal?”

“We have to take the risk.”

“……”

At my words, Kang Min-jae stared at me silently, as if he had lost his words for a moment.

Is he uncomfortable with the fact that he, a lawyer, is involved in illegal activities?

“I really wanted to try something like that. I’ve only seen it in movies!”

But Kang Min-jae always exceeds my expectations.

He looked at me and Manager Oh with sparkling eyes and said.

“Then, if we catch that bastard, can I hit him once? I really have a lot of pent-up feelings.”

“That’s not allowed.”

Could it be that Kang Min-jae thinks I’m going to catch the meter reader and torture him to get him to confess the truth?

“……Yes.”

* * *

The next day, three cars flocked to Myeongjin-gu.

Team A vehicle with Oh Yang-hoon and Kang Min-jae.

Team B vehicle with Taeshik, Sang-gil, and about three strong men.

Finally, Team C vehicle with Dae-cheol and Jun-beom.

Oh Yang-hoon and Kang Min-jae, who were expected to have their faces known, decided not to enter directly and waited in front of the expected escape route, and Team C was the same.

And Team B, Taeshik and Sang-gil, decided to enter Hallim Corporation directly.

Equipped with even walkie-talkies for quick situation reports, they were not members of the investigative agency, but their hearts were prosecutors.

Their plan is this.

1. They say they are going to do interior work on the 2nd floor, which is right above, and ask them to open the door to ask for their understanding.

2. The moment they open the door, they naturally rush inside and find the meter reader.

3. If the meter reader escapes, Team B personnel will chase him, and Team A and Team C will block the road in front and behind, respectively, to prevent him from escaping.

There is one variable to consider here.

What if the meter reader is not at Hallim Corporation?

But there’s nothing to worry about in that part either.

Team B checked the CCTV at the villa this morning in advance.

It’s not difficult to check private CCTV, especially CCTV attached to villas.

If you say you are a resident of a nearby villa and are looking for a cat that ran away, everything is solved.

If someone says they saw it around here and wants to check the CCTV, they usually show it right away.

In that way, they caught the meter reader entering Hallim Corporation today through the CCTV, and they have been camping out in front of it ever since, but the meter reader has not come out yet.

In other words, he’s a rat in a trap.

“But what’s wrong with the lawyer? He’s making us do all these illegal things.”

“That guy says he doesn’t do illegal things, but he does everything. He pretended to set fire to that place where those Jesus freaks gathered last time, and oh! He also eavesdropped.”

“Ah, that’s right. Anyway, that lawyer is such a hypocrite.”

“Anyway. Is the warehouse ready?”

“Yes, hyung [older brother or respected male figure]. Oseong Landscaping near our office is perfect. The boss ran away to China recently, so it’s empty. It’s almost like an abandoned house. I went on a field trip yesterday, and the surroundings are quiet, and there are mountains in the back and greenhouses in the front, so people don’t pass by.”

“Is it a place where no one will notice even if you bury someone?”

“Of course.”

“What about the tools?”

“I’ve prepared the tools perfectly. I’ll show you the true colors of Choi Sang-gil, who was called Inseok-dong Monkey Wrench [a tough guy known for using a wrench as a weapon]. I can pull teeth better than a dentist, hyung. He’s a nasty guy who harassed the lawyer, so I’m going to make him spend about ten million won on implants. Hehe.”

……And, Kang Min-jae wasn’t the only one who thought I was going to torture the meter reader.