You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 301

You Have Been Defended – Episode 301 (301/641)

[The identity of the mysterious intruder who broke into suspect Cha’s house just before the search and seizure?

Suspicions of evidence tampering with the crime tools found at Cha’s residence.

Is there a force that framed Cha, “the suspect in Lee Jung-chan’s murder,” as the killer? Truth or lie?

Can the words of the eyewitness to Lee Jung-chan’s murder really be trusted?

Attorney Kang Min-jae, “How can you trust the eyewitness’s words?”]

Kang Min-jae headed to the parking lot, checking the news headlines with a detached expression.

These were articles he had fully anticipated, essentially echoing what he had said on the broadcast.

The internet was already buzzing, and the issue dominated the popular search terms, but the crucial thing now was the investigative authorities’ next move.

Cha Ju-han was still confined to his home.

He had recently suffered a seizure, presumably due to mental shock, preventing him from even seeking medical attention.

For him to leave the house, the investigative authorities would need to lift the warrant for Cha Ju-han and remove him from the list of urgent arrests, but so far, there had been no progress.

Of course, he wasn’t expecting them to act swiftly.

“Hoo.”

Kang Min-jae lit a cigarette and exhaled slowly.

He was well aware that the ‘Wooshin allegations data’ he had revealed on the broadcast yesterday was already known to the investigative authorities.

Even if people were greatly stirred by this, they wouldn’t suddenly believe Cha Ju-han was innocent solely because of yesterday’s broadcast.

This was because they believed the eyewitness’s testimony and the discovery of the crime tools clearly implicated Cha Ju-han as the suspect.

But today’s broadcast was different.

Today, he had revealed that someone broke into Cha Ju-han’s house, and that the intruder meticulously disguised their identity.

‘But even if the broadcast proves a break-in, it doesn’t definitively prove the meter reader planted the weapon.’

The only way to prove this was with a photo.

Specifically, the photo found on the meter reader’s cell phone.

The principle that illegally collected evidence is inadmissible doesn’t fully apply in criminal cases.

Cha Ju-han had previously established a precedent in a citizen participation trial, proving the admissibility of a video presumed to have been illegally obtained.

So, should he simply fabricate a story about hacking the meter reader’s cell phone and release the photo?

Regardless of how much illegally obtained evidence might be admissible, he couldn’t admit to kidnapping.

Doing so would ensure the weapon found during the search and seizure would be deemed inadmissible, leaving only the eyewitness as critical evidence.

The police would then have to reconsider removing Cha Ju-han from the list of urgent arrests.

It wouldn’t be easy, given he had been on the run for about two weeks, but he could exert influence to prevent a warrant from being issued.

‘I need to talk to the lawyer about this.’

He had also recently secured the testimony of the homeless eyewitness and the evidence of the handkerchief.

Cha Ju-han felt the homeless man’s evidence wasn’t conclusive enough to definitively prove his innocence, but that was due to Cha Ju-han’s perfectionist tendencies.

An individual isn’t an investigative authority.

Of course, Cha Ju-han doesn’t trust the investigative authorities, so he believes complete freedom can only be guaranteed by perfectly apprehending the culprit on their behalf.

Above all, he has always operated that way.

Even in cases where he only needs an acquittal or non-prosecution, he identifies and captures the real perpetrator, making an innocent or not-guilty verdict inevitable.

Especially now that he knows the real culprits’ identities, Cha Ju-han will be even more driven to bring them to justice and prove his perfect integrity.

He himself felt the same way.

He agreed that it was the best approach.

But this was only true if he could definitively catch those criminals.

He had the meter reader in custody, but he hadn’t located the ‘man with his arm around his shoulder’ who was working with the meter reader.

Taeshik was investigating every angle, staking out Hanlim Trading to see if the guy appeared, but he hadn’t found him.

‘Still, the lawyer must be the most anxious.’

Kang Min-jae’s shoulders slumped.

No matter how nonchalant Cha Ju-han acted, there was a physical reaction, and he had resorted to an unusually aggressive method.

Of course, it was true that he was able to confirm with the homeless man because he knew about the existence of the ‘man with his arm around his shoulder’ because he used such an aggressive method.

But if it were the usual Cha Ju-han, he would have worried about the fact that the kidnapping would be a problem when he later handed over the meter reader to the police, and he would have looked for another way.

“Oh? Min-jae.”

As he flicked the cigarette that might have been his nth onto the ground and was lost in thought, Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon emerged from the building.

“You haven’t left yet?”

“Ah, I was just smoking.”

Perhaps because the smell of cigarettes was quite strong, even they, who were smokers, waved their hands in the air and coughed.

“What were you thinking so hard about? You don’t look good either. The broadcast went well.”

“That’s true, but… I’m just thinking a lot.”

Kang Min-jae replied, projecting an air that he didn’t really want to talk about it.

The two of them seemed to sense Kang Min-jae’s mood and didn’t press him.

“How are you handling the meter reader?”

“He’s just there.”

“Is that bastard still keeping his mouth shut? …Didn’t he say anything?”

Kang Min-jae glanced around.

Then he lowered his voice and answered.

* * *

“Where is the lawyer?”

Kang Min-jae, arriving at the house, looked around the empty rooms.

He was late coming home today, but Cha Ju-han was usually in the living room on the first floor or taking a walk in the garden around this time.

“He’s in the study, playing baduk [Go, a strategy board game] with the elder.”

“Baduk?”

Kang Min-jae reflexively glanced towards the study.

He had a lot to discuss with Cha Ju-han.

He had already planned how to persuade Cha Ju-han on his way home.

“Don’t disturb them.”

As Kang Min-jae took a step towards the study, Chief Kang blocked his path.

“Why?”

“When you’re gone, Cha Byun [Byun is short for Byeonhosa, meaning Lawyer] is mostly alone. He seems fine, but he seems strangely precarious, so I sometimes strike up a conversation with him.”

He had never heard about Cha Ju-han’s demeanor when he was alone, so he felt a pang of guilt upon hearing Chief Kang’s words.

Again, he was more convinced that hiding for a long time was not a good idea.

“But the elder must have been worried about Cha Byun, so he called him after a long time. He didn’t call him before because he was afraid it would be burdensome.”

“…….”

“Cha Byun might find playing baduk with the elder quite enjoyable. He always has newspapers, TV, and the internet to keep him occupied. So just don’t disturb them. Do you have any business with him?”

Kang Min-jae considered his words and shook his head.

He did have business with him, but it didn’t have to be discussed today.

Kang Min-jae went up to his room on the second floor, washed up, and sat down at his desk.

Cha Ju-han was still with his grandfather.

Wondering how to pass the time, he looked up the articles and netizens’ reactions that had surfaced after today’s broadcast.

“Aish. What is this guy.”

As he scrolled through the articles, a post that irritated him caught his eye.

[Rebuttal to the Rebuttal to the Rebuttal to Attorney Kang Min-jae’s Claims

Written by Jung Min-cheol]

“Is he an attention seeker or what?”

For reference, ‘attention seeker’ means ‘attention-seeking seed’.

Kang Min-jae clicked on the post irritably, uttering the curse he had learned from Cha Ju-han, or rather, the curse Cha Ju-han had used on him.

There was nothing particularly insightful about the content.

Ultimately, Kang Min-jae had failed to prove anything about the hour he spent inside the reservoir, and he had only avoided answering while claiming the eyewitness’s words were lies.

“Then how can I prove it if there’s no evidence? Can he do it?”

If he had known he would be framed like this, he would have spoken to the fishermen sitting around every time he took a step and created eyewitnesses.

But he hadn’t anticipated this at the time, so what could he do since there was no evidence?

Did he think he was winning by insisting he couldn’t prove what he couldn’t prove, making him appear illogical?

“Is there anything I can use as evidence?”

At this point, it was only natural that he wanted to trample on Jung Min-cheol, who was launching a full-scale attack against him.

No matter how much he pondered, there was nothing he could use as evidence, but he decided to re-examine the Hwagun Reservoir map in case he had missed something.

[Hwagun Reservoir]

When he entered the search term, numerous related search terms for Hwagun Reservoir appeared.

When he first searched, there were only keywords related to fishing, but at some point, those keywords disappeared and were replaced only with Lee Jung-chan and the murder case.

“Hmm?”

As he was about to click on the map, Kang Min-jae’s eyes were drawn to related articles.

All the articles about Hwagun Reservoir were only about Lee Jung-chan, so this was the first time an unrelated article had appeared.

He clicked on the article almost instinctively.

[Hwagun Reservoir Pollution ‘Severe’ Due to Upstream Development

Hwagun Reservoir is losing its water storage capacity and is being polluted. In addition, as a new city development is being promoted in the upstream area, sediment flowing in has accumulated in some parts of the reservoir…….

Hwagun Reservoir is famous for crucian carp fishing. Fishermen who visited Hwagun Reservoir said, “It’s been strangely difficult to catch fish these days,” and nearby residents said that Hwagun Reservoir is losing its freshwater capacity……]

“Hwagun Reservoir had this kind of issue.”

Kang Min-jae, who was about to dismiss it as irrelevant, suddenly focused on the photo at the bottom of the article.

“…… Huh?”

He jumped up.

Then he hurriedly put on his coat.

Even though he was wearing casual clothes for home, there was no time to change into going-out clothes.

He hurriedly left the room, ran to the kitchen, grabbed a few ziplock bags, and stuffed them into his pocket.

Then, as he ran towards the garage, he called Sang-gil.

-Ugh, what’s going on…….

Sang-gil, whose voice was hoarse, seemed to have answered the phone while still half-asleep.

But Kang Min-jae didn’t care and shouted.

“Sang-gil, where are you now?!”

-I’m at home…….

“Then meet me at Hwagun Reservoir in an hour!”

-……Yes? Suddenly?

“Quickly. You can leave right now.”

-Ugh, I was sleeping. If it’s not urgent, let’s do it tomorrow, tomorrow.”

“No. Now! We have to do it now!”

-Ha…….

“You don’t even need to wash up. I just came out with my coat on. Come quickly. Can you be there within an hour? It’s night now.”

Kang Min-jae hung up without even waiting for an answer.

“Where are you going in such a hurry at this late hour?”

At that moment, Cha Ju-han, who had just emerged from the study, asked.

Kang Min-jae, who seemed unstoppable, froze in his tracks.

“Ah? Lawyer, you’re out? How was the baduk game, did you win?”

“I lost. But where are you going?”

“To the reservoir.”

“Hwagun?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“There’s something I need to check.”

Kang Min-jae, finishing the conversation at an unprecedented pace, disappeared beyond the garage door.

Shortly after, the sound of a car starting could be heard, followed by a loud, booming noise.

“……Why is he like that?”

Chief Kang, who had stepped outside for a moment because of the commotion, asked.

But how would he know?

Cha Ju-han simply shrugged instead of answering.