You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 373

You Guys Are Defended

Lies.

That means he’s directly involved with drugs.

A drug test will definitely come back positive, and even if he insists he never carried cocaine, the police won’t see him as innocent.

In fact, framing him as a transporter is easy.

“You mustn’t lie.”

I stared straight at Park Jin-sung.

Park Jin-sung asked, looking flustered.

“Why do you think I’m lying? I, I really haven’t touched drugs…”

[Lies]

“It will be confirmed when the drug test results come out anyway.”

Park Jin-sung isn’t bald, and he has hair on his arms that are visible below his short-sleeved shirt.

They’ve already taken his urine and hair for testing, so I don’t want to argue about an obvious result.

“The test will come back negative.”

Park Jin-sung said in a small voice.

The word [Truth] floated above his head.

He did drugs, but he’s sure it will come back negative?

“You did it when you were in college in the United States.”

“Ha… Yes. Not cocaine, just weed…”

“Weed, you mean marijuana?”

“…Yes. It was a long time ago. Too much time has passed to test positive.”

[Truth]

Park Jin-sung lowered his head and answered as if he had given up.

I don’t care if he smoked marijuana or did cocaine in the past.

What matters is whether the drug test comes back negative or positive.

It was years ago when he was in college, so marijuana won’t be detected.

He seemed to be hiding it because he was worried about the statute of limitations, but that doesn’t matter either.

I’m his lawyer, and there’s no reason for a lawyer to deliberately drive him into a corner.

Back then, marijuana was illegal in the United States too, but it was so common that I think it’s understandable he might have tried it out of curiosity during his lonely student life.

Of course, that doesn’t mean it was a good thing to do.

“You haven’t touched it at all since then.”

“Not at all.”

“Then that’s fine. And… judging from the lack of news reports, it doesn’t seem like an investigation took place before we arrived.”

“Yes, my father told me to wait for the lawyer to arrive before being investigated…”

“According to public information, CCTV [closed-circuit television] footage shows Park Jin-sung’s car parked in the studio parking lot, and him taking out 50 kilograms of cocaine from inside… What do you think about this?”

“That’s absolutely impossible.”

[Truth]

Seeing the truth judgment, I feel relieved that Park Jin-sung definitely didn’t carry drugs.

Coming here, I considered the possibility that Park Jin-sung was really involved in drug transportation.

Of course, I thought it was more likely that Woo-shin was framing him, but if Park Jin-sung really did it, I had no intention of defending him.

Wouldn’t that mean I would lose the support of Park Young-ki?

Whether Park Young-ki abandons me, or as Park Young-ki himself said, he takes off his clothes [resigns from his position].

“Why do you think it’s impossible?”

“On the day the CCTV was taken, July 2nd, I had an accident and my car was in the repair shop. The front bumper was broken. How could my car be out there carrying drugs?”

He had an accident and it went to the repair shop?

This could be huge evidence.

If we can get the repair shop receipt, we can prove that the car that carried the drugs to Park Jin-sung’s studio wasn’t Park Jin-sung’s.

Then we have grounds to push the idea that someone is framing him.

“Then do you have an alibi? The police will push that the man in the CCTV with the hat and mask is Park Jin-sung because he has a similar build.”

“I was drunk and sleeping at home then. My whole family saw it. My younger sibling put me to bed in my room.”

If he was drunk and sleeping at home, there would be CCTV footage of him entering the apartment where Park Young-ki lives.

The alibi claimed by the family is unlikely to be accepted, but CCTV is an objective medium.

It’s enough evidence, but on the other hand, I wonder if this will solve it.

Would Woo-shin let it go so easily?

Isn’t there something else lurking?

“Since you had an accident, I assume you filed an insurance claim?”

At Kang Min-jae’s question, Park Jin-sung shook his head and bit his lip.

“I didn’t file an insurance claim. The other party was a taxi driver, and he said his no-accident record would be broken, so he asked me not to file an insurance claim and just pay him.”

“Oh, that’s okay. You still have the repair shop receipt, right?”

“Yes, I have that. The taxi driver said he knew a repair shop and told me to go there and get a receipt. But I was arrested before I could give him the receipt.”

Park Jin-sung picked at his fingers and smiled bitterly.

“Can you just tell me what you did that day?”

“Ah, yes. There’s not much to it. I had an accident that day and left my car at the repair shop. Then I got a call from a client saying a new person in charge had arrived, so I met the client, drank a lot, and went home. And the next day, I picked up the car from the repair shop. The only thing is they said they didn’t take cards and asked for cash, so I paid in cash. It would have been more solid evidence if I had paid by card. Anyway, since I had the receipt, I went to the studio without thinking much about it. And that’s when I was arrested.”

Since it’s certain that it went into the repair shop, the vehicle used in the crime must have been a car of the same model as Park Jin-sung’s with the same license plate swapped.

Suddenly, I was reminded of the meter reader who changed the license plates of his Damas [a small van] to erase his traces, and I felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

Anyway, if we tell the police what we’ve learned so far during the police investigation, the police will compare it with the CCTV evidence they have and check it.

But the problem arises when what the police saw and what we know are completely different.

“The police wouldn’t have arrested Park Jin-sung without any investigation. For example, the mysterious man might have hidden the cocaine in Park Jin-sung’s studio and then driven home in that car. That’s why they assumed it was Park Jin-sung.”

“Then the scene of the mysterious man and the car leaving would have been filmed too. I drank a lot that day and didn’t come out until the next day, so there would be two scenes of me coming out.”

Park Jin-sung said as if he couldn’t understand.

“It’s simple. He entered with the same license plate and the same car as Park Jin-sung, dressed similarly, and when he came out, he changed the license plate and changed his clothes to a completely different style, so it wouldn’t look like Park Jin-sung was leaving.”

“Ha… They would go that far?”

To frame him.

Just as Woo-shin used all sorts of dirty tricks to make me the murderer of Lee Jung-chan, he’s moving to frame Park Young-ki, so this time won’t be any different.

I have a strange feeling.

There are many clues to prove Park Jin-sung’s innocence: the repair shop receipt, the taxi driver, the CCTV of him going home drunk.

But why do I keep feeling like I’m in a poverty amidst plenty [feeling anxious despite having many resources]?

I hope it’s just my imagination.

“Since there’s the repair shop receipt, the accident with the taxi driver, and the drinking with the client, there should be enough of an alibi for that day.”

“You said you drank a lot with the new person in charge at the bar, so that will be evidence too. There’s the person in charge, and the bar staff or owner. Don’t worry too much.”

Kang Min-jae reassured Park Jin-sung, who looked anxious.

“Don’t be intimidated when you’re being investigated, and speak confidently.”

“It will be a bit of a tedious pattern. Saying the same thing over and over again. Right now, you’re at the Gangnam Police Station, but Park Jin-sung is likely to be classified as a drug dealer, so you may be transferred to the National Police Agency and investigated by the drug investigation unit.”

“…The National Police Agency?”

“It depends on what comes out from above. Recently, the Gangnam Police Station has been increasing the number of personnel in drug investigations, so they may try not to lose you to the National Police Agency. There are several possibilities, so it’s good to keep them in mind.”

“Yes…”

“Don’t be too scared. We’ll do everything we can to clear your name!”

Kang Min-jae raised his voice tone even more and reassured Park Jin-sung.

He seemed a little more stable than when I first saw him.

“Then I’ll see you at the investigation later.”

After coming out of the interview room and resting for a while, we got coffee from outside and smoked cigarettes.

“This case seems like it will be easy to solve, right?”

“That’s what’s bothering me. It’s like there are too many holes for it to be something Woo-shin did to harm Chief Prosecutor.”

“What if the purpose was just to scare him?”

“That would be nice, but if the case is solved this easily, Chief Prosecutor won’t have to take off his clothes [resign], and Woo-shin would worry that it would backfire.”

“That’s true.”

“Scaring him wasn’t the purpose. I think they really intended to make Chief Prosecutor take off his clothes [resign], but the problem is there’s too much evidence that’s favorable to Park Jin-sung. That part is suspicious and makes me uneasy.”

“Hmm…”

That’s when it happened.

A familiar voice came from behind.

“Lawyer Cha!”

Turning around, there was a detective standing there.

“We meet again.”

It was Heo Min-woo.

I had temporarily forgotten that he was at the Gangnam Police Station.

That doesn’t mean I can’t come here, but I was trying not to get involved with him in any way.

“You two are Park Jin-sung’s lawyers, right? It’s been a while, Lawyer Kang.”

“Ah… I’m so sorry, but have we met before?”

“Oh, I’m a little disappointed. We met in the same place before. When Lawyer Cha was falsely accused.”

“Ah… Ah! Detective Heo… Heo Min-woo?”

“That’s right, haha.”

Kang Min-jae nodded as if he remembered, but I became uncomfortable with this situation.

I crumpled the coffee cup I was drinking and threw it in the trash can, and put out my cigarette.

Heo Min-woo, who was watching the scene, suddenly said.

“I’m in charge of Park Jin-sung’s case. I was out on business earlier, so you must have talked to another officer.”

Heo Min-woo is in charge of Park Jin-sung?

I almost touched my forehead without realizing it.

If he’s in charge of Park Jin-sung, I’ll inevitably have to keep running into Heo Min-woo.

Okay, it’s fine as long as it ends with running into him.

What reason would there be to get involved with the detective in charge?

The detective in charge investigates, and my client is investigated.

That’s all.

Once it’s sent to the prosecutor’s office, the only time I’ll face the police is at trial when he’s indicted.

“Let’s go in. We should start the investigation soon.”