You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 379

“Mr. Jeong Yong-man.”

I approached him and spoke.

Jeong Yong-man seemed to want to get away from me, leaning back in his chair and distorting his face.

Did he really think I was going to hit him?

“Where is Mr. Kim Gi-cheol right now?”

“Why are you asking me about Kim Gi-cheol’s whereabouts?”

Jeong Yong-man squeezed his eyes shut and shouted.

Jeong Yong-man has no idea that Wooshin is involved in this.

So, as far as he knows, Kim Gi-cheol is the only person involved in this.

The two of them definitely made a deal.

Jeong Yong-man’s sudden betrayal of the police and his resignation around the same time as Kim Gi-cheol are both suspicious.

“A deal occurred between the two of you. So, you probably know at least some information.”

“I don’t even know why Wooshin is looking for Kim Gi-cheol! I don’t know anything!”

“It seems like you’re not understanding me, so I’ll ask again.”

“…….”

“Did you make a deal with Kim Gi-cheol?”

“I didn’t!”

[Lie]

I sighed.

I didn’t want to waste time with Jeong Yong-man.

In situations like this, giving a little scare isn’t a bad choice.

I gestured to Tae-shik.

Tae-shik approached Jeong Yong-man and placed his hand on his shoulder.

“I’m telling you, if you tell the truth, we’ll just let you go.”

Seeing him in person, Tae-shik really seemed like a villain.

I wonder if other people felt the same way when they looked at me.

But it was effective.

Jeong Yong-man trembled and looked up at Tae-shik, then squeezed his eyes shut again and shouted.

“I, I made a deal. I made a deal!”

“Did you receive money?”

“Yes, yes, I received money.”

“How much did you receive?”

“2, 200 million. I received 200 million.”

“Kim Gi-cheol gave you 200 million in exchange for keeping your mouth shut to the police?”

“Yes, yes… and as compensation for changing jobs…”

That’s why he didn’t show up for his appointment with Heo Min-woo today.

Because he could just disappear.

Of course, since the other party is the police, even if he changes jobs within Korea, they’ll find him quickly, but in any case, it’s the same as expressing his intention to stop being an informant for the police.

“You don’t know where Kim Gi-cheol is?”

“I heard he was going somewhere overseas. I don’t know if he’s left yet or not, but Kim Gi-cheol has a lot of money…”

If he flew overseas, I won’t be able to see Kim Gi-cheol until he comes back.

According to Heo Min-woo, Kim Gi-cheol seems to be the person who secured the drugs to put in Park Jin-sung’s trunk…

If he hasn’t left yet, I should check with Heo Min-woo to see if he can apply for Kim Gi-cheol to be a key witness and issue a travel ban.

Otherwise, he probably won’t come back to Korea until the case is over.

It’s a difficult task.

If he could bring him in as a key witness, Heo Min-woo would have done so already.

But since he didn’t…

I sighed and looked at Jeong Yong-man.

“Did Kim Gi-cheol mention anyone else?”

“O, other people? What do you mean… Ugh!”

Jeong Yong-man groaned and frowned as Tae-shik’s hand on his shoulder tightened.

I gestured to Tae-shik, and Jeong Yong-man gasped and swallowed hard.

In the first place, Kim Gi-cheol couldn’t have continued to do that if Jeong Yong-man had found out about every little thing while making such incidents.

Until now, Jeong Yong-man had only reported to the police some of Kim Gi-cheol’s numerous misdeeds, things he had witnessed or found suspicious.

Of course, Kim Gi-cheol would know that too.

But in this case, he needed to quietly slip away overseas, and to do so, he felt the need to silence Jeong Yong-man.

It’s surprising that he gave him 200 million for that, but if you think about it as money from Wooshin’s pocket, it’s not strange.

“Haven’t you reported things related to Kim Gi-cheol to the police until now? Are there any names you heard while doing that?”

“H, heard names?”

Jeong Yong-man asked back like that, then lowered his head and pondered.

“I heard the name Park Jin-sung. It was on the news…”

“Park Jin-sung? What did you hear about Park Jin-sung?”

“Kim Gi-cheol told me that a person named Park Jin-sung was trying to smuggle drugs…”

Oh, look at this guy.

It seems like Kim Gi-cheol gave Jeong Yong-man instructions before he left.

Since Jeong Yong-man had been on the side of the police until now, he thought that if he said that, Park Jin-sung’s criminal facts would really be solidified.

It seems like the overall design was to prioritize quietly keeping his mouth shut and changing jobs, but if he was caught, he was told to say that Park Jin-sung was a drug dealer.

“If you don’t tell me the truth, you won’t be able to go home in one piece.”

This time, I decided to threaten him too.

Jeong Yong-man trembled and looked back and forth between Tae-shik and me.

“Did Kim Gi-cheol tell you to say that while giving you 200 million?”

“T, that’s not it…”

[Truth]

Oh.

Kim Gi-cheol didn’t tell Jeong Yong-man to lie while giving him 200 million.

He made it seem like Park Jin-sung’s drug smuggling was a fact, so that if Jeong Yong-man was caught, he would confess that way.

“What else did he say?”

“There’s nothing else, really…”

[Lie]

He’s mixing lies and truths in a subtle way, which is frustrating me.

In situations like this, giving a little scare is also a method.

“Tae-shik, beat him up just enough so he doesn’t die.”

“Yes.”

Tae-shik and the employee found things like wooden sticks inside the greenhouse, dragged them across the floor, and approached Jeong Yong-man.

Jeong Yong-man trembled in fear and tried to escape somehow, but his body, tightly bound with tape, didn’t even think about moving.

“That person called you a lawyer earlier, lawyer! Lawyer, I really didn’t do anything wrong, I just did what Kim Gi-cheol told me to do. Please save me, please…”

“Didn’t I tell you to tell me the truth?”

“This is the truth. So please…”

Now that I see it, Jeong Yong-man seems to be scared of both Kim Gi-cheol and me.

Seeing that Kim Gi-cheol had left Jeong Yong-man alone until now, it seems that he didn’t know who was reporting to the police until recently, and then approached Jeong Yong-man and made a deal.

At that time, he seems to have been very scared that his existence as a spy for Kim Gi-cheol had been discovered.

I’m a stranger to him, but he seems scared because he thinks I’m going to hit him right away.

“Is Kim Gi-cheol going to save Jeong Yong-man? Kim Gi-cheol isn’t here right now, who can guarantee Jeong Yong-man’s safety?”

“…….”

“I’ve been saying the same thing since earlier. If you only tell the truth, you can go home safely.”

Jeong Yong-man seemed to hesitate deeply at my words, then stammered and shouted.

“A, another, is another story okay? Another story, I’ll tell another story.”

“Another story?”

“Yes, I know another guy who distributes drugs! If you go after that person instead of someone like me, you’ll get more! Really!”

At Jeong Yong-man’s words, I raised my hand towards Tae-shik, who was approaching with a wooden stick, and gestured to Jeong Yong-man.

“Tell me.”

“There’s a guy named Kkangchi. He’s a guy who distributes drugs around the Gangnam clubs… Kim Gi-cheol said that if something happens, we can say that Park Jin-sung was caught trying to hand over drugs to Kkangchi. He said he had already talked to Kkangchi… Really, this is really, really true… I overheard this. Really…”

[Truth]

Jeong Yong-man said, crying and sniffling.

Kkangchi?

It’s the first time I’ve heard that name.

And it’s a very gangster-like name.

“Did you say Kkangchi?”

“Yes, yes… I overheard him talking on the phone the day Park Jin-sung’s news broke. Really. He said Kkangchi is currently wanted for drug-related charges. Really, really, please just believe me one time, please! I have nothing more to say. Lawyer, please…”

[Truth]

To summarize Jeong Yong-man’s words, they were planning to make Park Jin-sung a drug dealer and then go with the scenario that he failed to hand over the drugs to a person named Kkangchi.

I didn’t expect this at all.

When you think about it, if the charge is distributing drugs, isn’t it also important who you were trying to distribute them to?

If you say you were trying to hand them over to a person named Kkangchi, who is already wanted for drug-related charges, the credibility increases.

Okay, I used a method I don’t really like, but I got something.

“Okay, Mr. Jeong Yong-man.”

I took a step back from Jeong Yong-man and said.

I couldn’t help it because he kept getting scared when I was close.

“Yes?”

“If you tell me what you’ve said so far in a logical manner, and that Kim Gi-cheol is connected to Kkangchi, I’ll release you right away. Got it?”

“…Yes? Ah, yes.”

If I just used what I had recorded so far, it seemed like it would be considered a false testimony due to coercion, so I decided to record Jeong Yong-man’s calm voice separately.

Jeong Yong-man recorded it well as instructed.

I turned off the recorder with satisfaction.

“Release him.”

I said to Tae-shik.

Since he doesn’t have anything more to say anyway, there’s no need to keep him tied up.

“Tae-shik, take him home.”

“No, no, I’ll go on my own. Just my phone…”

“It’s a long way.”

“Oh, it’s okay. Thank you for the phone. Then I’ll be going…”

As soon as the tape tied to the chair was cut off, Jeong Yong-man started running.

I was going to take him home nicely, but I don’t know how he’s going to go all that way.

“Tae-shik, do you know Kkangchi?”

“I don’t know. I think I’ll have to look him up. But even if we find out where those guys are based, it’s not easy to meet them…”

“Really? Still, try to find him.”

“Yes.”

I went outside the greenhouse and got into Kang Min-jae’s car.

Kang Min-jae got into the driver’s seat and glanced at me.

His gaze was strange, so I frowned and asked, ‘Why?’ and the answer that came back was quite something.

“I received the teachings well again today. Ah, it’s definitely not easy to get information as a lawyer compared to when I was a prosecutor.”

“Don’t learn it.”

“Why?”

“It’s not really a good thing. I’m doing this to get Mr. Park Jin-sung out as soon as possible.”

“You have to get all clients out quickly.”

“The opponent is Wooshin. I feel like I want to get him out even faster.”

“That’s true. I’ll start driving.”

I called Heo Min-woo at the same time as we started driving.

I still don’t want to be involved with him, but the case is important, so what can I do?

-Hello?

“This is Cha Joo-han, Detective Heo Min-woo.”

-Ah, yes. What’s going on…

“Do you know a person named Kkangchi?”

-Kkangchi? I know him. Just that he’s currently wanted. But why Kkangchi?

“It seems like Kim Gi-cheol is connected to Kkangchi. I was wondering if it’s possible to ban Kim Gi-cheol from leaving the country as a key witness if he hasn’t left yet.”

-Ah… To do that, we need evidence. Do you have it?

“I have a recording. A recording of the content that Kkangchi and Kim Gi-cheol are connected.”