You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 609

“What did you just say?”

“Let me rephrase. NP, saved in the phones of Oh Jun-hong and Lim Hyun-il, is the code name used by the secretarial team to refer to Chairman Go Sang-jun. The reason they saved Kim Soo-chan as NP in their phones is presumed to be because Kim Soo-chan is like Chairman Go Sang-jun’s right-hand man. Kim Soo-chan is currently deeply remorseful for conspiring to traffic organs by selling Chairman Go Sang-jun’s name, and he admits to all charges.”

The lawyer smoothly manipulated his words.

Heo Min-woo almost chuckled involuntarily.

He was clearly listening to Korean, and even after hearing it twice, he was still unsure if he had heard correctly.

“Are you claiming that the NP saved in Oh Jun-hong and Lim Hyun-il’s phones is Kim Soo-chan, not Go Sang-jun?”

Heo Min-woo asked again, dumbfounded.

The lawyer calmly replied.

“Yes, that’s correct. Kim Soo-chan approached Oh Jun-hong and Lim Hyun-il using his position as a close aide to Go Sang-jun. He deceived them, making it seem as if Chairman Go Sang-jun knew everything and would support them fully. To entice Oh Jun-hong and Lim Hyun-il, he brought up the code name to make it sound more realistic. Therefore, Oh Jun-hong and Lim Hyun-il also saved Kim Soo-chan as that code name for convenience.”

The lawyer had very precise pronunciation and good vocalization, like an announcer.

That made him even more annoyed.

Because these absurd stories, which he had been refusing to understand until now, were actually sinking into his ears.

Heo Min-woo was momentarily speechless and clicked his pen.

“Then how do you explain the dividends from the paper company paid to Oh Jun-hong and Lim Hyun-il? Did Kim Soo-chan send those too? Does that mean that the paper company RND is also owned by Kim Soo-chan?”

Kim Soo-chan took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Then the lawyer answered in a heavy voice.

“You could say that.”

“What’s with that ambiguous answer?”

“…It’s not solely owned by Kim Soo-chan. It’s a paper company established together with Gong Won-ho, who came to be investigated with him today. We will submit the related documents later.”

So, Kim Soo-chan and Gong Won-ho decided to take the fall for not only organ trafficking but also RND.

Of course, it would be strange to admit only organ trafficking and not acknowledge ownership of RND.

The approximately two hours it took for them to call and confess after the broadcast revealing the code name yesterday seemed to be the time Kim Soo-chan and Gong Won-ho needed to prepare themselves.

Taking the blame for organ trafficking, not just simple economic crimes, is not something you can do with ordinary resolve.

“This is the burner phone Kim Soo-chan used to communicate with Lim Hyun-il and Oh Jun-hong.”

The lawyer placed an old cell phone on the table.

“We will submit it together. The password is 0311.”

If they were willing to take the blame for all sorts of heinous crimes, they should do their best to reduce their sentences now.

Confession and voluntary submission of evidence.

What an inspiring repentance.

“I understand.”

Heo Min-woo put the burner phone in a box and placed his hands on the laptop keyboard.

*Even if it’s nonsense, what can he do?*

He has to write the statement.

Every time he writes down such nonsense, he wonders what he’s doing.

“Kim Soo-chan is sincerely repenting for his wrongdoings. When he was first arrested at the scene, he was too flustered and exercised his right to remain silent, but after hearing the criticism from the media and the public, he realized how great a crime he had committed and decided to confess with Gong Won-ho.”

While Heo Min-woo was looking at the laptop screen, the lawyer added.

“Say that in court.”

He has to show a lot of remorse from the investigation so that it reaches the ears of reporters and later the judge.

“Let’s take a break.”

Heo Min-woo checked his watch and got up from his seat.

As soon as he came out of the investigation room, he checked the articles on his phone.

[Wooshin Chairman Go Sang-jun’s Secretary, “I Ordered Organ Trafficking”]

[“Not Go Sang-jun and Go Yoon-soo’s Doing, Sorry to Both” Confession of the Secretarial Team Leader]

[Wooshin Welfare Foundation Never Lied… Real Culprits of Organ Trafficking are Secretaries]

[Go Sang-jun and Go Yoon-soo Betrayed by Subordinates]

Articles poured out around 10 a.m.

It wasn’t because reporters broke the embargo.

It was because Kim Soo-chan and Gong Won-ho summoned reporters in front of the police station.

After confessing by phone, they must have immediately contacted the reporters when they were told to come for investigation tomorrow.

*’I’m going to confess tomorrow, so come and film it and put it on the front page,’* they must have said.

In fact, the show they put on in front of the police station in the morning was laughable.

Standing in front of the reporters who gathered like a swarm of bees with haggard faces, they put their hands together and repeated only these four words like parrots: ‘I sincerely repent,’ ‘I apologize,’ ‘I will faithfully cooperate with the investigation,’ ‘I am sorry to the chairman and president who suffered hardship in my place.’

[Top 5 Representative Cases Where Jealousy Towards Chaebols Escalated into Rash Suspicion]

[Is the Chaebol Head Always at Fault? Distorted Interest in Suspecting First]

[Public’s Rash Labeling… What is Chairman Go Sang-jun’s State of Mind?]

[Stop Fitting Suspicions Now, Celebrities Suffering from Rumors]

[Which Celebrities Ended Their Lives in the 2000s Suffering from Rumors?]

The operation was very successful.

As soon as the article came out that the real culprits were not Go Sang-jun and Go Yoon-soo but the secretaries they treated like their right-hand men, all sorts of supportive articles appeared.

They even went so far as to compare Go Sang-jun with celebrities who suffered from rumors and ended their lives, so what more needs to be said?

People who said that Go Sang-jun and Go Yoon-soo were the culprits based on numerous pieces of evidence became people who believed in baseless rumors.

Those who criticized them were treated as ugly masses who wanted to see successful people fall.

Even though no evidence to support Kim Soo-chan and Gong Won-ho’s claims was released to the public.

“I’m going crazy.”

Of course, he doesn’t think this is the real voice of the people.

It’s probably the result of Wooshin’s money spread to the media and the *열심히 날뛴 알바* [hard-working part-timers] hired to create public opinion.

Nevertheless, seeing this makes him feel drained.

“Detective Heo.”

Hyun Byung-joo, who had been standing with his arms crossed for hours behind the magic mirror in the investigation room, monitoring the investigation, grabbed him.

“Chief.”

He was so busy checking his phone as soon as he came out that he didn’t even know Hyun Byung-joo was nearby.

“Come see me for a moment.”

Heo Min-woo followed Hyun Byung-joo to his office.

The investigation was not over yet, but through the conversations so far, their strategy had been roughly grasped.

“I think you looked up the articles as soon as you came out. Am I right?”

Hyun Byung-joo asked.

“…Yes, that’s right. I thought I should check public opinion.”

“Don’t worry about public opinion. Push ahead with the facts we’ve gathered.”

“Chief.”

“You’re going to have a hard time from now on. As you know, Gong Won-ho said the same thing as Kim Soo-chan. They must have coordinated their stories before coming in. And in the text messages confirmed on Lim Hyun-il and Oh Jun-hong’s burner phones, they didn’t call the chairman and president NP and BB1. They mostly talked on the phone. They submitted it because they had nothing to hide. Those two must have been Go Sang-jun and Go Yoon-soo’s nominees. There must be a lot of accounts and paper companies under those two’s names.”

“Yes. They must have prepared and worked on it from the beginning in preparation for this situation.”

“They probably did. But they never thought this day would really come. So there must be a gap. Those two are acting like they’re admitting everything and will be punished, so they’ll give us all the data we request. Well, they might occasionally say they lost it. You have to find the gap in the data those guys give you. That’s all.”

Kim Soo-chan’s title is the head of the secretarial team, but his rank is managing director.

The head of a large corporation’s secretarial team is often described as a key figure.

Because they are always close to the head of the company, they know the head’s intentions better than their children.

The head’s instructions are always passed down through the head of the secretarial team, and the words passed to the head always go through the head of the secretarial team.

Therefore, they know the overall situation of the affiliates like the back of their hand, and their calculations are supercomputer-level.

If such people have decided to take on all of this terrible crime, they must have planned for a long time and made thorough preparations.

It’s the same with overseas accounts and paper companies.

In many cases, investigations are abandoned because it is not easy to receive cooperation from the country concerned.

Therefore, it is highly likely that the evidence that the police can obtain will not be enough to prove that Go Sang-jun and Go Yoon-soo are the masterminds of these numerous crimes, surpassing the confessed Kim Soo-chan and Gong Won-ho.

“We were originally meant to be criticized. It was rather unusual to be praised for quickly setting up the organ trafficking investigation headquarters, for sending special forces to arrest everyone, and for clearly identifying the suspects in the briefing. But it felt good to be praised for the first time in a while, right? Let’s use this as a driving force to dig somehow. If we dig and dig again, we can find a gap. It’s already a good environment just not receiving pressure while investigating this kind of case.”

Hyun Byung-joo patted Heo Min-woo’s shoulder with his palm.

“That’s right.”

“The key figures have taken on this heinous crime, so how much have they been compensated? If you dig hard into the accounts, you might find things they received in exchange for confessing.”

“Yes, I will do my best to find them.”

“Don’t look at comments. Do you think that represents the opinions of all the people? Unless everyone is using their resident registration number instead of an ID, how can you be sure? A few guys might be creating hundreds of IDs and launching a quantity offensive.”

“Yes, that point……. I know.”

“Okay. So Detective Heo, believe only the facts you have directly grasped and go out.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Then go now. Eat this and go into the investigation room. Got it?”

Hyun Byung-joo handed Heo Min-woo a black plastic bag that was on one side of the desk.

When he opened the plastic bag, there were two rolls of *kimbap* [Korean seaweed rice rolls] wrapped in aluminum foil.

“I bought it to eat, but I’m giving it to you. Don’t tell the other kids. They’ll get upset.”

“Thank you for the meal.”

“It’s not that Detective Heo is the prettiest that I’m giving it to you. It’s because Detective Heo seems to be the one who skips the most meals. Don’t get the wrong idea.”

“I won’t get the wrong idea.”

Heo Min-woo answered with a smile.

Then Hyun Byung-joo checked the time and pushed him on the back, telling him to leave quickly.

Heo Min-woo bowed and left the room.

He took the elevator to the roof.

He looked around every corner of the roof to see if anyone had come first.

After confirming that no one was there, he took out his cell phone.

Then he found Cha Joo-han’s phone number in his recent call history.

─This is Cha Joo-han.

Cha Joo-han answered the phone right away.

Yesterday, he had only left the words that Kim Soo-chan and Gong Won-ho had confessed at the restaurant and disappeared, and articles had poured out this morning, so he must have been waiting for the call.

“Lawyer.”

─Yes.

“You should slowly prepare to install the wiretapping.”

At Heo Min-woo’s words, Cha Joo-han’s small laughter was heard.

─I guess so. It seems……. the time has come.