"Someone on the inside… are they deliberately allowing us to lead the case this way? Why?"
"Do you remember the last time I handled the press briefing before the Prosecution?"
At Hansol's question, Team Leader Woo-jin answered after a thought.
"Ah, that time! Could the Prosecution have held a grudge?"
"Let's just assume it that way. Prosecution Seo was assigned to the case, and I heard that the head of the Prosecution Office was upset with our Chief. Could the Chief of Prosecution get in contact with someone? He couldn't harbor resentment onto the police simply for us revealing the truth faster than their office."
"Hmm… so, what Doctor Im is saying in this case… someone on the Prosecution side is intentionally messing with the cases by being in contact with the other side's lawyer? Then. Perhaps the number 12 is a reference point… is the number 12 even right in this case? It sounds more like a countdown as if warning us… right?"
Hansol looked outside the window with an expressionless face and said something that made Woo-jin's body go cold.
"He must be annoyed by the CIF's investigation and identification of suspects. Let's assume there was some sort of communication with the sisters since even the ability to hire a pricey lawyer was involved. Who could it possibly be?"
"… someone should be at least at the deputy chief level or higher… Prosecutor Seo doesn't have that power."
"The Prosecutor's Office gives the police the direction of the investigation. When we were given the order for it, the CIF had a briefing before the Prosecution could, making them look like a joke, contrary to their positions as prosecutors. Since we've hit them over their heads, they got annoyed with our team. Is it correct that it was staged as a conflict between them and police to disband the CIF team eventually?"
"I hear you. Can you light it for me?"
Hansol put the cigarette in Woo-jin's mouth and lit it as he was steering the car.
"Right, then let's talk about the one with the most power… what more is left to know?"
"Looking at the cases we recently investigated… you can see that Prosecutor Kim Soo-hyeon handled both the Woo brothers' and the Kim sisters' cases. The opposition lawyer and the prosecutor are graduates of the same law school with a course in understanding the working of the court1. Attaching them all to the same case without even checking them indicates that one pretends to be the lawyer for one case; think how many unregistered individuals pretend to be attorneys, right?"
"…! I didn't think that far. Since when did Doctor Im notice?"
"When? Hmm.. since the coincidence of Woo brothers' and Kim sisters' cases being connected. I noticed that even though the situation looks different, it looked like someone crafted it the same way."
"Phew… so the conclusion will be when the CIF team is eliminated… then, if we think of it as a countdown, there will be nine more victims, and incidents will continue to occur. The perpetrators of the Woo brothers have been apprehended; however, the case of the Kim sisters will remain unsolved. After this is left unsolved, it will be claimed that they intend to abolish us, blaming the CIF's incompetence in handling the problem."
"… which is why we need to catch things right away. In any way possible."
Team Leader Woo-jin exhaled the smoke with worried eyes. The car was full of smoke, but Hansol didn't care. Instead, he felt the smoke covering his vision make it hazy. In that dreamy air, things he wanted to think about were falling organized into his brain.
"We can catch them. Trust me and follow."
"Right, actually, you're our only hope… Doctor Im is better than any other members of the homicide detectives. You're our profiling genius."
"Thank you for saying that. We will crack the investigation from the beginning to thoroughly recheck things. Since drug overdose was involved in the Kim sisters' case, we should look into drug providers and buyers. Lee Wanjae, Kim Dohwa's lover, is a drug distributor, so he must know it in great detail, right?"
As they reached the stop sign, Woo-jin looked at Hansol. Their ace was quite blunt, but it was surprising how many thoughts were running to that head and being organized and how many steps he was ahead of compared to his team. Despite being ten years older than Hansol, Woo-jin couldn't help but admire their genius profiler, who had a calm expression.
"Let's do that. I am sure we can catch the culprit. First, let's head back."
"I requested Inspector Jung to give me details. So there will be more data on the case."
"Oh, you seem to be getting close with Inspector Jung?"
Team Leader Woo-jin attempted to brighten the mood. But Hansol was deafeningly silent. In fact, Hansol was at a loss for words. Because he couldn't experience love or like for someone due to his lack of emotions. He understands what it's like to possess anything but can't feel love. Regardless of how much he can connect to Inspector Jun, it seemed like he wouldn't be able to feel 'love' for the rest of his life.
"Ahem…. Well, close your eyes and rest for a while, Doctor Im."
"Yes. Thank you."
Arriving at the National Police Agency and going to where the CIF is located, one could hear the sound of printing and papers stacked at great speed.
Materials were piling up on Hansol's desk.
"Doctor, I have uploaded the added material. The NFS also sent the final autopsy results, and I also included them.
"Thank you, Inspector Jung. First, can we use the second conference room for the entire day today?"
"Perhaps the rest of Team Two will be on field duty today, so I don't think we will have trouble using it."
Hansol, who heard that, went into the second conference room with papers almost 30cm high.
Detective Kang Woo-cheol and Shin Dong-jin, who saw Hansol, mumbled.
"… he wants to see them alone?"
"Would you like to do that, senior? I'm hoping he can figure anything out. With that much paperwork, we can't keep our minds straight."
"Right, but… the team is supposed to do this together…."
Detective Shin Dong-jin didn't like Hansol, who wanted to work alone. At that moment, Hansol opened the door to the second conference room and shouted, "Come in when you are done with printing the papers! I will be waiting."
Detective Shin Dong-jin went silent. It felt like he said something in haste.
The printer continuously brought out the papers and was finished after 10 minutes.
The CIF team went to the room. As soon as they sat down, everyone looked at what Hansol drew with surprised eyes.
"Everyone. What do you think of this?"
? (possibility of a person in power who can influence the place by talking to the chief prosecutor) deputy chief> Kim Soo-hyeon> Prosecutor Seo.
Prosecutor Kim soo-hyeon = lawyer Lee Jae-hyeok (classmates from a training institute)? (possibility of being an unregistered lawyer)
After reading it, Detective Kang Woo-cheol spoke first.
"Uh… so… so the Prosecution and Law firm are connected? Did they deliberately put the lawyer who had a connection to the prosecutor into the same case? Someone made this happen on purpose?"
Despite Kang Woo-cheol being speculative, Hansol actively nodded.
"Right. This was done intentionally. Someone was probably in on it the day we made the announcement one hour before the prosecution. Contrary to his position, he must have felt dissatisfied when the scheme was approved by the police and CIF. The harm, the harm inflicted by only one occurrence."
"Hmm… would it have been something like being paid to make the case favorable?"
Inspector Jung Yu-mi asked, but Hansol said the conditions wouldn't be too simple.
"It cannot be that simple. Would they make such a situation for just that?"
Detective Shin Dong-jin, deep in thought, spoke as if he understood it, thinking that the prosecution couldn't be pursuing money, but something more, such as the chief being given the Office of Attorney General. The image of the Prosecutor's Office would be renewed if the Chief of Prosecution was promoted… Although difficulties with police and prosecutions have always existed, if this happened, they would have the ability to regulate the police as well.
Shin Dong-jin spit out what he thought.
"Right. The position of Attorney General. Now that you say it, the term of office is ending."
"Uh… creepy!"
Detective Kang Woo-cheol rubbed his arms at the thought of it. Although their feelings before joining the CIF vanished, Kang Woo-cheol couldn't help but admire Hansol whenever he did something out of the box. What felt unpleasant at the start was now being respected.
"Now, let's think about simple ones. You all understand it till now?"
"Yes, let us proceed. In each scenario, it is assumed that the individual attempting to win is deceiving or cooperating with the prosecution. And the person who can pull this off without a hitch needs to be someone higher up than the deputy chief of prosecution. They are utilizing the legal authority to ensure that the cases remain unresolved."
At the words which came, Shin Dong-jin pointed out.
"That… There is a prosecutor there who deliberately contacts criminals and the lawyer and is intervening in the case! And words cannot be taken for evidence! Haa… does this make sense? Is this for real?"
As he said, the situation was terrible for the CIF, which had no evidence. The one doing it will use and kill people… a person is driven by the conflict of Police and Prosecution and aims to do something for himself.
"Who is the most likely person?"
Hansol asked.
All this pointed to only one person.
The incident with the Woo brothers and Kim sisters would have been strange if it wasn't for the person who created it.
"… the Prosecution."
Woo-jin put a cigarette in his mouth with a confused expression and said it. He didn't smoke in the room but would put it in his mouth when he felt troubled.
Kang Woo-cheol thought if he should speak about it and said, "… the Chief of Prosecution, which might be appointed as Attorney General?"
"The same for me too."
Hansol smiled coldly.
Inspector Jung seeing that smile, said, "… if it was me, it wouldn't be the Chief…Attorney General who will be re-elected…? A situation where the prosecution is made to work for them… and get control of the police too…."
Hansol looked at the team members and said,
"Right, the case isn't simply just related to the prosecution office… This is something the existing prosecutor general is doing or someone at that level. Like the number 12 o'clock, the first was on 1, and the 2nd on 2 o-clock and the 3 on 3 o'clock. And the victim of the case…. The victim of a recent case at CIF."
"… You think Miss Kim Dohwa, who filed the complaint with us and withdrew?"
"Now, finding her whereabouts is our priority!"
Everyone stood up at the words of Hansol, inspector Jung tried calling her, and the others were ready to move.
"Miss Dohwa isn't answering the call! I think we need to move quickly!"
"I will ask for the support of Team Yeo. Let's move."
Everyone headed into the car and went to Kim Dohwa, who lived in Jinjeong-dong, Seoul.
Inspector Jung only wished for one thing.
'… please stay alive.'