Chapter 16 - 3#

Rustle.

The knuckles of Dojin’s fingers, as he flipped through the documents, stood out sharply. He habitually twirled the high-end fountain pen he held between his index and middle fingers, then drew an underline on the paper.

“It’s next to impossible to find new evidence after more than 10 years have passed…” He pressed the nib of the pen firmly against the fiber, as if stamping a period, and sank into thought.

This was a case from quite a long time ago. Over a decade had passed without the culprit being caught.

At the time, the victim had been an Italian translator, a housewife, and at the same time, the wife of a police officer.

Slide. He pulled out and opened an old book translated by Hyejun’s mother, scanning the content with a practiced eye. Even with the same original text, subtle differences in nuance existed depending on the interpreter. The individual’s life and values were softly melted into these printed letters. While there isn’t a barometer for a victim, her writing was too kind to be that of an overkill victim.

The son was probably like his mother. After putting the book back on the shelf, he turned his gaze back to the documents.

If she hadn’t personally made any enemies, it was reasonable to assume she had been victimized due to her husband’s work as a violent crimes detective. In other words, the macro-level direction of the investigation at the time had been correct. Furthermore, as Nam Hyejun had said, a perfect crime does not exist. The only, the problem was.

‘Why look for the cause only outside the police force?’ Was it protecting their own?

Even if they couldn’t participate in the investigation because it was their own family’s case, Nam Hyejun’s father had been in active service at the time. Even if the police didn’t know, the bereaved family surely wouldn’t have been without suspicions. Yet, it was suspicious that no related investigative records remained at all.

Though the motive for the murder was unknown, the fact that the culprit was never caught was proof that the perpetrator was quite meticulous. It meant they could be someone who understood the algorithms and mechanisms of police investigations. It was right to be suspicious.

‘Nam Hyejun, who must have dug into these materials to the very end…’

He must have had the same thoughts. He was too persistent and too smart a cop to let this pass without knowing.

If he wanted to conduct a reinvestigation right now, he could have persuaded Team Leader Yeom, with whom he was close, to start it somehow. The reason he didn’t make it public, and his determination to help with necessary parts after getting promoted himself, must have been rooted in exactly this. He knew better than anyone that it wouldn’t be investigated properly within the rotten-to-the-core police force. Since he couldn’t go around spreading the fact that he suspected his colleagues, it seemed he intended to endure, endure, and endure until he climbed to a high position.

Perhaps that was why he kept going up to the rooftop as if escaping, staring at the sky. He probably saw everyone around him as a suspect.

What was pitiful was that even if he became a Superintendent, a Senior Superintendent, or a Chief Superintendent. No, even if he wore any rank above those, Nam Hyejun would not be able to achieve his goal. Dojin had never seen a group as tightly knit by obsession as the police. Suspecting and investigating the inside of such a group was synonymous with turning his back on the group. The bare-handed Hyejun might have the courage to become a public enemy, but what was truly needed to win was not a brave spirit, will, or justice, but power.

His gaze, having reached that point, naturally landed on the familiar characters at the top of the document.

On the paper, in the space for the requester, it was written as follows:

[Metropolitan Investigation Unit, Superintendent Sa Dojin]

Nam Hyejun’s life still lacked the four seasons. The circulating seasons—flowers blooming in spring, verdant green in summer, and the sky clear and high in autumn—had been erased from his life. Only a cold and barren winter existed. And yet, he wanted to steal for himself that fervor of unrequited love for all the seasons. The heart that had been agonizing and unable to find its way, wondering whether to discard or be discarded before even beginning, had now accepted that fact.

To do that, he had to pull Hyejun out of the hell he was already living in, even without his own addition. Only by having the leeway to look back would he be able to cross the river.

Pressing his pen nib hard over his own name and smudging the ink, he set the fountain pen down and picked up the internal phone handset. After pressing a few buttons, the other party answered immediately.

• Yes, Chief. This is the Investigative Support Team.

“Don’t record this, take notes.”

• Just a moment… Yes, ready.

“I need vast amounts of data. You probably know that Team 1 Inspector Nam Hyejun’s father was a former detective. His name is Nam Seong-cheol. He retired as a Sergeant 11 years ago. First, make a list of the police officers who worked with him. He didn’t move between local stations often and generally worked in one team for a long time, so there shouldn’t be that many. Include even the trivial points of contact where they might have crossed paths once or twice.”

• Understood. And what else?

“From those, filter out the people who held the same rank or higher than Team Leader Nam’s father just before he resigned.”

• Yes, and what else?

“This part is tricky, but secure all the cases handled by those colleagues where Nam’s father also investigated, or was involved in any way—regardless of whether it was as a perpetrator, victim, piece of evidence, or witness.”

• …All of them?

“Yes. All of them. Categorize the cold cases separately. There will be old data that hasn’t been digitized; in those cases, confirm the location where the records are kept. I will use separate manpower for that from there on.”

• I will confirm it. However, until when should I… As you said, since some things aren’t in the DB, it will likely take some time.

Hearing the wary voice of the detective, he scanned the desk calendar with his eyes. He knew full well that one or two days were nowhere near enough to review and secure all the materials while handling other work. However, this was one of the duties of the Investigative Support Team, and he lacked patience. He estimated a date that was as early as possible, even if it seemed impossible, and then added exactly one day of leeway.

“By the morning of the 10th. And keep it quiet that I gave this order.”

• Yes, understood.

Having finished the call, Dojin stood up from his seat. He headed to the Team 1 office as there were a few things to confirm.

The team members’ expressions as they watched him approach were suspicious.

The top seat in Team 1 had been empty frequently of late. Dojin, who had gripped the partition in front of the team leader’s desk, asked the Team 1 members.

“Has the Team Leader run off again?”

Hwang Si-woo, who was awkward and embarrassed, replied in a voice that trailed off.

“……I’m not sure.”

It wasn’t something he could pretend not to know when it was this obvious.

Lately, Hyejun had been busy avoiding Dojin.

If they were forced to cross paths, he would run away, and in other situations, he would escape in the blink of an eye, as if he had pre-calculated the routes Dojin would take.

He was more cunning than most prison escapees. The fact that it was this difficult to run into each other when their offices were this close meant there was an accomplice outside of Team 1.

Nam Hyejun was hated by colleagues of a similar rank, but he wasn’t antisocial. He was a sensible superior, a kind colleague, and overflowing with consideration.

Unless he was treated poorly himself, he never treated others poorly. If someone reached out, he would take their hand, no matter how exhausted he was. He was likely getting help from someone in Team 5 or 6, who could roughly track his movements because they were located close to the Chief’s office. Dojin, having glared in that direction with annoyance, turned his head back to Hwang Si-woo.

“‘Not sure’…… That’s the answer I hate the most. Detective Hwang, you must not have had any guilt while spitting that out.” A furious energy was mixed into his soft tone. Hwang Si-woo, unable to live up to his size, shrunk down.

“Yes, I don’t know. I am truly sorry.”

“Ha, I see. You don’t seem to know yet who you should be loyal to. I will go after the team leader who taught the hierarchy incorrectly, as I always have.”

“Chief……! You can’t!”

Dojin’s eyes glittered coldly, as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Detective Hwang, did you just tell me I can’t?”

“…”

“I retract that.”

“Think a little before you speak.”

“I am sorry.”

“Let’s just wait and see how far Team Leader Nam goes. Get back to work.”

There was irritation in his movements as he turned and walked into his office. In fact, Dojin was the type to hold team leaders responsible for everything and grind them down. Since he didn’t often show such displeasure to a mere subordinate, Hwang Si-woo’s face burned black with embarrassment, realizing he had been firmly marked.

Kim Gang-san, who had been holding his breath, trying to seem like he wasn’t there, helped Hwang Si-woo cool his face by fanning him with his hand as soon as he confirmed Dojin had entered his office. Only after Dojin was out of range did he let out a long sigh he had been holding in. Hwang Si-woo, watching that, steadied his breathing and called Hyejun on the internal phone.

“Team Leader. It’s me. Ah, how long are you going to keep doing this? I’m dying from the pressure from our Chief. Yes… he went in. Come get the materials. Where? You’re helping a grandmother who collects waste paper push her cart? She wants to buy you tteokbokki? What are you doing during working hours! Return to the station immediately!” Hwang Si-woo, who gently ruffled the hair of Kim Gang-san, who was staring with wide eyes, hung up the receiver.