Chapter 11
It's our police, after all.
The detectives of Team 3 returned to the office.
Sergeant Kim Seok-ho and Officer Han Geon-woo were sitting in front of a monitor, comparing the scars of the victim from the elementary school teacher murder case with the weapon photos of Kim Gab-du, just as Ju-won had suggested.
“They really do look similar…”
Officer Han Geon-woo looked at Ju-won with a surprised expression.
“The detectives back then couldn’t even find the weapon. How did you know?”
Ju-won, sitting nearby, replied.
“Ah, I found it by chance while going through the case analysis files.”
“Wow, you’re really amazing.”
Ju-won smiled and waved his hand at Officer Han Geon-woo’s compliment.
Then, Terra’s annoying voice followed.
[No need to get all puffed up. Officer Han Geon-woo was complimenting me, not you, since he doesn’t know about my existence.]
What a consistent guy.
I knew he’d say something like that.
‘I know, I know.’
At that moment, Team Leader Gu Jin-gu, who had gone to make a call to the Gangnam Police Station, returned to the office.
He had called to ask if Kim Gab-du’s weapon was still stored at the Gangnam Police Station.
But Team Leader Gu’s expression was dark.
“It seems like it’s already been disposed of. It’s been too long.”
The weapon that might have been used to kill the elementary school teacher was now gone.
All that remained were the photos stored in the system.
Sergeant Kim Seok-ho spoke up.
“We won’t be able to find direct evidence, then.”
“Sigh… Still, we should look into other things too.”
“But given the current situation, it’s just speculation, isn’t it?”
Sergeant Kim Seok-ho turned his head toward Ju-won.
“You missed the injection marks because you dismissed the possibility of drug use, focusing only on type 1 diabetes.”
Ju-won nodded.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Then he looked at Sergeant Kim Seok-ho.
“Are you going to oppose this again…?”
“No, that’s not it.”
“Huh?”
“We should check it out. After all, we’ve found a clue after 15 years.”
Although he said that, Sergeant Kim Seok-ho still didn’t seem convinced.
At that moment, Officer Han Geon-woo, who had returned to his seat and was typing, spoke up.
“Kim Gab-du served time for assault and robbery, and after that, he committed several other assault cases. He went in and out of prison a few times and was released a year ago.”
Team Leader Gu Jin-gu turned his head.
“Address?”
“10-8 Maju-dong, Gangjung City.”
Hearing Officer Han’s words, Ju-won stood up and said,
“I’ll go with Officer Han to see Kim Gab-du.”
“Is that so?”
Team Leader Gu nodded and looked at Sergeant Kim Seok-ho.
“Then we’ll visit the family of the elementary school teacher murder victim. Let’s see if there were any drug-related circumstances before the victim’s death.”
"I'll check if there were any circumstances related to drugs at the scene."
"Detective Kim, what's been going on with you lately?"
Inside the car heading to the home of the victims' families, the elementary school teacher victims.
Team Leader Gu Jin-gu, who was driving, turned his head towards Detective Kim Seok-ho in the passenger seat.
"No matter how much you dislike this situation, you should still separate personal feelings from work."
Detective Kim Seok-ho had disliked Joo-won ever since he first joined the team.
The reason was that Joo-won was a fresh-faced rookie from the police academy.
Having dropped out of high school due to family circumstances and worked various part-time jobs before barely becoming a police officer, Kim viewed Joo-won as a greenhouse flower.
Of course, he didn’t know that Joo-won was from an orphanage.
No, he didn’t want to know.
From the very first case, Joo-won focused more on "solving" the case rather than just "closing" it.
For Kim Seok-ho, who wanted to retire peacefully as a police officer, Joo-won was just a noisy obstacle in his path.
'It’s all just youthful enthusiasm.'
Detective Kim Seok-ho had risen through the ranks faster than his peers, from patrol officer to sergeant, and then to detective.
He found police work enjoyable.
He had his own sense of justice, and there was a thrill in catching the bad guys.
But perhaps he had been too immersed in police work.
Detective Kim had once stood up to a superior who wanted to close a case hastily, and after that, he was pushed out of the team.
It was bitter.
What is justice to someone who just wants to live as a police officer?
So, after that, he focused more on closing cases rather than solving them, just like the team leader he had once defied.
"......"
"I heard your mother hasn’t been doing well lately. The hospital bills must be tough, and it’s been hard on you, right?"
To Kim Seok-ho, his mother was his only family.
At the mention of his mother, Kim Seok-ho looked at Team Leader Gu.
"The attending doctor is one of the top professors in the country. He’s even published papers in the U.S... Sigh. But even with such a renowned professor treating her, it’s still tough. Team Leader."
A police officer’s salary isn’t much.
Most of that salary goes toward his mother’s hospital bills.
On top of that, there’s the interest from existing loans.
"So, nothing can go wrong. If I get a pay cut or a demotion..."
"......"
"That’s why I find this situation troubling."
At Kim Seok-ho’s words, Team Leader Gu fell silent.
He didn’t speak for a while.
Then,
"But what can we do? We’re the police."
Team Leader Gu, who had stopped the car at a red light, looked at Kim Seok-ho.
"We have to bring closure to the victims, to their families. Especially in this case, the victims' families have been living in hell for 15 years. A hopeless hell with no one to blame."
"......"
"My wife says she won’t let it slide if I come home stabbed. But even if I end up in a situation where I might get stabbed, if it’s part of my job, I’ll do it. It’s not that I don’t understand my wife’s worries. I do, but we’re still the police."
At that moment.
A secluded house near the reservoir.
A quiet place with a small house and an unkempt garage next to it.
There, Officer Han Geon-woo and Juwon approached.
"Is he home?"
"I don't know. I think I hear something like voices... Shh!"
Suddenly, Juwon grabbed Officer Han's arm and crouched down.
There was a sound coming from the garage.
"Anyway, idiots."
It was the voice of a middle-aged man.
A man carrying a large sports bag walked out of the garage.
"Kim Gab-doo...?"
Officer Han whispered softly, and Juwon nodded.
The man carrying a bag full of something was indeed Kim Gab-doo.
Thud.
Kim Gab-doo placed the phone he was holding in his other hand on top of a drawer in the garage.
A news video was playing from there.
<...Due to the significant attention from the media, public interest in the unsolved murder case of an elementary school teacher is heating up. The case occurred 15 years ago, and whether the current police can make up for the failure of 15 years ago...>
Kim Gab-doo, who was listening to the news, burst into loud laughter.
"Unsolved, unsolved, what a joke. It's not like they're bragging about being stupid."
Kim Gab-doo's house is near a deserted reservoir.
Thinking there was no one around, Kim Gab-doo laughed and shouted.
"Anyway, there's a reason why our country's cops are called pigs! Hahaha!"
As if boasting about his crime, his tone showed no remorse at all.
After laughing alone for a while, Kim Gab-doo roughly opened the shopping bag he had brought.
"Well, how are they going to catch me? There's no evidence."
Then he reached into the shopping bag and pulled something out.
It looked quite large.
The distance and darkness made it hard to see.
Just as Han Geon-woo was furrowing his brows, Juwon caught a glimpse of something red inside.
'Terra, nice.'
Something that looked thicker and sharper than a pickaxe.
[It matches the weapon used by Kim Gab-doo in the case files.]
'Are you sure?'
It looked quite different from the weapon in the photos, perhaps because so much time had passed.
[I'm sure.]
Juwon looked at Officer Han Geon-woo.
"That's it. The weapon Kim Gab-doo was carrying, similar to the wounds on the victim of the elementary school teacher murder case."
"Huh? Can you see it?"
"Yeah, it seems a bit deformed over time, but it's the same."
"Lieutenant, he's pulling something else out now..."
Kim Gab-doo, who had placed the weapon on the ground, reached into the bag again and pulled out something else.
This time, it was yellow.
'What's that yellow thing?'
[It's an item that needs to be identified.]
Juwon furrowed his brow.
"Notebook?"
It was a notebook that looked old.
Terra's voice echoed.
[It appears to be the notebook of the victim from the elementary school teacher murder case. The design is similar to the photos of the victim's belongings. However, it is an item that needs to be verified.]
‘The elementary school teacher victim?’
So, does that mean this notebook was taken from the victim of the elementary school teacher murder case after killing them?
But why?
It's just a notebook, not the actual murder weapon.
[It is presumed to contain evidence linking the victim and Kim Gab-doo to drugs or something similar.]
At that moment, Kim Gab-doo muttered to himself.
“Ha, why did you take the goods and not pay?”
Clicking his tongue, he threw the notebook next to the pickaxe.
“If only I had paid back then, those damn cops wouldn’t be making such a fuss now. What a pity. Tsk.”
Spitting out incomprehensible garbage, Kim Gab-doo dragged over a drum from the corner.
Then, he took out a match from his pocket, lit it, and threw it into the drum.
There must have been wood inside the drum, as the fire started to blaze shortly after he lit it.
“It’s going to burn soon… What should we do, Inspector?”
“What do you mean, what should we do? We have to catch him.”
Juwon abruptly stood up.
“What should you do when you see a criminal trying to destroy evidence, Officer Han?”
Although they didn’t have a warrant to search Kim Gab-doo’s house, there was one thing they could do.
Officer Han Geon-woo stood up.
“We need to make an emergency arrest.”
Nodding, Juwon walked around the wall and headed toward the garage.
“Mr. Kim Gab-doo!”
Kim Gab-doo, who had been watching the blazing drum, turned his head in surprise.
“Who…?”
But his face twisted when he saw the handcuffs in Juwon’s hand.
“F***, the police?”
“Yes, from the Gangjung Police Station.”
“Gangjung Station? Why? What did I do wrong? I just got out of prison not long ago after serving my time, man.”
Juwon glanced at the pickaxe on the ground.
“That pickaxe, you made it yourself, right? And the notebook… you stole it from the elementary school teacher victim.”
Kim Gab-doo’s eyes trembled.
Realizing that Juwon knew something, he pulled out an industrial cutter from his pocket.
Swipe—
The sharp cutter blade rose.
Terra’s voice was heard.
[Juwon, this is different from the last time with Go Sang-yeop. If that weapon touches the carotid artery, it could be fatal.]
‘So? Should I use my gun?’
[Yes. For safety, you should use it. Don’t be stubborn like last time…]
Bang!
The gunshot cut off Terra’s words.
“I know how to make that distinction.”
Because Juwon was already holding a gun and aiming it at Kim Gab-du.
Of course, at the sound of the blank shot, Kim Gab-du, who had been slowly approaching with a cutter knife, also stopped in his tracks.
“Are you… going to shoot?”
But his surprised expression lasted only a moment, as he grinned and began moving the cutter knife back and forth.
“I’ve eaten prison meals more than five times. That means I’ve seen plenty of cops carrying handcuffs around, just like prison meals. But I’ve never seen one who actually shoots, you fake cop.”
Kim Gab-du was confident that Juwon would never pull the trigger.
But as he looked at him, Juwon also raised the corner of his mouth.
“Oh? Then today will be your first time.”
“You little…”
As Juwon slowly approached, aiming the gun, Kim Gab-du gripped the knife even tighter.
[Kim Gab-du, holding the weapon, tightened his grip. It seems he is about to swing it. Be careful.]
A quiet tension hung in the air.
By now, Juwon and Kim Gab-du were quite close.
But suddenly, Juwon raised the gun toward the sky.
And then.
Bang!
He fired the last blank shot into the air.
But at that moment.
“You fake cop!”
Kim Gab-du, who had been waiting for the moment the gun was no longer aimed at him, raised his cutter knife high and lunged at Juwon.
But with a *zap* sound,
“…Aaargh!!”
Kim Gab-du trembled as if electrocuted and collapsed.
Thud!
At the same time, Juwon rushed over to the fallen Kim Gab-du and kicked the weapon out of his hand.
“Wow… Inspector.”
Officer Han Geon-woo appeared from behind Kim Gab-du.
While Juwon had distracted Kim Gab-du, Officer Han had approached from behind and shot him with a taser.
As Officer Han let out a tense breath, Juwon climbed onto Kim Gab-du’s back.
“How was it? First time seeing a cop who shoots? Well, it was a taser, but still.”
Click.
With that, handcuffs were slapped onto Kim Gab-du’s wrists.
“Next time we meet, let me know how your sixth prison meal tastes.”
