Chapter 17
There’s a saying that the criminal always returns to the scene. There are several reasons why a criminal might return to the scene. [They might have left in a hurry and come back to check if they dropped anything, or perhaps…]
‘Perhaps?’
[They might have a desire to show off and see how much attention their crime has garnered. In this case, it seems to be the former.]
“Are you saying this guy did it?”
The words that were meant to stay in his mind slipped out of his mouth.
At Juwon’s words, the young man in the windbreaker widened his eyes.
“N-no, it’s not me! I don’t know anything!”
On the rooftop of the officetel where the victim, Young Soyeon, lived.
The man in the windbreaker, crouching in the corner, shook his head desperately.
Juwon stood in front of him, looking down.
“Do you even know what I’m talking about?”
Juwon bent his knees to meet the man’s gaze.
“You know who I am, right?”
“Y-yes… I saw you on YouTube. The detective who solved cold cases…”
“There are two types of people who get nervous around cops. Those who’ve done something bad, or those who’ve seen something bad but didn’t do anything about it.”
“I, I…”
[This time, it’s likely the latter. His trembling pupils and irregular breathing at the sight of the police. He doesn’t seem like the bold type to plan and execute a crime.]
‘But what if it was a spontaneous crime?’
[It’s possible, but the probability seems low.]
Juwon nodded.
Of course, it was a response to Terra’s words.
But the man, misunderstanding, thought it was directed at him and shut his mouth.
With the most pitiful expression he could muster, the man looked at Juwon, who then asked,
“Name?”
“…Huh?”
“What’s your name?”
The man’s eyes trembled even more than before.
Then, he slowly lowered his head.
At the same time, Terra’s voice was heard.
[Pay attention to the man’s actions. He’s lowering his head to steady his breathing and swallowing. These are actions of someone preparing to flee. If there’s no backup waiting below, we might lose him…]
At that moment,
Thud! Tap-tap!
As Terra predicted, the man suddenly jumped up and started running.
Well, he *started* running, but he didn’t get far.
Just as the man took two steps,
Whoosh—
Juwon, still crouched, stuck his foot between the man’s legs as he ran toward the rooftop door.
And so, the man,
Thud!
“Agh!”
Fell flat on his face.
“Ugh… that hurts…”
A wallet fell beside the fallen man.
Juwon stood up and picked up the wallet. Opening it, he found the man’s ID.
“Name: Goo Youngseok, born in 2002.”
Soon after, Terra’s voice chimed in.
[He’s related to the illegal filming distribution case at Korea University. He was part of the group chat where the perpetrator distributed illegal footage. He’s also a student in the same department as the victim and the perpetrator.]
“A Korea University student?”
“Tsk…”
The man bit his lip, and Juwon smiled.
Now he had a reason to take this guy to the police station.
Juwon dropped the wallet with a thud.
“Let’s go for a witness interview.”
“This is illegal! Illegal detention!!”
A short while later, at Gangjung Police Station’s interrogation room.
The door to the interrogation room, where Goo Young-seok and Joo-won were facing each other, opened, and Detective Kim Seok-ho entered.
"Young kid, shouting at the police about illegal detention? Korean university students really are something else, huh?" Detective Kim Seok-ho, who had received a text from Joo-won earlier and been briefed on the situation, sat down next to Joo-won.
Then, Joo-won spoke up.
"Mr. Goo Young-seok, this is a witness interview. After all, you are related to the victim, Ms. Young So-yeon."
"But is it really okay to force me into a witness interview like this?!"
Goo Young-seok slammed the table in front of him with both hands.
"I'm going to sue you. I'm preparing for law school. I've already studied enough legal provisions to know as much as you do. If you underestimate me just because I'm a student..."
But then.
**Bang!**
Detective Kim Seok-ho's fist slammed down on the table.
It was clearly a one-handed strike, but the sound echoed through the interrogation room, several times louder than when Goo Young-seok had slammed it.
"You little punk, do you think the police station is a playground?!"
Detective Kim Seok-ho's sharp eyes were quite menacing.
And those menacing eyes grew even more terrifying as they narrowed further.
Goo Young-seok flinched and leaned back. Detective Kim Seok-ho leaned forward.
"A person died. A friend from your same school and department! She fell from a high place and died. And what?! You're going to sue the police investigating this?!"
Goo Young-seok, with fear in his eyes, pointed at Detective Kim Seok-ho.
"Y-you're coercing me during the investigation... I'll sue you too..."
"Investigation? We haven't even started the investigation yet! Are you deaf? I just said it's a witness interview!"
Then, Terra's voice chimed in.
[It seems like a good cop, bad cop strategy. A slightly modified version, though.]
The bad cop aggressively pressures the suspect, while the good cop gives the suspect room to breathe and encourages them to talk.
[Mr. Joo-won, your role seems to be the good cop. Please ask questions in as gentle a voice as possible.]
Joo-won spoke up in a soft voice.
"As I mentioned earlier, this is a witness interview. You can refuse if you don't want to participate."
Goo Young-seok's gaze quickly shifted to Joo-won.
"Then I refuse..."
"However, refusing will make you a suspect."
"W-what...?"
"It's common for witnesses to become suspects during an investigation. You're preparing for law school, right?"
"......"
"Just answer a few questions, and we can keep this simple. Do you really want to be suspected of killing Ms. Young So-yeon for no reason?"
Goo Young-seok's wavering eyes widened.
"W-what do I need to answer?"
He took the bait.
"Why did you return to the scene?"
Goo Young-seok, who had been biting his lips, answered.
"...I had been to So-yeon's place before. I think I lost a bracelet there, so I went back to look for it. But I thought if I went during the investigation, it might look like I was involved in her death..."
"Why did you think it would make you look involved?"
"Because I was in that group chat too! I was investigated because of it! Damn it, I was just in that group chat, I didn't do anything! Seriously, my personal information got leaked at school because of that chat, and it's been embarrassing to even show my face. Why are you coming after me again...?"
Goo Young-seok muttered curses under his breath.
At the same time, Terra spoke.
[Goo Young-seok's words appear to be true.]
'What, does it have a lie detection function too?'
[When humans lie, they mostly exhibit similar traits. This is something you studied at the police academy, Mr. Joo-won. However, in Goo Young-seok's case, his behavior indicates he is telling the truth.]
So, Goo Young-seok is only related to the illegal filming distribution case, not the death of Young So-yeon.
As Joo-won rolled his eyes, Terra suddenly started speaking.
[Current external temperature: 35 degrees. Estimated indoor temperature: 28 degrees.]
'Huh?'
[For someone unfamiliar with interrogation rooms, their heart would race, and their sympathetic nervous system would activate, raising their body temperature. Sweat is also forming on Goo Young-seok's face and around his neck.]
Joo-won furrowed his brows.
‘But?’
[He absolutely refuses to take off his clothes.]
‘Clothes?’
[That windbreaker with the torn mark on the doorknob, I mean.]
Joo-won observed Goo Young-seok closely.
As Terra said, it was really strange.
Both Joo-won and Detective Kim Seok-ho were wearing short sleeves.
Yet Goo Young-seok, wearing a windbreaker without even rolling up his sleeves, must be feeling hot, but he isn’t taking any action.
‘Is there something in that windbreaker?’
[How about using the same tactic as with Go Sang-yeop this time?]
‘Go Sang-yeop… Ah, the tactic of deliberately provoking him by taking him to the restroom where the evidence is and then waiting?]
[Yes, that’s correct. I think this level of provocation would be enough for Goo Young-seok.]
‘Then the windbreaker….’
[A piece of the same windbreaker is stuck in the stairwell of the victim’s house. Use that.]
‘Okay, so what we need to do now is create something that can prove that the windbreaker related to the case is Goo Young-seok’s.’
[Yes, do you have any good ideas…?]
At that moment, Joo-won looked at Goo Young-seok.
“Mr. Goo Young-seok. Is it okay if we record this?”
“R-record?”
“It’s just a formality for the witness investigation. You just need to repeat what you said earlier. Well, you can refuse if you want, but as I mentioned before, it might raise suspicions….”
“G-go ahead. Record!”
With that, Joo-won turned on the camera for recording.
Shortly after, Goo Young-seok muttered a curse and left the interrogation room.
Joo-won and Detective Kim Seok-ho watched his retreating figure.
“Please take care of it, Detective.”
“Yes.”
Joo-won and Detective Kim Seok-ho also left the interrogation room.
However, the two went in different directions.
Joo-won headed towards the car, while Detective Kim Seok-ho went in the direction where Goo Young-seok had disappeared.
Vroom.
Joo-won headed back to the officetel, the address of the victim, Young So-yeon.
-Ding dong! 12th floor. The door is opening.
The elevator of the officetel opened, and Joo-won stepped out.
In Joo-won’s hand was a bag he had brought from the police station.
“Found it.”
Joo-won headed to the doorknob of the stairwell.
A piece of fabric stuck there.
“How did you even notice this small thing?”
[I didn’t see it. It was through the information that came in through your vision, Joo-won. I compared the left and right sides. Since there are two lakes placed symmetrically on both sides and the incident only happened on one side, I thought there might be something unusual where something was found.]
Joo-won took out a spray bottle from the bag. It contained luminol.
Luminol is a compound used for detecting bloodstains. If a fluorescent reaction appears when luminol is sprayed, it is evidence of bloodstains.
Sss! Sss!
“As expected.”
A blue light began to appear around the doorknob and on the piece of fabric stuck in it.
But as Joo-won’s brow furrowed, Terra spoke.
[It’s not a spatter pattern. I thought it would be a spatter pattern. My prediction was wrong.]
Spatter pattern.
A common bloodstain pattern at crime scenes, where blood splatters in a specific direction when a wound is inflicted.
But the shape of the glowing color isn’t a spatter pattern.
Joo-won said.
“It looks like wiped bloodstains….”
[I agree. It’s likely wiped bloodstains or a similar form of transferred bloodstains.]
Wiped or transferred bloodstains refer to bloodstains that have been altered by an object coming into contact with them and moving, or bloodstains created when an object with blood on it comes into contact with something else and moves, transferring the blood.
“So, could he have met Goo Young-seok after the victim was already harmed?”
[Yes, or there’s a possibility that he transported the body.]
