A Suspicious Informant
Team Leader Na Sangdo questioned the two people I had brought in.
"The man must be Yang Chimok. And the woman?"
"She was with him at the scene. I brought her in because she looks like an accomplice."
Team Leader Na turned to the woman.
"Are you his accomplice?"
"Not accomplice. Amy."
"...What?"
"Amy. My name is Amy."
The self-proclaimed Amy was still lying through her teeth even after being dragged to the police station.
"Your registered address is Wabong-ri, Singil-myeon, Bonghwa-gun, North Gyeongsang Province. You've never even set foot outside the country, have you?"
"Why are you digging into my personal info without my permission?"
"I'm not digging into your info, I'm investigating a con artist. We have CCTV footage from the cafe owner showing you conspiring with this guy to pull off a scam. You two were caught red-handed."
"..."
Confronted with the evidence, the woman shut her mouth.
"Introduce yourself properly. Before I pin you as the mastermind."
"Tsk. Park Bongja. Thirty. That bastard did all the scamming. All I did was drink tea and say 'Glad to meet you.'"
The "bastard" in question flared up and shouted.
"Hey, Park Bongja!"
"What? Did I say anything wrong? You did do everything."
Yang Chimok pleaded with an expression of ultimate grievance.
"Officers, please. I merely met a respected gentleman through an acquaintance and engaged in a constructive conversation."
"Cut the crap, you con artist. Nothing but lies every time you open your mouth. You claimed you didn't have a single cent, yet you crawled into a street stall and stuffed your face just fine, didn't you?"
What upset Park Bongja the most was that Yang Chimok had lied to her as well.
Team Leader Jang from the Dongnae Police Station in Busan didn't have the patience to listen to their petty bickering.
"Are you planning to investigate his Paju scam as a separate case? As I mentioned to Team Leader Na earlier, our chief wants to see him today without fail."
He meant he wanted to take him back to Busan right away.
As the one who had personally caught them, I answered.
"I spoke with the victim who was almost scammed, and he has no intention of pressing charges. He said he doesn't want any public fuss over this."
It seemed he thought it would bring shame upon his family if word got out that he had been fooled by a con artist.
"That's a shame. It would have influenced the sentencing."
"Please take a seat for a moment. We'll wrap up the report quickly and hand them over. Team Leader?"
"Yeah, got it. You two, over here."
We had to leave a record that Seongam Police Station made the arrest.
Team Leader Na sat Yang Chimok and Park Bongja in front of his desk.
"Let's start with the guy. Name?"
"..."
"You want to do this the hard way?"
"Yang Chimok."
"Date of birth?"
Team Leader Na's typing speed picked up significantly.
To speed things up, I took charge of the hunt, while Team Leader Na handled the paperwork back at the office.
Since the entire team couldn't focus solely on this, Inspector Choi Doyeong and Sergeant Park Inhyeok were handling the local incidents within our jurisdiction.
"I'll head out now. Good work, everyone."
"Yeah, good job. See you tomorrow."
My work for today was done.
Now it was time to check the reward.
I said goodbye to Team Leader Na and headed out, but...
"Oh? Salute!"
The Chief and the Detective Division Chief were standing side by side at the entrance, looking our way.
How long had they been standing there?
Chief Lee Chungki bypassed me completely, even though I was right in front of him, and called out to Team Leader Na Sangdo, who was engrossed in writing the report.
"Team Leader Na."
"Oh, huh? Ah, yes, Chief! Salute!"
"Come to my office when you're not busy."
"I-I'll head up right away."
The Chief didn't even spare me a glance.
His cold attitude made me highly uncomfortable.
Is this how you treat the man who saved your life?
What kind of nagging was he going to subject Team Leader Na to now?
"Detective Min. I'm going to the Chief's office."
"What about the report?"
"You write it."
He was leaving the dressing of the game to the hunter?
I understood that he couldn't delay a summons from the Chief, who had just returned after a long absence, but it was annoying that I couldn't rest when I was exhausted.
What was even more unpleasant was not knowing what kind of stubborn fit the Chief was going to throw this time.
Chief Lee Chungki sat across from Detective Division Chief Han Tae-gyeong and Violent Crimes Team 1 Leader Na Sangdo, speaking in a calm voice.
"Two things have caught my eye and bothered me."
What the Chief found bothersome was the state of Violent Crimes Team 1, which he had observed immediately upon his return.
"First, the fact that you are ignoring local jurisdiction matters to chase publicly wanted fugitives with a slim chance of arrest."
Having arrested eight people in ten days, calling the chances "slim" was hardly accurate.
But talking back to a superior or interrupting them was unthinkable for a police officer.
The two men remained as silent as clams, busily scribbling in their notebooks.
"Second, the fact that Corporal Min is operating alone without a partner."
Who was the one who had repeatedly rejected their requests for reinforcements, telling them to wait until the Police University graduation?
Team Leader Na had plenty to say about that too, but he grit his teeth and held his tongue.
"I believe we've had a similar conversation before, Team Leader Na."
"Yes, sir."
"Is this your first time hearing this?"
"What do you mean, sir?"
"Didn't I tell you to assign someone to Detective Min because he seemed unstable?"
Team Leader Na thought the Chief was overreacting.
What kind of grudge did he hold against Detective Min?
No matter how favorably he tried to view it, it looked like nothing more than nitpicking.
With the Chief constantly treating the ace of Violent Crimes Team 1 like a troublemaker, Team Leader Na felt his temper rising.
"I remember. You were worried about Detective Min's violent tendencies. But right now, I feel like even showering him with praise wouldn't be enough."
"Why? Because the results are good?"
"A police officer's job is to catch criminals. What else do they need to do?"
"I heard the late Inspector Son Daesan was also ranked number one in arrests."
"..."
Damn it, that story again.
Son Daesan was like an Achilles' heel to Na Sangdo.
"With all due respect, I honestly have no idea why you are acting this way, Chief."
"No idea at all?"
"Yes. I don't understand."
The Detective Division Chief reached under the table and tapped Na's thigh.
It was a signal to calm down.
But Team Leader Na had no intention of backing down today.
Why on earth was the Chief looking at Detective Min through tinted glasses?
"Come closer."
The Chief leaned forward and lowered his voice.
"What I am about to tell you must never leak out. It is Class 1 classified information."
"..."
The reason he had been transferred to Seongam Police Station from the powerful National Police Agency's Information Division finally spilled from his lips.
The Team Leader, who had gone up to the Chief's office, did not return even after thirty minutes.
"Sign here, and you can take them."
I couldn't keep the officers from Dongnae Police Station waiting forever, so I had them sign the completed paperwork and handed over the con artists.
It wouldn't be too late to report to the Team Leader afterward.
"Oh? Detective Min, you're still here?"
A moment later, the two senior detectives who had been out on field duty returned.
"You're back? Good work."
"Why haven't you left yet? It's past clock-out time."
"I was waiting to see the Team Leader before leaving."
"Where did the Team Leader go?"
"The Chief called him. I thought he'd be back quickly, but the meeting is running long."
"Do you have something to tell him?"
"I wanted to report that I handed over the wanted fugitives. Though he already knows about the case."
"Oh! You caught another one today? You're scooping up wanted fugitives like fish in Cheonggyecheon, when they're supposed to be harder to find than wild ginseng. Seriously, you're amazing. We haven't even seen a shadow of a suspect in ten days..."
Weariness was written all over Sergeant Park Inhyeok's face.
I wanted to help, but the suspect hadn't even been identified yet, and I still had twelve wanted fugitives left to catch.
"I've just been a bit lucky."
"Luck is a skill too. Catch as many as you can while you're young. When you get older, your intuition fades. There are plenty of detectives who visit shamans just to find out which direction to look."
"Are you talking about me?"
Inspector Choi Doyeong, who had been listening, flared up and shouted.
"I wasn't targeting you specifically, Inspector Choi. I'm just saying that even capable detectives find it tough as they age."
Having graduated from the Police University at a late age, Choi Doyeong had rarely had a year with good arrest records.
The same went for Sergeant Park, who worked as his junior partner.
When Inspector Son was alive, they had often shared in the credit, but now...
"Detective Min, you probably haven't even eaten yet. Just go home. I'll pass the message to the Team Leader for you."
"Would that be alright?"
"Of course. Go get some rest. You're the only hope of our team. Don't forget that the Team Leader's promotion rests on your shoulders."
"Yes, sir."
It seemed Team Leader Na had told the other team members about my promise to sweep the wanted list and help him get promoted.
I told him to keep it to himself...
"I'll be off then. I have to head down to Chungcheong Province tomorrow."
"Right, you're working hard. Go get some good rest."
Time remaining until the mission deadline: 20 days.
So far, things were progressing relatively smoothly.
But it was too early to let my guard down.
There was no telling when or where a variable might pop up.
Who would have guessed I'd suddenly be dispatched to the Sancheon Police Outpost back when I was tackling Level 1?
That was why I planned to finish the mission as quickly as possible.
Leaving a buffer of a day or two.
I finished preparing to leave and was walking down the office corridor when...
"Um, Detective Min. Just a moment."
Patrol Officer Song Hana of the Support Team stopped me as I was leaving, holding a telephone receiver.
"Yes. Yes. Understood. I will pass it along."
Hanging up the phone, Song Hana spoke to me.
"That was an informant just now. They said they can't come to the station due to some difficult circumstances, but they can wait at the nearby Central Park."
"You can just pass that to a patrol car or the duty detective."
"Well, they specifically singled you out, Detective Min."
"They only want to report to me?"
"Yes. They said they can't reveal their identity either, and told me to let you know to come out if you're interested. Ominous, isn't it?"
Who could it be?
A request to meet in secret and report only to me was highly likely to be a trap.
What kind of gutsy bastard would set a trap for a detective?
"I'll go. Where in Central Park did they say to meet?"
"They mentioned the bench next to the memorial tower... but are you really going?"
"They singled me out, after all."
"True, but it's just so suspicious."
"If it's suspicious, I'll just arrest them. If it's nothing, I'll head straight home from there. See you tomorrow."
If I caught someone, I'd get a reward, so it was a win for me.
Without a moment's hesitation, I drove the Commando toward Central Park, where the informant was waiting.
Just to be safe, I slipped my collapsed baton into my sleeve. Wearing a heavy winter coat, it wasn't noticeable at all.
"Did she say the bench next to the memorial tower?"
As one of the few recreational spaces in the city center, Central Park was brightly lit by streetlamps.
It was far too bright for bad guys to pull anything.
Perhaps because it was still early for a night stroll?
"There aren't many people around."
Aside from a few men occupying the benches, the park was excessively quiet.
Just as I was looking at a towering stone structure and wondering if that was the memorial tower, a man sitting on a bench beneath it spoke to me.
"Detective Min Suho?"
"Yes, I'm Min Suho."
The moment I answered, the men sitting on the surrounding benches turned their heads in unison.
Only then did I realize.
Why the park was so empty.
"You're smaller than I thought."
The man spoke casually right off the bat.
It didn't seem like he had called me here to report anything.
Rounded, hunched shoulders and highly developed trapezius muscles.
It didn't look like a body built in a gym...
Thick knuckles. Boxing, perhaps?
If my opponent was trained in boxing, it would be to my advantage to keep my distance.
Just out of reach of a jab.
What about kicks?
Thick, solid thighs.
He might be able to take a hit, but he didn't look particularly agile.
Just looking at his build gave me a rough estimate of his combat capability.
He was definitely not someone to be taken lightly.
"You've got no manners for a first meeting. The host should identify himself first."
"Ho, you've got guts, just as they say."
"You're not lacking in guts either, are you? Daring to set up an active detective. Who are you?"
"Cha Donbaek. Ever heard of me?"
"..."
The boss of the Shark Gang, most of whose members had ended up behind bars because of me.
He had come looking for me the moment he was released.
"Are you here for revenge?"
"I'm not a mob boss anymore. I've washed my hands of it completely."
"Then why did you call me?"
"I have something to report. I'd rather die than walk into a police station. I just called to test if you'd actually show up, and look at that, you did."
If he had come to report something rather than seek revenge, I had no justification to arrest him.
"There goes my reward. How annoying."
"Reward?"
"Never mind. Spit it out. What are you reporting to me?"
"All the money in my bank account has vanished. I need to pay severance to the guys who are left and send commissary money to the family members in prison, but it's all been cleaned out. Not a single cent left."
"You probably got hacked. I'll give you the number for the Cyber Crime Investigation Team..."
"I already tried that. They said they don't know either. The bank says they've never seen anything like this before."
"What do you mean?"
"The money is just gone. It evaporated like steam without leaving a single withdrawal record. Cleanly."
"..."
Why do I feel like I know exactly where that money went?
...No, it couldn't be.
...Surely not.
...Could it be that?