Chapter 106
Chapter 106
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Back to the Crime Scene
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Creak.
The door to the Ilsan West Police Station conference room swung open.
Everyone in the room started to rise at the sight of the two team leaders entering.
"Ah, no need. Stay seated."
Oh Cheol-jin waved his hand dismissively, motioning for them to sit back down.
Their gazes turned to one side.
A pristine white whiteboard.
In front of it stood a detective holding a long, slender pointer.
"Is everyone here?"
"Yes, sir."
"Alright, let's start the briefing."
Oh Min-seok, the team leader of the Violent Crimes Unit, and his team members.
Along with the team leader and members of Team 4 from Hanseong Police Substation, all gathered together.
Murder cases were typically handled exclusively by the Violent Crimes Unit, but this time, they had requested assistance from the substation.
They had been at the scene together, and the murder had occurred in Hanseong Police Substation's jurisdiction.
As eyes focused, the detective with the pointer tapped two photos.
"From what we've uncovered so far... the victims were having an affair with each other."
It was information Lee Jae-hyun already knew.
Photos of a middle-aged man and woman.
The victims murdered on the mountain.
"A revenge killing due to the affair?"
"It's a possibility, but nothing confirmed yet. For now, we need to round up suspects whose paths crossed with each victim and verify alibis."
"I see."
Oh Cheol-jin nodded at the briefing detective's words.
It could be revenge, or it might not.
Nothing was clear yet.
All they knew was the victims' identities and that the two had been cheating together.
'...I'm the only one who knows it's a serial killing.'
Lee Jae-hyun bit his lip as he watched the meeting.
He knew this wasn't just a simple murder.
But...
He couldn't explain what he knew to them.
No evidence.
Even if he called it a serial killing, they wouldn't believe him.
Serial killer...
It wasn't a term police could throw around lightly.
As Lee Jae-hyun thought that, Serhen's voice echoed in his mind.
—Humans are so frustrating. Forced to hide even what they know.
'......'
—So, what are you going to do now?
'I'll... have to keep thinking about it.'
Answering Serhen's question like that, Lee Jae-hyun refocused on the meeting.
Eventually, an opportunity to reveal what he knew would come during the investigation.
The key in this case was that Lee Jae-hyun couldn't share his information.
More precisely, he had to ensure the situation never arose where he could.
The info he had was only about the fourth and fifth cases.
He could only speak up after a new victim appeared.
The best outcome? Catch the killer before then, so he never had to reveal it.
"For now, we should split up. We'll take the female victim. How about Team 4 from Hanseong handles the male victim?"
Oh Min-seok asked Oh Cheol-jin politely.
Technically, Oh Min-seok outranked the substation team leader Oh Cheol-jin as a station detective...
But their ranks were the same, and Oh Cheol-jin was older, so respect was due.
Plus, he was once Inspector Park Dae-hyung's superior and former colleague—no orders from Oh Min-seok.
Oh Cheol-jin acknowledged the courtesy and nodded readily.
"Sure. We'll take the man."
With the team leaders in agreement, it was time to move.
As Lee Jae-hyun prepared to go, Oh Cheol-jin glanced at him and Park Dae-hyung before continuing.
"Dae-hyung, take Jae-hyun and go meet the victim's family."
"Yes, got it."
Park Dae-hyung rose with a curt reply at Oh Cheol-jin's instruction.
Lee Jae-hyun followed suit, standing and stepping forward.
In an affair case, the most likely suspects were the victim's family.
Meeting the bereaved was essentially suspect interrogation.
Leaving the office with Park Dae-hyung, Lee Jae-hyun glanced back at the detectives exiting the conference room.
"Where to?"
"Hospital. That's where they'll all be now."
Lee Jae-hyun nodded at Park Dae-hyung's words.
Walking beside him, he clenched and unclenched his fist repeatedly.
All the pondering had his hand feeling stiff.
'...If I'd known, I should've dug deeper in my past life.'
What Lee Jae-hyun knew about this case was only public knowledge.
Not his jurisdiction, so he hadn't delved deep.
Thus, his info was scant.
Serial killings, and who the victims were.
That was it.
Maybe that's why.
Straining to recall more made his head throb.
'The biggest issue... is this might all be pointless.'
Lee Jae-hyun remembered his past life.
The serial killings went unsolved, drawing no massive attention.
But he knew key details.
One: All prime suspects had solid alibis.
It screamed grudge murder, yet suspects had ironclad alibis—chaos ensued.
No evidence found, it became a cold case.
"Jae-hyun."
"...Yes!"
Lee Jae-hyun snapped to at Park Dae-hyung calling him.
"What're you thinking so hard about?"
"Just... complicated."
"Fair enough. But don't show it in front of the family. Ever."
"Yes, I'll keep that in mind."
Lee Jae-hyun nodded at the advice.
He knew.
A wavering cop before the bereaved?
As pathetic as it gets.
Lee Jae-hyun pulled himself together...
And so, with Park Dae-hyung, he headed to the hospital holding the deceased man's body.
To meet the wife and kids.
To check the prime suspects' alibis.
Lee Jae-hyun took heavy steps.
* * *
By the time Lee Jae-hyun and Park Dae-hyung arrived at the morgue, it was already a sea of tears.
Kids wailing before their father's corpse.
Park Dae-hyung approached the weary wife nearby and began talking.
"How was your relationship with your husband usually?"
"Neither good nor bad."
Like any ordinary couple.
No, lately they barely acknowledged each other, she added.
"What did he do for work? When the kids went to school..."
Park Dae-hyung posed his cool questions.
Her responses seemed precarious somehow.
"So he left me for that woman. Sob."
Answering, she finally broke into tears.
The truth of her husband's affair.
And now, suspected as a killer while her husband lay murdered—she was being questioned.
The two facts crushed her psyche.
Naturally, neither questioner nor subject felt at ease.
She hadn't even had time to grieve.
Park Dae-hyung offered his handkerchief to the crying woman.
"Here, wipe with this."
"...Thank you."
Taking it, she wept for a long time.
Watching, Lee Jae-hyun turned to Serhen.
—Hm? Need something?
She stared blankly back.
Seeing her indifferent expression, Lee Jae-hyun sighed.
Her reaction suggested the wife's alibi would check out.
Serhen, who fed on dark energy, wouldn't react like that to prey.
If the wife were guilty, it'd be 'Feed me that' or 'Looks tasty.'
She could read crimes—Evil Karma—accurately.
"Inspector Park."
Lee Jae-hyun approached Park Dae-hyung.
His face was stiff as he comforted the wife.
Nod.
Park Dae-hyung met his eyes and nodded slightly.
No need to stay longer.
* * *
"This the place?"
"Yeah."
Lee Jae-hyun checked the smartphone address against the building and nodded at Park Dae-hyung's question.
The day after the body was found, he and Park Dae-hyung tracked down the wife's workplace.
The job she left for to earn money while sending kids to school.
'Nice gig.'
A fairly renowned plastic surgery clinic in Seoul.
She was a nurse there.
"Police. Cooperate for the investigation, please."
"P-Police?"
"Yes. We'd like to check the CCTV."
Park Dae-hyung told the staff.
His usual calm demeanor, but maybe his massive build and rough face?
The staffer trembled.
Seeing her fear, Lee Jae-hyun smiled reassuringly.
"No big deal, don't worry. Can we see the CCTV?"
"I-I'll ask the director."
She replied and hurried inside.
In the end, Lee Jae-hyun got to see the footage.
The director just said to keep it quiet—no scene here.
Lee Jae-hyun stood with Park Dae-hyung before the CCTV.
"Around here, right?"
"Yeah. Start from here."
They checked footage from the crime time.
There she was, moving around the clinic.
Chatting with another nurse on screen, Lee Jae-hyun let out a hum.
Wife's alibi confirmed.
She was innocent.
Just a poor widow who lost her cheating husband.
"Whew... Frustrating. Something's gotta turn up on their side."
Park Dae-hyung muttered, looking thoroughly annoyed.
Lee Jae-hyun inwardly clicked his tongue watching.
'Won't find anything there either. Alibis will hold.'
If evidence here, no serial killings.
They'd have caught the killer early.
But in his past life, the killer roamed free, victims piled up.
Not a cold case for nothing.
'Guess that's the only way.'
Scratching his head as they left the clinic with Park Dae-hyung.
Then.
Bzzz.
Park Dae-hyung's smartphone vibrated.
Lee Jae-hyun's eyes flicked to it at the sound.
"Yes, Team Leader. Got your call."
From Oh Cheol-jin.
Park Dae-hyung's face darkened as he listened.
"Yes... I see. Same here. Alibis confirmed, nothing suspicious."
Hearing Park Dae-hyung report to the team leader, Lee Jae-hyun gave a bitter smile.
Still...
He'd hoped.
Maybe find what they missed last time.
He wanted no more murders.
But the only change? Finding the victim's smartphone faster.
No game-changer.
When no answers appeared, Lee Jae-hyun recalled a famous saying.
—When stuck, go back to the beginning.
Here, the 'beginning' was the crime scene.
Lee Jae-hyun glanced at Serhen in the air.
Then clenched his fist tight and spoke to Park Dae-hyung.
"Inspector Park."
"Yeah?"
"Can we check the scene again?"
The scene always holds the answers.