Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Incheon Investigation
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Lee Jae-hyun, who had arrived in Incheon, stood under the sunlight just beginning to slant and gazed out over the sea.
As he watched the waves sparkling dazzlingly and drew in a breath, the scent of the ocean wafted strongly toward him.
Lee Jae-hyun let out a long exhale with a "whoosh."
‘Where should I even start poking around?’
He had come to Incheon on a whim.
But now that he was here, he had no idea where to begin or how to approach it.
To retrace the incident Park Chun-beom had committed in this place with absolutely no clues.
It felt like he had become a single ship adrift on the vast ocean beyond the long horizon stretching out before his eyes.
But Lee Jae-hyun's face was not clouded.
‘...Problems don't solve themselves just by standing still. For now, let's move somehow.’
He drew in a sharp breath, tensed his body, and started walking wherever his feet took him.
It was a situation that could be called utterly daunting.
Yet Lee Jae-hyun actually found himself a bit glad for it.
In his previous life, back when he was assigned cases and solved them.
Every day had been a string of such situations.
Of course, criminals aren't courteous.
They always try to hide their crimes, and detectives have to uncover what they've hidden somehow.
Finding evidence and catching criminals was what Lee Jae-hyun had done his whole life, so it was familiar.
Moreover...
‘Whether it's hard to find or easy, the fact that I'll catch him is certain.’
Just like he had put Myeong Jin-han behind bars, Lee Jae-hyun intended to catch Park Chun-beom this time, no exceptions.
He would find proof that the guy was a murderer.
Criminals try hard to hide, but being human, they inevitably make mistakes, and evidence turns up somewhere.
Even in situations that seem to have nothing, clues to the case are surely hidden.
In cases like this old one where he didn't know where to start, going back to the beginning and calmly examining the situation always yielded something.
‘First, let's organize.’
Lee Jae-hyun gazed at the crashing waves and began calmly sorting through his thoughts.
Most of the information he had was from the incident report on Park Chun-beom.
According to the report, Park Chun-beom had the accident here in Incheon.
He was trying to park his car when he hit the guardrail meant to prevent falls, panicked, smashed through it, and plunged into the sea with the vehicle.
Park Sung-beom, Park Chun-beom's brother in the passenger seat, lost his life.
Park Chun-beom barely escaped and survived alone.
It was late at night in a deserted area, so there were no witnesses.
The first reporter was Park Chun-beom himself, and according to the paramedics' testimony, a call came in with a gasping voice, and they dispatched immediately.
They responded as quickly as possible and found Park Chun-beom clinging to the breakwater after falling into the sea. The paramedics rescued him first, then tried to save Park Sung-beom, but he was already dead.
The impact of falling into the sea and the saltwater had ruined the black box, so it couldn't be checked.
"Perfect."
He didn't fully understand the situation, but based on the report alone, there weren't many reasons to suspect Park Chun-beom.
It was a bit odd that Park Chun-beom was the beneficiary of Park Sung-beom's insurance, but.
The reason Park Chun-beom faced no suspicion was that the policy had been paid for over a year...
And most decisively, Park Chun-beom's death benefit was set to go to Park Sung-beom as well.
The policies were taken out on the same date, and according to Park Chun-beom's statement, they had said that whichever one had the accident, the survivor should live well, so they took out mutual policies—no one suspected a thing.
If Serhen hadn't said anything, even Lee Jae-hyun might have doubted his own instincts at least once.
But regardless, his own gut feeling aside, Serhen had said Park Chun-beom was a murderer.
So this report couldn't be fully trusted.
It was written based on Park Chun-beom and the paramedics' testimonies rather than the evidence at the time.
Even if Park Chun-beom lied, they couldn't perfectly distinguish it, so the report could be referenced but not fully believed.
Still, it gave some grasp of the situation.
"He killed him in an accident, and the motive... probably the insurance money. High chance it was planned from a year before signing up, or maybe it just occurred to him after."
Various possibilities arose, but it was safe to assume Park Chun-beom's goal was 'money.'
Even when he was caught this time along with Han Sun-ah's medical fraud, the benefit going to Park Chun-beom was the 'pocket money' from her.
She claimed it was pocket money, but it was ultimately a commission for arranging illegal medical practices.
"Well... guess I have to check things one by one."
Lee Jae-hyun muttered softly.
Since he couldn't rely solely on the report, the most accurate way was to investigate the incident anew with his own body.
He had no choice but to go around nearby shops and restaurants and ask.
It was something he always did in his detective days, so Lee Jae-hyun moved familiarly.
The first place he went was an old convenience store.
Convenience stores see a lot of foot traffic, and in neighborhoods like this, the benches in front often became hubs for info exchange, so he chose it.
One of the tips from his detective days.
"Hello."
"Yes, come on in."
As he entered and greeted, the lady at the counter, watching TV, responded in a languid voice.
Lee Jae-hyun bowed his head slightly toward her, who looked like everything was a hassle, and spoke.
"You're working hard. Do you happen to know anything about the car rollover incident here five years ago?"
"...Why do you ask?"
The store owner quickly furrowed her brow and looked at him warily.
Seeing her eyes, Lee Jae-hyun realized he hadn't shown ID and pulled out his wallet.
Her gaze changed upon seeing the police badge in one side of the wallet.
"I'm police. Here to check on the case."
"Police? But why dig into something so old now?"
The store owner asked, sounding a bit annoyed.
Lee Jae-hyun smiled softly despite her brusque tone and continued.
"Some suspicious points came up recently. Do you know anything?"
"Hmm, even so, it's so old I don't... Wasn't it the brother or something who died?"
The store owner spoke in a somewhat annoyed tone, bit by bit.
But nothing helpful to Lee Jae-hyun.
‘Of course it won't be easy chasing it now.’
Not 1 or 2 years—5 years.
Not much trace left.
All he could do was collect testimonies from nearby residents.
And that probably wouldn't be easy either.
As Lee Jae-hyun thought that.
The store owner, arms crossed, let out a "hmm" as if pondering something, then opened her mouth.
"Come to think of it, I heard people say they came from out of town to play or something—kinda weird. No shops open around here at that hour."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. Who goes out there at night? Not even a good fishing spot, no night fishers."
This was at least something that could be called a result.
Lee Jae-hyun jotted it down in his notebook, then nodded to the owner in thanks.
"Thank you. That helped."
"Yeah. Good luck."
The store owner nodded as if it were a hassle.
Lee Jae-hyun turned and left the store.
‘What now...’
After even a short talk with the store owner, finding evidence seemed more laborious than expected.
Of course, wandering around would turn up something eventually, but time wasn't plentiful.
He couldn't keep digging only this case.
As he pondered, staring quietly at the sea, Serhen appeared beside him.
"So, when are you catching that guy?"
"I think within a few days..."
"How many days?"
Serhen furrowed her brow at his answer and asked back.
What could he do without evidence?
Spending days laboring was natural for Lee Jae-hyun, so he nodded nonchalantly.
Then Serhen twisted her face in displeasure and spoke.
"I want to eat today. No way?"
"No patience."
Serhen asked in a sly tone, as if even that was too much.
Lee Jae-hyun let out a hollow laugh in response.
Wanting to eat today meant proving within today that Park Chun-beom intentionally murdered his brother Park Sung-beom.
Impossible in one day when even the report wasn't reliable, even for Lee Jae-hyun.
"You can't expect patience from a demon."
“...”
At Serhen's retort to his words about her impatience, Lee Jae-hyun shut his mouth.
She was right.
Expecting patience from a demon was absurd.
But he couldn't fabricate evidence that didn't exist.
"Well... let's keep looking around for now."
He had no choice but to keep knocking on doors.
As Lee Jae-hyun said that and moved to walk, Serhen clicked her tongue.
"Wait. I'll help, so let me eat today."
"No need. I have to ask people directly while wandering around... Impossible with that form."
Lee Jae-hyun shook his head slightly.
Serhen was currently invisible to others.
Even if made visible, she was a child's form.
It wouldn't help asking around like that.
He judged thus and refused Serhen's help.
But Serhen laughed as if it was ridiculous.
"What do you take a demon for..."
Serhen muttered softly, and before Lee Jae-hyun could say more, she swiped her hand through the air.
Lee Jae-hyun flinched at the black energy billowing from her fingertips.
"What are you..."
As he reacted, the black energy enveloped him.
Lee Jae-hyun squeezed his eyes shut.