Chapter 32
Translator: uly
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Oh Seo-hyun Inspector
Oh Seo-hyun Inspector.
To be honest, she was someone who had no connection to Lee Jae-hyun in his previous life.
Even though Lee Jae-hyun had worked as a police officer for ten years, their jurisdictions were different...
You can't know every police officer in the country.
Of course, during his time as a detective, he had aggressively pursued cases and built familiarity with quite a few people.
But Oh Seo-hyun wasn't among them.
It could have been that they simply never crossed paths, or maybe she had transferred from detective work to a regular substation.
Or perhaps she had left the force altogether.
There were many possibilities.
"Please wait here for a moment."
"Yes, understood."
Lee Jae-hyun immediately nodded in response to Oh Seo-hyun Inspector's words as she opened the door.
Lee Jae-hyun glanced around the meeting room after Oh Seo-hyun Inspector left.
A small projector was set up on one side, and a long table in the center could seat twelve people at once.
Drawers lined one wall completely.
It seemed like a storage room for documents combined with a briefing room.
Lee Jae-hyun checked the memos on the drawer doors.
Each had a date sticker, the oldest one from three years ago.
'No luck here.'
The documents on the Park Chun-beom case didn't seem to be here.
Well, he could calmly discuss it with Oh Seo-hyun when she returned and request the files.
The jurisdiction for the incident five years ago had been Incheon Western Police Station, but this case had led them there through illegal medical practices.
Hanseong Police Substation had plenty of reasons to claim it as their own case.
Of course, that would only work if Incheon Western didn't object.
'She doesn't seem like the type to make a fuss over nothing, so that's a relief.'
It was his first time meeting Oh Seo-hyun Inspector, but she didn't strike him as someone who would stubbornly dig in her heels.
More like the type who cleanly handled her duties.
Or maybe it was just that there were too many cases to handle.
Or perhaps she simply saw no need to claim a five-year-old case as theirs now.
Whatever the reason, as long as Oh Seo-hyun wasn't the nitpicking type, it was good news for Lee Jae-hyun.
Lee Jae-hyun pulled out a chair, sat down, and waited for her.
About ten minutes passed.
Oh Seo-hyun Inspector entered the meeting room with a stack of documents.
A notebook was tucked in among them, suggesting these were more personal compilations than official files.
"I've gathered as much as I could on the case from five years ago."
"Thank you."
Oh Seo-hyun Inspector plunked the documents down on the desk as she spoke.
Lee Jae-hyun thanked her for bringing them.
It was a concluded case, and another station digging into it could be unwelcome, yet here she was delivering the files. That deserved gratitude.
But it seemed she wasn't handing them over without a word.
"Back then, the circumstances were suspicious enough that we suspected intentional murder, but no separate evidence emerged."
As she said this, Oh Seo-hyun placed her hand atop the stack, blocking Lee Jae-hyun as he reached for it.
Lee Jae-hyun withdrew his hand, meeting Oh Seo-hyun's expression that seemed to demand he explain the evidence.
Only then did he recall what Song A-ram's father, the gukbap restaurant owner, had mentioned.
'One cop had poked around insisting it was murder back then.'
That must have been Oh Seo-hyun.
Glimmers of regret and lingering attachment scattered like shards in her eyes confirmed it.
As an inspector now... five years ago, she would have been a patrol officer.
If she'd harbored suspicions from back then, she must have searched diligently.
She would have given her all, but it wasn't enough.
There were limits to a patrol officer's rank, and to the situation itself.
Honestly, hadn't Lee Jae-hyun found the evidence so easily only because of the demon Serhen's abilities?
That thought reminded him of his promise to buy Serhen ice cream, but Lee Jae-hyun pushed thoughts of her aside and focused on Oh Seo-hyun before him.
Meeting his gaze, Oh Seo-hyun slowly sat across from him, her hand still on the documents.
He had planned to explain the situation anyway, and he had a favor to ask.
Lee Jae-hyun opened his mouth with a calm expression.
"The gukbap restaurant at the incident location..."
"Yes, Song's Gukbap House."
Oh Seo-hyun nodded immediately, as if she knew.
Remembering the exact restaurant near the scene even now... was proof of how much effort she'd put in back then.
Oh Seo-hyun shot him a look urging him straight to the point.
Seeing that, Lee Jae-hyun felt a strange sensation.
At first, her cool, rigid vibe had reminded him of Hanseong's Min Ji-hye.
But now he saw it wasn't so.
If Min Ji-hye was like a cat, Oh Seo-hyun was a dog.
In other words...
'Like me.'
Lee Jae-hyun, who had been called the Mad Dog in his previous life.
In this unfamiliar place, from this unfamiliar person, he glimpsed a familiar glint in her eyes.
Lee Jae-hyun swallowed a hollow chuckle inwardly and continued his explanation.
"The restaurant owner's daughter took a photo with her smartphone back then."
"...A photo? What kind?"
"After the accident, it captured someone getting out of the driver's seat. The car fell afterward."
As Lee Jae-hyun spoke, he pulled up the photo on his smartphone and handed it to Oh Seo-hyun Inspector.
Oh Seo-hyun Inspector furrowed her brow as she examined the screen.
It was a night shot, hard to make out clearly, but the photo's metadata would show the time and approximate location.
And the car model visible matched the one from the incident exactly.
Oh Seo-hyun exhaled sharply, handed the phone back to Lee Jae-hyun, and spoke.
"So, he got out alone after the crash... and pushed the car in?"
"That's my estimation. He pushed the car, went into the sea himself, called 119, and waited for them to arrive."
"Got out first, let the car drop, then followed... That explains why no DNA from Park Chun-beom was found in the driver's seat."
Oh Seo-hyun nodded, murmuring as if it finally made sense.
Lee Jae-hyun paused at her words and asked back.
No DNA detection in a car crash wasn't common.
There would always be some injury inside the vehicle, not to mention hair getting caught or pulled.
"No DNA was detected?"
"Yes. Back then, we thought it was because the car was too damaged and had been in the seawater."
"If he was in the driver's seat during the crash, there should have been hair, bloodstains, something from the escape at least... No detection means he really wasn't inside when it went off."
Lee Jae-hyun clicked his tongue.
How could someone kill their own brother like that?
"Then he deliberately went into the sea to report it... What a piece of trash."
Oh Seo-hyun muttered in a low, subdued voice, then lifted her head to look at Lee Jae-hyun.
She neatly removed her hand from the documents and spoke.
"It always nagged at me, so thank you for clarifying it. Patrol Officer Lee Jae-hyun."
"No, Inspector."
"I'll have to go thank the witness in person too."
She must have suffered mentally.
Oh Seo-hyun said that.
Lee Jae-hyun pulled the documents toward himself to check them one by one, then let out an "Ah."
"Could I ask a favor?"
"A favor?"
Oh Seo-hyun gazed at him with a puzzled expression.
They weren't close enough for favors, so her reaction was natural.
"Yes. The witness is being bullied at school. I witnessed and stopped it at the time, but school violence doesn't end just because you intervene once."
Lee Jae-hyun had even promised Song A-ram A/S service.
But with different jurisdictions, local police involvement would be far more effective than his efforts.
"I'll check the school tomorrow."
Oh Seo-hyun Inspector replied, narrowing her brow.
Her expression suggested some relief was in order.
Lee Jae-hyun thanked her and gathered the documents.
* * *
Back at Hanseong Police Substation with the files, everyone who had been bustling about froze and turned to Lee Jae-hyun.
"I'm back."
Lee Jae-hyun bowed his head in greeting and headed to his seat.
"Hey, kid."
Sergeant Kim Jun-ho approached and placed a hand on Lee Jae-hyun's shoulder.
He let out a hollow laugh and spoke.
"You go there and immediately find evidence. You really did well."
"Thank you."
"How the hell do you catch two murderers in a week?"
Kim Jun-ho patted Lee Jae-hyun's shoulder as he asked.
Less a genuine question out of curiosity, more one spilling from sheer astonishment.
Lee Jae-hyun could only give an awkward smile in response.
Then Park Dae-hyung stepped forward briskly.
"Good work."
"No big deal. Here are the documents..."
Lee Jae-hyun tried to hand the files to Park Dae-hyung, but Min Ji-hye smoothly intervened.
"Give the documents to me. You write up the report. I'll organize and pass them on."
"Yes, thank you."
Lee Jae-hyun plainly thanked Min Ji-hye as she took the files.
Min Ji-hye waved it off like nothing and sat at her desk.
Organizing documents was quite tedious.
Her offer meant lightening Lee Jae-hyun's load.
Murder was, no matter what, a major violent crime—a big case.
And a substation team had solved it.
Twice, in just a week.
External buzz was inevitable.
The team mood couldn't be anything but great.
Performance metrics were up... meaning daily allowances, end-of-month bonuses, higher chances all around.
Heck, just catching Myeong Jin-han last time had everyone expecting bonuses; uncovering Park Chun-beom's murder sealed it.
So everyone saw Lee Jae-hyun in a favorable light.
Watching Min Ji-hye take the files, Park Dae-hyung smirked and smacked Lee Jae-hyun's arm.
"This one was pretty cop-like."
Park Dae-hyung tossed out the words casually.
Others might not get it, but Lee Jae-hyun couldn't help smiling.
It recalled his drinking party pledge to live like a proper cop.
Lee Jae-hyun smiled and replied.
"I'll keep living like a cop from now on."
"Yeah. Let's live like cops."
Park Dae-hyung grinned as he said it.
Lee Jae-hyun met his gaze and nodded.