The Prosecutor’s Office’s Proposal Chapter 107

“Prosecutor, Oh Jahyeon… she smokes electronic cigarettes.”

“What about it.”

“…Never mind.”

Just as he was about to turn his body and enter through the doorway, Prosecutor Joo suddenly grabbed my arm as if snatching it. Pulled along by Prosecutor Joo, who took large strides, I was led back down the entrance stairs. It was a walk so fast that I barely managed not to tumble down.

His resolute grip dragged me toward the surface parking lot. Because it was an ambiguous afternoon time slot, there were no people passing by. Prosecutor Joo rubbed his chin, lost in thought for a moment, and then asked.

“Don’t tell me, Officer Lee, you were thinking of nicotine just now?”

“…Yes.”

“Tell me exactly what you were thinking.”

“Although nicotine liquid concentrate has become difficult to purchase nowadays, it used to be easy to obtain in the past. It was an item that people who smoke electronic cigarettes could purchase all they wanted. From the beginning, you were bothered by the nicotine, Prosecutor. You said the blood concentration was too high.”

“…That’s true.”

“I don’t know much about electronic cigarettes, so it’s difficult to say for certain, but what if the Koryo-in Mr. Kim was exposed to the nicotine liquid concentrate that Oh Jahyeon possessed, or….”

“How would he be exposed.”

“Well…”

In truth, no proper method came to mind. Prosecutor Joo quietly shifted his gaze, lost in thought, and then parted his lips with a serious expression.

“The Koryo-in Mr. Kim, who brought less drugs than promised, demanded an additional amount of money, which made Oh Jahyeon angry. So, what if Oh Jahyeon stabbed the Koryo-in Mr. Kim with a syringe containing nicotine liquid concentrate?”

Chewing over the added hypothesis, I agreed. Given Oh Jahyeon’s personality, it was possible. On top of that, she was a drug addict.

“That sounds plausible.”

“And then at that moment, by pure bad luck, a lump of drugs remaining inside the Koryo-in Mr. Kim’s stomach dissolved and burst. Because we have the data on the plastic pieces and drug concentration that came out of the stomach, we knew he died of shock from a methamphetamine overdose; but if he collapsed right after Oh Jahyeon stabbed him with a syringe containing nicotine liquid concentrate, what would have crossed her mind?”

“Are you saying she misunderstood that he died of shock from nicotine poisoning and abandoned the body? Believing she was the one who killed him?”

It was a highly plausible assumption. A faint excitement hovered in the eyes of Prosecutor Joo, who had been angry throughout the several weeks he wrestled with Oh Jahyeon.

“Let’s test the waters. Let’s prod that filthy temper of hers.”

“Will it be alright? To show our cards right away.”

“It’s fine. It’s psychological warfare anyway. The moment Oh Jahyeon admits it, it becomes attempted murder. I’ll contact Prosecutor Yoon right now and tell him to carry out a search and seizure. The moment word comes that the warrant has gone through and Prosecutor Yoon’s team sets off, we go straight into it. Got it?”

“Yes.”

“Good eye. You’re a natural-born investigator. You have great observation skills.”

Along with the pleasant praise, Prosecutor Joo’s hand lightly ruffled through my hair and then let go. Glancing briefly at the surroundings, I lightly chided him.

“We are at work.”

“As if you don’t like it.”

“What if someone sees us.”

“If someone saw us, they’d think I was pulling Officer Lee’s hair out. Check tomorrow to see if a rumor starts that you got beaten up in the parking lot.”

Pondering it closely, it made sense. Prosecutor Joo seemed unexpectedly well-attuned to an objective view of himself.

He contacted Prosecutor Yoon immediately and went up to the 7th floor with me. Oh Jahyeon was sitting in her seat with a bored expression, waiting for us.

Holding onto the unresponsive Oh Jahyeon, we dragged out the time as much as possible. Until a contact came that Prosecutor Yoon had obtained an emergency warrant and arrived at Oh Jahyeon’s house and company.

The lawyer’s cell phone rang. Contact must have come because of the investigators who arrived with the warrant. His complexion soon turned pale, and he whispered to Oh Jahyeon, but she merely let out a chuckle.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Open the door for them.”

The lawyer hung up the phone. Since they had already undergone a search and seizure once before, they probably judged that there was no other evidence likely to come out anymore. They must have assumed we were searching for additional evidence regarding drugs because the interrogation wasn’t going well.

Now was the time to launch the operation. Prosecutor Joo pulled out the autopsy photos of the Koryo-in Mr. Kim and lined them up one by one in front of Oh Jahyeon.

“These are the autopsy photos of the seller from whom the suspect, Ms. Oh Jahyeon, purchased drugs.”

This time, I opened the autopsy result report and presented the part highlighted with a fluorescent pen.

“This is the National Forensic Service autopsy report.”

“When you met this person, did he smoke heavily in front of Ms. Oh Jahyeon? Since you traded drugs in large quantities, the amount of money exchanged must have been quite large, and you would have needed to check each other’s goods, so the time you met must have been considerably long.”

Prosecutor Joo asked, but Oh Jahyeon still did not give any reply. He continued speaking without paying it any mind.

“Ms. Oh Jahyeon, you must know why I am bringing up the topic of smoking. Did you consult honestly with the defense counsel sitting next to you?”

The defense counsel tried his best not to look at his client sitting beside him. It seemed he had heard nothing regarding nicotine. Pointing at the contents of the autopsy report one by one with the tip of his pen, Prosecutor Joo explained.

“A large amount of nicotine was detected inside Mr. Kim’s body. However, this level is too high for someone who continuously refrained from smoking inside the airplane cabin. When we contacted someone who knew Mr. Kim, they said he smoked about a pack a day, but according to the medical examiner’s opinion, you would have to smoke five packs in a row for this kind of level to come out.”

“…”

“But as I happened to notice today, Ms. Oh Jahyeon, you smoke electronic cigarettes.”

Oh Jahyeon, who had always looked elsewhere during the interrogation, shifted her gaze toward him for the first time. Her shapely eyebrows twitched, and her gaze turned fierce.

It was similar to that time. The day I first met Oh Jahyeon.

She was identical to the Oh Jahyeon of that time, who had come to the fines section, shouting and spewing insulting remarks, never hesitating to reveal her true colors.

People who investigate look into a criminal’s eyes and read countless truths that cannot be fully captured in a protocol. Watching the changing gaze of Oh Jahyeon, I realized that our reasoning had approached the facts.

She was a suspect with a relatively transparent expression. Drug addicts easily turn volatile emotionally, so there was a fairly high probability she would confess in a fit of anger. There are more suspects than one might think who confess even when the evidence is flimsy. Whether because they felt guilt, wanted to brag about the crime, or simply couldn’t master their surging emotions.

If Oh Jahyeon were to confess, it would be for the last reason. The only obstacle was the lawyer guarding her from the side.

Thinking that Prosecutor Joo’s strategy might just work, I placed my hands on the laptop. The initiative of the interrogation was held by him, not me.

“If you look at this photo, a single needle mark is left on the neck. Of course, the cause of Mr. Kim’s death is not nicotine poisoning. It was because of the drug packet of methamphetamine that burst inside his stomach. But if, by chance, someone who stabbed Mr. Kim’s neck with a needle containing nicotine liquid concentrate mistakenly thought they had killed the opponent, what would they have done?”

“…”

“Ms. Oh Jahyeon, what did you do when you thought you were the one who killed him?”

“You son of a bitch….”

As Oh Jahyeon opened her mouth for the first time in several weeks, the startled lawyer reached out and hurriedly restrained her.

“Ms. Oh Jahyeon!”

But it didn’t work. A red light flared in her eyes, and her finger wearing a diamond ring fiercely swatted away the lawyer’s arm.

“Are you saying I killed him right now?”

“Ms. Oh Jahyeon met the late Mr. Kim on that day and purchased methamphetamine. However, unlike the agreement, Mr. Kim brought only half of the drugs, right? Is that not so?”

“I bought the drugs from someone else, not that dead bastard! I told you several times already!”

“You claimed as such, but you couldn’t explain the contact details of the other drug dealer, nor the method of obtaining the drugs in your possession. And the methamphetamine discovered in Ms. Oh Jahyeon’s safe matched the structure of the drugs transported by Mr. Kim. Aren’t you curious where he hid the drugs he siphoned off?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t hear from that bastard where he hid the drugs.”

“You just admitted it, didn’t you? That you know the deceased victim.”

“No!”

Oh Jahyeon was talking incoherently, digging the very pit she would fall into by herself. The lawyer’s face turned deathly pale.

Prosecutor Joo pulled out the photo of the drugs we had found at the motel and waved it before Oh Jahyeon’s eyes.

“He had hidden them in a motel. On the opposite side of the casino. It must have made you quite ticked off.”

“…Why would I.”