The Prosecutor’s Office’s Proposal Chapter 152

Chief Song’s gentle tone as he worried about the family members was very warm. I know that Prosecutor Joo’s inner heart is also warm, but his speech is sharp and sensitive, while Chief Song was a person who was kind from his very words. The person I respect is Prosecutor Joo, but in that regard, Chief Song was also a senior with a lot to learn from.

We went down to the underground parking lot, loaded the seizure boxes, and handed the car keys to the waiting National Forensic Service staff. While Chief Song was taking pictures of the photos in the blue box once again, Prosecutor Joo flicked his fingers to call me.

“Officer Lee, let’s take a look at the parking lot together first. Chief Song, you stay and guard the cars.”

“Yes, Prosecutor.”

I glanced back at Chief Song. He was examining the old photos once again.

I walked around the underground parking lot with Prosecutor Joo. We checked to see if there were any suspicious cars and went over to Chief Tak’s car, where the National Forensic Service staff were gathered. The staff were conducting a simple forensic examination of the interior and exterior and taking photos before moving the car.

As if by agreement, we both peered into the car through the open door at the same time. The interior of Chief Tak’s car had not been cleaned at all.

“Fail.”

“I see.”

“It’s too dirty. There’s no way he would have left it like this.”

The way to identify a car used in a crime was simple.

Find a car that had been thoroughly cleaned inside recently.

Even petty criminals make it a basic habit to clean the interior, so there was no way Chief Tak, who was well-versed in investigations, would have left a car used in a crime alone. We went down one floor to find the car registered under Chief Tak’s wife’s name.

This time, too, I pressed my face close to the heavily tinted window with Prosecutor Joo. We confirmed that the interior and exterior had been cleaned as neatly as a newly purchased car and nodded at the same time. It was so clean that any detective well-versed in investigations would immediately become suspicious and pounce on it.

“It seems he used this car when moving the Koryo-in’s body.”

“Evidence will surely turn up. Even a single drop of blood seems to come out of a car that has carried a body.”

I took my eyes off the window, straightened my back, and looked up at him. I finally blurted out the question I had been holding back.

“Are you alright?”

“…No.”

He rubbed the area around his lips as if he wanted to smoke a cigarette, then let out a sigh.

“Pro Joo.”

An unexpected voice was heard, so we lifted our heads at the same time. Prosecutor Yoon Gyuho was standing in the direction the familiar voice had come from. I was a little surprised that the prosecutor who was supposed to be directing the search and seizure on Oh Jahyeon’s side was here. Prosecutor Joo Taeson greeted him with his usual calm voice.

“Yoon Pro, what brings you here? I thought you were with Oh Jahyeon’s side.”

“That side finished quickly. I was curious how things were going, so I stopped by briefly on my way into the branch. It’s not just anyone, but a search and seizure of Director Tak Sungwoong’s residence, after all. Did any grounds for charges come up?”

“As of now, not yet. I’ll have to examine it carefully once we get into the branch.”

His gaze, filled with curiosity, scanned the car sitting behind us from top to bottom.

“Whose car is that?”

“The Madam’s.”

“He would have used his own car, he wouldn’t have brought his wife’s car along, would he?”

“Still, we have to check. I was just about to head into the branch.”

“Let’s go together. Officer Lee, you’ve worked hard since the morning.”

I, who had been observing Prosecutor Yoon Gyuho’s expression from behind Prosecutor Joo, bowed lightly.

“Not at all. You worked hard as well, Prosecutor.”

“I’ll buy a cup of coffee on the way in.”

Prosecutor Yoon greeted us affably. The three of us soon left the spot. The sound of three pairs of shoe heels walking through the underground parking lot full of nothing but cars rang out unusually loudly.

After asking the forensic team to check even Chief Tak’s wife’s car, we departed for the Danhyeon Branch Office together. As soon as we entered the office, we spread out the evidence on the table, numbered them, and checked a small plastic bag that had been inside the dusty box. Inside, it was packed with old photos.

A black-and-white photo of Chief Tak wearing a high school uniform and taken with Oh Jahyeon, a photo taken with President Kang Woosung during their school days, and finally… there was a photo of a young baby boy left. It was a newborn who looked less than 50 days old.

My fingers hesitated. Only that photo was in color.

I carefully handed the photo to Prosecutor Joo.

“Prosecutor, it doesn’t look like Chief Tak’s high school senior son, right? It’s not his biological son either, so there’s no reason to keep a photo from his newborn days separately.”

Prosecutor Joo examined the photo carefully and then nodded.

“The date is different from Chief Tak’s stepson’s birthday.”

“Is the birth year indicated?”

“No.”

“What on earth could have happened to the child…”

I was curious about the whereabouts of the newborn baby in the photo. I wanted to know where and how he grew up, and how he came to be involved in his own parents’ crime again.

From the child’s perspective, I also thought he would be desperate for his grandfather’s inheritance. Since he had lived in hiding, never able to step forward proudly as a child his whole life, wouldn’t he at least want to receive some material compensation for that?

Since it was a matter that could become huge gossip, the curious gazes of Prosecutor Yoon and Chief Song reached us.

“Officer Lee, show us once. I’m curious.”

I handed the photo to Prosecutor Yoon and Chief Song and turned my eyes to Prosecutor Joo, who was exploring the other photos. I was watching the photos he was flipping through quickly from the side when his thick fingers stopped for a moment. At the end of our gaze, which had gone down together, I saw a picture of a small child. A boy who looked to be about five years old.

It was me.

There were other people nearby, so I couldn’t say a word, but I could tell through our breaths, which were connected tightly with tension. Prosecutor Joo also realized that the child in that photo was me.

Prosecutor Joo slowly flipped through the photos one by one.

A photo of young brothers, a photo of a young woman.

I recognized the previous photo as the brothers Joo Taeson and Joo Wooseon, but I didn’t know the young woman. I turned my head to the side. The black eyes that had been waiting for me seemed to know the answer.

‘That’s my aunt.’

He replied only with his lip movements. I took out my phone and typed a sentence in the memo pad.

「Could it be a family member of a victim that Chief Tak contacted?」

Prosecutor Joo nodded quietly at that question. The moment his long finger flipped one more photo, I grabbed his thick wrist without realizing it due to the appearance of an unexpected face.

“Prosecutor.”

“Why.”

“That photo…”

My blood ran cold from head to toe. The fine hairs on my cheeks all stood on end.

A boy laughing brightly, wearing the same uniform next to my young father.

It was none other than my maternal uncle.

📄🖊️

The murder weapon we had hoped for did not turn up on either side in the end. It was a truly difficult investigation.

Instead, a large number of mobile phones that might still contain evidence were found on Oh Jahyeon’s side, which Prosecutor Yoon Gyuho had searched. The phones were all completely initialized, but these days, forensic technology has advanced significantly, so it wasn’t impossible that the contents could be recovered.

“I will go register them.”

Chief Song, who has an affable personality in everything, stepped up first. Prosecutor Joo, who had been carefully checking the evidence from the search and seizure together with Prosecutor Yoon, shook his head lightly and dealt with it expertly.

“No. Since Chief Song has a lot of experience with search and seizures, please organize it here at the office, and Officer Lee, you go and register them.”

Since we had promised that important evidence like mobile phones would be handled by Prosecutor Joo or me, I stood up from my seat according to his instructions.

I went to the forensic team to request the recovery of the mobile phones and also requested forensics for the mobile phones that Chief Tak and Oh Jahyeon had submitted separately. If there were any deleted conversation contents, we would be able to revive them all.

These days, mobile phones were counted as the most important criminal evidence. While not as significant as a murder weapon, fingerprints, or DNA, it was an item with good ability to prove the circumstances of a crime.

I was returning after having a long discussion with the forensic team when the phone in my pocket rang. The name Prosecutor Joo Taeson appeared.

“Yes, Prosecutor.”

— We’ve decided to have dinner at Prosecutor Yoon’s office. Come up.

“I understand.”

— It’s Room 614.

I ended the call and pressed the 6th-floor button on the elevator. I was looking up at the floor indicator as usual, then walked toward Room 614 without thinking, but I stopped walking because I felt that something was strange. It was Room 614, but it seemed that the location of the office was the same as our office, Room 512.

Suddenly, I remembered the shadow I had seen a few months ago. At that time, I thought it was Room 612 because it was right above our office.