The Prosecutor’s Office’s Proposal Chapter 194

I locked eyes with him as he looked up from his paperwork. I paused for a moment. Even though I see his face every day, when we meet in the prosecutor’s office, it feels new, and the air around him seems to flow differently. Prosecutor Joo also watched me blankly for a long moment before slowly opening his neatly shaped lips.

“What did they say happened to the wine?”

“They said they threw away the contents inside to sell it as an empty bottle.”

“Did Ms. Ji Yeongsook admit to it?”

“No. Ms. Ji Yeongsook did not admit to it, but the police found traces of the wine being dumped in a nearby sewer. The grandmother is denying the charges.”

“Even denying the charges… It seems difficult to go with a non-indictment. For now, tell the suspect to come in. I’ll review the documents while listening to what she says in her statement to Officer Lee.”

“Yes.”

Since the notification that the suspect had arrived on the first floor had been blinking for a while, I stood up from my seat.

The grandmother collecting waste paper looked like she had difficulty moving. Her back was so hunched that it was hard to believe she could even walk, let alone pull a handcart to collect paper. Even though it was a simple theft case involving a high-value item, my head felt complicated.

Of course, if I thought about punishing her strictly according to the law, it was a simple matter. However, this grandmother is someone who cannot distinguish between an 8 million won wine and a 10,000 won wine. If she had known what kind of wine it was, she never would have poured the contents into a sewer and carried the empty bottle around in her cart. Selling an empty bottle doesn’t bring in much money. It’s work done to add a few dozen or a few hundred won to her living expenses. But the wine returned as too large a boomerang. My head throbbed as I worried about how to resolve that imbalance.

I first handed the grandmother a cup of warm water and sat down. Opposite us, Chief Kim was struggling to take a statement from a witness.

“Hello, Grandmother. I am the investigator in charge, Lee Chaeha. Shall we start simply with your personal information?”

“Admit… what?”

“Your name, date of birth, address, family relationships, that sort of thing.”

“Ah…, it’s hard for me to talk about it all at once.”

“I will ask you slowly. Let’s start with your name first.”

“Ji Yeongsook.”

“What is your address?”

“Maeseol-dong, Danhyeon-si…. I don’t remember the house number.”

I slowly confirmed her personal information. Because there were points she couldn’t remember and I had to ask several times to verify, it was quite some time later that I began writing the report in earnest. The grandmother vehemently denied the charges.

“I have never stolen any alcohol.”

“But six empty bottles were found in your handcart, Ms. Ji Yeongsook.”

“I’m telling you, I’ve never taken such things. If anything, my handcart was stolen.”

“Your handcart?”

“I told the police everything. That someone stole my handcart.”

“What was missing?”

“I don’t know that….”

The grandmother continued her statement with a cowering expression. Her eyes wandered along the white walls of the prosecutor’s office more often than they stayed on the investigator sitting in front of her.

“When did you lose your handcart?”

“Last Monday, maybe…. I don’t remember well.”

“How did you find the handcart?”

“That…, oh, I don’t know. The handcart returned.”

“Are you saying it was stolen and then suddenly found?”

“Yes. The handcart disappeared and then it appeared again.”

The grandmother was rambling.

“Do you remember where and how you lost the handcart?”

“It was in front of the metal factory…. I left it for a moment to rest and it disappeared.”

“And where did you find it again?”

“Behind the metal factory.”

“You didn’t leave the handcart behind the factory, did you? The places are almost the same.”

“Well…. I thought I left it in front.”

“Do you not pass by the back of the metal factory?”

“I don’t know….”

My messenger blinked.

Check to see if the suspect is in the early stages of dementia.

It was a valid point.

I will request an examination.

Because it is not common for someone who had no criminal record of theft until age 70 to suddenly steal high-end wine.

When suffering from dementia, people sometimes commit various crimes—large and small—like theft, trespassing, or traffic violations impulsively because their mental state is not sound. Since she lived alone at an advanced age, it was entirely possible that if she were in the early stages of dementia, no one would have noticed.

“Why did you throw away the wine?”

“I told you I didn’t steal it.”

“Do you know how to open a cork stopper?”

“I told you I didn’t steal it!”

The more I asked, the higher the other party’s voice rose. The question about the cork stopper was the most important part of today’s interrogation. Since the other party would only say she didn’t steal it, there was no way to verify it.

Meanwhile, another message flew in.

Let’s eat lunch together.

I think it would be better to talk after I finish writing the report.

Stubborn. You’re capable of multitasking, right? It’s just a theft case, so a simple conversation is possible.

I am busy.

With the suspect right in front of me, there was no room to talk about lunch.

I complained quietly to myself and finished writing the report. The grandmother’s statement did not differ much from the contents of the documents sent by the police. I had received the impression that the grandmother was incoherent in the police statement as well, and it remained the same.

I judged that there was no need to request an arrest warrant because the risk of flight was low. After letting the grandmother go home, I sent a reply to Prosecutor Joo.

I have a lunch appointment with Chief Kim. I decided to have a meal with the investigators.

What? I already cancelled my lunch appointment with the prosecutors.

I eat with other investigators these days. You should have told me in advance.

Give me some time. Yeah?

Joo Taeson in love is indeed strange sometimes. Of course, in a good way.

I almost smiled without realizing it, but I barely held back the corners of my mouth and replied nonchalantly.

Don’t you skip the Prosecutors’ lunch gatherings too often?

People obsessed with food. I don’t know if they think they’ll die if they don’t eat together. I feel like I’m going to die because I want to be with you.

My hand, which had been about to type on the keyboard, froze. I stared at the message Prosecutor Joo sent for a moment, then eventually contacted Chief Kim.

Chief, I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can make it to our lunch appointment. I made a reservation for a room at the yellow soil duck stew restaurant for 12:00, so please have a delicious meal with the other chiefs.

Why can’t you come? T_T

Prosecutor Joo said he has something to discuss regarding work, so I think I need to have a meal with him.

It’s so pitiful to see Officer Lee being pushed around. Don’t you get indigestion just seeing the Prosecutor’s face even at lunchtime? I got indigestion after our staff dinner last time and had to prick my finger. How is he a person you can barely see smile even once? He only treats the clerks well.

It was a secret to Prosecutor Joo, but I had been listening to the complaints Chief Kim secretly vented about his boss. I suppressed the urge to make excuses on behalf of his lover and played along appropriately.

It’s been tough lately, hasn’t it.

I’m dying, really. The stress is so high I even bought deer antler extract. My body has grown weak. I think I’m even starting to lose hair these days.

In reality, since Chief Kim was assigned to Joo Taeson’s office, the top of his head had become visibly bare. Thanks to that, he looked five years older than when I first met him. I told a white lie.

It doesn’t look like that at all.

Thanks. I don’t think my hair will stop falling out unless I win the lottery and quit this job. Since I can’t escape, my hair is escaping. On an investigator’s salary, it’s hard to even implant ten strands, but I lose a hundred strands at a time.

The salary is really stingy.

What’s stingier than the salary is the tiger Prosecutor.

Aside from his inability to work well, Chief Kim was a fun person in private. As I was smiling slightly, I felt Prosecutor Joo watching me, so I disciplined my lips again and replied to him.

I cancelled the appointment. Let’s eat together.

Are you okay? I don’t mind eating alone. I’m good at eating alone anyway.

It’s an appointment that doesn’t matter if one person drops out.

I’ll make the restaurant reservation. Is there anything you want to eat?

Please take care of the menu as well. As the youngest, I’m so tired of deciding the menu for the investigators’ lunch gatherings every time.

You sure know how to use your boss well.

If you don’t like it, I’ll go to the duck stew restaurant.

I’ll try to find one while avoiding the duck stew restaurant.

I liked Prosecutor Joo’s quick response. Even if he says things like that, he is not someone who finds it that difficult to make decisions, so the fact that I could ask him without burden—whether it was trivial or big—was a source of support. I finished organizing the report faster than usual so that I could enjoy lunch comfortably.