The Prosecutor’s Office’s Proposal Chapter 32

“Prosecutor, the call history between the two is quite clear, so wouldn’t it be better to just arrest the tenant and perform a digital forensic analysis of their phone?”

“I did a forensic analysis of the former gangster’s phone, but they didn’t text each other. They didn’t record anything either. It seems they only discussed things over voice calls. To ensure no evidence would be left behind.”

“Wow, they’re thorough. I wondered if they might have, since they didn’t use burner phones, but as expected, he really is a former gangster.”

“Is there no way to lure the instigator in by their own volition?”

Prosecutor Joo tapped the table lightly with his fingers, crossed his legs, and stared at me. So, this time, I had no choice but to react to that question.

“To the detention center?”

“If the former gangster, Mr. Choi, makes contact with the tenant again, we might get some pretty solid evidence. Calls are automatically recorded when someone comes to visit at the detention center, you know.”

“There are quite a few cases where they’ve been caught that way.”

Chief Song Haneul next to me was also thinking about it, but Prosecutor Joo stared only at me, as if he had made up his mind. It felt as though he was expecting a correct answer from me. Chief Song Haneul offered a different opinion, but it was dismissed as it lacked feasibility. Eventually, it was my turn to answer again.

I organized my thoughts, tracing back cases I had experienced during my police fieldwork, and put forward a plausible proposal.

“Choi Jincheol currently thinks he will serve at most about five years for the injury resulting in death. Although he has 12 prior convictions, since the charge is injury resulting in death, he would be able to apply for parole in about three years if he is a model prisoner. I don’t know what the reward offered by the instigator is, but it would be a reward commensurate with five years.”

Prosecutor Joo kept his gaze locked on mine, eyes telling me to continue. I wondered if the strategy I was talking about was already in Joo Taeson’s head. It was a reasonable conclusion, as he was always testing me on various things at the drop of a hat.

“But what if he finds out that he will be indicted for murder? Wouldn’t he be startled and reach out? The reward he received from the tenant would also be insignificantly small compared to that.”

Chief Song, thankfully, expressed admiration from the side with a pleasant expression.

“Oh, Officer Lee’s opinion is good. From the prosecution’s perspective, it’s a gamble to indict for murder after merely stabbing a thigh, so it’s not easy—but the suspect wouldn’t know that.”

Prosecutor Joo nodded readily and took over my words.

“I’ll have to call in the former gangster and tell him we’re indicting him for 15 years. And show him the Supreme Court precedent that Officer Lee found.”

“He will definitely contact the tenant.”

“We’ll have to see. Whether it goes as Officer Lee thinks.”

The look in Prosecutor Joo’s eyes as he said that was as if he were intent on watching me closely.

📄🖊️

We called the former gangster, Mr. Choi, back into the prosecutor’s office. Choi Jincheol had an incredibly relaxed expression. Until he heard the words coming out of Prosecutor Joo’s mouth.

“Because of the issue of gangsters stabbing thighs to kill and receiving lighter sentences, a separate guideline was issued within the Prosecutor’s Office last year. It stated that for cases where a gangster stabs a thigh and kills, we should review an indictment for murder.”

It wasn’t exactly a guideline, but it was true that the issue had been raised.

“And last year, precedents started coming out from the first trial, and the Supreme Court also handed down a guilty verdict for murder.”

Prosecutor Joo kindly even printed out the precedent I had reported and pushed it toward the former gangster. I sat in the adjacent seat and observed Mr. Choi’s expression. As expected, his face turned deathly pale, and a sense of defeat spread across it.

“I will recommend a sentence of 15 years or more for murder. From now on, the trial prosecutor will be in contact. We have also secured sufficient evidence.”

“Prosecutor! Murder, you say? It really wasn’t me!”

“Mr. Choi Jincheol, seven years ago, you were at a scene where another gang member stabbed an opponent in the thigh and killed them. You served time for aiding and abetting injury. Thanks to that case, the prosecution can prove that Mr. Choi Jincheol had dolus eventualis regarding murder when stabbing the thigh. To the judge, by presenting the precedent.”

“Prosecutor, I was just trying to scare him during the fight….”

“Officer, please take Mr. Choi Jincheol away.”

“Ah, Prosecutor! It’s injury resulting in death, not murder. This makes no sense!”

Choi Jincheol was dragged out of the prosecutor’s office, almost wailing. The sound of the correctional officers rushing to calm Mr. Choi, who was stomping his feet and wailing in the hallway, rang out loudly.

I locked eyes with Prosecutor Joo. The strategy was working out well.

The agitated Mr. Choi, as we expected, contacted the Taepyeong Villa tenant as soon as he reached the prison. Unlike the detention center at the prosecutor’s office, all conversations with visitors were recorded at the prison.

Since I had contacted the prison in advance, the correctional officer sent me the recording as soon as the visit ended. It happened to be right before I was about to leave work.

I sat alone with Prosecutor Joo in the small office attached to the prosecutor’s office and played the recording. The familiar voice of Choi Jincheol initiated the conversation first.

“The payment you promised to give me when I bought the ‘item.’ I need you to raise that. The manager says he’s going to make it 15.”

Right away, I knew the manager was Prosecutor Joo, and 15 meant 15 years.

“What? Hey, that can’t be. How can you make it 15? There isn’t even enough material to begin with.”

“No. They said something changed. Damn it, he said he’d make it 15. What do I do, damn it….”

“The owner won’t do that. Don’t worry. Huh? Keep your resolve strong. Don’t forget that you were the one who agreed to buy all the items. If even I end up in trouble, who’s going to pay for your items? You know that, right?”

The two did their best to hide the contents of the instigation, but as soon as I heard that ‘the owner’ also referred to a judge, I could tell. It seemed they had set their own code words in advance, but their thinking was shallow beyond measure.

“Anyway, raise the price of the items.”

“By how much.”

“Three times. I thought it would be 5, but it became 15, damn it. You have to pay three times the price.”

“Hey, three times is impossible right now. How about we make it double for now? I’ll give you more later.”

“…Okay for now, but once you’re ready, give my mother a greeting and tell her I’m doing well. You don’t have to pay the team leader anymore.”

The team leader was clearly the deceased owner of Taepyeong Villa, and it seemed the reward for the instigation had been received through an account in his mother’s name. I couldn’t understand why they decided to use job titles for all their code names when they didn’t even run a company together. Contextually, it seemed the tenant had borrowed money from the owner and instigated the murder to avoid paying it back.

Finally, they solidified their resolve not to betray each other, pledging their tearful friendship. Prosecutor Joo, having heard the entire conversation, scoffed.

“Bullshit.”

A succinct assessment. I, too, let out a sigh automatically.

“Do they really believe we wouldn’t understand if they spoke like that?”

“They probably thought they were being clever in their own way. We should seize the account in the former gangster’s mother’s name for the murder instigation reward, and also find evidence of the tenant borrowing the money. We already have the warrant, so there’s no need to apply for one. Once Officer Lee finds the debt relationship, we’ll get a confession and pass the case directly to the trial prosecutor. If they don’t confess and hold out, we use the lie detector immediately. I’m going to recommend life imprisonment for both of these bastards for murder instigation.”

“Yes, Prosecutor. Thank you for your hard work.”

“I’ll buy you a drink this evening. Since you’ve worked hard too, Officer Lee.”

“Thank you. Then, I’ll tell Chief Song and Officer No….”

“I meant for the two of us to drink together.”

I was startled as I rose from my seat. He pushed my fingers, which I had half-risen with, with his fingertips and then pulled away. Only in the spots where his skin had touched did my body temperature secretly rise.

“Forget it, if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s not that, Prosecutor.”

“Can’t you do something about that police tone of yours?”

“Pardon? Is it strange?”

“It just feels exceptionally stiff at times. Well, it’s not that I’m telling you to fix it.”

After pointing it out just to make me nervous, Prosecutor Joo took a step back. I rubbed my closed lips, bowed my head, and stepped out of the office first.

As usual, Chief Song Haneul and administrative assistant No Seonhui rose to leave work and looked at me with pitying eyes. Chief Song, in particular, looked at me with sympathy.

“Working late again today? I thought you two would be able to leave work together since you live in the official residence, but you never go together even once.”

“I’m just still slow at processing work.”

At my answer, Officer No turned her head to confirm that Prosecutor Joo had not yet come out of the inner office. She covered her mouth with her hand and whispered in a small voice.