The Prosecutor’s Office’s Proposal Chapter 50

He stated that he had left his cellphone behind. With that, the cell tower data I had painstakingly tracked down became entirely useless.

While the forensics officer verified other statements with the miner grandfather, Prosecutor Joo informed me of a new development.

“Koryo-in Mr. Kim’s DNA was found on the blanket we brought in as evidence.”

“It’s certain that the real culprit sent it along. Unless the polygraph test comes out saying it’s a lie that the miner grandfather abandoned the body.”

“Well, whatever the result, as long as we have evidence containing the victim’s DNA, we have to proceed with the indictment as planned.”

“Do you still have no intention of changing your mind depending on the polygraph results?”

“I don’t. Because I have to indict him to check if his son gets reinstated at the casino.”

“But you said the theft charges were already being reviewed as of yesterday….”

“In your judgment, Officer Lee, is a review the same as the price paid? Just reviewing it doesn’t mean it will serve as evidence, even if we catch the real culprit later. He has to be reinstated for the price to be paid, and only then will it serve as evidence of the instigation later.”

Prosecutor Joo was the one who had brought a storm into my life as of yesterday, life that had only just managed to settle. Unable to handle the surging waves in my heart, my words came out brazen before I could stop them.

“…You truly seem like a cold-blooded person when it comes to things like this, Prosecutor.”

“I’m sure it’s different from what you imagined, Officer Lee, watching my articles from afar. But I’ve never once pretended to be a good person in front of you. That’s an image you imagined on your own.”

“…”

“How about it? Have you made up your mind to investigate together?”

“…Not yet.”

“We’re going to end up doing it together anyway, so why drag it out?”

I felt his gaze looking down at me obliquely, but I stubbornly stared at the magic mirror, refusing to meet his eyes. Suddenly, Prosecutor Joo’s fingertips gripped my chin and turned it toward him. Startled by his unrestrained touch, I pushed my body back to avoid him, but this time, he grabbed my arm. His gaze, as expected, crawled over my lips and cheeks.

“I’m curious about what you’re thinking, Officer Lee.”

“…I thought you knew how to read all my thoughts.”

“That’s what I thought, but… you’re becoming more of a labyrinth.”

I felt the urge to cover my lips with my palm again, but I endured it and bit down slightly on my lower lip. Prosecutor Joo let out a low sigh.

“It doesn’t seem like you’re doing it on purpose…. But you react every time, so it’s confusing.”

Just as I was about to ask what he meant, the forensics officer opened the door to the interrogation room and came out. It hadn’t taken as long as I thought. The officer closed the door and reported the situation briefly.

“It comes out as a lie that he abandoned the body, and true that he was instigated to confess. The reactions were clear, so it didn’t take long.”

It was as we had expected. Prosecutor Joo requested of the forensics officer:

“Then, unofficially, please ask one more question. Don’t put it in the record.”

“What is it?”

“Ask if he knows Oh Jahyeon, and if the person who instigated the confession is Oh Jahyeon.”

“Oh Jahyeon? That trashy director at the casino?”

“Yes.”

The forensics officer went back inside. Then, without recording the question, he asked the miner.

“Please answer with ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Do you know Oh Jahyeon?”

“Yes.”

“How do you know her?”

“She’s a casino director. I saw her in the newspaper.”

“Have you ever met her personally?”

“No.”

“Is Oh Jahyeon the person who instigated the confession?”

“No.”

The officer immediately came back out and shared the results with us.

“All the answers just now registered as truthful. He says he’s never met Oh Jahyeon, and she isn’t the person who instigated him either. I’ll wrap up the polygraph now.”

The door closed, and once we were left alone again, our gazes collided noisily.

“Prosecutor, it seems it isn’t Oh Jahyeon.”

“It’s too early to conclude. Oh Jahyeon might not have appeared in person. It’s possible she only met an errand runner. It’s certain there’s an accomplice who helped with the abandonment, isn’t it?”

“But we must also consider the possibility that it isn’t Oh Jahyeon.”

“No, it is Oh Jahyeon.”

Prosecutor Joo answered firmly. There is nothing as dangerous as an investigation where the conclusion has already been decided.

“…Aren’t you being too decisive? No matter how certain it seems, you shouldn’t investigate with a conclusion already made.”

“As if I don’t know the basics of investigation. That’s why I told you I needed your help, Officer Lee. I’m more emotional about this case than you are.”

The words Prosecutor Joo had uttered last night came back vividly.

‘I wonder if I’m crazy. Sometimes it feels like I’m having delusions.’

Prosecutor Joo met my eyes as I stared up at him and said once more:

“I have thought about this case for too long.”

I remembered the scrap of my father’s article that had been stuck on the whiteboard. That faded paper where the spot the magnet had covered remained white.

He must have thought about this case for that long. While believing Oh Jahyeon was the culprit.

“I… also thought that maybe you made this proposal to torment me, Prosecutor.”

“…That’s impossible. I would have solved it alone if I could. I’m the one suffering because I have to work with Lee Gilyoung’s son.”

I pressed my fingernails hard into my palms. My head throbbed at the mention that watching me was painful.

“Officer Lee, you’ve never been obsessed with a single case for a long time, have you?”

“No, not yet.”

“If it ever happens, you’ll understand. The feeling of my thoughts not letting me go.”

Prosecutor Joo shifted his gaze toward the officer who was collecting the polygraph equipment beyond the magic mirror. But in the eyes watching that situation blankly, it wasn’t the forensics staff reflected, but a deep, dark suspicion.

Prosecutor Joo Taeson said in a subsided voice:

“I have stared into the abyss for too long.”

It was Nietzsche’s aphorism that everyone had heard at least once. Musing over the sentence, I asked quietly:

“So, has the abyss started to stare back at Prosecutor Joo?”

“What do you think, Officer Lee?”

“…”

“Can you answer ‘no’?”

Prosecutor Joo looked down at me steadily.

I felt as though I finally understood the substance and depth of the pitch-black suspicion overflowing within his pupils.

I first became aware of Lee Chaeha’s existence seven years ago, in the winter of my second year as a prosecutor. Prosecutor Yoon Soyeon, a classmate from the training institute, had been assigned to the Danhyeon branch at the time and was investigating the bid-rigging case involving Osong Construction and the casino hotel. It was a case nearing the expiration of the statute of limitations.

Although I was working at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, I went down to Danhyeon City about once a month to visit my aunt. After that incident, I had cut off all contact with my middle and high school friends, but I occasionally called Prosecutor Yoon, who was working at the Danhyeon branch.

On that day, having learned that I had come down to Danhyeon City, Prosecutor Yoon asked me—for some reason—to come to her office. What she handed me at her desk were the materials for the case she was currently investigating. Prosecutor Yoon sat on the edge of her desk, and I sat in the chair provided for witnesses, quickly flipping through the documents.

As I read the contents, my facial muscles kept trying to convulse, so I had to consciously maintain a blank expression. I tossed the stack of documents I had finished reading onto the desk with a thud and asked Prosecutor Yoon:

“Are you investigating the bid-rigging case between the casino and Osong Construction?”

“Yeah. That’s one thing, but another case has come up that’s bothering me.”

“What is it?”

“The timing of when the bid-rigging case happened overlaps with the murder of the casino’s original owner, Kang Woosung.”

A name I had never expected popped out of Prosecutor Yoon’s mouth. My heart sank with a heavy, jolting impact, but I barely managed to keep a blank expression. The muscles around my eyes twitched minutely.

Fortunately, Prosecutor Yoon didn’t seem to notice my changed mood and continued speaking.

“It’s too exquisite a timing to be a coincidence. After President Kang Woosung died, Osong Construction won the bid.”

The Kang Woosung Casino Owner Icepick Murder Case. Or, the Lee Gilyoung Murder Case.

It was a murder case that occurred when I was a high school senior, a crime reported noisily in the national news. After quickly chewing over the information I had seen and heard at the time, I opened my mouth.

“President Kang Woosung died because Lee Gilyoung, his driver at the time, committed robbery-homicide, right?”

“You know about that case?”

“I’m a Danhyeon City native. There isn’t a single person in Danhyeon City who doesn’t know about that case.”