The Prosecutor’s Office’s Proposal Chapter 51

“According to someone who was a secretary to President Kang Woosung at the time, Kang Woosung had disqualified Osong from the hotel construction bid. But the decision was changed after Kang Woosung died.”

My chaotic mind raced quickly. Prosecutor Yoon is considering the possibility that Osong was involved in the casino president’s death.

“Then, are you suggesting that Osong incited Lee Gilyoung to kill President Kang Woosung?”

“I’m saying we should consider that possibility. I can’t believe that the timing of President Kang Woosung’s death was a mere coincidence.”

Prosecutor Yoon handed me a mugshot of a middle-aged man. It was none other than ‘Lee Gilyoung.’

Since Lee Gilyoung’s face had been broadcast with a mosaic, it was my first time seeing his real face. Because I wanted to forget ‘that incident,’ I had never looked him up separately after becoming a prosecutor. Unexpectedly, the man had a handsome appearance for his age and a face that felt kind.

Prosecutor Yoon said.

“Lee Gilyoung committed suicide in prison before he could be tried.”

“To think that Osong Construction might have incited the murder of Kang Woosung. You weren’t the type of person to build such reckless hypotheses, Prosecutor Yoon.”

“…I don’t know. The more I look into the Osong case, the more I feel like I’m losing my mind. Is my thinking being distorted because I’m under so much stress lately?”

Of course, it wasn’t that I didn’t understand why Prosecutor Yoon’s thoughts had jumped in that direction. After all, Osong had secured a huge contract after President Kang Woosung died. The case had unfolded all too favorably.

“If there was indeed an incitement to murder, who among the Osong Construction officials do you think orchestrated it?”

“Oh Jahyeon.”

“The youngest daughter of Osong?”

“So you know her too, Prosecutor Joo.”

“I told you. I’m from Danhyeon City.”

Looking back now, Prosecutor Yoon had smiled as if quite exhausted throughout our conversation. It was clear that the name Oh Jahyeon brought her a heavy sense of fatigue. At the tips of Prosecutor Yoon’s feet, her low-heeled shoes dangled, hanging precariously.

“After she was kicked out of Osong, Oh Jahyeon was quite desperate. She wanted to win the casino hotel construction contract and get back into Osong. But in that situation, her high school classmate, Kang Woosung, turned her down.”

Prosecutor Yoon’s last words pierced through my mind like an electric current.

“What did you just say? Classmates? You mean Kang Woosung and Oh Jahyeon were high school classmates?”

“You think that’s all? They were best friends in high school. So, imagine how great Oh Jahyeon’s sense of betrayal must have been when Kang Woosung blocked her path. Sometimes, it gives me the chills to think about the feelings Oh Jahyeon must have felt. And I don’t know if you remember the news reports, Prosecutor Joo, but President Kang Woosung and Lee Gilyoung were also high school classmates.”

“Now that you mention it, I do remember.”

“In other words, the three of them were friends who went to the same high school, and all their interests are entangled in this one murder case. What do you think?”

“…It makes sense.”

It was bold, but it wasn’t a completely nonsensical deduction. Prosecutor Yoon continued to add substance to her hypothesis.

“At the time, the police concluded that the motive for the murder was Lee Gilyoung stealing one million won. But Lee Gilyoung’s monthly salary back then was three million won. Even the thirty million won debt that surfaced was from a Jeonse loan for his apartment; his financial situation wasn’t as bad as the media made it out to be. There were times when Lee Gilyoung’s situation was bad, of course. They say he quit his company and focused on nursing his wife while she was battling cancer. He became a taxi driver after that.”

“So, his situation improved after he became President Kang Woosung’s driver?”

“That’s right.”

“It’s certainly a motive that’s hard to accept unless there was a much larger benefit than one million won. Working as a driver for the casino must have been a lifeline Lee Gilyoung barely managed to hold onto.”

“That’s what I think.”

“If it’s too difficult for you to investigate, Prosecutor Yoon, shall I look into it?”

“I don’t know. The department head keeps making things difficult by telling me to cover up the bidding corruption case. I’m even thinking of just dropping it.”

Only after hearing that did I realize the reason Prosecutor Yoon had called me wasn’t just to discuss a case. I looked up at Prosecutor Yoon, who had pulled her back from the chair she was sitting in and perched on the desk.

“What does he do to you? Is he threatening to demote you?”

“That would be the least of it.”

“So, are you going to cover up the bidding corruption case?”

“…I’m afraid I might. The day before yesterday, he kicked me in the shin. And that’s not even mentioning the verbal abuse. I really feel like I’m going to die. And I can’t just quit.”

“That crazy bastard. From now on, whenever you meet the department head, make sure to record it, keep a diary, or send me a text. You have to collect clues if you want to get him disciplined.”

“Would the higher-ups even discipline him if I collect evidence? They might even discipline me instead. I get a headache from those kinds of things. I’m not as full of combativeness as you, Prosecutor Joo, and I’m also faint-hearted. I was already marked by the department head for digging into the bidding corruption case, and now the Lee Gilyoung murder case is an eyesore to him too. If I touch this too, I’m a dead person.”

“…How much profit did Osong gain from the hotel bid?”

“About 20 billion won. Even so, Oh Jahyeon couldn’t return, but she did get a position as a casino director instead.”

“She couldn’t return to Osong even with 20 billion won? She must have a truly terrible relationship with her father.”

I picked up the documents again and confirmed the details of the bidding corruption. There was enough evidence to go to indictment without any problems, provided there was no interference from those above. While I could understand Prosecutor Yoon being scared and struggling, it would be difficult to bring the murder of President Kang Woosung back to the surface if we didn’t prosecute this case.

If there was some other truth hidden behind the Lee Gilyoung case… it had to be uncovered.

“You have to keep going, Prosecutor Yoon. With the bidding corruption case, the statute of limitations is running out soon anyway. It’s obvious that the department head is taking money from Oh Jahyeon. I’ll also mobilize informants to find more evidence, so you just focus on collecting evidence of the department head’s assault. Never give in.”

I can still vividly recall the sound of my own voice when I said that.

I tried to persuade Prosecutor Yoon, but unable to withstand the department head’s bullying, Prosecutor Yoon eventually decided not to prosecute the bidding corruption case three months later. However, it was only after Prosecutor Yoon took her own life that I learned the department head’s harassment had not stopped even after that. Because she had endured for so long, things had already reached a point of no return.

After holding the funeral for Prosecutor Yoon, I began to look into the stabbing murder of President Kang Woosung, which I had ignored until then. Specifically, regarding Lee Gilyoung.

Lee Gilyoung had no prior criminal record. His young son testified that his father, who returned home late at night, was as affectionate as usual, but it was of no help to the investigation. The son even visited the police station alone later on. He stated that he had seen everything on the news, and that the one million won his father had brought out was a bonus given by President Kang Woosung. Cleverly, he even submitted his own diary containing the same content as evidence.

Though he left behind the records, neither the detective nor the prosecutor paid any attention to the testimony of a thirteen-year-old child, of course. It was because the physical evidence was too definitive. No matter how many times I re-examined the materials, Lee Gilyoung was the culprit.

I was convinced as well, but I was curious about how that thirteen-year-old kid, who had visited the police station alone, had lived afterward. That child had lost both his mother and father at an even younger age than I had.

It was mere curiosity. I knew better than anyone else what kind of hardships the victims’ families go through, and I had witnessed it countless times after becoming a prosecutor, but I had never seen how the lives of a perpetrator’s family change. I hadn’t been interested, either.

“Since his father was a murderer, his life must have been ruined after that.”

It was something I shouldn’t have done, but I even found out the kid’s name. Lee Chaeha.

The murderer’s son was living a life that was surprisingly normal. He was even good at his studies. I obtained information that, at just twenty years old, he had been admitted to the Seoul Police University. His grades were quite excellent.

“He went to the police academy? These days, the son of a murderer wants to become a police officer, too. If Lee Gilyoung had been convicted and died, he wouldn’t have been able to think of this.”

Attached to the color copy of the application form in my hands was Lee Chaeha’s ID photo. A fair-skinned, pretty face and round eyes were staring straight at the camera.

I was bothered by why Lee Chaeha had chosen the police academy. His grades were good enough to go to any university.

“Don’t tell me… does this brat think his father is innocent?”