The Prosecutor’s Office’s Proposal Chapter 76

“I asked you why the murder method was changed. A knife with bloodstains was found, so do you think you’ll be safe just by holding out until the end?”

Prosecutor Joo tried yelling, but Lee Hyunsu refused to admit his guilt to the end. He was interrogated for a long time afterward before being sent back to prison late at night.

It was 8:00 PM when Prosecutor Joo and I returned to the prosecutor’s office. At this point, I didn’t even consider leaving work, so I spoke to Prosecutor Joo first.

“I will review the victim’s parents’ statements again.”

“Officer Lee.”

“Yes.”

Prosecutor Joo’s face, tilted slightly, looked exhausted. The pale, lifeless fluorescent light cast a blue hue over the faces of the two people standing in the office.

“Officer Lee, do you believe Lee Hyunsu? That Ahn Dongjin stole the knife and killed them, and that he himself didn’t do it?”

“…Considering the evidence, I can’t believe it. Lee Hyunsu claims that, but Ahn Dongjin and Han Sujin had no opportunity to return the knife. The mother reported it as soon as she discovered the bodies, and the police arrested Lee Hyunsu the very next day. Until then, neither of them had the chance to go to Lee Hyunsu’s house. Moreover, Lee Hyunsu himself stated that he stayed home because he felt like he was coming down with a cold. He effectively contradicted his own claim that the father stole and then returned the knife.”

“That is true. The physical evidence is perfect.”

“But….”

“But?”

“The father’s expression was too calm, wasn’t it?”

“He was.”

Prosecutor Joo, who nodded calmly, seemed to be gripped by another suspicion.

In this case, because the physical evidence was certain, the police investigated it perfunctorily and referred it, and even in the prosecution, in such cases, they only focus on obtaining the suspect’s confession. Since there was an extremely slim chance of losing in court as long as the murder weapon had been found, even if Lee Hyunsu did not confess to the end, any other prosecutor would have written up the indictment immediately and sent it to trial without putting in much effort.

I was curious about what other suspicion was wriggling in Prosecutor Joo’s mind.

“For now, look at Ahn Dongjin and Han Sujin’s statements again. I’ll dig into the life insurance matter.”

“Yes, Prosecutor.”

Watching Prosecutor Joo sit down, I asked carefully.

“Should I go out and buy a roll of gimbap?”

“Are you hungry?”

“No, it’s not that, just….”

In truth, I was a little hungry, but because I felt self-conscious, I mumbled vaguely. Prosecutor Joo said as he stood up from his seat.

“The gimbap place in front delivers. I’ll order, so you pick one.”

He went near Officer No’s desk and tore off one of the flyers attached there. The personnel officers usually knew the restaurants near the prosecution office like the back of their hands.

I looked at the various menu items on the gimbap flyer and chose one.

“Egg gimbap.”

“Does gimbap with no rice and just a bunch of eggs in it count as a meal? Pick something else.”

“Then, small gimbap, please.”

“You’re an adult, why are you eating small gimbap? The portion is too small. Eat something else.”

“…Then I’ll just eat perilla leaf gimbap.”

“Eat tuna or beef. You need to get your protein. That’s why you’re so thin, Officer Lee.”

“…Then beef gimbap.”

If it was going to be like this, why ask me to choose in the first place? I felt like I understood why Prosecutor Joo never asked what I wanted to order whenever we went to a restaurant together. It seemed he had a psychological need to control others.

I learned in my criminal psychology class that one should not date people who are obsessed with or controlling toward others. I wonder if it’s okay if it’s just a sex partner, not a relationship.

That couldn’t be.

Knowing the answer already, I sighed softly to myself and said.

“If I have to choose like this every time, next time just let the Prosecutor order anything. I eat everything well.”

“That would be better. I’ll just order from next time on.”

“…”

“And sarcasm doesn’t work on me.”

I thought I had hidden it, but it seemed I’d been caught.

Prosecutor Joo called the gimbap place and ordered several additional items we hadn’t discussed. Even so, I thought, should I be grateful that the Prosecutor personally ordered for me? while reading the victims’ parents’ records again.

I followed Prosecutor Joo’s lead and looked at it with suspicion. After reading the statements about three times, strange parts began to stand out. I spoke to Prosecutor Joo.

“The two people’s statements are definitely strange.”

Prosecutor Joo, who had been looking at the insurance documents, looked up.

“Tell me.”

“First, about Han Sujin saying the kids were dead. If you look at the crime scene reconstruction photos, all the children had blankets pulled up to their faces when discovered by Han Sujin, but in such cases, people usually state that they thought they were sleeping. But Han Sujin never said she thought they were sleeping, either in her initial statement to the police or her statement to the prosecution today.”

“And?”

“Ahn Dongjin’s statement is also strange. There is no expression of emotion at all, such as being sad, angry, or finding it hard to accept. Even if they don’t shed tears, it’s natural to feel signs of exhaustion in their posture or eyes, but he is too indifferent.”

“That’s right. If you look at the police records, Han Sujin’s older sister actually showed grief more intensely.”

“Did I find it all?”

“Actually, there’s one more.”

“One more?”

“They were on such bad terms that they slept in separate rooms, so why did she insist on introducing her husband to her older sister at that late hour? Did she not even know her husband was going on a business trip to the provinces?”

He tapped the desk with his thimble-wearing index finger as if it were a habit, then let out a long sigh and added.

“The couple is both strange. Could they have conspired together to frame Lee Hyunsu?”

“No way…. Han Sujin has contradictions in her statement, but she truly looked like she was grieving. And would they conspire to murder their children while on such bad terms that they considered divorce?”

“Who knows. Human cruelty has no end.”

I stepped carefully onto the stepping stone Prosecutor Joo had left for me and moved forward slowly. However, I inevitably arrived at a dead end because of the knife stained with the first child’s blood.

“Still, the physical evidence is too certain. Neither Ahn Dongjin nor Han Sujin had time to bring the knife back. After the children died, Lee Hyunsu was at home. There is testimony from the person who delivered the food, and digital records of the TV turning on and off in between. Even if we assume one of the couple stole the knife, they would need assurance that their friend wasn’t at home to return it after murdering the children, but there is no evidence of the three of them exchanging any communication that day. The mobile phone forensics result is also clean.”

“That’s true…. It’s logical reasoning. Seeing it as Officer Lee interpreted is the right thing to do for now. Regardless, let’s try to see if we can perfectly eliminate Lee Hyunsu’s claims tomorrow.”

“Are we going out for the investigation?”

“We have to.”

Just then, Prosecutor Joo’s phone rang. The gimbap had been delivered. Prosecutor Joo stopped me as I was about to stand up from my seat.

“Stay sitting. I’ll get it.”

“Thank you.”

When you see moments like this, even Prosecutor Joo, who usually seems authoritarian, had a down-to-earth side. Though it was only very occasionally.

As soon as Prosecutor Joo returned with the gimbap bags, I got up, took them, and went into the inner office. While I was taking the food out and preparing to eat, there was a rustling sound from the opposite office. I could clearly picture the scene where his long, slender fingers were organizing the insurance documents he had been scanning through.

There was a sign of the door closing right behind my back. He pulled up a chair and sat next to me, instead of opposite me as usual.

“Why next to….”

Before I could finish the question, his face approached, and our lips overlapped. My fingers, which had been opening the packaging, stiffened, and a heat rash bloomed rapidly on the back of my neck like April cherry blossoms.

Our lips rubbed together softly, like a spring breeze touching flower petals. Our breaths clashed languidly. Taking advantage of a brief gap as his lips, which had been pressing and rubbing against mine, pulled away slightly, I barely managed to open my mouth.

“The door, you have to lock it….”

“I locked it when I came in, so relax your lips. You can stop tormenting me, because I’ve been going crazy all day.”

All day…. Even though it didn’t show on the outside even a little bit.

Feeling his large palm cupping the back of my neck, I closed my eyes and slowly parted my lips. His wet, soft tongue slowly slid into my mouth and carefully intertwined with mine.