The Prosecutor’s Office’s Proposal Chapter 8

“You can confirm it by looking at the photos.”

Although the medical examiner advised against it, he did not hesitate.

“It’s fine.”

Unlike police officers, prosecutors and prosecution officials were often unaccustomed to real corpses and frequently reluctant to look at them directly. In that respect, Prosecutor Joo was certainly different from other prosecutors. Despite being a former police officer, I found the sight distressing, yet he examined the wound the medical examiner showed him by prying open the corpse’s mouth as if it were nothing.

“Chief Lee Chaeha.”

The call for me barely registered in my mind, which had gone numb from nausea. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to look, but my resolve was a step too slow.

As I approached to inspect the throat, a sharp gaze pierced my profile. Since he knew my police background, it was only natural that he would be displeased with my passive behavior. Swallowing back saliva at the disgusting sight, I managed to offer an opinion.

“Could he have vomited before he died?”

The medical examiner replied.

“I’ll have to perform an autopsy and look deeper inside to be sure, but vomiting food doesn’t cause marks like this.”

Prosecutor Joo’s gaze, which had barely left me, moved to the corpse. Without another word, he stared intently at the body lying under the bright lights.

A Korean with Russian nationality with no special external injuries.

Only after confirming the inexplicable mark near the esophagus one more time did he and I leave the laboratory. The rain that had been falling for two days was in a momentary lull. A blurry, low morning sky greeted us.

Prosecutor Joo did not get into the car and gestured toward the main gate with a nod.

“Shall we have a bowl of gukbap nearby before we leave? There’s a decent place.”

Surprised by the sudden proposal, I looked up at him, who was a head taller than me. Prosecutor Joo stared at me steadily with an expressionless look. The morning breeze, which had begun to carry the scent of winter, lightly ruffled his hair. I had thought I left a bad impression on Prosecutor Joo by showing hesitation in front of the body, but it seemed it wasn’t enough to make him reluctant to share a meal.

“Yes, Prosecutor.”

I nodded and answered immediately. He headed toward the main gate of Danhyeon General Hospital and continued speaking.

“I assume you have no appetite after seeing the corpse, Chief Lee, but I’m a bit hungry before heading into work.”

“Are you heading straight to work?”

“Prosecutors don’t have break times even when on duty.”

“I didn’t know. That must be difficult.”

“It’s work, so it’s fine. You’re working the afternoon shift, right?”

“Yes, Prosecutor.”

We entered a 24-hour Jeonju bean sprout gukbap restaurant and ordered one bowl each. The place was tidy.

I followed his lead, adding salt when he added salt, and cracking a raw egg when he did. I had been to this place countless times, but because I was with Prosecutor Joo, I couldn’t remember how to eat; it felt like my first time.

I blew on the broth to cool it several times until it was finally cool enough to swallow a mouthful, but Prosecutor Joo was already eating his rice. Thinking we were out of sync, I cooled my next bite haphazardly and ate it, burning the inside of my mouth on the hot grains of rice.

Ever since my days at the Police Academy and high school, I had always struggled with eating speed. I checked the peeling roof of my mouth with the tip of my tongue and tried to soothe it with cold water, but it was useless since I had to keep pushing the rice down.

The silence was awkward. However, my sociability was so poor that I couldn’t bring myself to start a conversation with a prosecutor, let alone Prosecutor Joo Taeson. Halfway through his bowl, lost in his own thoughts, he broke the silence first.

“Chief Lee, can we talk about the body?”

“Yes, I don’t mind.”

“You looked like you were going to vomit earlier, so I wondered if I could bring it up during a meal. It must have been hard working as a police officer. If you find it this difficult even when the body is clean.”

His reaction was more thoughtful than I had expected; I hesitated for a moment before answering honestly.

“It wasn’t easy.”

“What do you think? Do you think it was a natural death or an accidental death? Judging by his complexion, it looks like a drug overdose.”

“I’m also leaning toward a drug overdose.”

“That wound—what could it be? The scratch near the esophagus. And he wouldn’t have injected drugs into his neck, so why were there needle marks there?”

“Well. I’m not sure about that…”

Prosecutor Joo took his blade and cut through my hesitation without hesitation.

“I’m not asking for the answer. I’m saying let’s think about it together. If any opinion comes to mind, feel free to speak up. The higher the probability of solving a case, the more people put their heads together.”

“Yes, Prosecutor.”

“Were you in the Intelligence Division back then?”

“…No.”

When I kept my mouth shut because I didn’t want to talk about it, a subtly sharp reaction returned.

“If you answered no, wouldn’t it be the standard attitude to let me know which department you were in?”

At the stinging and correct observation, I felt the area around my eyes and my earlobes flush a reddish hue.

“I was in the Violent Crimes Unit back then. After that, I moved to the Forensic Science Division before retiring.”

“That’s ironic. That your main specialty was corpses.”

“It was brief, so I didn’t learn much.”

“Not the Metropolitan Investigation Unit, but a regular police station’s Violent Crimes Unit? That doesn’t really suit a Police Academy graduate in many ways.”

Prosecutor Joo was just as straightforward about his assessment of my career. As expected, unlike when dealing with the detective or the medical examiner, there was a strangely cold side to him. Could he, too, see the ominous scarlet light drifting around me?

He had already finished his meal and drank a glass of water. I hurriedly slurped down the rest of my gukbap, which was still half-full.

Seeing that the earthenware bowl was empty, Prosecutor Joo stood up first. He produced his card naturally and said nothing more. I toyed with the card I had already taken out, then put it back in my pocket.

It seemed his mind was full of the Russian corpse as he drove me back to my housing. Since it was the morning commute, the roads were blocked and the car moved slowly, but Prosecutor Joo didn’t say a word. He kept his eyes fixed ahead with a deeply contemplative look.

Only as we entered the small alley where the housing was located did he voice his thoughts.

“It seems I won’t be able to figure out what that esophageal wound is.”

“You think so?”

“I saw it for the first time, you saw it for the first time, and the medical examiner doesn’t know what it is; in cases like this, it’s often the case that it remains unknown until the end. Because three people with experience are hearing about it for the first time. Especially since medical examiners know just by looking. Since most data is available these days.”

“I will think about it as much as I can as well.”

“Let’s talk again when the final autopsy report is uploaded. You submit your duty report today as well, Chief Lee.”

“Yes, Prosecutor.”

He seemed to be chewing on something for a moment, then turned his gaze from the alley to look at me for a moment.

“Shall I make a bet?”

“About what…”

“The police will definitely refer this case with a non-indictment opinion. He’s not our citizen, he’s a Russian national, and he’s a junkie. It looks like a drug overdose at a glance. Unless a link to Korean drug users is uncovered, they won’t investigate it properly.”

It was a point with merit. I chewed over the needle marks left on the dead man’s neck and the wound on his esophagus.

The Mercedes slid to a stop in front of the housing. I looked at Prosecutor Joo instead of unbuckling my seatbelt. My head felt hazy, like someone drunk on alcohol, from pulling an all-nighter. And so, an unexpected sincerity slipped past the lips that were about to say goodbye.

“Prosecutor Joo Taeson, I was happy to work with you today.”

I was surprised even after I said it myself. It was an excessively sociable pleasantry to come out of my mouth. Was it because my judgment was clouded by the all-nighter?

I hurriedly came up with a reason to manage what I had said. Otherwise, there was no telling if Prosecutor Joo would find it strange.

“I have respected you ever since I read the article about you when I was a university student. I was also grateful for the help you gave me during my time as a police officer. Thanks to you, Prosecutor, I was able to clear my name and wash away the disgrace.”

“…”

It was a quite appropriate reason. However, despite the valid justification, Prosecutor Joo showed no reaction for a long while. The brief silence in the car where he didn’t answer felt much longer than the hours we had spent together at dawn. I immediately regretted revealing my inner thoughts.

Incredibly, the face of Prosecutor Joo Taeson, who always felt like a smooth talker with a mild expression, gradually twisted in an strange way. His straight eyebrows veered far beyond the point where I had expected them to stop frowning.