The Prosecutor’s Office’s Proposal Chapter 82

I carefully re-packed the evidence bags and fingerprint collection kit, waiting for Chief Song to come in. Just as the burden of handling Prosecutor Joo’s gaze became quite overwhelming, the door opened and Chief Song entered.

“Please have a cup of coffee.”

Chief Song handed a cup of coffee to each, Prosecutor Joo and Officer No, and finally gave one to me as well. Whenever I went out for field work, Chief Song always made sure to bring warm drinks. I was the youngest, so I should have been the one to pay attention to such things first. I bowed my head, grateful.

“Thank you, I’ll enjoy it.”

“Don’t mention it. Let’s head out now. Prosecutor, Officer No, we’ll be going.”

“We’ll be heading out.”

Chief Song and I greeted them together and left the prosecutor’s office. Prosecutor Joo accepted our greeting, but his expression still hadn’t softened. He was in a bad mood for no apparent reason.

The office door closed behind us. I had been unable to relax lately while working with Prosecutor Joo, so it was actually a relief to go out with Chief Song for once.

Chief Song never scolded or made people feel self-conscious even if they made a mistake; he was positive and laid-back about everything. On the other hand, Prosecutor Joo Taeson was the kind of person who made my heart race even when he was being kind.

I got into Chief Song’s car, entered Han Sujin’s address into the navigation, and buckled my seatbelt. He pressed the accelerator a bit firmly. Feeling the car shoot forward quickly, I took a short breath and held onto the belt. Prosecutor Joo, while sharp in his daily life, drove smoothly, but Chief Song was the exact opposite.

“Officer Lee, so we’re going there to look for the knife, right?”

“Yes. And anything else that can prove the criminal charges.”

“Geez… she really racked her brain. To think she’d try to frame a friend with a criminal record.”

“Have you seen similar cases while working on investigations?”

“I’ve both seen and heard of them. There was a pharmaceutical company where a department head took the fall for the president’s corruption and went to prison. They say he became a director after being released. There was also a thief who stole a homeless person’s cigarette butt and left it at a crime scene. So the homeless person was caught, but then we finally found the real culprit.”

The face of the innkeeper, a former miner who had come to confess to a crime he hadn’t committed, and the face of Lee Hyun-soo, who had claimed his innocence, came to mind.

A single police officer was guarding the crime scene. We lifted the yellow police line and stepped inside.

I had been shivering because it was cold outside, but the inside of the house was just as cold, like a cellar, since no one had stayed there for several weeks. It was better since the wind wasn’t blowing. Chief Song put on gloves for collecting evidence, then opened a heat pack and tucked it into the pocket of my coat. I was the one who was sensitive to the cold, but I always forgot it and went out without one, so I felt both grateful and sorry that Chief Song had taken care of it for me.

“Thank you. I should be the one taking care of this.”

“It’s fine. It’s enough if whoever thinks of it takes care of it. Shall we start the search now?”

“Yes, that’s great. Please let me know if you find anything.”

“I will.”

We started by thoroughly searching the kitchen first. We moved step by step, scanning every shelf and wall.

After the initial investigation, the scene had been organized to some extent, so it wasn’t as messy as in the report photos. It didn’t look like a space where people had died. However, when I entered the empty children’s room, a sharp sadness grazed my heart. School supplies, books, and toys were scattered about, but the children who would have used those things were no longer in this world.

I looked back over my shoulder. Chief Song was in the main bedroom. I took out the chocolate snack I had brought in my pocket, placed it on the desk, and quietly prayed for the children’s souls. I had forgotten the heat pack, but I hadn’t forgotten the snack.

When I worked at the police station, I often saw detectives bring even fruit and hold small, informal memorial rites in groups. That was especially the case when someone was murdered too brutally or when a case remained unsolved. The atmosphere at the prosecutor’s office was quite different, and everyone seemed to view such things as superstition, but I felt for the dead children and wanted to at least buy them a snack.

Just then, Chief Song called me from outside.

“Officer Lee, here is the insurance policy.”

“Yes.”

I hurriedly left the children’s room. The insurance policy Chief Song found was information already confirmed through the insurance company, but there was no harm in recovering the physical copy. The death benefit was 150 million won, just as Prosecutor Joo had investigated. From what I had seen on the front lines, anyone could be killed for 150 million won. Murders occurred for even far smaller amounts. Even for just a few tens of thousands of won.

We went outside and took a shovel and a metal detector from the car trunk. Since it was certain that Han Sujin had purchased the knife from the hardware store, we had to consider the possibility that she had buried it in the yard. In fact, our goal from the beginning was the yard.

If Han Sujin had buried the knife, the ground wouldn’t have hardened yet, so I went around stabbing the tip of the shovel into soft spots. We dug deeper where the metal detector reacted. I was working hard, digging in a spot with high probability, when my pocket vibrated. When I took it out, it was a text from Prosecutor Joo.

Did you find anything?

No. There’s no knife in the house, so we’re digging up the yard.

Have fun digging with Chief Song.

It’s exhausting, so it’s not fun.

That’s too bad.

I pursed my lips, put the phone back in my pocket, and went back to digging while walking around. Chief Song sighed, wiping his forehead as if he were sweating from the continuous shoveling.

“Officer Lee, are you finding anything?”

“No. There’s nothing but weeds.”

“At this rate, we’re going to end up digging up the whole yard.”

“That’s for sure.”

Suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps outside. When I looked up, I could see Han Sujin’s face over the fence. It was a disaster. She was staring with wide eyes, observing what we were doing. Since we had to hide the fact that the prosecution suspected her as much as possible, I naturally bowed my head and greeted her.

“Hello.”

She bowed reluctantly and checked the situation.

“What are you doing right now?”

“We’re just seeing if there’s any more evidence left behind by Lee Hyun-soo. Because of the cigarette butt that was lying in the yard.”

It was an absurd excuse, but I made it up as best as I could in case Han Sujin noticed and tried to flee. To avoid suspicion, I changed the subject.

“Are you staying around here?”

“Yes, at my sister’s house, where I dropped her off that day. I stopped by because a friend said they’d give me some food…. Isn’t there enough evidence against Lee Hyun-soo now? You even found the knife.”

“That may be, but there are times when we review the scene separately on our own before writing the indictment.”

“I see…. Good work.”

Han Sujin didn’t seem convinced, but she left, seemingly deciding there was no benefit to further conversation. After going out the front gate and thoroughly checking that Han Sujin had truly disappeared, I returned to the yard and immediately called Prosecutor Joo.

“Prosecutor, Ms. Han Sujin just saw us re-examining the scene and left.”

— What did you say?

“That we’re reviewing the scene again before the trial.”

— Did she seem to believe it?

“No.”

— We need to hurry with the warrant application. Understood. Did anything come up?

“Nothing came up. Just the insurance policy.”

— Come back to the branch as soon as you’re finished.

“Yes, Prosecutor.”

Chief Song, who was shoveling nearby, also noticed the situation and sighed.

“We’re in trouble.”

“I think it would be best to request an undercover surveillance on Ms. Han Sujin from the police. There is a risk of flight.”

“Should we go that far? The police might be inconvenienced….”

“It can’t be helped. It’s better than Han Sujin fleeing.”

“Looking at you now, Officer Lee, your way of handling work is sharp.”

When I tilted my head slightly because I didn’t quite understand the meaning, Chief Song smiled and pulled the shovel out of the ground.

“I mean you’re good at your job.”

“Oh…, thank you.”

“When there’s a risk of flight, putting someone under surveillance is standard procedure, but it’s a procedure that gets forgotten often. It’s also uncomfortable to ask the police.”

It was a strange form of recognition from a colleague that I wasn’t used to. Fortunately, my cheeks were cold, so I hoped they weren’t turning red. It was a mystery why I didn’t get easily flustered like this normally, but I ended up revealing my emotions through my skin color whenever I was in front of Prosecutor Joo.

We packed the shovel into a vinyl bag and took off the blue non-woven covers we had put over our shoes.