The Prosecutor’s Office’s Proposal Chapter 94

“Don’t joke around; stay put at home. It’s a dangerous world.”

That was true. I had briefly forgotten that this was the world Prosecutor Joo saw. That was why he had waited for me for hours on the stairs, waiting for me when I didn’t come back and had my phone turned off.

“…I know.”

“Good. Because there is no profession that understands that fact better than we do.”

“So you should be careful too, Prosecutor. It’s not just me who is in danger.”

For a moment, Prosecutor Joo reached out as if to touch the bandage on my cheek, but he lowered his hand, seemingly conscious that we were outside. I was also startled, thinking he was reaching out, perhaps worrying someone might be watching. He seemed quite surprised himself on the inside, as he let out a rare, hearty laugh and rubbed his straight eyebrows.

“Look at you, you’re trying to do as you please just because you’re sleep-deprived. Your self-control is gone. Go inside.”

“Yes, Prosecutor.”

He walked to the driver’s seat, opened the door, and turned back to say,

“I told you to go inside.”

“I’ll watch your back today, Prosecutor.”

“…Alright. That’s not a bad idea for today.”

Leaving behind that weary voice, he got into the driver’s seat. The car soon departed.

I clutched the shopping bag containing the coat tightly and stared at the end of the alleyway where the Mercedes turned and disappeared. Just before turning the corner, a long hand reached out from the window of the car that had stopped for a moment, waving a greeting first. I hesitated for a moment out of shyness, but soon gave a small wave back.

We were like lovers.

At least for that moment, on an evening ahead of the spring in March, under the purple sunset, waving our hands at each other.

Han Sujin did not confess as easily as I had thought. Although blood from her first child was detected on the knife found near her parents’ grave, she stuck to her claim that she didn’t know when it had gotten there. Her public defender didn’t seem to believe Han Sujin’s story, but argued that if Lee Hyun-su hadn’t done the killing, the first child’s blood couldn’t have been on her friend’s knife.

In the end, we decided to use a lie detector to obtain a confession. I sat alone with Prosecutor Joo in the office attached to the prosecutor’s office and prepared for the polygraph test.

“The evidence is clear, so why won’t she confess?”

“She doesn’t want to accept reality, I suppose. Besides, she still has an unnie who believes she is innocent.”

The existence of an unnie. It was a plausible deduction. She was the only family member with whom Han Sujin still had a bond.

“How should we proceed with the polygraph?”

“First, I think we must confirm how Han Sujin got the blood onto Lee Hyun-su’s knife.”

“How about starting with images instead of questions?”

Prosecutor Joo suggested a pretty good idea. Most people think that polygraphs only verify reactions through verbal questions, but in practice, photos or pictures are surprisingly often used.

After running a simulation in my head, I nodded.

“That would be better for Han Sujin.”

“Then we need to decide what photos to show. I wonder how she transported the first child’s blood to Lee Hyun-su’s house.”

“Couldn’t she have used a syringe or a small empty bottle?”

“It could have been blood-soaked gauze or tissue. If she added just a little bit of water, it would bleed again.”

“That’s a possibility, too. If she carried it in a syringe or bottle, it could spill even if she put it in a plastic bag.”

“Since she’s a nurse’s aide, the probability of it being a syringe or gauze is quite high. Then, Officer Lee, select the photos, explain them to the forensics staff, and call in Han Sujin’s older sister.”

“Han Sujin’s older sister?”

“She didn’t have a good relationship with her husband. If she refuses to confess even after seeing the polygraph results, the sister will be more effective at breaking her down emotionally.”

“Yes, I understand.”

After finishing the meeting, I carefully prepared not only photos of objects suspected to be the means of transporting the blood, but also photos of Lee Hyun-su’s knife, images of fruit, and photos of the children.

When performing a polygraph with photos, you show the images sequentially without questions, filter out the photos that cause changes in biological reactions, and then base your questions on those. Therefore, the order of exposure was actually a much more important issue than I had thought.

I brought the photos and the list of questions to the forensics department. After discussing it with the staff conducting the test, I returned and shared the plan with Prosecutor Joo. Prosecutor Joo, who had been drafting documents to send to the trial prosecutor, stopped working and checked my message immediately. Officer No, who was waiting nearby, took over the trial documents diligently in place of the distracted Prosecutor Joo. Chief Song, at the desk in front, was busy flipping through documents as usual, paying no mind to what we were doing.

Prosecutor Joo, who reads quickly, soon took his eyes off the monitor and handed one more document to the Senior Clerk.

“Deliver these documents to the trial prosecutor’s office, and please deliver this one to Chief Prosecutor 1.”

“Yes, Prosecutor.”

“Thank you.”

He smiled warmly at Officer No. Then, with an expressionless face, he looked at me and re-verified the plan.

“Officer Lee, are you planning to start the questioning with the method of spreading the blood?”

“Yes. Once I start showing the photos, Han Sujin will realize right away why I’m showing such images. Then I’ll expose the photos of the fruit and the knife, and lastly, show the family photo; when she sees the first child, a reaction will surely appear. Because the first child is the target against whom Han Sujin used the knife.”

“And then you link the reactions to the questions.”

“Yes. Once all the photos have been shown, she might confess before the questions even start.”

“I see. The physical evidence is certain, but it’s safer to get a confession before the trial if we can. Is Han Sujin’s older sister able to come?”

“Yes, Prosecutor. She said she would come immediately.”

As I finished speaking, a notification flickered on the monitor that a reference witness had arrived. I put on my access pass, which I had taken off because it was heavy, and stood up from my seat.

“I’ve received a notification that she has arrived, so I’ll go bring her up.”

Han Sujin’s sister, whom I met again, looked pale and anxious, as if she had guessed the situation. Her face looked much thinner than when I had summoned her to take a witness statement last week.

She did not say a word while riding the elevator with me to the inner office of the prosecutor’s office. I sat across from her on the sofa and requested in a polite but firm voice.

“We are scheduled to conduct a polygraph test on Ms. Han Sujin today. Please cooperate so that she can confess.”

“Oh my… Sujin…”

She finally burst into tears. She wiped away her tears with her fingertips and couldn’t continue for a while. I silently handed her a tissue. Clutching the tissue that had quickly become wet with tears, Han Sujin’s sister said in a trembling whisper.

“This is all because of my brother-in-law.”

I agreed with her.

“I know. I know that Ms. Han Sujin’s husband is the reason for her financial difficulties. However, that is an issue for you to persuade your brother-in-law to plead for leniency from the court; if Ms. Han Sujin refuses to confess and drags things out, it won’t be favorable to her sentencing. The evidence is certain.”

“…Are you certain that my brother-in-law is not involved?”

“Based on the circumstances, that is the case. After the children died, Ms. Han Sujin was separated from her husband. She stayed at your house and didn’t even meet him. Usually, after a couple commits a crime together, even those who didn’t get along tend to strengthen their bond out of fear that one of them might betray the other and confess.”

“I see…”

“Of course, we intend to check whether the husband is involved while conducting the polygraph test today. Because there might be an unknown possibility.”

“Yes. Please, I beg you, do that. She is really not that kind of person. There is no way Sujin would have done it alone. Maybe if her husband ordered her to.”

Han Sujin’s sister still wanted to believe in her younger sister. Prosecutor Joo’s words that families of perpetrators do not accept the situation as it is, even with clear evidence, came to mind. My heart ached.

I, too, had blindly believed in my father for 15 years, just like Han Sujin’s sister. If I hadn’t testified that I heard the second son of President Kang Woosung press the password on the front door twice, or if I hadn’t known that my father’s DNA was found on the awl placed like an exhibit, I would have continued to maintain my misguided belief.

People endure as much as they can until their faith collapses. Because truth is more cruel than lies. And yet, led by Prosecutor Joo, I chose to pursue the truth. Foolishly.

“Then, please wait here, and I will bring Ms. Han Sujin down.”

“Yes, thank you.”