Dangerous Investigation Diary

Ep. 22 ° Puppet Suicide Case (5)

After Inspector Min finished speaking, a cold silence flowed through the office. I couldn’t even look into Inspector Min’s eyes, which were 300 degrees wide, and I looked at Inspector Choi for a while before looking at Inspector Kim. Inspector Kim shook his head without saying a word. Perhaps, he meant that I shouldn’t say anything.

하여주 [28]

"...After this incident is over, would it be okay if I spoke to you in more depth, Inspector?"

민윤기 [31]

"Okay, do that."

민윤기 [31]

"First, you go to the infirmary."

정호석 [30]

"Yeah, you stubborn bull."

정호석 [30]

"Are you coming here before the infirmary to talk about that?"

하여주 [28]

"I'm afraid I'll forget again... haha"

정호석 [30]

"Let's go. The infirmary staff is on vacation, so I'll look after them."

하여주 [28]

"yes~"

As Officer Jeong and Officer Ha left the office in a chaotic atmosphere, silence flowed through the office once again. What broke the silence was Officer Min’s voice, which was even colder than the silence.

민윤기 [31]

"...So, Inspector Kim. Who are you?"

김석진 [32]

"Huh? What?"

민윤기 [31]

"Who is the guy who touched Officer Ha?"

김석진 [32]

"...I don't know, I...just..."

민윤기 [31]

"...You guys probably know the gist of it."

When Inspector Kim avoided answering, Inspector Min’s sharp eyes moved to Inspector Kim, Inspector Park, Inspector Kim, and Patrolman Jeon. Inspector Kim opened his mouth on behalf of his juniors who were feeling the killing intent in Inspector Min’s eyes.

김남준 [30]

"...He could have ended up like that alone. In any case, we don't know."

김남준 [30]

"Sergeant Ha said he would tell me once the case was over."

민윤기 [31]

"What kind of thing do you have to do alone to get that kind of heaven?"

민윤기 [31]

"You can tell just by looking at it who hit him."

민윤기 [31]

"I said I went to Imjeon High School, but Imjeon High School is closed so there won't be anyone there..."

김석진 [32]

"...Detective Min, you already know everything,"

When Superintendent Kim, who had been quietly listening to Superintendent Min mumbling to himself, asked him a question with a slightly suspicious voice, Superintendent Min burst out laughing.

민윤기 [31]

"Well... okay. I guess he'd understand by now, right?"

민윤기 [31]

"This is your final warning."

김석진 [32]

"...Ha, Officer Min, you really."

민윤기 [31]

"Didn't I tell you this once?"

민윤기 [31]

"I will make sure that anyone who touches the youngest gets expelled from the school."

Although he looked calm, unwavering, and relaxed, Superintendent Kim flinched at the sight of Superintendent Min. Thinking back to when Superintendent Min first joined the team, Superintendent Kim avoided Superintendent Min’s eyes and turned his gaze to the computer monitor.

Meanwhile, Officer Jeong and Officer Ha opened the infirmary door with a master key after receiving permission from the infirmary staff. Officer Jeong motioned for Officer Ha to sit on a small round chair while he himself began to look for medicines needed for treatment.

Officer Ha, who was watching Officer Jeong's back like that, suddenly opened his mouth and spoke to Officer Jeong.

하여주 [28]

"Sergeant Jeong. But..."

정호석 [30]

"huh?"

하여주 [28]

"Sir... why did you want to become a police officer?"

At that question, Officer Jeong, whose hand was searching for medicine, stopped for a moment, closed the medicine cabinet door, pulled out the same chair that Officer Ha was sitting in, and sat down in front of Officer Ha. There was still no answer to Officer Ha’s question.

하여주 [28]

"...If you were interested in the medical field, Officer Jeong, you could have chosen a career in the medical field. Why?"

정호석 [30]

"mouth."

The method that Officer Jeong chose to use to stop Officer Ha's chattering was to apply medicine to his cracked lips. When Officer Ha stopped talking, Officer Jeong silently applied medicine to Officer Ha's lips.

정호석 [30]

"....."

Seeing the complicated and subtle expression on the officer’s face, Officer Ha couldn’t ask any more questions and had no choice but to remain silent while receiving treatment. Officer Ha once again thought that his seniors were hiding a lot from him.

When the treatment was almost over, just when it was time to apply ointment to the last wound and put a bandage on it, a crackling sound came from the walkie-talkies attached to the two people's waists, and soon, Sergeant Kim's voice was heard from the earpiece.

김남준 [30]

@ "Detective Jeong. Respond."

At the voice of Detective Kim looking for Detective Jeong, Detective Jeong put down the cotton swab with ointment on it and pressed down on the earbud to answer.

정호석 [30]

@ "Yes, Sergeant Jeong of the 1st Violent Team."

김남준 [30]

@ "Is the treatment finished? It's time to come to a conclusion."

정호석 [30]

@ "Oh, there's one band left to kill. I'll finish it quickly and go up."

김남준 [30]

@ "Yes, I have confirmed it. Please process it quickly-"

정호석 [30]

@ "Okay, I'll hang up the radio."

When communicating on the radio, it was polite to use a little honorifics even if they were colleagues or had the same rank. As soon as Sergeant Jeong hung up the radio, he put on the last bandage and stood up from his chair as he spoke to Officer Ha.

정호석 [30]

"You heard that too? He told me to hurry up and get up."

Still, seeing the appearance of the cold-hearted Jung, Officer Ha felt sorry for no reason, thinking that he had touched a place that should not have been touched. So Officer Ha stood up from his chair, vowing not to bring up this matter any more. He frowned, as if the wound on his face, where ointment had been applied, was painful.

When he saw Officer Jeong and Officer Ha entering the office, Superintendent Kim got up from his seat and went to the board. At the round table in front of the board, an unexpected person was sitting. It was the victim’s mother, Ms. Bae Joo-yeon.

김석진 [32]

"Ms. Bae Joo-yeon."

배주연 [50]

"...yes."

김석진 [32]

"These results are the final decision we make after conducting a reinvestigation."

김석진 [32]

"You agree to acknowledge this, correct?"

배주연 [50]

"yes..."

김석진 [32]

"...Let's hear the results in a briefing."

김석진 [32]

"Sergeant Kim, come out."

김태형 [29]

김태형 [29]

"...Hello. My name is Sergeant Kim Tae-hyung."

김태형 [29]

"First of all, my daughter, Joo Seon-yeong, was found dead on the playground of Imjeon High School, where she was attending, at around 5:00 PM on May 13th."

김태형 [29]

"According to the testimony of a student who was studying at the time, they heard a loud thud and went out to see Joo Seon-yeong collapsed on the playground."

김태형 [29]

"We conducted an autopsy and questioned the student's classmates and homeroom teacher, and concluded that it was suicide by jumping."

김태형 [29]

"What we additionally learned after the reinvestigation is that Ms. Joo Seon-yeong was a victim of school violence on a regular basis, and the students seemed to have turned a blind eye to it even though they knew about it."

김태형 [29]

"However, since no additional testimony or evidence was found after this fact, it was determined that further investigation was impossible."

김태형 [29]

"So, we have once again determined the cause of death to be 'suicide by jumping'."

Bae Ju-yeon's eyes filled with tears as she listened to the briefing by Police Chief Kim. Unlike when she was certain that he would not commit suicide, her expression seemed somewhat accepting when she heard that he had been a victim of school violence, but the tragedy of losing her child could not be hidden.

배주연 [50]

"...all right."

김태형 [29]

"...thank you."

김태형 [29]

"Here, please sign."

Team 1 of the Violent Crimes Unit will never forget the sight of Ms. Bae Joo-yeon's hands trembling as she picked up the ballpoint pen, a single teardrop from her eyes falling on the consent form for investigation, Sergeant Kim tracing the tear stain with his thumb, and the gloomy air at that time.

So, after getting Bae Ju-yeon's consent, the case was more or less concluded. As the person in charge of writing the investigation log, I wrote a few lines, but I couldn't forget Bae Ju-yeon's trembling hands and tears, so I took the investigation log and went outside.

The place where I stopped after walking and walking was Imjeon High School. It wasn't that far from the west, but the road was quite complicated, so I had to make up my mind to get there, but I got even more depressed when I thought about how I had walked there without thinking.

Was that child really suffering so much that he took his own life?

하여주 [28]

"...under."

As I took a deep breath and turned to go back, a boy was running towards me at the end of the street. I stopped walking and looked closely at his face. It was the boy who had spoken to us at school.

한기범 [19]

"hey...!"

하여주 [28]

"Uh... yes?"

한기범 [19]

"Do you... remember me?"

하여주 [28]

"Yeah... what..."

한기범 [19]

"...Has that case been closed by any chance?"

하여주 [28]

"Oh, it's not over yet, but it's already been concluded. I'm writing the investigation log."

한기범 [19]

"........It's a bit embarrassing to say this now, but."

한기범 [19]

"Is it okay if I tell you what I know?"

The story the boy told was shocking. He said he knew the exact cause of the child's death and that he could at least prove that it was not suicide, and he cried and begged for a chance, even if it was late. I said I understood and calmed him down and brought him to me.

전정국 [27]

"...What is this guy?"

하여주 [28]

"...Ah, that's..."

박지민 [29]

"Oh, you..."

한기범 [19]

"...hello."

김석진 [32]

"Officer Ha. Who are you?"

하여주 [28]

"It was a male student who spoke to the field team searching Imjeon High School during the investigation."

하여주 [28]

"I ran into him when I went out to get some fresh air. He came running to me as soon as he saw me and said he knew the victim's cause of death."

김남준 [30]

"...what?"

하여주 [28]

"It's late, but... I asked for a chance to make a statement..."

한기범 [19]

"...Please, detectives."

김태형 [29]

".....Okay, I understand."

김태형 [29]

"Shall we sit here?"

Chief Kim must have thought it was too much to take a young boy to that scary interrogation room, so he told him to sit down at the round table where Bae Ju-yeon had been sitting earlier. The boy sat down, hesitantly. And Chief Kim sat down in front of the boy, holding a notebook.

김태형 [29]

"Well... should I introduce myself briefly?"

한기범 [19]

"Uh... My name is Han Ki-beom, and I'm a third-year student at Imjeon High School."

김태형 [29]

"Wow, you're handsome, and your name is handsome too."

If you look closely, it seems that Detective Kim's skills change depending on the subject of the interrogation. He continued the interrogation in a light atmosphere for the nervous boy, no, for Ki-beom.

김태형 [29]

"Shall I explain that incident to you once?"

Now, it's finally time for the full story of the case shrouded in mystery to be revealed. I hope you'll keep up the good work until this tiresome joint investigation comes to an end.

It's exam period... but I feel like I haven't written much, so I've shortened the amount 🥹 Instead, the next episode will be full of content because it will conclude the 'puppet suicide case' and prepare cookies at the same time 🍪 Please look forward to it and see you in the next episode! Thank you for waiting 💙

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