CHAPTER 10
Kang Yul sat at his desk in the office, flipping through the pages of the case report.
It was the ‘Namcheon City Riverside Death Case’ that had occurred early the previous morning.
As he slowly examined the details of the case, one particular phrase caught his attention.
‘Presumed suicide.’
Kang Yul’s fingertips stopped on the paper.
“They’ve already reached a conclusion without even performing an autopsy?”
At his low murmur, Junsu, who was standing beside him, cautiously added an explanation.
“That’s how the Violent Crimes Division reported it. Charcoal briquettes were found inside the car, and they apparently found a note resembling a suicide note in the victim’s bag.”
“A note?”
Kang Yul narrowed his eyebrows.
“They said it contained something about her having difficulty because of debt.”
“What about the crime-scene examination?”
“They focused mainly on the inside of the vehicle, and I heard they withdrew this morning. And…”
Junsu hesitated briefly before continuing.
“The vehicle was confirmed to be a rental car. However, the rental records aren’t clean, so they apparently haven’t identified the actual user yet.”
Without saying anything, Kang Yul opened the attached crime-scene photographs below the report.
Inside the vehicle, the charcoal briquettes placed on the passenger seat had already burned down to ash, while the victim’s body was in the driver’s seat beside them.
Her back was straight, her hands neatly placed on her lap, and even her clothes were arranged neatly without a single sign of disarray.
Kang Yul’s eyes slowly narrowed.
‘Too neat.’
For someone who had supposedly taken her own life alone inside a car, her posture was excessively composed.
He scrolled through the photographs again.
In the enlarged image, two of the woman’s fingernails were broken, with faint traces of blood underneath them.
Kang Yul’s gaze stopped.
Before lighting the charcoal briquettes, what could have happened that would cause someone to break their fingernails?
Without taking his eyes off the fingernails in the photograph, Kang Yul’s doubt hardened into something close to certainty.
Those were clearly signs of resistance.
Far too suspicious to simply dismiss as suicide.
His gaze moved to another photograph.
A piece of fabric had been found beside the body.
Under the pale lighting, it appeared to be a white piece of cloth, possibly from the lining of a coat.
And at the bottom of the photograph was a note:
‘One item secured — fiber analysis pending.’
Kang Yul let out a short breath and scoffed.
“‘Pending’ means it hasn’t been done yet.”
He immediately called the investigative command office.
“This is Seo Kang Yul from the Violent Crimes Division. Put me through to Chief Kim of the Namcheon Police Station Crime Scene Investigation Team.”
—Yes, Prosecutor. One moment, please.
After a brief silence mixed with static, a familiar low voice came through.
—Yes, this is Chief Kim.
“Have you submitted the official forensic examination results for the riverside case?”
—Not the official report yet. Since the circumstances at the scene suggested suicide, we only submitted our initial assessment.
“You reached a conclusion based on ‘circumstances’ without even conducting a proper forensic examination?”
—Pardon? Ah, well… charcoal briquettes were found inside the vehicle, so…
“That makes it sound as though finding charcoal briquettes means even a murder can be called a suicide.”
A brief silence followed.
Kang Yul slowly rubbed the space between his eyebrows.
It was unbelievably sloppy.
No wonder they had failed to secure a single proper piece of evidence in the first murder case.
He let out a low breath.
“That’s enough.”
After hanging up, Kang Yul remained lost in thought for a moment.
If the forensic examination had been inadequate, then the initial investigation could not be trusted either.
He soon called Junsu.
“Investigator, contact Detective Park at Namcheon Station.”
“Detective Park?”
“Yes. We’re going to conduct another scene inspection. I’ll go there myself.”
Kang Yul closed the report on his desk and picked up his jacket.
It was time to check things for himself.
Even though it was the middle of the day, the area around the river felt gloomy.
Kang Yul stood beside Detective Park from the Crime Division, staring at the location where the vehicle had been found.
“Prosecutor, the vehicle examination has already been completed… Is there a reason you wanted to inspect the scene again?”
Detective Park asked cautiously.
Keeping his gaze fixed ahead, Kang Yul answered calmly.
“It was a rental car, wasn’t it? And even the identity of the person who rented it is unclear.”
“That is true, but…”
“Is that all? This case had already been concluded before an autopsy was even performed.”
He let out a short breath.
“When the results come out too quickly, they’re usually wrong.”
Detective Park was momentarily speechless and awkwardly cleared his throat.
Meanwhile, the wind swept across the river.
Kang Yul looked toward the area inside the police line.
Only faint traces of fluorescent marking tape remained where the forensic team had worked.
“The area inside the line has already been cleaned up, but I can show you around if you need.”
“Let’s do that.”
Wearing gloves, Kang Yul quietly stepped inside.
Only traces of the cleaned-up scene remained on the hardened ground.
“This is where the vehicle was found.”
At Detective Park’s words, Kang Yul lowered himself.
Near the spot where the vehicle had been parked were irregular drag marks left in the dirt.
Kang Yul frowned, visually measuring the distance between them.
“These marks were made after the person got out of the vehicle.”
“Then… are you saying something happened here?”
“I’m saying she may have already been dead before she came here.”
Detective Park cautiously asked,
“Then… why bring her all the way here?”
“We need to find out why the vehicle was here in the first place.”
He paused briefly before adding in a low voice,
“And whether this incident really involved ‘one person’ alone.”
Detective Park’s face hardened.
Kang Yul turned around and immediately began giving instructions.
“Reexamine the inside of the vehicle. Not some formal recheck. Check the inside of the driver’s door, the passenger-side floor, and every place where fibers could have fallen.”
“Again?”
“Her fingernails were broken. We can’t rule out the possibility that she was injured while resisting. Tell the medical examiner as well. Have them carefully examine the bleeding beneath the nails, microscopic injuries, everything.”
“Yes.”
“Also thoroughly check when the charcoal briquettes were purchased. Confirm whether the victim actually bought them herself.”
Kang Yul slowly stood and surveyed his surroundings.
It was exactly what he had expected.
The scene and the report were completely different.
The fact that the initial investigation had been rushed in the first place was suspicious enough.
‘This isn’t suicide. It’s homicide.’
He let out a short breath and raised his head.
Then he added one final instruction.
“Detective Park.”
“Yes, Prosecutor.”
“Let’s rewrite the report.”
“Pardon?”
“I think you know why.”
Detective Park opened his mouth, then stopped.
It seemed he could not think of anything to argue.
The police line fluttered in the wind, making a sound like tearing fabric.
Leaving the sound behind him, Kang Yul quietly turned and walked away.
Behind him, the gentle ripples of the river flowed slowly.
The alley in Samho-dong was sparsely populated as the night air grew colder.
Damju carefully walked along, illuminating the path with the light from her phone.
This was the place where the woman had been dragged away the night before.
At the entrance of the narrow alley leading toward the river, faint black tire marks were still visible on the ground.
“This was the place…”
Damju narrowed her eyes.
She looked up at the security cameras installed on the buildings one by one.
Most of them were either turned off or pointed in completely different directions.
“If there had only been one working CCTV camera…”
She muttered as she leaned her body around the corner.
That was when she heard footsteps amid the chilly wind.
Tap, tap, tap—
The footsteps were regular, but strangely uneven.
Damju instinctively turned around.
At that moment—
“There.”
Someone was approaching through the darkness.
A man who appeared to be in his mid-forties.
He looked ordinary on the surface, but there was something about him that gave off an inexplicably frightening sense of threat.
“I’ve seen you in front of the clubs around Shini-dong, right? I saw you.”
His eyes were smiling yet strangely empty, and there was an unusual excitement in his breathing.
The man approached, dragging one foot slightly, before stepping into the streetlight.
Damju instinctively studied his face.
A shiver ran through her entire body.
There was something familiar about him.
‘…That face.’
It was Han Sangtae, the sex offender who had been released from prison recently.
‘Was he the one whose gaze I could feel behind me?’
Damju’s eyes dropped toward the man’s ankle.
There was a faint swelling around it.
A black band was slightly visible.
It was unmistakably an electronic ankle bracelet.
Her heart pounded violently, but Damju forced herself to smile calmly.
“Oh, really? I didn’t notice. There were so many people.”
Han Sangtae grinned and took another step toward her.
“Really? I recognized you right away. You were always alone, weren’t you? Lonely.”
His lips came close enough to her ear that she could feel his breath.
“I know a better place… Want to go there with me?”
His voice was sleazy and sticky.
Inside, Damju had already frozen with fear.
But screaming was out of the question.
Making a scene would be dangerous.
She had to remain calm no matter what.
Damju repeated those thoughts to herself dozens of times as she maintained a composed expression.
“Ah, I’d like to, but… I’m a little tired today. Maybe next time…”
“Next time?”
His face twisted in an instant.
“There is no next time.”
The man roughly grabbed Damju by the wrist.
“Let’s go now.”
“Ah! Let go of me!”
His grip tightened around her wrist as though he were crushing her bones.
Damju resisted with her entire body, but her wrist was twisted painfully.
“Let go! I said let go!”
Damju’s struggling voice echoed through the alley.
But a crooked smile spread across Han Sangtae’s face.
“If you make noise, I’ll shut you up first.”
Damju gritted her teeth and kicked at him.
But he yanked her arm even harder.
“Quit messing around and come quietly. While I’m asking nicely.”
Then—
“Nicely?”
An unfamiliar, low voice dropped through the alley like a blade.
Han Sangtae’s wrist was twisted in an instant.
“AAARGH!”
Han Sangtae screamed as if his bones were about to snap.
“Wh-who the hell are you…!”
Then, a man walked out from the darkness.
He was dressed in training clothes, but not a single part of him looked disheveled.
His straight shoulders and cold, sunken eyes radiated a firm sense of intimidation even in the darkness.
The stranger’s voice came down low and firmly.
“I’m the Grim Reaper who hunts scum like you, you bastard. Keep your eyes down.”
Thud!
With a heavy impact, the man dropped to his knees.
After a brief silence, the stranger’s gaze finally turned toward Damju.
“Are you all right?”
There was a firm warmth hidden beneath the coldness of his voice.
Only then did Damju inhale sharply and raise her head.
A familiar face appeared beneath the streetlight.
Surprise and confusion crossed her face at the same time.
It was Seo Kang Yul.
