Rust - Chapter 23



Only Krnovel

RUST-23

interrogation room,

Maru was a little flustered by the unexpected situation. He had clearly reported to the Narcotics Division 3 where there was a detective, but the person sitting in front of him was someone he had never seen before.

“I can hear your head spinning from here. Stop whining and be honest. What’s going on with Director Choi and Director Baek? Huh?”

Maru answered indifferently.

“How do I know what happened to those people? I went to a PC room and came back and found someone dead, so I reported it.”

Maru’s shoulders trembled as if he was shivering at the sight of the corpse. He trembled as he thought about Naru’s antics, and the perfect trembling came back.

Detective Ahn laughed as if he was amazed at the sight of such a floor.

“Ha- This kid would fool someone who doesn’t know the world. He’d fool you. Hey- Baekjeong, are you the kind of person who would be shaken by seeing a dead person? That’s it. Director Choi and Director Baek went to pick you up and that’s what happened. Was that you? That can’t be right. Did you two-timing them by any chance? Did you reach out to Crystal?”

Maru immediately had a feeling when he heard the word Baekjeong. This guy is a swindler. Chief Hong’s influence is even in the police. No, it’s not Chief Hong, but a swindler of the organization?

Is this just one person? Are there more people on the higher level? Considering the organization’s ability to mobilize cash, there probably aren’t just one or two detectives running around the field.

“What are you talking about? Why are those people coming for me? I said I was at the PC room. Why don’t you check the CCTV or something?”

Detective Ahn said, flipping through the documents with a look on his face like, “Look at this.”

“Hey- I have a good eye for people, and it’s normal for a 24-year-old to naturally feel intimidated when they enter the interrogation room. Whether or not they’re guilty… But it’s rare for a kid like you to act like the world is unfair and not be a dirty kid. So let’s stop kidding and go straight to nature. Telling me everything you know right now is the shortcut to living safely today. Do you know what I mean?”

It was Detective Ahn who was grinning.

The interrogation room door opened wide. A detective came in, wiping his face with a towel. The white towel was stained with black soot.

“Ah- Detective Ahn, are you really going to keep doing this? Is there some kind of honey on my case? Is there some kind of sweet smell? Why do you keep checking the liver? Didn’t you decide not to do this?”

“Detective Han, this isn’t something you’re doing out of selfish motives. It’s a murder case! And there are two bodies found at once. World’s Chief Choi and Chief Baek are dead. In this person’s house. But why is it the house of the informant who reported the drug? You’re going to investigate this alone?”

“Isn’t that obvious? You reported it to me, it’s a case under the jurisdiction of Section 3, and we’re also tracking it down, so what’s the problem?”

“If you keep acting like this, Manager Lee will really dislike me.”

Detective Ahn growled softly. Detective Han blew his nose with the towel he was wiping his face with, then squeezed the towel into Detective Ahn’s hand and said.

“I don’t know when you thought of me so kindly, but I’ll definitely tell you that I appreciate your concern.”

Detective Ahn’s face turned bright red. Before leaving, Detective Ahn glared at Maru and spoke with his lips.

‘If you want to live, behave yourself.’

Maru stared blankly at the sight. As Detective Ahn went out, Detective Han sat down.

“Ha- You must have had a hard time. I don’t think that person is doing this out of spite. He just wants to take credit.”

A detective took out a cigarette and held it out to me.

“You don’t smoke? Oh, right. Last time too.”

“I’m fine. Make yourself comfortable.”

“Whew- This is how it is when you do this job. There are cases where the wife who reported her husband’s death is the culprit, and cases where the husband who reported his wife’s death is the culprit. There are also cases where this happens even among family members. When you come home and report that someone has died, the first thing we do in this job is to investigate the person who reported it.”

A detective took a deep drag on his cigarette.

“I just got back from the scene. I stopped by the PC room on my way here and checked the CCTV. You didn’t even change your clothes. You still have your hat and glasses. But you weren’t wearing your glasses last time.”

“Ah- These glasses? They’re the glasses I wear as safety glasses when I play games. I also wear them sometimes when I drive at night.”

One detective chuckled.

“Yeah, they said the phone location history will be out tomorrow. Are Director Choi and Director Baek completely unknown to you?”

This was a guiding question. I had worked at World Livestock for almost two years. I was not Director Baek, but I knew Director Choi. Even if World Livestock had completely burned down, all the employees who were off duty on Saturdays were still alive. Maybe they had already heard the situation.

“I’ve seen Director Choi a few times at the company.”

“Really? But why did Director Choi die at your house?

Are all detectives like this? Maru thought that nothing was easy. How many stupid cops and incompetent detectives were there in movies? Am I the only one who gets involved with these people?

Detective Ahn, who just left, was like this, and detective Han, who is sitting in front of me now, is like this. There really wasn’t a single person who was easy.

“I don’t know either. I was so surprised when I turned on the light at night.”

“You must be surprised. I mentioned it briefly last time, but the company you worked for, World Livestock. I had a suspicion that it was the workplace of a drug-related organization, and although all the evidence was gone, my suspicion grew that there might be a connection between the World Group and drugs.”

A detective who saw the drugs stored with his eyes but was seething again because all the evidence was gone, quickly lit a cigarette.

“Phew- But you know. There’s something strange. There’s no sign that Director Choi or Director Baek opened the door. Strange, right? Then there are two possible situations. Either Director Choi or Director Baek has your house key, or if you keep your key outside, they know where you left it and opened the door.”

“······.”

“Or someone was home, so they opened the front door and came in. Anyway, if you look at it broadly, they opened the door and came in. Or someone opened the door and they came in. It’s one of the two.”

“If you look at the circumstances of Director Choi’s death, that’s true. He was killed in a surprise attack. You may not know this, but Director Choi is a well-known person in this area, nationwide. But he was attacked by a surprise attack. That means the person who attacked him was someone he knew. Or, he was someone who was not considered dangerous enough to be imagined as a surprise attack.”

A detective exhaled a long stream of smoke upward and looked at the floor. His eyes were narrowed. His eyes were still tired, but his gaze was sharp.

It’s a bluff using psychology. Maru knew it instinctively. Didn’t detective Han himself say it? He had already been to the PC room.

So, I didn’t even know that Maru wasn’t at the PC room and that he had hired a stand-in. If that was the case, I would have thought that his composure would definitely be shaken by this question.

Maru was careful with his words. Instead, he looked curious.

The detective lit another cigarette.

“Then, someone who knew Director Choi went into your house, waited for Director Choi to come, killed Director Choi, and then killed Director Baek in a short period of time. As I said earlier, those two people were well-known nationwide. But there’s almost no evidence of a fight. Director Choi was hit once, and Director Baek couldn’t hold out for more than a few minutes before dying.”

One detective spoke as if he was talking to himself. Maru faithfully played the role of a listener who listened carefully to one detective’s words.

“Anyway, don’t worry, you’ll be cleared of charges tomorrow once the cell phone location tracking results, PC room access records, and surrounding CCTV footage are all analyzed. The scene isn’t cleared yet, so you’ll have to sleep outside. Where should I sleep today? Should I sleep at a friend’s house?”

He was not the type of person to let his guard down even for a moment. One detective wanted to know who his close friend was. Later, if he dug through all the phone records, Ki-soon would come out, but if he went that far, he would have to be identified as a prime suspect. Since that was not going to happen, Maru responded calmly.

“No. I’m going to sleep at a nearby motel. If it’s not a big deal, I have some business to attend to in Japan, so can I go there for 3-4 days, or at most a week?”

“Japan? There’s chaos because of the earthquake? You said you were in Tokyo, Japan?”

“Yes. I have to help people I met there, and there are some things that weren’t sorted out because I left in a hurry.”

A detective tilted his head.

“Well- If the investigation results come out tomorrow as not guilty, then it’ll be okay. But I can still ask for additional cooperation, so bring your cell phone with you.”

“Okay. And what you said, Detective Ahn?”

“Why? Did Detective Ahn make you feel bad? It’s a murder case, so the investigation is a bit like that, especially if you can’t decide on a suspect in the beginning, it tends to drag on.”

“No. I think you know the world side well.”

One detective chuckled.

“That’s because Detective Ahn is also trying to bring up something on the World side. Then let’s take a break for about 20 minutes and then finish up. I also have some things to look at.”

“Okay. Can you come here in 20 minutes?”

“Okay. If you happen to go out and want to eat something, just let me know and I’ll have it delivered. I can give you that much convenience.”

Detective Ahn… So you’re saying that you left the fish shop to the cat? It’s just being robbed from the inside.

Maru sighed softly. It wasn’t easy to think that there was a traitor within the organization. It would be especially difficult to think that someone who sweated and bled with you in the field was a traitor.

Maru wondered what to do. It was clear that Detective Ahn and the gang would come looking for Maru. They wouldn’t come looking for him, and if he left the office, they would be waiting for him.

You’ll need to hire a detective to get him off, and based on what I’ve talked to the detectives for so far, the longer you stay with this guy, the higher the chance of getting caught.

There was no evidence that Detective Ahn was the ringleader, so it was impossible to expose him. But if we left Detective Ahn alone, he would obviously tire Maru out since he was someone who was openly connected to the organization.

If you were to set up a shield with just one detective, that detective’s intuition and ability were not insignificant.

‘The best thing is when two people stick together.’

How about this? A detective witnessing Detective Ahn, who was a sly part of the organization, dying at the hands of the organization. At that moment, Detective Ahn’s story came to Maru’s mind.

‘Crystal?’

The crystal that Detective Ahn was talking about must have been a hostile or rival organization. What if that organization targeted Detective Ahn and made it seem like they were killing him?

No, that’s too obvious.

How about making it look like that? So what if we twist it one more time and make it look like the World Group attacked Crystal and threw Detective Ahn away?

One detective will realize that Detective Ahn may have been a World operative, and will be extremely wary of the organization. World will be concerned about Crystal, who they believe killed their police force.

The picture was drawn, but to draw the picture, you had to be a very good shooter. And Maru happened to know a woman who could shoot a gun very well.

Maru stood at the entrance leading outside and picked up the cannon phone. Kim Yang answered the phone, panting slightly.

[I’m busy right now. Why?]

“Can you be ready to sniper within an hour?”

[Why again?]

“I think I need to take a quick look here.”

[You said you were going to be investigated by a salty fish, and then you suddenly sniped? Is sniping a little bit? Who’s going to clean up after it? This is crazy!]

“I’m not crazy. I’m not telling you to shoot the police, so don’t worry. The organization will take care of the aftermath, within an hour. Since it’s related to the organization, prepare thoroughly.”

After saying everything he wanted to say, Maru immediately turned off his phone.

It’s a matter of the account.