The Legendary Detective Catches All the Criminals - Chapter 8
Only Krnovel
◈Episode 8◈
Reality
Shin Dae-seong nodded and asked.
“Is that guy the director of the old ‘Healing Game’?”
“That’s right. He’s director Ko Jang-ho, who mainly makes thrillers. He may have a crazy personality, but his skills are recognized. He’s even won awards overseas.”
“You seem to be a bit picky. What was your alibi after you disappeared?”
“The detectives searched everything, but they found nothing. He even passed a lie detector test of his own free will.”
“Many of the staff here have also been involved in missing person incidents.”
“Yes, Director Ko Jang-ho doesn’t change his staff very often.”
“Do you treat your staff well?”
“No. Because we can’t find another staff member. No wonder Director Ko Jang-ho’s nickname is ‘Sapae’.”
“What is a failure?”
“It’s an abbreviation for psychopath······!”
Soon, Kim Han-gyeol apologized to Shin Dae-seong.
“I’m sorry, Detective Shin. I didn’t mean to tease you.”
“No, it’s okay. It’s true that I’m a loser······.”
Shin Dae-seong turned his gaze towards the actors.
“What is the title of the movie you’re filming now?”
“What was it······ Ah, it’s the ‘Betrayal Game’.”
“Director Go Jang-ho likes the title Game? Detective Kim’s mother is the main character?”
“No. You could call it a friendly appearance. The main character is an actress who got slapped by her mother. Her name is Shim Soo-jin, she’s in her early 40s, and she used to be an actress who specialized in adultery, but now she’s become a national villain actress.”
Filming resumed.
Jang Hye-ran, dressed as a noblewoman, started speaking.
“I told you to break up with my husband.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am… I love you, sir.”
“Love? Do you think I’ve been through something like you once or twice? How much would it take for it to go away?”
“I don’t want anything. I just want to be with you, sir.”
“This is the devil!”
-match-.
Jang Hye-ran slapped Shim Soo-jin on the cheek.
The sound alone seemed to be very painful, and the actors and staff waited for the director’s sign.
“okay!”
Director Ko Jang-ho shouted happily.
At the same time, Jang Hye-ran quickly hugged Shin Su-jin.
“How, did it really hurt?”
“No, I’m fine. Go to the tent and rest, Sister.”
As they headed to the tent for the lead actors, they found Kim Han-gyeol with Shin Dae-sung.
“Oh my, son! What are you doing here?”
“I just······ came to see my mom while I was passing by.”
“Really? Something seems a bit strange?”
Kim Han-gyeol turned away from his mother’s gaze and greeted Shim Soo-jin.
“Hello? Mrs. Sujin.”
“Yeah, how are you doing?”
Kim Hye-ran asked her son.
“Who is with you? Are you a detective from Gangnam 2?”
“yes that’s right.”
“What? Did your team leader get fired in the end?”
“No! Why is our perfectly fine team leader being cut off? The person here is detective Shin Dae-seong. He is my partner.”
Kim Hye-ran bowed politely at a nearly 90-degree angle.
“Han-gyeol is a mother. He is a son who still has many shortcomings. I am shameless, but I ask you to take good care of him.”
“No, I am the one receiving help.”
“You don’t have to say things that you don’t mean. If there’s something that bothers you, please point it out right away. Otherwise, Han-gyeol’s bad habits will only get worse.”
“It’s true. Thanks to Detective Kim, it’s become much easier to adapt to society. We work well together and have already solved one case.”
“How can there be such an angelic detective? His style is elegant like that of a British gentleman. I hope Han-gyeol and I can be partners for a long time. Maybe marriage?”
“mom······.”
“Okay, okay. But your name sounds familiar?”
“You must have seen it on TV. He was falsely accused of killing his wife, was sent to prison, and then was released.”
“That’s right, detective Sapae!”
“yes······.”
Shin Dae-seong now knows what Sapae is an abbreviation for.
I thought maybe she would change her behavior and object to me becoming her son’s partner.
“It’s an honor! I’m really touched by Detective Shin’s determination not to give up. Son, this is something you can’t learn even with money. Always stay by Detective Shin’s side.”
“Yeah, I’m sure it will.”
It was a needless worry. Kim Hye-ran and Kim Han-gyeol showed a more proactive attitude.
“Let’s not do this here. Let’s talk inside the tent.”
Kim Hye-ran went inside first.
Immediately she changed her expression and asked.
“What brings you here? My son never shows up on the set where I work.”
Shin Dae-seong answered truthfully.
“We’re investigating the disappearance of a new actress. This is the filming location where she went missing.”
“Are you going to investigate that case again? By any chance······Gahee’s body was found······.”
“No. I’m investigating this out of personal curiosity. I think Detective Kim’s mother would know a lot about this case.”
“I was close with Ga-hee. First, I need to sort out our titles. My mother thinks I’m too old… Honestly, Detective Shin and I aren’t that much older, right?”
“There is a two year age difference.”
“Am I two years younger?”
“No, you are two years older than me.”
Kim Hye-ran reacts awkwardly and with surprise.
“How on earth do you take care of your skin? Your skin is better than mine, even though I get professional care.”
“I don’t necessarily want to recommend prison life. Then should I call you actress Kim Hye-ran?”
“That also feels a bit stiff, so please call me by my name.”
“Okay, Hye-ran. How is the entertainment industry reacting to Yoon Ga-hee’s kidnapping?”
“Of course it’s because of the curse of the Rookie of the Year award.”
Shim Soo-jin also nodded as if she completely agreed.
“Detective, you might be surprised. Do you believe in curses these days? But! I have seen firsthand what the curse of the Rookie of the Year Award is like. Soojin, you also received the Stepping Stone Rookie of the Year Award.”
“yes······.”
“What happened next? You, the actress who specialized in adultery, got your husband stolen and got divorced.”
“That’s right. The moment I found out about my husband’s affair, I started to think that it was a curse for the Rookie of the Year award.”
“If you take away the curse, what else is there?”
Kim Hye-ran answered.
“There were rumors that Ga-hee had a sponsor that she couldn’t reveal, that she went abroad because she was pregnant, and even that she was kidnapped by the Japanese yakuza. But based on my experience of appearing in over 30 investigative dramas! We need to look into who benefited. Who benefited the most from Ga-hee’s disappearance?”
“Who do you think that is, Hye-ran?”
“hmm······.”
Kim Hye-ran, who was worried, asked Shim Soo-jin for confirmation.
“Isn’t that Cha Hwa-yeon······? She took over the lead role when Ga-hee went missing.”
“I don’t think so. The original work I was going to appear in became a bigger hit. I said I regret appearing in the sequel to Healing Game.”
“If not Cha Hwa-yeon, then coach Ko Jang-ho? With that kind of personality, he’ll do anything. Even if I hit him gently earlier, he’ll say something, and even if I hit him hard, he’ll say something. I don’t know where to draw the line. Did it hurt a lot?”
“It’s okay, sis. But I heard that your personality has become a lot more dull these days than it used to be.”
“I’m becoming more and more suspicious of Director Ko. To be honest, the script for the sequel to ‘Healing Game’ was really bad. It was said that it would be a total failure if it was produced.”
“I heard that for sure.”
“Thanks to the disappearance case, word of mouth spread and Jungbak got involved. That’s why he’s still in charge. He’s the ultimate beneficiary of Gahee’s disappearance and also the cause of it.”
* * *
Director Ko Jang-ho strongly denied it.
“Absolutely not. Do you think I benefited? Do you know how much I suffered because of the actress’s disappearance? The psychological damage was much greater than the material gain.”
Shin Dae-seong asked.
“Why did you bother Ms. Yoon Ga-hee again? You can’t deny that she was stressed because of the filming, right?”
“I didn’t do it on purpose. I’m a person who pursues realism and perfectionism. I just wanted to get a better scene. I would make a deal with the devil for the sake of a movie.”
“Director Ko, you had nothing to do with her disappearance? You hid the information you knew from the police······.”
“No, really! I have been investigated by the police several times. Why else would I have taken a lie detector test?”
“What were the results?”
“It has nothing to do with the disappearance of Yoon Ga-hee. She’s as clear as snow.”
At that moment, a strange smile spread across Shin Dae-seong’s face.
“I don’t think you have that level of skill?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You can’t fool a lie detector with that kind of skill. And the lie detector’s performance hasn’t deteriorated since 20 years ago.”
Shin Dae-seong asked Kim Han-gyeol to confirm.
“Director Ko definitely passed the lie detector test?”
“Yes, I don’t know if it was as clean as snow, but it is true that we found no connection to crime.”
“Then there is only one thing······.”
“!”
Director Ko Jang-ho flinched when his eyes met with Shin Dae-seong’s.
It’s because Shin Dae-seong’s gaze has changed.
“What new information have you discovered since taking the lie detector test? Perhaps something you haven’t told the police?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
Director Go Jang-ho has taken a back seat.
It seemed impossible to persuade him with nice words.
“Then there’s nothing I can do······.”
Shin Dae-seong continued speaking, raising his body.
“Let’s pretend our promise never happened.”
-Thump!
Director Ko Jang-ho hurriedly grabbed Shin Dae-seong’s sleeve.
“Can’t you do that? If I told you about Yoon Ga-hee’s disappearance, didn’t Detective Shin give me the movie rights?”
“There was a prerequisite that you tell the truth. You were the one who broke your promise first.”
“No, I really told the truth?”
“I am very disappointed in Director Ko Jang-ho. I will not hand over my story to a habitual liar.”
“Ah, ah, I see!”
Director Ko Jang-ho said, holding Shin Dae-seong’s sleeves with both hands.
“I’m not sure, but there was something bothering me. I found out after the lie detector test.”
“What is that?”
Director Ko Jang-ho opened his mouth softly.
“It seemed like Yoon Ga-hee had a sponsor.”
“How did you find out?”
“It was something that a staff member who filmed ‘Healing Game’ told me, but I didn’t believe it at the time. After finishing the lie detector test, I saw him being questioned as a witness.”
“Who is your sponsor?”
“I don’t know exactly. I just know that he is a ‘powerful person’ that even the police can’t touch.”
“Really······ Didn’t you say you saw it yourself?”
This is when Shin Dae-seong looks at him with suspicion.
-Wow!
The assistant director barged into the tent.
“We’re in big trouble!”
“Hey, that’s surprising… What are you making such a fuss about?”
“There’s a problem with filming today. The actor playing the detective can’t come.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Didn’t you tell me you’d be here in ten minutes?”
“I think they lied. Should I prepare another actor?”
“hey!”
Director Ko Jang-ho suddenly shouted in anger.
“Do you know how serious I am about reality? Why did I deliberately look for actors with a detective background? The atmosphere is different! Until the next filming, I will definitely find the actors I want. Got it!”
“yes······.”
The assistant director turned around and grumbled.
“Wow~ This is driving me crazy. There’s less than 30 minutes left until the next shoot, and where did we find an actor with detective experience······!”
In that moment, the assistant director’s gaze was fixed on him.
Although none of the actors had any experience as detectives, there were real, working detectives right before our eyes.