The Mad Prosecutor Picked Up AI - Chapter 120
Only Krnovel
Episode 120: Change of position
Wi Jun-woo said as he was leaving the dog house.
“Does Detective So Hae-jin really believe that the prosecutor and the superintendent were dating?”
“No way. I thought you said it wasn’t Lieutenant Yeon-i.”
“Right? Then why are you acting like that? Are you doing it on purpose to annoy the inspector?”
“He didn’t seem like that kind of person.”
“Right? Even though he may be a bit stuffy and naive, he’s not the type of person to intentionally be mean to anyone. So why is that?”
“I guess our acting in court was so real back then. We were a couple throwing hearts and fists at each other.”
“Right? It’s too real… … Ah, I don’t think so. To be honest, I thought it was a bit strange that the judge and prosecutor Kang fell for it.”
“That’s because the manager knows me so well that he quickly noticed that it was fake.”
“Right? Knowing too much is also a problem.”
I’m a little confused as to whether he really agrees with what I’m saying or just says “Right?” in a perfunctory manner. Anyway, I got in Wi Jun-woo’s car and went to see the Forest Special Judicial Police.
Thanks to Detective So Hae-jin contacting us in advance, the special forestry police officers weren’t particularly surprised when we showed up.
“Hello. I am from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.”
“Oh, I got a call from Detective So. Welcome.”
“My name is Prosecutor Do Hyeon-gwang.”
“I am investigator Wi Jun-woo.”
A slightly bald policeman led us to a sofa in the middle of the office. A young policeman with a military uniform standing next to him approached us.
“Would you like some tea?”
“No. I’ll just ask you this and then I’ll be right back.”
The young policeman returned to the shelf and began to organize the paperwork.
“You want to hear about what happened during that acorn crackdown?”
“yes.”
“There were some incidents, but none that were big enough for the prosecutor to investigate.”
“If you remember, Kang Min-jong reported Noh Cheon-seong. He said that he hid acorns in a large bag and picked them up. But it turned out that he was a photographer.”
“Ah, that guy from back then.”
He leaned back deeply on the sofa, as if he was just now remembering. The policeman took out a handkerchief and wiped his head lightly, and asked me.
“But, sir, do you know why we crack down on people picking up acorns?”
Aliotta, who had been listening, quickly spoke.
[It is stated in Article 54 of the Forest Protection Act. It is illegal to collect forest products without permission.]
‘I know that too.’
“Of course I know. It’s Article 54 of the Forest Protection Act. If you illegally collect wild plants in a national park area, you can be sentenced to up to three years in prison or fined up to 30 million won.”
“Oh, you know very well.”
Wi Jun-woo quickly stepped forward.
“Our inspector is quite intelligent, contrary to his appearance.”
“Oh, yes.”
Unlike what it looks like? Unlike what it looks like? What’s wrong with me? Why is that person agreeing to that? When did he see me?
When I got excited by Wei Junwoo’s words, Aliotta responded with a janggu.
[That’s right. Hyun-kwang looks fine on the outside. Isn’t he a mess? He looks fine on the outside.]
It wasn’t a very helpful countermeasure though.
Wi Jun-woo changed the subject as if he noticed my gaze.
“But why is this illegal?”
The police answered that question.
“There are people who think that everything that grows on the mountain is free. So they just pick it up and take it to make acorn jelly and eat it. If one person takes one bag, it may not seem like much, but if a hundred or a thousand people take it, the amount becomes enormous.”
“ah.”
“When acorns disappear, wild animals have no food and come down to the houses. Insects also lay eggs in acorns that fall to the ground. This has a bigger impact on the ecosystem than you might think.”
“okay.”
This time I asked.
“Then, do all the people who get caught during crackdowns have to pay fines and serve prison sentences?”
“No, that’s not true. Usually, we just give warnings and guidance and confiscate the acorns. We scatter the confiscated acorns back on the mountain. Most of the people who pick up the acorns are elderly.”
“ah.”
I understand their grievances. It would be difficult to punish all the elders who take a handful without any sense of crime. For now, I think they should focus on consistently educating them and returning the acorns to the mountain.
“But sometimes there are people who do this professionally.”
“Professionally?”
“The merchants. They just bring dozens of sacks of acorns and sweep everything away. They even bring trucks with them to take everything away. Not just acorns, but also mushrooms like enoki mushrooms and pine mushrooms. Anyway, they take everything that can be sold.”
“Wow, there are people like that. We have to catch them.”
“Yes. When we catch people like that, we immediately hand them over to the prosecution.”
“Then, what about Noh Cheon-seong, who was accused at that time?”
“Hey, that wasn’t him.”
He shook his head and said he was not a police officer.
“I was suspicious because the assistant or the young man with him was carrying three large bags, but it wasn’t the case.”
“You said you were a photographer?”
“Yes. He came to the mountain to take pictures. His bag was full of photography-related stuff. Well, a lens, a tripod, a ladder chair, lights, and things like that.”
“Then the acorns.”
“There weren’t any. There weren’t any in the bag either. At that time, Kang Min-jong or that guy said the photographer had thrown away acorns behind a tree, so I went to check, but there were no acorns there either. Right?”
The last words were a question posed to a young police officer who was organizing files behind him. The young officer looked at me for a moment, answered, “Yes.” Then he lowered his head and went back to his work.
“hmm.”
There is no evidence at all. If this is the case, Kang Min-jong’s case should not be prosecuted. The police opened their mouths, as if their faces showed their dismay.
“This is it, in my opinion, Kang Min-jong is just holding a grudge and throwing a tantrum.”
“Are you angry?”
“I don’t know the details, but from what I heard from them, it seemed like the person who was accused used to work at the same company. He just reported her because he didn’t like her boss. He told her to go fuck herself.”
“ah.”
“I don’t know if there was a bad breakup at work. Anyway, it’s not something that should be considered an incident.”
“I think so.”
The police officer smiled faintly, his face showing pity.
“Sir, you came all this way, but you came in vain.”
“It’s okay. Thank you for talking to me.”
“Yes. Take a look.”
Wi Jun-woo and I stood up from our seats and left the office. It was the same in Gae-seo-myeon, and it was the same here. If we just listened to the police, it would be right not to prosecute. Wi Jun-woo said.
“Look at that. I told you, even if you investigated it, there was no such thing as a case.”
“You wouldn’t know that unless you investigate.”
“I said it was because I had a grudge when I was working at the company.”
“That’s just the policeman’s guess. We’ve heard enough from the police, so shouldn’t we hear what Kang Min-jong has to say now?”
“Are you Kang Min-jong?”
“hey.”
We stopped walking and looked back at the sudden voice. The young policeman with the military uniform we had seen in the office earlier approached us hesitantly.
“I have something to tell you.”
“Go ahead.”
“You came here because of the acorn incident, right? I was there when they cracked down on acorns.”
“Yes. Do you remember anything from that time?”
“that is.”
The young officer looked back at the closed office door, made sure no one was watching, and then spoke to us.
“At that time, Kang Min-jong said he saw those people throwing something behind a big tree, so I went to check.”
“Aha. Were there any acorns there?”
“No, there wasn’t any.”
“… … .”
The young policeman hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth.
“But, there were no acorns, but I saw something else.”
“What did you see?”
“I don’t know if it’s right to tell you this, or if it’s relevant. I tried to tell you this back then, but I missed the timing… … .”
Well. People are so lax and incompetent that they miss their timing to speak.
[Calm down. This is your only chance to get some new information.]
I suppressed my frustration and asked again.
“Right. Timing is important. So, what did you see?”
“I… saw a bird.”
“A bird?”
“The bird was dead. There were three dead baby birds.”
“Do you remember how you died? Was it a brutal death? All your feathers were plucked out, your wings were cut off, your legs were broken?”
“Oh my.”
The young officer was momentarily startled by my words, which were so horrible.
“No, that wasn’t the case. He just died quietly. It didn’t look like someone had killed him in a horrific way.”
Hmm. The bird was dead?
‘What are the odds that three baby birds will accidentally fall to the bottom of a tree and die?’
[It probably wasn’t that high. If they were very young birds, they might have fallen out of the nest, but it’s also strange that not one, but three fell at once.]
‘What if someone killed it and left it there?’
[That could be true, but why?]
‘I’ve heard that many psychopaths abuse or kill animals before killing people.’
[Those are animals that are easy to catch around us, like dogs and cats. Why would you go up to the mountains and catch and kill birds that are difficult to catch?]
‘The harder it is to catch, the more thrilling it can be.’
[But it wasn’t a brutal death, right? If a psychopath had killed it, it would have been killed sadistically, even if it was a bird.]
‘That’s true.’
I spoke to Aliota for a while, but no conclusion was reached. As I sat there thinking, the young policeman asked cautiously.
“Will this help?”
“Of course. Thanks for letting me know.”
We greeted the young policeman and turned around to leave. Wi Jun-woo, who was watching the policeman disappear inside, spoke to me.
“It looks like that person is suffering from bullying from his boss.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Because you’re scared of your boss, you can’t say anything in front of him, so you came out with us and told us.”
Wi Jun-woo walked to the car and looked at his watch.
“Can I leave work here now?”
“Oh, it’s already this late.”
By the time I got to the Gaemyeon and Forestry Special Judicial Police Stations, it was already time to get off work.
I thought deeply. No matter how much I thought about it, the acorn case should not be prosecuted. There is no evidence, no circumstances, and no suspicion.
However, since I had already come this far to investigate, I thought I should meet Kang Min-jong, who had filed an objection to the decision not to prosecute. I wanted to hear directly from him the circumstances that led to the accusation in the first place, and even if the objection was not accepted, I wanted to tell him directly.
I took a moment to collect my thoughts and then asked Wi Jun-woo.
“Do you like tonkatsu?”
“Donkatsu?”
“There’s a tonkatsu place that’s famous for its generous portions and delicious food. I heard it’s a pretty popular place these days. They serve two servings as a standard there.”
“So?”
“Do you want to go eat together?”
Wi Jun-woo snorted.
“Oh, sir. No matter how close we are, we’re not at the level of going out to find a good restaurant together after work, right? That’s something you do with your girlfriend, not in business like ours.”
“I’ll shoot.”
“Please tell me the address. I will input it into the navigation system.”
Wi Jun-woo quickly got into the driver’s seat and turned on the navigation.
“It’s a place in Gomok-dong.”
“It’s Gomok-dong. Gomok-dong… … .”
Wi Jun-woo, who was entering the address into the navigation, looked at me.
“Inspector. Wasn’t Kang Min-jong’s address in Gomok-dong?”
“Wow, our team leader has a good memory. He remembered that.”
“Ha. Are you going to go meet Kang Min-jong under the pretense of dinner now?”
“I have to take the bull’s horns out while I can. Now, I just need to meet Kang Min-jong, but how can I go home? I need to meet him and hear about the incident.”
“Still, this is a bit much. Are you asking me to work overtime right now over a case like this?”
“I’ll buy you some tonkatsu and dessert too.”
As he finished entering the navigation, Wi Jun-woo quickly changed his stance.
“You said Gomok-dong, right? If it’s a popular place, there might be a lot of people. I think it would be better to call in advance and make a reservation.”
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