The Mad Prosecutor Picked Up AI - Chapter 130



Only Krnovel

Episode 130 Don’t Try to Know, You’ll Get Hurt

“Did someone order you to do this?”

“yes.”

Song Jong-beom nodded as if his head was going to fall off.

“That’s why I killed the tree. Why would I kill a perfectly healthy tree for no reason? I’m not a psychopath.”

“Killing a tree just because someone tells you to do it seems like you’re a psychopath. Do you do anything you’re told to do, Mr. Song Jong-beom?”

“Ah. That’s… … . Because I said I’d get money.”

“How much?”

“Five hundred.”

Five hundred to kill three trees.

“Who ordered this?”

“He is a regular at our cafe.”

“What’s your name?”

“I don’t know. I just call him by his nickname. Cool guy.”

“How old are you?”

“That’s good too. You’re young, though. In your 30s?”

“What on earth do you know?”

“I just became friendly with him by talking to him as a customer who comes every day, and I didn’t ask his name or anything.”

“That makes sense. You kill a tree just because someone you don’t even know tells you to? Are you a real psychopath?”

“Well, since you said you’d give me money… … .”

That guy’s money is a mess.

I caught Song Jong-beom and spoke to him in a whisper.

“You said there was someone else who ordered it. If that’s true, then there’s another accomplice.”

“Yes? Jongbeom is a former member.”

“Oh, Jong-beom is Jeong-beom. There’s also Jong-beom.”

“He’s not the principal offender, he’s an accomplice. Song Jong-beom.”

“No, my name is Jong-beom. Jong-beom is called Jeong-beom here.”

“… … He’s an accomplice.”

As the story continued to repeat itself, Wi Jun-woo stepped forward.

“Prosecutor, you should speak more simply. Anyway, this is the problem with prosecutors. They keep using difficult words that only they know. Are they the only ones who have studied the law?”

“… … .”

Wi Jun-woo, who was about to make a hasty move, looked into my eyes and stopped in surprise.

“What I mean is, if you keep using the terms accomplice and principal, it’ll only make things more confusing. Easily. Got it? Just explain it in an easy way.”

“That would be better.”

A person who actually carries out and commits a crime is called a ‘principal offender’, and a person who aids and assists in the crime is called an ‘accomplice’.

The person who ordered the tree to be killed is strictly speaking not an ‘accomplice’ but an ‘instructor’. Anyway.

These terms can be a bit confusing, especially when your name is Jong-Beom.

“We need to find out who ordered Jong-beom to kill the tree so that we can catch that person and punish him.”

“I’m not hiding it on purpose. I really don’t know. It’s just that one day, he started coming to me every morning to have coffee. So I said hello, and when I told him I was going to kill two street trees, he asked if I could kill the three trees next to them. He said he’d pay me.”

“So you said you would do that?”

Wow. Even if money can buy everything.

[Maybe they just thought it was easy because it wasn’t hurting people and it was just a tree.]

I shook my head because I didn’t understand, but the AI ​​was expressing sympathy instead.

“You got five hundred?”

“I gave them two hundred at first. After spraying herbicide and the tree withered, I gave them three hundred more.”

“You’re very meticulous.”

“Can I get some leniency if I tell you everything honestly?”

“It’s up to the judge to decide.”

“That money too. I only used the two hundred thousand I received at first. I didn’t even touch the three hundred thousand I received later. It’s still at home in an envelope.”

Oh. The whole envelope?

If we do it right, we might be able to get some fingerprints or DNA?

“We will take that envelope as evidence, along with the money inside.”

“Yes, yes. Please show some mercy.”

[Hyun-kwang. There isn’t much information about the teacher. Even if fingerprints or DNA come out of the envelope, we need someone to compare them to. Let’s ask a little more about the teacher.]

‘okay.’

“Mr. Song Jong-beom, the person who ordered the tree to be killed. Please tell me everything about him, no matter how trivial it may be.”

“Hmm. Your appearance is a bit striking.”

“Because you’re handsome?”

“Because I’m a foreigner.”

“Foreigner? Mr. Song Jong-beom, do you speak English well?”

“That person understands Korean a little bit. If you mix Korean with Konglish, you can have a conversation.”

“And?”

“hmm.”

After rolling his eyes for a while, he pondered his thoughts.

“Oh, that’s right! I said teacher.”

“Teacher? Oh, so you’re a teacher?”

As soon as I finished speaking, Manager Han Jae-sik, Wi Jun-woo, Aliotta, and even Ki So-young, who had returned to the office during the investigation, all looked at me.

“Why? Why are you all like that?”

“Sword. That’s a statement that teachers can use to slander their reputation.”

“Can you please be careful what you say in front of other people? The prosecution has to save face.”

“… … .”

[It was a completely unfunny dad joke.]

People, really. (And an AI too)

They rushed in like hyenas that had found food.

I looked at Song Jong-beom as if nothing had happened and asked again.

“That guy is your teacher?”

“I’m an English teacher.”

“Is that what you said?”

“No. We never talked about anything personal. One time, I was going out to buy coffee and I happened to meet someone I knew. What did he say? It was a strange name. Oh, right! He said, ‘I re-write your lecture! Pickle Academy! Remember me?’”

“Pickles? Is there a pickle academy?”

Wi Jun-woo, who was listening from behind, said.

“Oh, that. Pinnacle Academy, right? It’s famous.”

“Yes, Pinnacle. That was the name.”

Pickle Academy, or Pinnacle Academy, was a fairly large language school that taught English, Japanese, and Chinese.

“So that person is an instructor there?”

“Maybe?”

“Then it would be easy to find it.”

If it’s an academy, it will obviously have a website, and if it’s an instructor, their resume will be posted on the website along with their photo.

“Mr. Song Jong-beom, please go to that website right now and find out who that person is.”

“Now?”

“Then, what were you planning to do after taking a nap?”

“no.”

“Manager, please go to Pinnacle Academy on the computer and look at it together with Mr. Song Jong-beom.”

“yes!”

Wi Jun-woo took Song Jong-beom to his seat. Seeing the two of them looking at the monitor, I gathered my thoughts.

Five trees in front of the cafe died. They were originally supposed to kill two, but three more died.

The suspect is cafe manager Song Jong-beom. He claimed that he accidentally sprayed too much herbicide. Of course, thanks to my genius deduction, I was able to prove that it was all a lie.

Song Jong-beom did kill the tree on purpose. He even confessed that there was someone who instigated him to commit the crime.

This is what’s strange.

Why did that person kill the tree?

What on earth could be the motive for killing the tree?

Of course, there doesn’t necessarily have to be a motive. There are people who commit murder without any reason, and there are people who abuse stray cats.

But why the tree?

And that too, while spending five million won of your own money?

What kind of play are you trying to do?

My brain is working at full capacity.

“Inspector! I found it!”

“Did you find it?”

I got up from my chair and went to Wi Jun-woo’s seat. Song Jong-beom was pointing at the screen, making a fuss.

“Here, this guy. He’s the guy who came to our cafe every day. The guy who paid me to kill a tree.”

A blond man with a stylish two-block hairstyle, horn-rimmed glasses and a bright smile. Beneath him was written the name Jayden NeBott.

“good job.”

“Oh my, this is it. There are more than one or two academies. There are five in Sinchon, Hongdae, Jongno, Yeongdeungpo, and Gangnam. I was wondering when I would ever see all of them, but luckily I found it right in the Sinchon branch where I first saw it.”

Song Jong-beom looked at me with eyes that expected praise and said.

What. So you want me to pat your head?

Well done, my little shit.

* * *

“Teacher! Teacher Jaden!”

After the lecture was over and I was leaving after saying goodbye to the students, I heard someone calling me. When I turned around, I saw Director Seo at the information desk smiling brightly and waving at me.

People working at the information desk usually have a smile on their face like a second skin, but Director Seo’s smile was particularly awkward.

Still, Jayden smiled socially and headed toward her. If there was one thing he had learned in his short time in Korea, it was that everyone was friendly to a smiling, blue-eyed man.

“What’s up?”

“Jayden, are you busy? You’ll be leaving as soon as class ends. Are you busy?”

“Yes, I am a beggar.”

Director Seo bent down under the desk and stood up carrying a heavy-looking box.

Oh, you came.

Jayden’s eyes lit up as he looked at the box. Director Seo handed him the box.

“The package has arrived. Delivery. Package.”

“Oh, thank you! “I’ve been waiting for this.”

“Waiting. You’ve been waiting, right? Hahaha. I can hear you now.”

“Yeah, you’re improving a lot.”

“Oh, yes. Oh, right. Yes.”

Jayden, who had received the delivery box, gave it a polite compliment and was about to turn around to leave when Director Seo asked another question.

“It’s heavy. It’s heavy.”

“Okay, I’ll be careful. Thank you.”

“What is that, sir? What is it? Inside the box?”

“Just something for my hobby.”

“Harvey? Oh, hobby. What hobby? No, what Harvey? What is your Harvey?”

“Um… … , Bird watching?”

“Bird watching? You see birds? Birds?”

“Yeah, I love nature.”

“Is bird watching interesting? What is fun in English? Interesting? Bird watching interesting?”

Jaden sighed inwardly, still smiling. Why are you asking me such detailed questions? The other instructors and students who had just finished their lecture and were coming out of the classroom were also glancing at him.

It wouldn’t be a good thing to have trouble with Director Seo, who oversees all the work at the academy, but I didn’t want to draw everyone’s attention to me for no reason.

Jaden said with a deep voice and a refreshing smile on his face.

“Do you know what they’re saying?”

“……yes?”

“Curiosity killed the cat. “Be careful.”

“Cat? Cat? No, you said you were looking at a bird earlier, why is there a cat all of a sudden?”

Curiosity killed the cat. Excessive curiosity killed the cat. In other words, the proverb means that if you are too curious, you can get hurt.

Director Seo clearly didn’t understand what he was saying. However, perhaps because he didn’t want to give the impression that he couldn’t speak English, he glanced around for no reason and then smiled and said,

“Yes, that’s right. Take care, teacher. Bye!”

“See you tomorrow.”

Jayden headed to the parking lot with the box in his hand. He reached his car, which was parked somewhere, and opened the trunk.

It already seemed like there was no room to put anything new because it was full of miscellaneous items, but after roughly moving things around, I ended up with space to put one delivery box.

Jaden, who was about to put the box inside, paused for a moment and looked around. After confirming that no one was nearby, he opened the delivery box.

Inside the plastic and packaging was a camera. The Cody EF400mm 5.6 lens. One of the cameras that people often refer to as a cannon camera.

A bright smile appeared on Jaden’s face as he looked at the camera.

I had cameras before, but they lacked zoom and magnification. When I took pictures of things far away, the image quality was poor and the subject was often distorted.

Now that I have a new camera, I should be able to take better pictures. The weight seems okay, too.

Jayden covered the box containing the camera and put it back in the trunk, then looked around the trunk, which was filled with miscellaneous items.

‘I guess I need to clean up here quickly too.’

No matter how small your build is, you have to empty the trunk to fit even one person in it.

Jaden slammed the car trunk shut with an eerie smile.