The Ultimate Inspector, Kang Ji-hyeok - Chapter 34



Only Krnovel

Episode 34

“Before that, I would like to request suspect Park Ji-yeon as a witness.”

The judge nodded.

“I permit it, since you are a witness who has already agreed to it.”

“Are you out of the panic state now, Ms. Park Ji-yeon?”

She took the witness stand.

I clenched my fist as I looked at her with her sad face masked.

I’ll take off that disgusting mask.

Male.

Male.

I asked Park Ji-yeon a question while the teddy bear photo was turned on.

“Witness. Do you remember that teddy bear?”

Park Ji-yeon blinked and looked at the lawyer.

Are you flustered and not expecting the question?

I had prepared an answer to a question about my grandmother’s murder, but I guess I didn’t know you’d suddenly ask me about the teddy bear?

“Right, right.”

“Isn’t this teddy bear the one that was popular seven years ago? At that time, every ten-year-old girl would have one?”

“It was a gift from my father when I was ten years old.”

“I see. So, you’ve had this teddy bear for about seven years?”

“Yes. I did some repairs here and there myself.”

I approached the judge.

“Your Honor, may I accept the teddy bear submitted as evidence?”

The judge nodded, fiddling with his rimless glasses.

“Alright, inspector. Why on earth did you take out that teddy bear all of a sudden?”

“I need this evidence to tell you why.”

I found a teddy bear in the evidence.

The actual object was placed on the table in front of the witness.

Her eyes shook.

“Ms. Park Ji-yeon, do you leave the lights on in your room when you go to bed?”

“I can’t sleep when the lights are on, so I turn them off and sleep.”

“Most people do, right? They turn off the lights when they go to sleep at night.”

Ah, warm.

I snapped my fingers.

The investigator pressed the remote control button instead.

A photo of a room with the lights off was released.

“This is a photo of Park Ji-yeon’s room that was taken at night with the lights off and sent to me by Detective Kim Hye-jin, who was in charge of the case.”

The room was completely dark and unlike before, nothing could be seen.

“When the criminal washed the small knife, the murder weapon, in the bathtub water after killing the grandmother and headed to Park Ji-yeon’s room, it must have been this dark.”

I explained the whole incident once more.

“And the criminal covered the sleeping witness’s face with a black cloth and threatened him with a knife in his back? Is that right?”

“you’re right.”

“Is it true that the witness was then carried on his shoulders, taken down to the first floor of the villa, and kidnapped in a prepared car?”

Park Ji-yeon nodded.

“Yes. It’s still scary to think about it.”

“Your Honor, the prosecutor is trying to make the witness panic by reminding him of the incident again!”

In response to the lawyer’s rebuttal, the judge glared at me and said:

“Prosecutor Kang Ji-hyeok. That is a fact that the witness has admitted, so stop talking.”

“All right.”

I said, touching the teddy bear in front of the witness with my finger.

“But don’t you feel reassured knowing that the teddy bear that has been protecting you since childhood is in front of you?”

Park Ji-yeon did not answer.

Instead, cold sweat ran behind his ears.

“Looking at the back of this teddy bear, I see that it was recently moved. Did you move this yourself?”

He turned the teddy bear around and touched the black thread marks on its back.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“okay.”

He took a cutter knife out of his pocket and stuck it into the teddy bear’s back.

Boohoo.

He tore his back boldly.

Attorney Kim Ji-ho stormed out of his seat, grabbed me by the collar, and shouted.

“Prosecutor! What are you doing? Are you threatening the witness by tearing up the teddy bear right now? Your Honor, stop it right now… Huh?”

The judge also grabbed the microphone and tried to say something to me.

“Prosecutor Kang Ji-hyeok. Right now… Huh?”

Clang.

When I shook the teddy bear I was holding, something fell out of it and made a sharp metallic sound.

“Whoa!”

“What is that?”

“A knife… It’s a knife, isn’t it?”

A small piece of fruit fell out of the teddy bear.

Officer Kim Hye-jin, who was sitting at the very front of the audience, stood up and shouted.

“That’s the weapon used in the incident. Why is that weapon there······.”

He looked back and forth between the judge and the lawyer and spoke calmly.

“This is the most important new piece of evidence in this planned murder case. It is the very same weapon the killer used to kill Kim Kkot-bun after stabbing the beef and killing the cat.”

The audience became quiet as if cold water had been poured over them.

He held the end of the knife in his handkerchief and held it out before the judge.

“The witness just testified that he was the one who recently put the teddy bear back on.”

He turned his head, glared at the witness, and spoke firmly.

“The witness stabbed the grandmother dozens of times to death, then washed the knife in the bathtub water he had prepared beforehand, returned to his room, hid it in a teddy bear, and wrapped it again with black thread.”

Taang!

The lawyer slammed his hand on the table and shouted.

“Don’t talk nonsense! Inspector. Isn’t it possible that the culprit came in with the lights off and forced the teddy bear into the room?”

Sigh.

I smiled, raising the corners of my lips.

“Attorney Kim Ji-ho. Even if by some chance the criminal did it! Look at that evidence photo again. How could you find a teddy bear in that dark place? And even more so, carrying someone on your shoulders! Is that possible?”

Attorney Kim Ji-ho and the judge looked at a photo of a room with the lights off.

Everyone in the audience gaped at the photo.

“Ugh.”

Attorney Kim Ji-ho sat down in his seat.

I spoke to Park Ji-yeon, who was bowing her head.

“Witness. Human fingerprints, you know. Washing them in a hot bath doesn’t erase them completely.”

He put the dagger, the murder weapon, in a plastic bag for evidence and called Detective Kim Hye-jin.

“Detective Kim Hye-jin. Come here.”

“Yes, sir.”

He turned his head and spoke politely to the judge.

“Would your honor be able to issue an emergency order to the National Forensic Service to investigate the criminal facts surrounding this weapon?”

Judge Kim Jeong-dae is an old-fashioned person.

The answer he would give was obvious.

“I admit it. I hereby issue an emergency order to dispose of the most important weapon in this case.”

“Detective Kim Hye-jin. Fly to the National Forensic Service and submit this evidence to find out whatever you can.”

“Understood, Inspector.”

She winked at me and mouthed the words.

‘Kang Ji-hyuk. You’re really the best!’

Shh.

I smiled and nodded.

After she left for the National Forensic Service with a weapon,

Bang! Bang!

The judge struck the gavel twice.

“The court will be adjourned for 30 minutes. It will resume in 30 minutes.”

I looked at Park Ji-yeon on the witness stand.

He was holding his hands together with a face filled with fear.

“Park Ji-yeon. You murdered your grandmother. Murder will be punished more severely.”

She looked around, searching for something.

I whispered quietly to her only.

“Are you looking for Mom and Dad? They’re not here. They’re not here for this trial. So, you have to find your way through on your own.”

Park Ji-yeon opened her eyes wide and glared at me.

“Yes. That look in your eyes. You would have killed the grandmother who loved you so much. I will never forgive you.”

Attorney Kim Ji-ho blocks Park Ji-yeon and glares at me.

“I told you. I hate lawyers. Hey, Attorney Kim Ji-ho. Admit defeat and look at the case with sincerity. Only then can you defend it. I hope you don’t try to get away with some sloppy trick.”

“That cheeky prosecutor’s son… who are you trying to teach?”

He grimaced, his pride hurt.

Attorney Kim Ji-ho.

Let me give you another hint.

Listen carefully and think about it, Inma.

“Shall I say it again? Don’t try to protect Park Ji-yeon with such a cheap trick. It would be better to admit everything and beg for a reduced sentence. That’s what a good lawyer does.”

Attorney Kim Ji-ho headed to the break room with Park Ji-yeon, grumbling.

What do we do now?

Are you going to use dirty methods again?

I’m looking forward to Kim & Joe’s unique, shallow methods.

* * *

After 30 minutes, the trial resumed.

As expected, attorney Kim Ji-ho came up with a shallow plan.

“Everyone admits it. The fact is that this 17-year-old girl is mentally ill. She has delusions, impulsiveness, and psychopathic tendencies.”

He continued his argument with a regretful expression on his face.

Park Ji-yeon even added to the acting by chewing her fingernails.

“Because I was still young, my parents kept it a secret from me, and I couldn’t tell anyone about the harsh tests I was taking, fearing that the world would find out.”

He shoved a few papers at the judge.

“I am submitting a medical opinion from a psychiatrist. I would appreciate it if you could accept it as evidence.”

The judge looked at the documents and pursed his lips slightly.

His eyes were turned towards me.

Are you asking me to answer?

“Before we accept it as evidence, I would like to call a new witness. That witness is already here.”

Attorney Kim Ji-ho frowned, his eyebrows knitted together.

“A new witness?”

“Prosecutors and lawyers, please come closer.”

We approached the judge.

The judge intervened.

“Instead of accepting the psychiatric hospital report as evidence, how about accepting one witness?”

Attorney Kim Ji-ho thought for a moment, then confirmed the witness’s identity and admitted it.

“I am fine.”

“What about Prosecutor Kang Ji-hyeok?”

“I will do that too.”

Through appropriate agreement, the medical opinion that he was mentally ill was accepted as evidence.

That damn court magic.

Are you going to get away with being ‘weak-minded’?

It was my plan to bring that affidavit to court.

Attorney Kim Ji-ho whispered as he came down to the courtroom.

“The suspect in the PC room child assault case is a witness? What on earth is he up to?”

“The scheming one is probably the fake mental illness papers you submitted.”

With a look of regret, I gave him a fact check.

“I knew it. That the last card you had was that psychiatric diagnosis. You really don’t deserve to wear a lawyer’s badge, Kim Ji-ho.”

Before he could answer, the karaoke bar owner, Jo Hyeon-tae, who was originally scheduled to appear, was called to the witness stand first.

“Are you Jo Hyeon-tae of Banggeul Banggeul Karaoke, who was identified as the kidnapper in this incident?”

“Yes.”

Jo Hyun-tae said while glaring at Park Ji-yeon.

Well, that makes sense.

“I think you’re no longer a suspect in this case, but since you originally agreed to stand as a witness, I’ll just ask you a few quick questions.”

In effect, he has now gone from being a suspect in this case to a witness.

So it became easier to hear honest answers.

“Did Jiyeon Park work at Banggeul Banggeul Karaoke?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Did you know she was a minor?”

Jo Hyeon-tae bowed his head and said.

“Yes. I am reflecting on it.”

You’re reflecting on it?

I said that because I thought it would be better to get a fine.

“I sent money to your bank account for two months, but how did you hire Park Ji-yeon? Did you threaten her and force her to work?”

Jo Hyun-tae waved his hand and said no.

And then he took out the CCTV videotape from his bosom and said.

“Jiyeon came to me on her own two feet and asked me to work for her because she had a debt to pay. This is the CCTV footage from the first day she came. I recorded it just in case. Sometimes, there are kids who threaten to report me, saying they are minors.”

I turned my head and spoke to the lawyer.

“Shall we play this video here?”

“No. We also acknowledge the witness’s statement.”

The judge also nodded.

“I admit this testimony.”

I told Jo Hyun-tae.

“But why did you send so little money?”

“It wasn’t a small amount. I sent 3 million won to another account every month. My boyfriend? He asked me to send it to that.”

“boy friend?”

“Yes. He was an adult. He was a tall, muscular man in his mid-thirties, so it was actually easier to send him money.”

“So, you’re saying that you received the part-time job wages and sent the remaining 3 million won to your boyfriend?”

“Wait a minute. Isn’t this something unrelated to this incident?”

The lawyer interrupted.

It seems like he felt something was off.

“If you look at the evidence No. 15 that I presented, there is a copy of the bankbook of witness Cho Hyun-tae. There is a black line drawn on it. That part is the money.”

“I see. Does the lawyer have any questions?”

“doesn’t exist.”

Attorney Kim Ji-ho frowned as he reviewed the list of evidence submitted and gave up on questioning the witness.

Shouldn’t you have looked through the evidence a long time ago?

As expected, you are a lawyer with a lot of bread.

“Then, I will call the witness we agreed on earlier to the stand. He is the suspect in the PC room child assault case.”

A tall, muscular man with movie star-like good looks entered the courtroom.

“Huh? Why you?”

A surprised Park Ji-yeon muttered.