Trying Hard Won't Be Enough
A few hours ago, 8 AM.
Forgetting Team Leader Gu Jin-gu's words to come to work at lunchtime, Ju-won went to work early in the morning, thinking only about the elementary school teacher murder case.
'So what you're saying is, one of the weapons Kim Gap-du possessed is similar to the weapon that left a fatal wound on the victim's body in the elementary school teacher murder case?'
[Yes. Please compare the scars remaining on the victim's body with Kim Gap-du's weapon.]
Ju-won, leaving the car park and entering the police station, thought.
Back in 2009.
Kim Gap-du's case was under the jurisdiction of Gangnam Police Station, whereas the elementary school teacher murder case was under Gangjung Police Station.
The elementary school teacher murder case was quite an issue at the time, even appearing on the news.
However, the Kim Gap-du case did not receive much attention as a robbery with injury case, and furthermore, as it was reclassified as a drug case, it seemed there was absolutely no link between the two cases.
'Of course, Kim Gap-du was raised as a suspect because the scars were similar, but...'
[Crucially, there was no physical evidence. Not a single piece of evidence was found.]
In the elementary school teacher murder case, the scars left on the victim's body were unique, but ultimately, the weapon that caused death could not be specified.
Detectives presumed it was a weapon custom-made by the culprit, not available on the market.
[Detectives at the time investigated for quite a long time, but could not find the murder weapon at all.]
'Forensic science technology at the time would have been lacking too...'
[Just because the scars looked similar, they wouldn't have been able to specify Kim Gap-du as the culprit. Eventually, it naturally became an unsolved case.]
'Then if the weapon Kim Gap-du possessed matches the scars of the elementary school teacher murder case victim...'
[Kim Gap-du can be specified as a suspect.]
Ju-won headed to the archives located on the first basement floor of the police station.
If Terra has indeed caught a commonality that humans truly couldn't find.
He can solve the elementary school teacher murder case that remained unsolved.
"The 2009 elementary school teacher murder case..."
The police officer in charge of the archives looked at the log and shook his head.
"Ah, that has already been taken out?"
"Pardon? By who?"
The officer checked the log once more.
"Violent Crimes... Team 3 Team Leader Gu Jin-gu?"
"Our Team Leader?"
Why did Team Leader Gu look for that case? Just as Ju-won tilted his head,
"Can you do it?"
At the voice heard from behind, Ju-won turned his body.
"...."
A man is standing there.
A man much taller than Ju-won, who is over 180cm, with a substantial physique.
A fierce face.
But it's a face he has seen on the news.
'Unsolved Cases Task Force?'
The man scanning Ju-won with cold eyes is Detective Oh from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Unsolved Cases Task Force.
He doesn't know his name.
Since he was just referred to as 'Inspector Oh' on the news.
"If it's the '09 elementary school teacher murder case, I heard it went to Violent Crimes Team 3, so you must be a team member there."
"Ah, I am Inspector Lee Ju-won of Violent Crimes Team 3."
"I am Inspector Oh of the Seoul Agency Unsolved Cases Task Force."
Ju-won raised his hand to salute, and Inspector Oh received the salute with a still cold face.
"Can you do it?"
Crossing his arms, he asked with cool eyes.
"I have to try hard."
However, at Ju-won's answer, Inspector Oh burst into a smirk.
"This is a case I handled directly when I was in Violent Crimes Team 1 here. Though it ended up remaining unsolved."
"...."
"There was a part I regretfully passed over without investigating back then, so I came to reinvestigate, but the 'I Want to Know This' broadcast beat me to it."
Inspector Oh, still looking at Ju-won with cold eyes, walked into the archives and said.
"Trying hard won't be enough. Because I've already tried that."
Watching Inspector Oh disappear like that, Ju-won asked.
"Do you happen to know a Kim Gap-du?"
Inspector Oh's steps stopped.
"Kim Gap-du?"
"Yes."
"...The one who was identified as a suspect?"
"That's correct."
"But... I remember there was no evidence against him. Although he was identified as a suspect, the motive for murder wasn't clear either, so he was quickly ruled out."
"I see. Then I'll be going first."
Creak!
Ju-won, having returned to Team 3, opened an old cabinet.
This is a place where relatively recent cases that haven't gone to the archives are collected.
While slowly examining the inside of the cabinet, an old box caught Ju-won's eye.
"This is it."
It was a box with a relatively different colour.
The '09 Elementary School Teacher Murder Case' that was in the archives.
[Please check the victim's scars and needle marks.]
Ju-won took out the file and diligently flipped through the papers looking for photos of the victim's scars.
'Found it.'
The victim's scar marks caught Ju-won's eye.
Wounds near the heart and on the face.
[The victim was stabbed with a sharp and keen weapon. Also, although it passed between the ribs, it is a weapon sturdy enough to pierce muscle. The peculiarity is the length.]
'It's written here too. The width is smaller than a regular kitchen knife. About the size of a small fruit knife. However, the scars do not match any fruit knives on the market.'
[Please also look for photos of the weapon Kim Gap-du possessed. And are there perhaps no needle marks?]
'Wait a moment.'
Ju-won flipped through the file.
Thinking as he did so.
If there were needle marks, wouldn't detectives at the time have suspected it was related to drugs?
They must have been thorough.
Then why did they not link it to a drug case at all?
As he flipped through the file,
'None.'
There is nothing. No content regarding needle marks.
[Are there no photos or records leaving the victim's entire body?]
Ju-won shook his head.
Nowhere are there photos of the corpse, or stories related to needle marks or drugs.
It was when Ju-won was lost in thought.
"This case..."
He didn't know when he had arrived, but Team Leader Gu Jin-gu's voice was heard from behind.
"Team Leader?"
"Inspector Lee, how did you know about this case?"
"Do you remember this guy? Kim Gap-du, the perpetrator of the robbery case and a drug offender."
A short while later, Violent Crimes Team meeting room.
Detective Kim Seok-ho with his mouth shut, and Team Leader Gu Jin-gu and Officer Han Geon-woo with surprised faces are looking at Ju-won.
No, at the mobile phone in Ju-won's hand.
"Kim Gap-du...? I think I might remember..."
However, Team Leader Gu Jin-gu shook his head.
It was 15 years ago.
At the time, robbery cases were more common than now, and guys looking like Kim Gap-du were plentiful.
He can't remember that guy exactly.
"So, please tell us the reason why we should identify him as a suspect."
Detective Kim Seok-ho sat down and looked at Ju-won.
He seems to have calmed down, but his voice is still full of suspicion.
Ju-won began to speak.
"I checked the weapon of Kim Gap-du that I verified against the scars on the victim's body. Ah, just a moment."
Ju-won quickly brought in the documents that were in the office.
Then, spreading the photos kept as evidence on the meeting room table, he continued.
"We'll have to leave the precise investigation to the National Forensic Service, but the probability that the victim's scars were caused by Kim Gap-du's weapon looks extremely high."
The team members began comparing the photos placed on the table.
Then soon, Team Leader Gu Jin-gu said to Ju-won.
"However, even if Kim Gap-du is the culprit, to find evidence that he stabbed the elementary school teacher victim, we need to find that self-made weapon. That weapon used in 2009."
"Correct. So first, we must confirm Kim Gap-du's identity and residence."
This time Detective Kim Seok-ho asked.
"And we also need to check what the motive was. Why Kim Gap-du murdered the elementary school teacher. The link between the two people."
Ju-won nodded.
That was the part bothering Ju-won the most too.
The link between the two people.
Is it drugs?
Then did the murdered elementary school teacher have some kind of relationship with Kim Gap-du through drugs,
And something went wrong, so Kim Gap-du murdered the elementary school teacher?
Officer Han Geon-woo rested his chin on his hand and rolled his eyes.
"Indeed... what could it be? They say Kim Gap-du was also related to drug cases, so did the victim take drugs?"
"If so, needle marks would have remained on the victim's body."
Detective Kim Seok-ho flipped through the file and shook his head.
"The detectives in charge at the time didn't make any notes regarding the victim's body. It means they didn't find any particular drug-related peculiarities."
True.
However, Terra seems to think differently.
[Kim Gap-du's cases were all drug-related cases. The robbery with injury charge was also a crime committed when he couldn't receive money from a victim he passed drugs to.]
'Exactly. If it's true that Kim Gap-du killed the victim with a specially made weapon, there must certainly be a link between the two.'
[And it is highly likely that link is drugs.]
'Right, but there's no evidence.'
The meeting room became quiet.
Kim Gap-du's self-made weapon and the victim's scars are extremely similar.
That means Kim Gap-du really could be the suspect of this 15-year unsolved case.
However, there is no connection point.
They must find that connection point.
Even veteran detectives 15 years ago couldn't find that connection point and had to leave the case unsolved.
Ju-won fell into thought, and Terra was also silent for a while.
Fortunately, Detective Kim Seok-ho did not oppose any further.
Perhaps because a clue to the case was visible.
He, too, was putting his head together with other team members in contemplation, when Ju-won, looking at Detective Kim Seok-ho, had a glint in his eyes.
"A case the media is paying attention to... The media will focus on our team taking this case..."
Muttering the words Detective Kim Seok-ho had said.
National interest is pouring into this case.
Thanks to that, if it becomes known to the world that Ju-won's team is taking on this case, this team will also receive the world's attention.
"...If we take on a case receiving attention for no reason and fail to solve it, it's obvious we'll take the flak again for being incompetent cops or tax wasters..."
Attention to the case leads to attention to Violent Crimes Team 3.
Ju-won's eyes rolled slowly.
Because the team members' voices, which he had let flow while contemplating the link between the two cases, were stuck in Ju-won's mind.
'What if it's the opposite...?'
Just as attention leads to attention.
Indifference leads to indifference.
If one looks at something without interest, there is a high possibility that what is hidden behind it will also be ignored with indifference.
[Are you saying there is something the detectives in charge of the case missed?]
'What if Kim Gap-du and the elementary school teacher victim really are related to drugs, but we ignored the evidence of that connection?'
[However, on the victim's body, traces of injecting drugs were...]
But at that moment, Terra's words stopped.
Then it spat out incomprehensible words.
[Type 1 diabetes patients have their insulin-secreting cells destroyed and cannot secrete insulin, so they must receive insulin injections for the rest of their lives.]
'Type 1 diabetes? Injections?'
The case records Ju-won saw a moment ago passed quickly through his mind.
'Perhaps the victim...'
[Was a Type 1 diabetic. Case report page 9, line 13. 'Remarks: The victim was suffering from Type 1 diabetes.']
If so, even if there were needle marks, it is highly likely the detectives passed over them without suspicion.
So if they didn't think of a connection to drugs at all...
"Needle marks."
A clue to the culprit of the unsolved case that hadn't been solved for 15 years is visible.
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🔥 Hey legends! Quick updates! 🔥
💥 Support me on my Patreon account!
👉 patreon.com/cyci07
✨ Power Stone Challenge! ✨
If we hit 100 power stones, I'll drop 2 bonus chapters! Let's see if you guys can make me suffer! 😂
💬 Enjoying the story? Leave a review and let me know your favorite moment so far! It helps the novel grow and reach more readers!
Thanks for all your support—you guys are awesome! ❤️