🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 21
A secluded underground driveway where homeless people gathered.
“Are we in the right place?”
“Yes. But… there are way more people than I expected.”
Seeing people lying motionless, stripped of any will to live, Seongjin’s expression betrayed his unease.
“What was the name again?”
“Hwang Jeong-sik.”
“Mr. Hwang Jeong-sik? Mr. Hwang Jeong-sik, are you here?”
Chief Choi went through the box of sleeping homeless people, checking each face and calling out the name.
Then.
“Who the hell’s calling my name like this? Who the hell… hey!”
A man in his mid-40s, drunk and barely able to stand, stumbled upright and collapsed again, shouting at the top of his lungs.
“Mr. Hwang? Are you really Mr. Hwang?”
“Yeah… wha-what are you… huh?”
One hand clutching a soju bottle, half-closed eyes, and an even looser tongue spouting incomprehensible words—they had found their witness. Both men shook their heads in exasperation.
“No wonder he wasn’t accepted as a witness. Let’s just go. Seems like all this was for nothing.”
Seongjin turned on his heel, clearly feeling the wasted effort.
“You witnessed a murder a few years back, right?”
But Choi had already crouched down in front of him, meeting his gaze calmly.
“M-murder? I don’t know. I don’t know anything about that, so go away!”
Jeong-sik flinched slightly, took a swig from the soju bottle, and shoved Choi roughly.
“You witnessed a murder before. You even tried to testify, didn’t you?”
Choi pressed on even more persistently.
“Go away! Didn’t you hear me?”
After hearing the word “murder,” Jeong-sik’s drunken haze began to lift. His eyes sharpened, and his slurred words grew clearer.
“Well… think carefully.”
“I don’t know! I never think about things. Just go away!”
“Maybe this will jog your memory.”
Choi pulled a 50,000-won bill from his wallet and waved it in front of Jeong-sik’s face.
“Hmm… I think I remember a little… okay, give it here!”
Humans can be so easily swayed. Jeong-sik’s eyes lit up at the sight of the money, and he reached for the bill with both hands.
“You’re doing this wrong. You should talk first.”
Choi grabbed Jeong-sik’s wrist with all his strength.
“Ah! Agh! Let go! I said let go!”
Jeong-sik struggled, wincing as Choi held firm.
“Mr. Hwang, let’s do this cleanly. Now, tell us. What did you see that day?”
Choi released his grip and sat down in front of him.
“Ah… damn, that hurts. Who are you guys? Detectives?”
Jeong-sik rubbed his bruised wrist, alternately glancing at Choi and Seongjin, full of annoyance and suspicion.
“If you know we’re detectives, cooperate. What did you see?”
Seongjin snapped irritably.
“Oh, you’re really a detective. Then things will change. I think I need a drink first…”
“Are you kidding me?! Stop joking and tell us straight! Chief, let’s just take him to the station.”
Seongjin’s patience broke with Jeong-sik’s teasing.
“Fine. Go get a few bottles of soju and some snacks.”
Choi, restraining his rising anger, handed Seongjin a 10,000-won note.
“Chief!”
“See? High-ranking people get things done. Go on, quick. My throat’s dry, can barely talk. Hm-hm…”
“Ah—really.”
Seongjin shot Jeong-sik a deadly glare and moved toward the door, unwilling to leave him alone.
“Here. Now that I got it, spill everything.”
Seongjin tossed a black plastic bag of soju and snacks into Jeong-sik’s lap.
“This isn’t the soju I like…”
Seongjin’s face contorted.
“I’ll drink it for your effort. Now straighten your expression—how are we supposed to talk if you look scared?”
Jeong-sik sulked but grudgingly began muttering to himself.
“Okay, enough. Now tell us in detail about that incident.”
Choi poured soju into Jeong-sik’s plastic cup.
“Ah… tastes good. So, see… that was about three summers ago, right?”
Jeong-sik savored the drink before slowly beginning his story.
“Back then, I wasn’t stuck here like now. I wandered around. A drifter, you know. Loved freedom and leisure. A free spirit, ha ha ha.”
“Stop talking nonsense and get to the point!”
“You think I look refined, but I’ve got a temper… Anyway, it was near Guri Station. There are a few parks there, pavilions and places perfect to drink and sleep overnight. That night, I was lying in the pavilion with a bottle of cheap soju, around 3 a.m., when I heard a short scream.”
Jeong-sik acted out every expression and gesture as he spoke, like a one-man show.
“So?”
Choi’s face stiffened.
“Normally, you ignore screams because weird things happen all the time. But that night… the scream snapped me sober. Something felt wrong. I knew something bad was happening. Ah! I’ve got a good instinct. How good? Well…”
“Ah—enough.”
Seongjin cut him off before he went off-topic again.
“Fine, fine. Keep it concise. So you quietly checked behind a flowerbed. And then?”
“And then… some guy was standing there with a knife, staring at the woman lying on the ground.”
Jeong-sik’s recollection made his throat dry, and he gulped soju.
“And then? What did you do?”
Choi refilled his empty cup, face serious.
“What could I do? I barely held back her scream with both hands. If he caught me, I’d be stabbed too. So I watched quietly. Then that crazy guy… he was smiling at her. Smiling!”
“Why just watch?! You should’ve called the police!”
Seongjin interrupted, furious.
“Ah—ugh. I hate being interrupted. I’ve said enough. Just give me the money.”
Jeong-sik, offended, flopped backward, waving his hand at Choi.
“You think this is a joke? Hey!”
Choi grabbed him by the collar and yanked him upright. Jeong-sik’s rough gasps echoed through the underground driveway.
“Chief… please, calm down.”
Seongjin panicked, trying to intervene.
“Huff… huff… geez. Almost killed me. What are you doing?”
Jeong-sik collapsed in his seat, frightened.
“I don’t have time to play. I’ll tell you everything I saw, heard, smelled. Got it?”
Choi’s patience snapped; he wouldn’t tolerate more whining.
“Yes… yes…”
Jeong-sik stammered, trembling.
“He… looked over the woman, grinning… like he enjoyed it. I’ve never seen a smile that creepy in my life. Ugh… just thinking about it makes me shiver.”
“He smiled?”
Seongjin crossed his arms, incredulous.
“Yes. Then he took something from his jacket pocket, crouched by the woman, stayed a long while, then got up.”
“What did he take?”
Choi interjected.
“…It was too dark to tell, but I think it was a jackknife. Felt like one.”
Jeong-sik pouted at being interrupted but continued.
“A jackknife? He pulled a knife?”
“Yes. Maybe several, from different pockets.”
“Several? Why?”
“I don’t know. Anyway, he sat there for a while, then threw them around the flowerbed.”
“He threw knives?”
“Chief, the case record says five suspected murder weapons were found around the flowerbed.”
Seongjin perked up, excited.
“Right? Knives! See, my observation was correct.”
“What kind of knives?”
Choi dismissed him, looking at Seongjin.
“Various types: fishing, hiking, camping… all sorts.”
“Were there blood traces on the knives?”
“Yes. All five had blood of the victim.”
Choi’s lips tightened, feeling the puzzle might not be solved easily.
“Fingerprints?”
“Yes. But all fingerprints on these knives belong to different people.”
Jeong-sik leaned in, curious.
“Different people’s prints? What does that mean?”
“Exactly. All five knives had different prints.”
“Then five people stabbed her? That’s impossible. I clearly saw only one…”
“And the investigation of those five? Were they all cleared?”
“Yes. All of them.”
“Kim Seung-beom? His prints?”
“No. That’s why he was the first removed from suspicion. His alibi was solid.”
“I see…”
Choi exhaled deeply.
“Other suspects’ alibis?”
“All said they lost their knives while hiking or fishing. No connection to the victim, so cleared.”
Seongjin muttered bitterly.
“Knives exist… but no stabber.”
Choi frowned.
“Checked CCTV? It’s a park, there should be cameras.”
Jeong-sik, now acting like a detective, chimed in.
“If there was footage, we wouldn’t be standing here!”
Seongjin rolled his eyes.
“Mr. Hwang, think again. Any memory of his face? Any feature?”
Choi fixed his gaze on Jeong-sik, desperate for any clue.
“I… I did see him, but it was dark and long ago. Maybe if I saw him again, I’d remember. Not sure though.”
“You really saw him?”
Seongjin’s suspicion was clear.
“What? You doubt me? I can’t believe this.”
Jeong-sik drank the soju in front of him, grumbling.
“Then why didn’t you testify in court?”
Choi took the bottle.
“Can’t you tell? That’s why I didn’t. Not that I wouldn’t—I couldn’t.”
Jeong-sik, flushed, glared at Seongjin.
“I… what did I do…”
“What do you mean you couldn’t?”
Seongjin was about to speak, but Choi held him back.
“Who would believe a drunk homeless guy? They dismissed everything I said as nonsense. I even went to the station myself, said I was a witness. Gah… disgusting world.”
Jeong-sik finished the last swig, slamming his fists on his chest, eyes watering.
“Why are you crying like a grown man?”
Seongjin softened, patting his shoulder.
“Did you see him that night?”
Choi suddenly held his phone screen in front of Jeong-sik.
