I Didn't Mean Let's Cover Up the Case
"I apologise. He must have needed the bathroom urgently."
The dining table in Go Sang-yeop's house.
Waiting for Ju-won who had gone into the bathroom, Detective Kim Seok-ho apologised to Go Sang-yeop.
"Not at all. Well, it's a physiological phenomenon..."
However, Go Sang-yeop's expression is not good.
He seemed fine when they barged into the house and peeked into the master bedroom.
'What is it?'
Go Sang-yeop's attitude was suspicious, but Detective Kim Seok-ho didn't show it.
With a calm face, he quietly observed Go Sang-yeop.
Go Sang-yeop kept looking at the bathroom Ju-won entered with an anxious expression.
After rolling his eyes briefly, Detective Kim Seok-ho stood up and headed towards the bathroom.
At that time.
"So the two were members of the same hiking club. Then obviously they would know each other, but Go Sang-yeop claims not to know the victim? This smells, it smells way too fishy."
Inside the bathroom.
Sitting on the toilet with the lid down, Ju-won rubbed his chin.
Then, Terra spoke.
[Isn't it smelling because you are inside the bathroom?]
"This guy doesn't understand metaphors, metaphors. I mean it smells fishy because it seems there's something he's hiding. Wait, smell...? The smell, the smell... isn't there."
[Just a moment ago you said there was a smell. What do you mean?]
Ju-won jumped up and said, examining the inside of the bathroom.
"Don't you think it's too clean in here? There's no smell at all."
[Are you referring to the bathroom? It looks clean. Judging by the state of the house earlier, it is highly likely he cleans the bathroom periodically as well.]
"No, but it's too clean. There's even a pretty strong smell of bleach. It seems quite recent... like he cleaned it yesterday."
[Come to think of it, there isn't a single strand of hair in the drain either. The bin is empty too.]
"So... it's strange, way too strange..."
At that moment,
Bang bang!
"Inspector! Let's wrap it up and go, shall we? Who are you muttering to in there!"
Along with the sound of knocking on the door, Detective Kim Seok-ho's angry voice was heard from outside.
"Ah, yes! Just a moment! Something I ate yesterday must have disagreed with me... I'll be right out!"
Ju-won stood in front of the sink and looked at the bathroom reflected in the mirror.
A spotless, tidy bathroom.
The driver Go Sang-yeop hid his relationship with the victim Kim Mi-yeon, and tidied up the entire house cleanly.
Like a person who has something they desperately want to hide.
'What could it be? What was the relationship between the two that Go Sang-yeop pretended not to know the victim... what is that?'
At that moment, Ju-won's gaze stopped at the ceiling.
One of the ceiling tiles looked yellow.
'...Since when was it like that?'
[Ah, you see it now? There was a suspicious gap, so I marked it in Mr Ju-won's field of vision.]
'Terra...!'
Surprise at Terra's ability and reproach for why it was only telling him now were mixed, but there was no time for that.
Ju-won immediately stepped onto the bathtub, quietly opened the ceiling tile, and reached his hand in.
And,
'Found it.'
[What is it?]
He pulled out something his hand had grasped.
'A mobile phone?'
It was a mobile phone wrapped in plastic.
The screen was shattered, with glass fragments stuck to it.
[Go Sang-yeop's mobile phone that was on the dining table appeared to be the latest model. It looked like he changed it recently, without any cracks.]
Ju-won took the mobile phone out of the plastic and pressed the power button.
At that moment, Detective Kim Seok-ho knocked on the bathroom door once more.
"Inspector!"
"Ah, just a moment! Just a moment! I'm coming out soon!"
[He is not an easy person. He keeps his house immaculate and manages it daily. It is highly likely he chose the method of holding onto the evidence until there was a sure way to dispose of it rather than throwing it away just anywhere. Therefore, there is a high probability that the mobile phone Mr Ju-won is holding now is that evidence.]
'I agree.'
Simultaneously with Ju-won's thought, the mobile phone turned on.
However.
"Ah, a pattern."
Ju-won held his forehead.
The mobile phone has a pattern lock.
'Ah, I need a warrant to unlock this...'
[Analysing pattern.]
Ju-won's eyes opened wide.
'Analysis? You can figure out the pattern?'
[...Analysis complete. Move your finger according to the numbers I call out. 3492.]
"Uh? Oh!"
Ju-won drew the mobile phone pattern as Terra said.
Then, with a click sound, the mobile phone unlocked.
'W-what? How did you do it?'
[I analysed it through the degree of oil remaining from fingerprints.]
'Wow.'
Artificial intelligence is indeed different.
If he were alone, he would have tried this and that and eventually failed to unlock it.
[Stop admiring and let's examine the mobile phone.]
'Ah, right.'
Ju-won examined the mobile phone.
From the phone and message apps to the photo app.
And the more he examined the mobile phone, the more Ju-won's brow furrowed.
[It is confirmed the two knew each other. To be precise, they appear to be lovers. Looking at the photos taken together in the photo app and the messages exchanged.]
On the mobile phone that appeared to be Go Sang-yeop's, there was the victim Kim Mi-yeon's name.
With a heart emoticon next to the name as well.
'It is his girlfriend.'
12:45 AM -
'The victim Ms Kim Mi-yeon had no family, and no close friends. That's why there was no way to confirm if the perpetrator Go Sang-yeop was her boyfriend.'
[Correct. Furthermore, since the case was classified as a traffic accident from the start, no one would have thought to check the relationship between the two.]
'Then did he hit his girlfriend, who broke up with him, with his car in a fit of rage?'
Ju-won scrolled through the messages.
01:14 AM -
01:58 AM -
02:27 AM -
02:34 AM -
[Judging by the circumstances so far, it appears so.]
"This guy is a complete psycho."
Ju-won's finger moved.
Then stopped at the last message.
03:30 AM -
[Considering the time, it seems like a message sent after calling 119.]
"Haa..."
A sigh burst from Ju-won's mouth at Go Sang-yeop's inhuman message.
[The file stated that victim Kim Mi-yeon's mobile phone was not found. It is presumed to have been flung out upon collision with the car at the time of the accident, but it seems highly likely Go Sang-yeop has it.]
"...."
[What do you intend to do? If you collect the evidence now, there is a low probability that it will be recognised as valid evidence because it was collected illegally.]
At Terra's voice, Ju-won gripped the mobile phone tightly.
At that time, outside the bathroom.
"He injured his head a few days ago, perhaps that is why he is struggling a bit."
Standing in front of the bathroom door, Detective Kim Seok-ho was calming Go Sang-yeop down with the calmest tone possible.
'What is it... what is in the bathroom...'
Just as Detective Kim Seok-ho was unobtrusively observing Go Sang-yeop in the kitchen direction.
Creak.
The bathroom door opened and Ju-won revealed himself.
"Inspector..."
"Let's go, Detective."
But Ju-won's appearance is calm.
No, he became much brighter than a moment ago.
"...Let's do that..."
Clack!
Ju-won and Detective Kim Seok-ho, having come out of Go Sang-yeop's house, got into the car.
As soon as the car door closed, Detective Kim Seok-ho opened his mouth.
"What was it?"
"Pardon?"
"What did you discover?"
Ju-won's head turned.
Detective Kim Seok-ho continued speaking.
"I said let's not make a case for nothing, I didn't mean let's cover up the case."
"...."
"What was it, that you discovered?"
That night.
"The rubbish truck will come soon. Then... Kekeke! It's over."
The back alley of driver Go Sang-yeop's house.
Holding a rubbish bag, Go Sang-yeop slowly approached the place where rubbish was piled up.
"Earlier, f**k, I was surprised when some cops suddenly barged in."
Then, throwing the bag onto the rubbish pile, he took a cigarette out of his pocket and put it in his mouth.
Go Sang-yeop's expression looked relieved.
Like a person with no murder evidence left to bind him anymore.
It was then.
A man wearing a fluorescent vest, perhaps the rubbish collection officer, approached from that alley.
"Ay, there's a lot of rubbish today."
Go Sang-yeop exhaled cigarette smoke and stepped back slightly.
Then, the rubbish officer wearing a fluorescent vest and a cap began to organise the general waste one by one.
"Why is this one so heavy?"
As the man who appeared to be the rubbish officer lifted and put down the rubbish Go Sang-yeop had thrown away, Go Sang-yeop approached with the cigarette in his mouth.
"Mister, stop touching that and just organise it, will you? Ah, but what about the rubbish truck, did you come alo... huh?"
However, Go Sang-yeop, who was approaching the rubbish officer, frowned.
"You, from earlier..."
The man wearing the fluorescent vest, whom he thought was a rubbish officer, was,
Ju-won.
"The police car to clean up the rubbish will come soon. I came first because I heard the rubbish to clean up today is quite big."
As Ju-won took off his cap and spoke, Go Sang-yeop's face contorted.
Taking the cigarette out of his mouth, Go Sang-yeop faltered backwards.
"Thanks to you, I don't need to get a warrant, so thanks, really."
A few hours ago,
When Ju-won entered the bathroom of Go Sang-yeop's house.
[What do you intend to do? If you collect the evidence now, there is a low probability that it will be recognised as valid evidence because it was collected illegally.]
Detectives catch criminals and find evidence. And hand the criminals over to the prosecution.
After that, the prosecution and the court judge the sentence for the criminal's crime.
What is needed then is evidence.
Not just any evidence, but evidence collected through 'lawful procedures'.
No matter how certain the evidence is, evidence not processed through appropriate procedures cannot be admitted, and cannot be a means to punish the criminal.
"It will be difficult to catch him unless he brings it out with his own hands..."
[According to criminal psychology in Mr Ju-won's subconscious, it is highly likely that a criminal who has been investigated will attempt to conceal evidence.]
'And so?'
[Go Sang-yeop is a meticulous planner. An organised house, enough to predict that the police might visit his house and prepare a reaction. Such a man killed his girlfriend impulsively. He looks perfect, but he is a person easily swept away by emotions. Mr Ju-won entered the bathroom where he hid the mobile phone, so he must be very agitated right now.]
'Then... he might try to get rid of the evidence earlier than planned?'
[Correct. And the easiest method is waste sorting. Because the probability of finding rubbish that has gone to the recycling centre is remarkably low.]
So Ju-won waited.
Until Go Sang-yeop moved with the evidence.
And Go Sang-yeop moved as Terra predicted.
"Then, shall we start the rubbish collection?"
🔥 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! ❤️