The inspector is getting promoted!

I just got home. The person Joo Won-hyung, the deputy chief prosecutor, met at the officetel was confirmed to be Lim Seong-jin, the chief prosecutor.

“Good work. Just to be safe, keep monitoring him. Even while you’re on shift, don’t let your guard down.”

Understood.

I hung up the phone after receiving the report from the police officer assigned to Joo Won-hyung.

Both failed to show up on the first subpoena date, and secretly met to discuss something.

If they had met for the whole day, I would have thought it was a strategy meeting, but that wasn’t the case.

They parted ways in less than an hour after meeting, so the answer is obvious.

They must have issued some sort of directive or passed on information.

If I’m right, that directive likely leads to Joo Won-hyung’s death.

With the pressure building in the media, they must be feeling the crisis.

We, too, are under enough pressure from the public, so we couldn’t afford to delay.

The third subpoena will likely be the final one.

Considering the article I saw in the text message, Joo Won-hyung’s death will occur around the time of the final subpoena.

Just in case, I had attached a police officer to him.

The main goal is to prevent an accidental tragedy.

If a crisis arises, I plan to step in and try to persuade him.

Above all, people tend to appreciate a helping hand when a crisis looms.

For now, I just need to monitor Joo Won-hyung’s movements and wait.

***

The final subpoena date is approaching.

The police officer assigned to Joo Won-hyung had not reported anything unusual, and only Lim Seong-jin had responded to the final subpoena.

However, the unsettling thing is that Joo Won-hyung’s movements seem to have stopped.

According to reports, he’s still at home, so out of caution, I sent a disguised delivery man to check on him. He’s apparently having a meal with his family at home.

The subpoena time is fast approaching. If he doesn’t show up, an arrest warrant will be issued.

It’s time to act as I anticipated based on the text message.

“Why are you so worried?”

At that moment, Park Seung-su, the deputy chief prosecutor, approached and placed his hand on my shoulder.

“Oh, it’s nothing major.”

“Is it because of Joo Won-hyung?”

“Yes. Lim Seong-jin showed up much earlier than the subpoena time, but Joo Won-hyung still hasn’t shown up, and I’m starting to get uneasy.”

“If he doesn’t come on his own, they’ll catch him. Don’t worry.”

If it’s as simple as that, then I wouldn’t be concerned either.

“By the way, do you want to talk to Lim Seong-jin? This guy seems to think he’s untouchable.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. After all that’s come to light, he’s trying to back out, but the only explanation is that Joo Won-hyung is taking the fall for everything.”

He shrugged and continued.

“Well, it’s the scenario we expected, but Lim Seong-jin, this guy, his expression is bothering me. He talks like he’s already won. No matter what, even if Joo Won-hyung takes the fall, Lim Seong-jin can’t escape the consequences, but he seems overly confident.”

“I’ll try talking to him.”

“Alright.”

***

“I’m not familiar with the details. I found out that Joo Won-hyung seems to have led most of it.”

Lim Seong-jin twisted his lips into a sly grin.

Even in the interrogation room, he wasn’t intimidated. In fact, he appeared unusually relaxed, almost as if he were in control.

As expected, when the final subpoena day came, he started shifting all the blame onto Joo Won-hyung.

Lim Seong-jin maintained a consistent attitude during the investigation, and the other prosecutors who had delayed their appearance until now had also aligned their statements, blaming everything on Joo Won-hyung.

It was now certain.

Joo Won-hyung would attempt suicide today.

If I’m right, Lim Seong-jin must have instructed him to take the fall for everything.

Whether through blackmail or offering enormous sums of money to his family, something must have happened to make him take responsibility.

If he were truly trying to take responsibility out of loyalty, there’s no way he would have delayed until the final subpoena date.

Lim Seong-jin, with his usual cocky smile, opened his mouth first.

“I heard Joo Won-hyung didn’t show up. Maybe he didn’t come because he’s guilty?”

“That’s not likely. I’m sure he was instructed by someone… perhaps his direct superior.”

“I never gave him any orders… looks like Joo Won-hyung even violated the work structure.”

A vicious smile spread across Lim Seong-jin’s face.

Just by seeing that expression, it was clear. Joo Won-hyung must have decided to take the fall.

If he had been buying people off with money, he wouldn’t have been so composed.

I must have missed something—there must have been more threats behind the scenes.

He glanced around at the two-way mirror.

“Just to make sure, there’s no one watching or recording, right?”

“Of course not. I’m not from the Inspection Department, so why would I leave evidence behind?”

Finally, Lim Seong-jin leaned forward and gave me a malicious stare.

“Don’t think I’ll fall for this so easily.”

If he still thought he was in control, that was his mistake.

“I wasn’t planning on making you fall,” I said with a smile.

“Not yet, anyway.”

His brow furrowed.

“You think I’ll just fall that easily, huh?”

Before he could finish his sentence, my phone vibrated.

The caller was the police officer assigned to Joo Won-hyung.

“Oh, it’s an urgent call.”

I raised an eyebrow at Lim Seong-jin, who glared at me, and left the interrogation room to answer.

“What’s the status?”

He just left his house and got into his car. We’re tailing him now, and as soon as he gets on the freeway, I’ll keep reporting.

The freeway meant he was heading toward Ilsan!

I remembered that Joo Won-hyung’s body was found in a motel in Ilsan, so it seemed like he had made up his mind.

“I’ll follow him immediately. Report anything unusual as soon as it happens.”

Understood.

After receiving the report, I turned to Park Seung-su, who had been waiting.

“Deputy, Joo Won-hyung is heading somewhere else. I’m going to follow him.”

He couldn’t hide his surprise.

“You’ve got a tail on Joo Won-hyung?”

I didn’t answer, just nodded.

“We’ll head there now.”

We immediately left the floor with the interrogation rooms and made our way to the car parked in the lot.

Joo Won-hyung, no matter how much he wants to die, he won’t be allowed to go that easily.

***

“It’s this motel.”

“Did you see him go in for sure?”

“Yes. I confirmed he paid with a card. His car is parked in the back lot too.”

“Was he holding something in his hands?”

The undercover cop’s eyes widened as if surprised, then answered.

“Yes. He was holding a black plastic bag. I couldn’t check the contents, as it was already placed in the trunk of his car.”

It was probably tools for his suicide.

Considering his cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning, the bag likely contained tape to seal the doors and windows, charcoal briquettes, and a stove.

“How long has he been inside?”

“Exactly one hour.”

One hour. He must have prepared himself mentally while driving on the highway.

After arriving, he would have set up the environment for suicide using the tape. It seemed like the timing was just right.

By now, the charcoal briquettes were probably lit, but it hadn’t been long enough for him to lose consciousness.

“We should go in right now. Did you check the room number?”

“No, not yet.”

“That’s fine. Let’s go in right away.”

As we entered the motel, the owner inside the small window scanned us quickly.

“Is a woman coming?”

He must have thought we were a couple.

I sighed deeply, furrowing my brow, while the police officer with me showed his badge.

“We’re the police. Did a man with glasses and a suit come in alone about an hour ago? What room did he go into?”

The owner widened his eyes and bowed his head.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I misunderstood.”

“It’s fine. Just tell us the room number and give us the master key.”

“Can you tell me what this is about…?”

“We need to investigate.”

“Still, if you give it to us without a warrant, there could be problems for us…”

The man was quite resistant.

I grew frustrated and spoke up.

“Someone’s trying to commit suicide in there. If word gets out that someone died here, it will be hard for you to keep doing business.”

Finally, the owner hastily pulled out the master key.

“Please, follow me. It’s room 304.”

Seemingly afraid of the death, the owner skipped the elevator and rushed up the stairs.

When we reached room 304, the owner inserted the card key and pulled the door. As expected, there was tape on the door seam.

“I’ll pull it.”

The officer next to me kicked the wall and pulled the door handle. The tape fell off, and the door opened.

We stepped inside, leaving the owner behind, and immediately felt the heavy air and the musty scent of charcoal.

As expected, there was a charcoal stove on the floor, with lit briquettes inside.

“How… cough!”

Prosecutor Jo Won-hyung, who had been lying on the bed, coughed up, his eyes dazed as he looked at us.

It seemed he hadn’t lost consciousness yet; he had inhaled quite a bit of carbon monoxide.

Perfect timing.

I covered my mouth with a handkerchief and immediately opened the window.

“Let’s move to another room.”

I instructed the officer to open the ventilation in the bathroom.

“Please move him to the next room.”

“Understood.”

The officer carried the semi-conscious Jo Won-hyung to the next room, and while waiting for him to regain his senses, I started scanning the room.

An online article I had seen earlier clearly mentioned finding his suicide note along with his body.

There should be a note somewhere in this room.

After scanning the room, I found the note easily. It had been deliberately placed on the table with an ashtray on top to keep it from flying away.

The ashtray was filled with over ten cigarette butts.

If he had smoked ten in an hour, it meant he had been chain-smoking from the moment he arrived until right before lighting the briquettes.

It was no longer about money; it was clear that he had been threatened and had chosen death.

I retrieved the suicide note from beneath the ashtray and skimmed through it. As expected, it contained a message saying he was taking full responsibility and raised doubts about the targeted investigation.

This was the hidden card of Im Seong-jin.

By passing all the blame onto Jo Won-hyung, he had used the phrase “targeted investigation” to redirect the media’s attention toward us.

As I finished reading the note, my phone rang.

It was Prosecutor Park Seung-su.

“Yes, this is Choi Seo-jun.”

“I just got a call from Jo Won-hyung’s family. They found the note at home! What’s going on? You were supposed to go look for it!”

He sounded panicked.

It seemed like he was really thrown off.

“We stopped it. We found him trying to commit suicide at the motel. He’s conscious now, and we’ve found the note too.”

“Haaa…”

I could hear Park Seung-su’s voice as he let out a deep sigh.

He knew very well that if Jo Won-hyung died, the situation would spiral out of control.

“It just says he’s sorry to his family and that they’ll be fine. What about the contents on your end? Send me a picture.”

“This note says he’s taking full responsibility for everything. I’ll take a picture and send it to you.”

“Got it. Was Jo Won-hyung taken by ambulance?”

“No, he’s in the next room. I need to have a brief negotiation with him.”

“Negotiation? What kind of negotiation?”

“I need to confirm if he had any discussions with Im Seong-jin about this case. If things go well, we might be able to get him on our side.”

“Hah, you think you can bring him in, taking responsibility?”

“Yes. Please just delay the arrest warrant. Once the attendance issue is handled, I’ll bring him to the district prosecutor’s office myself.”

“Alright, I’ll handle the warrant somehow, but make sure you’re here within 3 hours.”

“Understood.”

After sending him the picture of the note, I did a final check of the room, then immediately headed to the room next door where Jo Won-hyung was.

I had to deal with Jo Won-hyung, who had come close to death.

He was in the perfect state for a negotiation, with the fear of death weighing heavily on him.