Chapter 33 – Inspector Jung, that is a bit…

A profiler is known for finding and analyzing clues at crime scenes, but the most important thing is to build a rapport.

Hansol decided to slowly bring out the inner side of Kim Dohwa, who was in a state of panic.

Of course, Hansol knew that if he was alone with her, Kim Dohwa would be anxious, so he decided to do it with Inspector Jung.

Kim Dohwa looked tired as she had gone through so much. Still, it was surprising that she requested to meet the profiler.

“Miss Dohwa, are you alright?”

Kim Dohwa barely nodded her head at Hansol’s question.

“If you feel uncomfortable talking, you don’t have to speak.”

“No… I need to speak. Lee Wanjae, that motherfucker… I didn’t think he’d try to kill me.”

Kim Dohwa seemed unaware that Lee Wanjae had surrendered to the Drug Investigation Unit yesterday morning.

“Miss Dohwa, Lee Wanjae surrendered to the Drug Investigation Unit yesterday morning. Of course, he was aiming to hand over the charges of drugs to you.”

Kim Dohwa flinched at it.

“Me? I did… what….”

“I think it would be best if you calmed down. The CIF is doing our best to help Miss Dohwa escape this framing.”

Maybe the low and blunt voice of Hansol gave her some stability?

Inspector Jung was constantly holding the hand of Kim Dohwa to assure her. Inspector Jung’s actions helped provide stability to the victim. In particular, she regained more composure since the two were of the same gender.

Especially when exposed to dating violence and almost on the verge of death.

“Now, we have to talk about many things, but let’s take it step-by-step.”

Hansol took out the recorder and pressed the record button. He was thinking of recording everything they talked about.

“First, I have a question… I want to ask how Miss Dohwa got into such a situation.”

She opened her mouth with a blank expression.

“Lee Wanjae, that bastard told me everything out of my mouth will be considered a lie. No one in the world would ever believe my words. Do you think my words could be trusted?”

‘She seems to have lost trust in people. In times like this, rapport is important.’

Hansol thought of a gentle expression. He wasn’t someone who paid much attention to it but practiced them by looking in the mirror. Facial expressions of gentleness, friendliness, and toughness…

Hansol chose the gentle one and spoke to Kim Dohwa.

“Of course, it can be trusted. Give us the story of Miss Dohwa.”

“How do I know that you trust me?”

“You chose me as your interviewer because you thought you could trust me, right?

At Hansol’s words, Kim Dohwa went silent and then spoke as she sighed.

“As I stated in front of the detectives, I am the victim of that bastard for dating violence. I used to live without knowing about drugs, but I found out I was being forcibly injected with them. Everything was ruined because of that man! Euk…..”

It hadn’t been long since her gastric lavage was done, so Kim Dohwa was still feeling ill.

Inspector Jung stroked her back.

“Don’t worry, Miss Dohwa. You don’t have to rush and talk. We will stay here until you say all you want to.”

At Inspector Jung’s voice, Kim Dohwa nodded and said, “… but yesterday, someone knocked. And I thought it had to be that bastard. If you think about it, I had reported what he did and was already in a tough spot because of drugs, I thought it was either him or the Police. Especially because it was night, I thought it was Lee Wanjae and not the police.”

“Right. But when you opened it, it wasn’t him?”

“Yes. The moment I opened the door, I must have fainted or something. You believe me, right?”

Kim Dohwa was anxiously checking if Hansol believed her. The moment he noticed it, Hansol felt that this interview was going to be a difficult one.

“Of course, every word from Kim Dohwa is precious to us. If you don’t mind, I will continue to listen. I will listen till the end.”

“Phew…. When I woke up, my eyes were covered, but my wrists were free, and my ankles were tied, just like when I was discovered. My right leg was tied to the left knee. I tried to loosen it because my hands were free, but I couldn’t. the knot was weird.”

When Hansol and Inspector Jung saw the scene, the knot on the leg was a nasolabial knot1.

“Do you remember the person’s voice or anything?”

“I only remember seeing a black hat and black mask, a black suit, and a walker when the door opened… other than that, I cannot remember anything.”

“Can you guess if it was a man or woman?”

“No…. the moment I saw the person, I passed out and couldn’t see anything clearly. After that, I couldn’t smell anything for a while… ah! I don’t know the perfume the person had but how they walked… there was a squeaky voice!”

Hearing the sound of squeaking, Hansol thought of the police wearing the overshoes when they entered the scene. That is what it sounded when this person entered.

And the person had a walker, so its sound should be blunt. However, from what Kim Dohwa said, it felt like the person walked on the overshoes alone and didn’t use the walker. That way, no traces were found at the scene.

“Yes. Please tell me everything you remembered.”

Kim Dohwa looked at Hansol with doubt. And when she looked at Inspector Jung, her eyes turned relaxed, but looking at Hansol, she had a weird, firm posture.

“I couldn’t even hear the sound of TV being turned off, and there was occasionally a strange smell.”

“What kind of smell was it?”

“It smelled like steaming something. It didn’t happen much, but it came every few hours. And it seems like the person didn’t want to move or something. Even after knowing I was awake, the person left me alone. I was unsure where he put me, but every time I tried to touch something, it felt like I was in the living room.”

“You were in the living room, and you were hanging upside down when you woke up, right?”

At Hansol’s right guess, Kim Dohwa’s eyes changed. It felt like she would live. Perhaps what Hansol said gave her trust that he believed her story.

“Right! Despite having my eyes closed, my hands were tied, so I kept touching, and the chest of drawers in the living room could be felt, but the next I opened my eyes… there was no blindfold on my eyes, and I was hanging upside down…. And drugs… I could feel that drugs were injected into my body.”

“Then you realized that you were alone in the house?”

“Right! I could tell the person was done. And the traces of that musty smell of something steaming was gone too. I was stunned and then passed out again, and I thought I must have ventilated after that.”

The smell of steaming… Hansol thought profoundly and asked if she was talking about the smell of cannabis.

Kim Dohwa shook her head. She said she smoked it before with Lee Wanjae and this definitely wasn’t that.

Inspector Jung intervened and asked.

“Steaming smell… Was it something like steamed corn?”

Kim Dohwa looked at Inspector Jung and nodded.

“Right! It was that kind of smell, but there was strangely something weird about it! Ugh…”

Kim Dohwa grabbed her stomach. Inspector Jung was back to rubbing her as she spoke to Hansol.

“The previous person I was with used e-cigarettes to quit smoking. Then I filed this complaint, and it felt strange like an e-cigarette was being used, but it felt like cornbread. A slight cigar odor…

Huh! Right! That annoying smell came to my mind when I was tied. It smelled like cigarettes!”

Hansol was slowly getting clues. The person who may have killed the Kim sisters was dressed in all black and had the means to stun people instantly.

In addition to that, instead of smoking usually, he prefers e-cigs and has the patience to watch the victim and do nothing. They know about the nasolabial knot, so the opponent had to be a man. One of the most common knots taught in the military was this knot. It was a knot that was difficult to untie. And to stun someone means that this person has done this quite many times.

‘… a bodyguard?’

Hansol thought about it.

“… Uh… my stomach… feels sick… nurse….”

Inspector Jung hurriedly went to call the nurse.

Kim Dohwa was grabbing her stomach. Hansol couldn’t carelessly touch her, so he only kept telling her that she would be fine.

Kim Dohwa frowned in pain.

“… Ah… and protect my identity….”

It was necessary to protect her identity as the victim almost survived. And they had to hear her testimony before they caught the culprit.

Hansol nodded.

“I will protect it, Miss Kim Dohwa. I will assure you about it.”

“But what if that bastard Lee Wanjae comes back to kill me… couldn’t I be locked up in the Police Station? I can eat the food there….”

Kim Dohwa was under the impression that the Police Station would be the safest for her. At that time, the nurse came with Jung Yu-mi and worked on her saying that abdominal pain would follow after gastric lavage.

Once the nurse left, Kim Dohwa began to speak about how anxious she was, and Inspector Jung, who seemed troubled, took her hand and said, “Actually… I don’t know what Miss Dohwa thinks about this, but how about staying at my house? The culprit wouldn’t be able to expect that.”

Hansol didn’t like it. No matter how much this woman claims to be the victim, she could also be related to the culprit. If this was done by his father, then this woman could be on it.

“… Inspector Jung, that is a bit—”

As Hansol tried to speak, Kim Dohwa responded with a bright face.

“I like it! I think that it would be safer for me! I guess it is because you are a female officer… Neither Lee Wanjae nor the person who came to my house will think I would stay with a policewoman. I feel so good!”

Inspector Jung replied with a smile.

“Then, after the discharge, let’s head to my home.”

Hansol couldn’t shake off the ominous feeling.