Chapter 72 – Butcher (1)

January 1st, H Market in Yeonhui-dong.

A navy colored van, which could be seen everywhere, stopped at the entrance to a traditional market full of people who came out for the New Year.

Beep.

“Main location, check.”

Cheon Ho-beom, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s second-tier investigation team, sat in the back seat of the van and looked out the window with a walkie-talkie in his hand.

“Pay attention to each other’s movements.”

-Location 1. I’m grilling toast.

The owner of the stand nodded slightly towards the van.

-Location 2. In the middle of a delivery.

The delivery guy, who was moving with a box of chicken, also turned to the van once.

-Location 3, looking at the rooftop.

A hand appeared from the roof of a building overlooking the entire market. Then, it disappeared.

Cheon Ho-beom, who confirmed the locations of all the detectives, turned to the cafe building, which was the expected meeting place of the suspect.

“Captain.”

A young detective in the driver’s seat, Lieutenant Yoon Joong-gi, turned to Cheon Ho-beom.

“About Heogi-poongi. Will he really appear here? As soon as he starts to run, I’ll grab him in a choke. Ju-jitsu is more popular than judo these days.”

Cheon Ho-beom hit Yoon Joong-gi over the back of his head.

“If you want to film an action movie, go to the Violent Crime Department. They always fight over there.”

“Ow… How can I just get out of the Investigation team when I worked so hard to get in? I have to catch some big guys before I go out.”

“Those intelligent guys will really be easily caught by you who’s only good at physical things. Stop talking nonsense and move in.”

“Yes.”

Wearing an apron with the cafe logo, Yoon Joong-gi opened the door of the cafe and ran in.

– Location 4, part-time job…… Finished!

In a little bit.

– This is the rooftop. Shin Sung-oh appeared at the entrance of Namyeongpa’s game business. I’m moving toward the cafe. Five wings.

Centering on the loan business, a boss of an organization that intervened in various entertainment rights and embezzled large amounts of money had appeared.

-There are many customers in the cafe. Shall we send them out before Shin Sung-oh arrives?

Cheon Ho-beom immediately replied to the walkie-talkie.

“Do you have any doubt? Part-time, just make coffee well and don’t step up until we have the suspect in custody.”

-Understood.

Far from the market, a man with a harsh impression walked with his followers.

Shin Sung-oh, who came close, stood at the side door of the van. Cheon Ho-beom significantly reduced the sound of the radio and attached himself to the back seat.

Shin Sung-oh, who was looking around at his sportswear reflected in the tinted window, asked his subordinate.

“Duyong, should I have worn a neat suit? You said that guy Gipoong or Poong-gi or something gave off a bookish aura.”

“Hyung-nim, who wears a suit like a gangster and threatens people these days? It’s best to do business with a smile.”

“Graduating from high school really shows a difference, huh. Ok, ok. We’re businessmen not gangsters.”

They, who looked exactly like a criminal group, giggled at each other and entered the cafe.

“Shin Sung-oh entering the cafe. Part-timer.”

-I’ve checked.

Now they just had to wait for the main character to appear.

Cheon Ho-beom was staring at the cafe as if he was looking through the wall, and his eyes were so dry that he put some artificial drops in his eyes. When he looked at his eyes in the rearview mirror, the whites were red.

He’d been wrestling with the CCTV videos every morning for the past three weeks, so his eyes were in a ridiculous state.

-Captain, how can a person who swindles hundreds of billions of won have no criminal record?

“Part-time. You keep chatting during the mission, huh?”

-I’m washing the mop right now. It’s my first day at work, but they’re giving me a lot to do.

-Yoo Sijin. The customer left. Hurry up and clean up the table.

-Yes, yes!

Cheon Ho-beom placed the walkie-talkie to his mouth, putting the artificial drops in his pocket.

“The scary thing about this guy is that aside from the alias ‘Heogi-poongi’ we don’t know anything about him. Only the CCTV footage of the back that is presumed to be him has been taken.”

-It’s time for a detective’s intuition. I will always… Huh? Someone appeared in front of Shin Sung-oh!

Cheon Ho-beom immediately replied to the report delivered under his breath.

“What does he look like?”

-Mid-30s, tall, glasses, and salary man style. What should I do?

“Keep watching. I’m entering as a guest.”

Cheon Ho-beom entered the cafe with communication earphones in both ears as if listening to music.

“Welcome.”

“A cup of Americano.”

“Are you going to drink it here?”

He took out one earphone and nodded.

“It’s here, sir.”

Holding a tray with a mug on it in his hand, he walked to an empty table and looked slightly toward Shin Sung-oh.

The goal of today, a laptop, was brought out and shown to Shin Sung-oh, who suddenly took out and shook a car key while chatting.

-The deal is starting.

The car that Shin Sung-oh could open with his key was full of cash acquired through an illegal business, and Heogi-poongi would take over a certain amount of money by laundering it using cryptocurrency.

The amount of money illegally laundered over the past year by the suspect, who was at the forefront of new financial crimes, was as much as 500 billion won.

If they hit the case at the end of that transaction, they could even secure on-site evidence.

Cheon Ho-beom sat down and whispered quietly into his earphone microphone.

“Toast and Delivery, get ready to enter. Rooftop, lurk at the escape route.”

A nervous moment.

The face of the suspect appeared in Chun Ho-beom’s eyes, who was measuring the timing of the arrest with a deep breath.

“Abort! Wait before entering.”

-What’s wrong?

Cheon Ho-beom, who turned his head out of the window, hurriedly said, pretending to drink coffee leisurely.

“That’s Lim Jung Se. Level 3 for corporate money laundering. It can’t be Heogi-poongi.”

-Are you saying it’s a false lead? Let’s put Shin Sung-oh in first.

-I’m against that. You might miss a clue because you’re catching small fry.

Amid divided opinions, Yoon Joong-gi asked while washing dishes in a corner of the cafe.

-Captain. I heard that he has to do it himself because cryptocurrency manipulation or mixing is a specialized area, right?

A sudden flash of thought flashed in his head at the rudimentary question from Yoon Joong-gi, who recently started learning to investigate financial crimes.

Heogi-poongi was a cautious fellow. The fact that his personal information had never been exposed to the investigation network also said that it was highly likely that he used an agent like today.

Cheon Ho-beom’s eyes turned to the interior of the cafe.

“Part-time. Act naturally and check all the customers’ faces one by one. The suspect’s around here somewhere watching the transaction. Focus on those who are using a laptop, tablet or smartphone.”

-Ca-captain. Is… there anyone who isn’t doing that here?

A man wearing a baseball cap, who was typing the password ‘Coin blender’ swiftly in the protocol, turned his gaze to the road outside the window and stopped his fingers.

That delivery guy.

He had been holding the same bag of chicken for the past 20 minutes. Even though the customer would complain if he took that long to deliver. It was a very unnatural movement.

Baseball cap guy turned the screen of the laptop to an SNS photo album.

He grabbed the bag he’d placed on a chair so he could leave quickly but turned back around when he saw a man in his 40s sitting by the door as if he were guarding it.

He took out his phone and immediately sent a text.

[Police stakeout. Need help.]

Baseball Cap guy looked toward Shin Sung-oh. He saw Shin Sung-oh spin the key around and then push it toward Lim Jung Se.

Right before the contract concluded. There wouldn’t be any problem if they could escape successfully.

[Will make a distraction with the heater.]

Baseball Cap guy who had been pretending to look at his phone turned his gaze to the heating element on the store’s ceiling.

Bzzzzzt一

Carbon monoxide exuded by the entire building, which should be discharged to the outside, poured into the sealed cafe through an exhaust.

Less than 30 seconds later, there were people coughing all over the cafe.

-Manager! What’s wrong with the air here?

-Oh, my throat.

At the entrance, a man suspected of being a detective coughed and looked at the ceiling.

Customers stood up one by one and started moving outside. Baseball Cap Guy used that gap to head to the place where Lim Jung-Se was.

At the time when he was about to receive the key from Lim Jung-Se secretly.

“Everyone, stop! I sent people to the boiler room, so don’t move!”

“Who are you, old man? Are you the owner here?”

“I’m Inspector Cheon Ho-beom of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s metropolitan investigation unit.”

A man in his 40s, who brought up his police status, had the people withdraw and opened all doors and windows to ventilate the store.

The delivery man and the owner of the toast restaurant also stood on both sides of the entrance without anyone realizing when they’d come over.

Baseball Cap Guy could not approach Lim Jung-Se due to the sharp gaze the police were using to watch everyone’s move. Because the police would have come for this deal.

Shin Sung-oh was surprised and pointed at Lim Jung-Se.

“What? Fuck! Did you set up a trap?”

“What are you talking about?”

At this rate, they would be arrested without being able to do anything about it. Baseball Cap Guy texted with his cell phone under the table.

[The police are moving to the boiler room. Stronger distraction is needed.]

[Stay away from the wall. I will ignite the refrigerant gas in the air conditioning facility.]

Maybe about 10 seconds later.

Booom一!

With a huge explosion, the exterior walls of the cafe connected to the boiler room exploded in all directions.

The interior looked like it was swept by a storm.

Baseball Cap Guy, who tried to get out in the midst of collapsed and moaning people, immediately stopped walking when he saw a cafe part-timer crouching under the counter come out while, shouting, “captain!”

There was one more.

If he ran away from here, he would get attention from that last detective. Baseball Cap Guy crouched next to the fallen person. And then shouted.

“Help!”

* * *

Vrrr. vrrrr.

Dowook, who was sticking his head between thick books, jumped up into a sitting position. Then he held his cell phone in hand.

Seong Chang Soo was the main culprit who woke him up.

“Why?”

-This place is going crazy right now. There are four patients with just cranial injuries.

Dowook let out a big yawn and asked.

“Did you send an emergency call to a person with a call exemption? Does Chief Ji know about this?”

-Stop bragging. I don’t know about the other patients, but I need you to check this person’s CT. He’s barely holding on to his life, but it looks like he needs an emergency surgery.

“What is it?”

He turned on the computer and opened the computer chart.

A patient’s skull only had fractures, but there was a considerably large amount of blood pooled inside. He was suspected of severe brain trauma caused by a counter-impact bruise.

“He got hit hard. Didn’t he fasten his seat belt?”

-No. The building exploded and he got stuck in a pillar.

“What explosion?”

-Are you coming or not? If it’s not you, I have to call Professor Yeom. I don’t want to hear his complaints from the start of the new year.

Dowook turned to the books piled up in preparation for the specialist exam, which was only six days away.

It was so boring that he couldn’t even think of pulling an all-nighter.

“I’ll go.”

-Okay.

Dowook, who was entering the emergency center, tilted his head when he saw people in police uniforms standing as if they were guarding the treatment area.

‘What is this?’

“Dowook.”

He approached the severe treatment area Seong Chang Soo was gesturing in a hurry.

“It’s him.”

The patient in blood-stained sportswear had a long scar on one side of his cheek. Dowook looked closely at the semi-comma patient’s head and asked Seong Chang Soo.

“Explosion? No fire?”

“I don’t know exactly either. The refrigerator gas exploded and the wall collapsed. All the patients are here. What kind of luck is this from the beginning of the year?”

Dowook was surprised to see the emergency beds lined up in the hallway because the center was too full.

“Why did all these patients come to our hospital at once? Without dispersing.”

“There was a criminal suspect in the building where the accident occurred.”

This answer was provided by a man in his early 30s with a band-aid on his forehead. The man lifted his ID card for Dowook to see.

“I’m Lieutenant Yoon Joong-gi from the Investigation Team. Please understand that all patients carried in from the Yeonhui-dong cafe explosion will be treated here under police surveillance until the end of the investigation.”

Yoon Joong-gi pointed to the patient.

“This guy, Shin Sung-oh. Can he live?”

“Well, if we operate and catch the cerebral hemorrhage first, it won’t be life-threatening. The aftereffects, we will have to wait and see.”

“I look forward to your kind cooperation. Shin Sung-oh is an important accomplice.”

Dowook picked up his cell phone and instructed Nam Hana to ready an operating room, and his eyes remained on Yoon Joong-gi, who looked very worried.

“Captain…”

Where Yoon Joong-gi stood, a middle-aged patient lay connected to a respirator.

“Oh, Hana. As quickly as possible. I’ll call Professor Choi.”

Dowook lowered his cell phone and tapped Seong Chang Soo’s shoulder.

“How’s he doing?”

“The Investigation team’s captain? He’s lethargic with a fracture in his abdominal bone. The bleeding was quite big.”

Dowook swallowed the exclamation of surprise that was about to come out.