Villain Detective is a Chaebol - Chapter 24

Chapter 24

“Po, police? What police?”

The bewildered president’s eyes darted here and there. The sudden appearance of the police made him momentarily speechless.

Hyunsoo entered the office, pushing his shoulder slightly.

“Eyy, Let’s sit. Police.”

Hyunsoo, who came in naturally, began to quickly scan the office with his eyes.

The nameplate [Sangma Construction President Seo Jinsang] was on the desk next to the man who sat on the sofa and was stunned.

Small safe and books for interior purposes. There didn’t seem to be anything special.

“The soundproofing here is not good.”

“……What, what?”

“I heard it all at the door.”

As Hyunsoo naturally sat on the sofa, President Seo Jinsang hurriedly approached him. President Seo, who was looking at Hyunsoo with a fluttered expression, frowned.

“Are, are you really a police?”

“So I’m a police impersonator? Here’s my ID.”

Hyunsoo took out his ID from his pocket and showed it.

“Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Major Crime Investigation Team 1……?”

President Seo stared at Hyunsoo.

A dandy-like appearance with a shameless tone. On the surface, being a police officer was an unsuitable job.

He didn’t know what the purpose of this guy was to come here.…….

‘A police sense of duty…… I don’t think it’s because of this.’

President Seo, who gently sat next to Hyunsoo, grabbed his hand. Then he began to open his mouth with a pitiful expression on his face.

“Detective-nim, it didn’t happen at Sangma Construction, it’s just that Head Manager Park Jangwon, who used to work at Sangma Construction……! No, Head Manager Park made that choice himself. There was bullying at work, and he made an extreme choice after struggling with that kind of stress! Well, that’s what I heard.…… We don’t know about that! Somebody who is trying to frame the company is spreading such rumors…….”

President Seo had become a completely different person from the person who opened the door a moment ago. He, who had become a docile sheep, had a pitiful expression on his face.

Then, as Hyunsoo’s eyes turned to the man opposite him, the embarrassed-looking man nodded.

“That, that’s right. Head Manager Park, who I saw at the company, was an extremely bright person. He would never make that choice because of his work at the company.”

Hyunsoo, who slowly looked at the two, nodded.

“Well, let’s just say that’s true. Since you two are saying that.”

“Aigoo thank you! Detective-nim! No one listened to me when the investigation came out at another station. It was so unfair…….”

“However.”

President Seo, who stopped talking at Hyunsoo’s voice, turned his head.

“……Yes?”

“I just heard about it.”

“……Which?”

“No, just outside the door a little while ago.”

President Seo tilted his head. Then Hyunsoo said in a small voice.

“You’ll give me as much as I want……. Well, then……?”

“Pardon?”

President Seo’s eyes widened. Then, scratching the back of his head, he began to laugh awkwardly.

“Ah…… hahahaha. That…….”

President Seo rolled his eyes while looking at the man and Hyunsoo alternately. Hyunsoo leaned his upper body toward him and spoke in a low voice.

“Are you really going to give me as much as I want?”

“……Pardon?”

“Eyy, stop pretending, it’s not fun.”

“I’m not pretending…….”

“Didn’t you want to make a deal with me as a condition to close the case?”

The president stopped laughing at Hyunsoo’s words. His eyes, which had been moving hard, were also fixed on Hyunsoo. Then, he looked into Hyunsoo’s eyes. His eyes were calculating whether Hyunsoo wanted to make a deal or if he was just trying to figure it out.

‘……He doesn’t look like a guy who will stab me in the back. He seems like a guy who likes money too.’

What President Seo was going to do was hand over the money to the police. Something that should be done neatly and quietly. Thinking about it, he tapped the armrest of the sofa with a Tak!

“That’s right! Maybe because you’re young, you’re very cool! You said that so openly…… Hahaha, it’s good for us.”

President Seo tilted his upper body toward Hyunsoo.

“How much do you want?”

One of President Seo’s eyebrows rose. His gaze was directed to the shape of Hyunsoo’s mouth.

“Me? I think one…….”

Hyunsoo, who was rolling his eyes around, spread three fingers in front of President Seo’s face.

“Three? If it’s three…… 3 million? Ah, 13 million?”

“No, more.”

“If it’s more than 13 million…… 30 million?”

30 million Won.

It was not a lot of money for the president of a construction company. Of course, it’s a different amount for the salaryman, the police.

It was at that time that President Seo was relieved.

“Yes, then 30 million…….”

“Eyy! This is a big day for everyman. I heard that this is a case that can go to prison, and with a condition to cover it, you can wash your hand with only 30 million?”

“Then…… 300 million?”

Hyunsoo shook his head firmly.

“No way…… 3 billion? That, that’s a bit too much. I’m going to solve it at around 300 million…….”

“Ha…… It’s the size of a bean.”

When Hyunsoo sighed, President Seo swallowed dry saliva and said.

“Th, then 300 bil…… That’s too…….”

“3 trillion.”

“……Pardon?!”

President Seo’s eyes widened.

“You’ll have to give me 3 trillion Won to cover my mouth. I don’t look at the money lower than it.”

At Hyunsoo’s words, the president’s stunned face gradually began to change. His face turned red and he banged on the armrest of the sofa.

“Are, are you kidding me!! 3, 3 trillion…… What?! You’re kidding me!”

President Seo shot back at him as if he was going to hit him right away.

Hyunsoo shrugged at him.

“I’m not kidding.”

“Yah! What with you?! You’re not a police, right?! It’s a fake ID!!”

“I’m a police. If you’re curious, call the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and check.”

Hyunsoo’s attitude was so carefree. The bewildered President Seo continued.

“……So, what if you are a police?! Is this a place where you dare to ask for 3, 3 trillion…… Ha. You are kidding, right? What are you doing?!”

“But, you said you would do it at 300 million earlier?”

“What?!”

Hyunsoo slowly raised his body.

“You thought 300 million Won wouldn’t be a waste in return for covering my mouth.”

“This, this…….”

President Seo’s head hurt as he glared at Hyunsoo. He was wondering why a decoy came in on his own.…….

It seemed like he had fallen for those sweet words of Hyunsoo, who had fancy talking skills like a con artist.

“In other words, this suicide case is a case that you want to cover enough to give 300 million Won. Right?”

“…….”

Hyunsoo looks at Seo Jinsang with his mouth twitching. Seo Jinsang’s mind was already blank. Then Hyunsoo smiled at him.

“Thanks for giving me such a great hint. President Seo.”

* * *

After a while.

Hyunsoo, who came out of the building, was talking to Reporter Seo Gaeun on the phone.

-You said you went there……? Without any plans? I thought it was a rumor, but you’re really crazy…….

“Yes?”

-N, no. So did you find out anything?

Hyunsoo’s lips went up.

“The president of Sangma Construction said that it was a case that he wanted to cover even if he gave 300 million Won.”

-3, 300 million?

“Yeah, that’s how desperate he is. What about the thing I asked you to do? How’d it go?”

The most important thing in a suicide case was the reason for the suicide.

On paper, harassment at work due to whistleblowing, but the details of the whistleblowing were unclear. They didn’t know what or why Park Jangwon, who committed suicide, accused the company, or why Sangma Construction was trying to cover it up. That was why Hyunsoo decided to go through them one by one slowly.

First of all, the actual conditions of Sangma Construction.

-It’s a gangster construction company. The official documents were so clean that I looked into other routes, and found that illegal solicitation, illegal subcontracting, and everything had ‘illegal’ included unconditionally.

“It seems like there’s a connection with the Board of Audit and Inspection, right?”

-Yes, I think so. Under the circumstances, it is clear that the Board of Audit and Inspection has turned a blind eye several times.

“I see.”

-However…… Is this something Detective-nim can catch? The fact that Sangma Construction covered the suicide case means that there’s something bad there…….

“That’s right.”

-Is there any way?

She didn’t know where the money came from, but Sangma Construction’s funds and backing were at a level that could not be ignored. It wouldn’t be easy to break down. However, there was definitely something fishy, and one of the connections was the suicide of Head Manager Park Jangwon.

Hyunsoo opened his mouth.

“Let’s do it step by step.”

-How?

“First, the reason for suicide.”

Hyunsoo stopped walking and got into the car parked on the road.

“From what the president said, it seems that the Sangji Police Station investigated the suicide case.”

-So maybe they know the clues that the media has blocked?

“That’s right, but given that the investigation is closed, there might be something on that side as well.”

-Then they wouldn’t open my mouth easily.…….

“That’s right. So we’re going to use a chance.”

-Chance?

Hyunsoo started the engine.

“Friend chance.”

* * *

“Yah! Long time no see!”

After a while, Sangji Police Station.

It was the first police station to investigate the suicide case of Head Manager Park Jangwon of Sangma Construction.

Hyunsoo, who was sitting on a police station chair, waved happily as soon as he saw a police officer.

“Uh? You…… Lee Hyunsoo?”

“I missed you, my friend!”

Hyunsoo, who grabbed the police by the shoulder with a happy expression, hugged him as it was. Then the police frowned.

“Yah, let go of me…….”

The police was Hyunsoo’s middle and high school classmates.

Hyunsoo, who let go of his police friend, tapped him on the shoulder with an awkward smile.

“It’s because I’m glad to see you! No, the last time I saw you was after graduating from high school! How long has it been?”

“How long…… It’s been a long time. I heard you had been promoted to inspector.”

As he was tidying up his clothes, the police officer put on an indifferent expression.

His friend was preparing to become a police officer earlier than Hyunsoo. Thanks to this, he was a police officer at a young age, but as soon as Hyunsoo entered the National Police University, he was at a lower rank than Hyunsoo, who was an inspector.

“Aren’t you happy to see me? Your classmate came to see you.”

“Well, I’m glad we were that close.”

“We were close! We skipped night self-study together more than 10 times.…….”

“Ah, yeah. Forget it. So why did the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Inspector-nim come all the way here?”

The attitude of a friend who seemed to have a stomachache while looking at Hyunsoo.

Hyunsoo said, pouting at his cold voice.

“Dude, you’re cold……. No, I came because of the case I was in charge of your station had handled. To get some information.”

“Case? What case.”

Hyunsoo opened his mouth in a low voice.

“There was a record of you guys investigating the suicide case of Sangma Construction Head Manager Park.”

“Ah, that…….”

He rolled his eyes and nodded as if he remembered the case. But then he shook his head.

“I can’t do that.”

“What? Why?”

“It came down directly from above. Keep our mouths shut. Don’t tell the other detectives either.”

Hyunsoo frowned at his words.

‘As expected, it’s connected up to the top.’

Someone cracked down on the media and even blocked the police. The scale that could even touch the media and the police…….

It was not the scale of Sangma Construction.

When Hyunsoo didn’t say anything, his friend clicked his tongue as if he was sorry.

“Sorry. Go find out somewhere else.”

“Are you really going to do that?”

“Sorry, it’s a guideline from the upper level.”

Hyunsoo looked intently at his friend. Then, soon after, he uttered a small word in his ear.

“By the way…… I heard you’re married.”

“So?”

“Can I tell your wife everything that happened between you and your ex?”

“Yah, yah that……!”

Hyunsoo smiled at his startled friend.

“You’re going to give me information, right?”

The friend shook his head at Hyunsoo, who smiled like a devil.

“In any case, you’re a sociopath who pretends to be nice to people.”

“What do you mean sociopath! Yah, there’s nothing more information than that, just tell me what you know.”

“I really can’t…….”

“Yah, I’m not an ordinary citizen, so can’t you share that much information with a police like you?”

At Hyunsoo’s words, his friend looked around with a troubled expression. Then, he let out a small voice.

“What do you want to know about the case?”

“I was wondering if there was anything strange or noticeable during the investigation.”

“Strange……?”

The friend stroked his chin.

There were many large companies around the Sangji Police Station, so violent incidents caused by bullying at work were quite common.

Things like cases where the victim committed suicide or cases where the perpetrator was attacked.

“I don’t remember anything in particular because it’s similar to other cases except that a reporter from a big media company around here asked me.…….”

Sangma Construction’s Head Manager Park Jangwon’s case was similar to other cases. There was nothing special about it except for one reporter who persistently dug into it.

At that time, a memory popped into his friend’s head.

“Ah, I don’t know if this has anything to do with it…….”

“It’s okay, regardless, tell me everything you know.”

“At that time, there were a series of incidents at Sangma Construction.”

“At Sangma Construction?”

The friend nodded.

“Uh. To be exact, to the people involved in Sangma Construction.”

“Wha……?”

“A worker from a subcontractor of Sangma Construction went missing shortly before the death of Head Manager Park Jangwon.”

Hyunsoo’s eyes widened.

“Missing……?”