Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 15

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Being Competent (5)
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“I teach children. You’re saying I committed murder? How could I ever face those kids again? I’m human!”
We were in the Interrogation Room.
Lee Jae-hwan insisted on his innocence while I watched him with my arms crossed.
“This is unjust! Unjust! I hear the Prosecution Service wields absolute power, but can they really detain an innocent person like this?”
“An innocent person?”
I let out a soft chuckle, and Lee Jae-hwan spoke more forcefully.
“Show me the evidence! The evidence!”
“…That clothesline, remember?”
“The clothesline?”
“The clothesline that was binding Yoo A-sung. We found your fingerprints on it.”
“…!”
Lee Jae-hwan’s eyes widened as he recalled a conversation between two women he’d overheard at the Coffee Shop not long ago.
One of the women sitting there had said:
“These days they can even find fingerprints on a person’s skin, right? Looks like they found some trace on the clothesline that bound Yoo A-sung.”
Lee Jae-hwan swallowed dryly.
‘So that was a fingerprint?’
Lee Jae-hwan forced a composed expression and opened his mouth.
“Why would my fingerprints be there…? It wasn’t me! I’m telling you it wasn’t!”
Behind the mirror of the Interrogation Room stood Lee Myung-soo, Shin Jong-seung, and Lee So-hee.
Lee Myung-soo, observing the interrogation, turned his head to look at Shin Jong-seung.
“You’re heading to Seoul? Is tomorrow your last day?”
“Yes, sir.”
Tomorrow would be Shin Jong-seung’s last day before heading to Seoul.
But he was currently observing Seo Jin’s interrogation on the District Prosecution Office chief’s orders.
“Tired?”
“I’m fine.”
Of course I was tired, but my desire to watch Seo Jin’s interrogation was far greater.
Whether he would succeed or fail…
Of course, I was hoping he would fail.
Lee Myung-soo continued speaking.
“Let me ask you trainees a question. There was no special evidence on that clothesline.”
Shin Jong-seung’s expression brightened instantly, and his voice came out excited.
“Then is Prosecutor Seo Jin currently extracting a confession through deception?”
Lee Myung-soo nodded and spoke.
“Well, yes. Anyway, here’s the question: Would Prosecutor Seo Jin’s current actions be admissible as evidence?”
Shin Jong-seung answered immediately.
“No.”
Criminal Procedure Act Article 309 (Evidentiary Value of Coerced Confessions): When there is reason to suspect that a defendant’s confession was not made voluntarily due to torture, assault, intimidation, unlawful prolonged detention, deception, or other means, such confession cannot be used as evidence of guilt.
A greasy smile played across Shin Jong-seung’s lips as he recalled the relevant statute.
When Seo Jin had dragged the suspect into the District Prosecution Office, his heart had sunk.
But not anymore.
‘An attention-seeker.’
After solving the sister murder case, he thought he was something special.
Now he was fabricating suspects and grandstanding.
‘Lunatic.’
Shin Jong-seung clenched his fists and made a vow.
If Lee Jae-hwan, whom Seo Jin had brought in, was sitting there unjustly, he would contact a journalist immediately.
Then the reporters would eagerly hammer away at their keyboards.
Prosecution Service Human Rights Violations
Fabricated Criminal
Shin Jong-seung sketched out the narrative and opened his mouth.
“A confession like that cannot be accepted as evidence. Even if a confession is made, there must be objective and rational evidence to support it. Otherwise, it’s pure deception. And…”
Shin Jong-seung stepped forward and pointed at Lee Jae-hwan with his finger as he continued speaking.
“The suspect isn’t even confessing—he’s denying everything. In my opinion, Prosecutor Seo Jin appears to have made a mistake in this case. That’s why I’m concerned. I worry that the suspect might go to the media claiming the Prosecution Service falsely accused him…”
Though his words expressed concern, Shin Jong-seung’s lips twisted with unmistakable confidence.
Back in the Interrogation Room.
Lee Jae-hwan continued to deny it.
“…I didn’t do it.”
But then Seo Jin agreed with him.
“Yeah, that’s right. Your fingerprints didn’t show up.”
“What?”
Lee Jae-hwan tilted his head at Seo Jin’s words.
A beat later, his eyes narrowed.
“…They didn’t show up?”
“Before we talk seriously—a light greeting, a joke. You understand?”
“Ha…”
Lee Jae-hwan asked with an expression of disbelief.
“What are you doing right now?”
But Seo Jin ignored him.
“So let’s begin. According to the children’s statements, you were one of the last people Yoo A-sung saw.”
“I had just transferred. I had an appointment with a teacher from the same school, but the Residential Area is like a maze. I didn’t know the way well. So I stopped a child playing at the Playground and asked for directions. That child was Yoo A-sung.”
“And?”
“He said it was in the same direction as his house and asked me to go with him. I was grateful, so I bought him ice cream. The Supermarket owner should have testified to that.”
Lee Jae-hwan’s voice was becoming increasingly animated.
Seo Jin’s questions were no different from what the police had asked before.
It was all the same.
‘What?’
Lee Jae-hwan organized his thoughts as he processed Seo Jin’s question.
-The fingerprints on the clothesline that the prosecutor tried to present as evidence don’t exist.
-The evidence the Prosecutor’s Office has is the same as it was ten years ago.
-There’s no reason to be afraid.
Lee Jae-hwan had actually grown more composed.
“But Prosecutor, why am I sitting here?”
“Because you’re the culprit.”
“Ha! I said I’m not! If you keep this up, I won’t hold back either!”
Lee Jae-hwan denied it forcefully.
He believed nothing had changed.
But Seo Jin knew what Lee Jae-hwan was hiding.
Facts I’d discovered while tailing him for days—and decisive evidence.
I opened my mouth.
“I figured out one thing. Why Yoo A-sung’s body wasn’t found for two weeks.”
“What?”
“You didn’t kill him at that location. You killed him somewhere else and moved the body later.”
Lee Jae-hwan shot to his feet.
“Being a prosecutor is everything!”
“Why did you buy bleach?”
“Ha! Cleaning is my hobby! Is it strange to regularly clean the bathroom?”
“Then what about the binder straps?”
“I run a weekend farm! I paid cash because I was embarrassed to use my card! Are we done? Now you’re even investigating my background? Do you know how much I suffered for ten years with that suspect label? This is personal surveillance! I’m going to report Prosecutor Kim Seo-jin to the media and the Human Rights Commission for framing people!”
Lee Jae-hwan had dropped his formal speech and bared his teeth savagely.
But Seo Jin paid no attention.
A cornered rat always shows its teeth.
“Report all you want. Now answer me. Why did you contract two houses?”
“…What?”
In that instant, Lee Jae-hwan’s pupils trembled.
What he’d been hiding.
Two houses.
One where he lived, and another where he committed murder.
After receiving the suspect from Detective Jung Min-gu, I’d tracked down those people and compared the voice I’d heard through psychometry with them.
I’d leaked information, sent messages to apply pressure, and found the owner of that voice.
It was Lee Jae-hwan.
But that alone wasn’t enough.
A voice seen through psychometry couldn’t serve as evidence.
So I’d tailed him and found the proof.
Lee Jae-hwan stood frozen as if time had stopped.
The composed smile had evaporated, and his rigid face didn’t know what expression to wear.
Lee Jae-hwan remained silent for a long while before slowly opening his mouth.
“…Two houses?”
“Another man who moved in around the same time you did.”
It was the day I went to the Police station.
I’d asked the staff to check how many residences had changed hands within an 8-kilometer radius of the crime scene over the past decade.
And I’d found one peculiar property.
“But the only people who’ve ever seen the man who contracted that house are the homeowner living in Seoul and the real estate agent—who’s since passed away. None of the neighbors or even the convenience store owner has ever seen his face.”
“….”
“So I looked into it. The man’s name is Lee Jong-wook. Interestingly enough, he’s your younger brother.”
“….”
“And when I tracked down the homeowner, he identified you as the person who signed the contract. Isn’t that strange? The deed is in your brother’s name, but you’re the one who made the contract?”
Lee Jae-hwan’s eyes darted in all directions.
He was searching for an escape route.
Then something occurred to him, and he quickly moved his parched lips.
“B-but what does that prove? Do you have any evidence I actually went to that house?”
Lee Jae-hwan always visited that house between 1 and 2 in the morning.
And he’d scaled the wall to avoid the CCTV, leaving no witnesses.
Lee Jae-hwan spoke urgently.
“If you check the surrounding CCTV footage, you’ll see whether I went there or not! I never contracted that house!”
But I didn’t offer him an escape route.
I tossed my phone onto the table.
Lee Jae-hwan’s eyes snapped toward it.
“W-what is this?”
“I parked my car in front of that house for an extended period. And the dashcam caught you scaling the wall with a large hiking backpack on your shoulders. Where exactly were you going on a moonlit night like that?”
“…Huh?”
After feeling the pressure from the Prosecution Service, I’d gone to check on the place just in case.
And it had been recorded.
Of course, all of this was my doing, but Lee Jae-hwan couldn’t think that far ahead.
Lee Jae-hwan’s body trembled like an aspen leaf.
And to his ears, my voice sounded like the voice of death itself.
“Want to see it?”
He wanted to say ‘No!’
But the play button was already pressed.
On the screen, the image of Lee Jae-hwan climbing over the wall and entering the house appeared crystal clear.
Lee Jae-hwan shook his head.
He still refused to admit it.
“T-that’s nothing! Yes, I went hiking!”
But Lee Jae-hwan was already cornered at the cliff’s edge.
His eyes had lost focus, his voice had lost all substance.
I leaned toward him and whispered in the softest of voices.
“I saw it.”
A few days ago, I checked the dashcam footage and went to that house, gripping the doorknob.
In that instant, the world of psychometry unfolded before me, and I witnessed a chilling scene.
“What… what did you see?”
“You know, don’t you?”
Just then, my phone vibrated with a sharp buzz.
The caller ID showed Lee Jung-woo.
When I pressed the speakerphone button, Lee Jung-woo’s voice filled the interrogation room.
-I just got into the house. But….
“But what?”
-This bastard’s insane. He was collecting the children’s bodies! This sick son of a bitch!
Lee Jung-woo’s voice was saturated with rage.
If Lee Jae-hwan had been standing in front of him, he would have pulverized the man’s face with his fists.
I pressed the end call button and looked at Lee Jae-hwan.
“I’m going to make you a promise.”
“…a promise?”
“There will never be another day in your life when you see the outside world. I will make absolutely certain of that.”
My voice sounded terrifying even to myself.
Lee Jae-hwan shook his head, his face drained of all color.
“No, no… no, I’m telling you no!”
“Your life is over.”
My words were final. Lee Jae-hwan stared at me with aggrieved eyes, then his head drooped like a puppet with its strings cut.
His shoulders trembled faintly.
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“Director of the District Prosecution Office, I’ve secured a confession. It appears Kim Seo-jin installed a dashcam near that bastard’s house. We’ll brief you tomorrow morning, and for now, I’ll call in those kids from HN Daily who’ve been helping us and give them an exclusive. Yes, yes… understood.”
Lee Myung-soo’s voice carried a peculiar excitement as he continued his conversation with the Director.
The District Prosecution Office, which had been quiet until now, had recently stirred to life, and I could feel a spark returning to the eyes of prosecutors who had been dead inside.
“…Yes? You want me to entrust both the briefing and the interview to Prosecutor Kim Seo-jin? Of course, he’s more than qualified. Ha ha, understood.”
An unsolved case and a serial killer who murdered a ten-year-old child had been caught.
All eyes across the nation would converge on Dongnam County.
And I found myself at the center of it all.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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