The Lawyer Who Reads Tomorrow - Chapter 91

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 91

 

 

“Ah, you’re here?”

 

It was a police officer I had seen once before.

 

Even back then, he had an extremely tired face.

He greeted me with a face worn down by fatigue.

 

“I didn’t expect you to come this quickly.”

 

His words trailed off.

It wasn’t even that quick of a visit though.

 

That day, after finishing a light company dinner with Noh Hae-min.

 

I waited for the sun to reach its peak before meeting Kim Su-yeon.

There were several additional documents to submit regarding the recently arrested robber case.

 

“Yes. I was curious about how the investigation is progressing.”

 

I couldn’t just sit still in the office.

 

Working in the field definitely made it hard for me to just wait around.

The police officer burst into laughter despite his tired face at the curiosity written on mine.

 

But soon he sighed and hardened his expression, reminding me of Sung Tae-hyun’s Diary.

 

[The robber was caught.]

[But he’s talking nonsense?]

 

Something like that.

The police officer flipped through several pages of documents and let out another deep sigh.

 

“Um… I’m not sure where to start.”

“Please speak comfortably. It’s fine.”

 

If it was nonsense, I had heard plenty during my days as a judge.

So I was in the mood to hear what kind of new nonsense this would be.

 

“Well… we’ll need to investigate more, but…”

 

The preamble was long.

The police officer awkwardly scratched the back of his neck and continued.

 

“Probably… a prison sentence might be difficult.”

“What’s the reason?”

 

And the story he revealed was so absurd that even my expression crumbled.

 

“Well, it was apparently some kind of… role-play situation?”

 

What?

 

“So, the suspect claims… he was just doing a part-time job to earn some money.”

“…Part-time job?”

“Yes. Um… he says he applied after seeing a post on a community board that said ‘Will pay one million won for pretending to be a robber in a role-play’…”

 

Was that what the police officer had been looking at in those files?

 

I stared at him quietly, my face contorted in disbelief, unable to even laugh.

He was showing an awkward smile as if he too found it absurd.

 

“Well, that’s what we’ve investigated so far. He doesn’t know who wrote the post and has never met them.”

“Did he receive the one million won?”

“That’s what he says. We confirmed it came into his account. The post content wasn’t much either.”

“…”

“He said his girlfriend likes that kind of role-play, so he’d give him the password and asked him to pretend to be a robber. But the woman shouldn’t get seriously hurt.”

“Haha.”

 

Now I understand.

The reason Sung Tae-hyun wrote in his diary to that extent.

 

Even if I were a ghost attached to the diary, I would have cursed first at such an implausible excuse.

Of course, since I was in front of a police officer now, I kept my mouth shut instead of cursing.

 

“Have you verified all the evidence?”

“I can’t tell you the details, but roughly, yes. We’ve confirmed the post, chat history, and account, but…”

“The excuse is excessive.”

“…We can’t know yet. After all, the presumption of innocence principle-“

 

The theoretical discussion that followed was essentially uninteresting theory.

 

“If it was robber role-play, why did he suddenly try to steal the speaker?”

“We haven’t gotten that far yet… Additional investigation will be needed to find out.”

“You still haven’t identified the post author, correct?”

“Yes… well, that’s right. We’ll have to contact the community for cooperation.”

 

He seems to have put quite a bit of thought into this.

 

But considering other precedents in similar situations, he’ll eventually receive a guilty verdict.

Even if the police officer, who seems to consider all possibilities, says a prison sentence is difficult.

 

With victim Kim Su-yeon resisting and even falling into panic, it can’t just be seen as role-play.

It was a case where willful negligence couldn’t be ignored.

 

“That’s what the suspect claims for now. If the evidence is ambiguous, it’s difficult for us to request a warrant. Same goes for detention.”

 

I suppose so.

 

“Claiming that the robbery was an unplanned situational act while ignoring even willful negligence, yet saying the evidence is ambiguous. I’m wondering how much more evidence I need to find and present myself.”

 

The police officer let out an even deeper sigh at my words that I almost let slide.

I’m the one who should be sighing right now.

 

“…We’re also telling you this with maximum consideration for the victim’s position.”

“Fine. Well, I was planning to submit additional complaint materials anyway.”

“…Excuse me?”

 

You didn’t expect me to bring one more person, did you?

The police officer’s eyes, which had been half-closed since we first met, regained their round shape for the first time.

 

“Additional… who?”

“Who else, the instigator. I’ve written down the detailed situation including additional statements, so please refer to them.”

“Wait, hold on. There’s one more person?”

 

Seeing those eyes rolled up in disbelief made my chest feel stuffy.

It felt like I had chewed and swallowed a hundred sweet potatoes without water.

 

“Yes. It’s probably the person who claims to have written that post.”

“…”

“Though it’s all lies anyway.”

 

But well, the frustrated one digs the well.

So that he could blow his nose without using his hands, I submitted materials containing detailed circumstances.

 

* * *

 

It was something Bae In-jun ordered.

 

In this situation, Bae In-jun would be the only person who would attempt to steal the Cineser device, which is the hub.

My reasoning stemmed from this point.

 

“…Lawyer.”

 

My client, who had grown thinner over the past few days, was sitting across the cafe table.

She was with her younger brother, following my previous advice.

 

“Has there been any separate contact from Bae In-jun?”

“No…”

 

It was truly a complicated case.

 

Even throughout my career as a judge, cases this tangled and twisted were rare.

Moreover, with unknown AI technology mixed in, my mind had been indescribably chaotic for days.

 

I looked at the cup of tea in front of me and swallowed the sigh that was about to burst out.

 

“Um… but about that robber from that time.”

 

Kim Su-yeon opened her mouth after pondering for a long while.

 

“His voice was really familiar.”

 

That’s right.

That day at the police station, Kim Su-yeon had said the robber’s voice was particularly familiar.

Since it’s standard practice for police not to reveal the suspect’s identity, I couldn’t know who it was.

 

“Yes. Do you have any suspected perpetrator in mind?”

“I really hate to suspect someone over something like this…”

“It’s fine. Please speak comfortably.”

 

I was planning to submit additional statements anyway.

Kim Su-yeon nodded.

 

“I think it’s probably an employee who was fired from the company before.”

“…An employee?”

“Yes. But he didn’t do the same work as me. He was directly under the representative, an intern… and he left before even completing his 3-month probation period.”

 

That alone isn’t enough to suspect someone.

When I remained silent, Kim Su-yeon seemed anxious and added a few more words.

 

“The thing is, it’s a voice anyone could recognize when they hear it. It was really unique. Like an animated character… a high-pitched, cracking voice. I can’t really express it properly either.”

“I see.”

“Anyone who heard that intern’s voice would immediately think ‘oh, that guy?’ and recognize it right away.”

“…Is that so?”

 

Then that changes things a bit.

The police won’t tell me the suspect’s identity right now anyway.

Even if they made an arrest, it would be the same.

 

However, I was free to write additional statements for Kim Su-yeon, the victim.

 

“Yes, really. Other employees would probably recognize that intern’s voice immediately too. It was that distinctive. And that day…”

“Please continue.”

“That day, at night in our house, it seemed like he was trying not to speak much…”

 

Kim Su-yeon continued her memory haltingly.

 

“He pointed a weapon at me saying he wouldn’t kill me if I stayed quiet. I can still vividly remember that voice.”

“And the owner of that voice seems to be that intern?”

“Yes! Now that I think about it, his build seemed similar too. Plus, he entered by typing the password himself, and he had his eye on the Cineser which wasn’t even worth stealing…!”

 

Anyone could predict that much.

 

That night, the perpetrator naturally entered by typing Kim Su-yeon’s house password and threatened Kim Su-yeon.

Instead of other valuable items, he attempted to steal the Cineser.

 

Even though the Cineser immediately reported to the police when its updates were terminated.

The fact that he didn’t leave immediately but tried to steal the Cineser was quite a peculiar point.

 

[I also confirmed the update during that time period.]

 

The forensic results of the device I entrusted to Lee Seol-rok were the same.

 

[The update is confirmed in the log records, but the scheduled termination time was much later.]

[It probably ended a bit early due to some error or something?]

 

To sum it up, it could be called Bae In-jun’s failed event that he wanted to be meticulous about.

 

Bae In-jun knew that if the Cineser detected danger to the user, it would report to institutions like the police or fire department.

So he probably deliberately attempted the device update at a time he had set.

The problem would have been that it was faster than expected.

 

“Lawyer Sung Tae-hyun, I’ve also confirmed the intern-related hiring matters that the client mentioned.”

 

And back at the office, with Manager Yoon Ha-young’s help, I even confirmed the hiring information.

It included past hiring information posted by Bylonics, along with employment contracts and salary records anonymously submitted by a Bylonics HR team member.

 

“It would be somewhat of a gamble though.”

 

Anyway, until charges are filed, everything is in the realm of possibilities.

 

If the intern, Lee Yu-bin, is really the culprit caught by the police, then we couldn’t claim that Bae In-jun really didn’t know.

Since it remains in the personnel records.

 

Moreover.

 

Bae In-jun is the only person who would need the Cineser that was at Kim Su-yeon’s house.

 

* * *

 

“So… the robber seems to be an intern named ‘Lee Yu-bin’…”

 

The police officer’s eyes widened greatly.

 

Just from this reaction, I could roughly sense it.

Right. There’s a high possibility that the culprit they caught is Lee Yu-bin.

 

The police officer couldn’t take his eyes off the page describing ‘Lee Yu-bin’.

 

“Huh, how did you…”

 

And this kind of reaction.

 

Of course, I didn’t nitpick at what the police officer said unconsciously.

If it was Lee Yu-bin, it was only a matter of time before Bae In-jun got caught.

 

However, the police officer was surprised in a slightly different sense.

 

“Ah… so, wait, just a moment. You investigated all this by yourself?”

 

He was looking at the materials I had organized and practically spoon-fed him.

 

The materials, numbering several hundred pages, contained detailed organization from the background of crimes Bae In-jun had committed against Kim Su-yeon to evidence of his actions.

 

Of course, it also included evidence that Lee Yu-bin and Bae In-jun weren’t ‘role-playing’ players who met in communities unknown to each other.

 

‘I didn’t expect him to say such nonsense though.’

 

Well, who would have known he’d spout such ridiculous nonsense.

 

Manager Yoon Ha-young suffered for several days because of this matter.

 

Lee Seol-rok was the same.

With help from the forensics company, he thoroughly extracted everything – that the Cineser was a hub, information illegally collected through other household devices, and various photos.

 

“Yes, Ms. Kim Su-yeon had made several reports before, and I believe related records should remain.”

“Report records… that’s true. But there was no evidence at the time…”

“That’s the problem.”

 

I smiled gently toward the police officer.

 

The person investigating is human after all.

Making an enemy would mean nothing good for the victim.

 

“Related materials- ah, it should be described around page 87 too. While hacking Ms. Kim Su-yeon’s mobile phone, Bae In-jun showed meticulousness in deleting all evidence.”

“…”

“The fact that he would provoke until the police came, then delete all evidence before the police arrived, is quite malicious.”

 

Simply put, evidence destruction is one of the requirements for detention.

Bae In-jun has eliminated countless pieces of evidence so far.

 

“It must be difficult for you to investigate…”

“Ah, yes.”

 

I now handed over another sheet of paper to the police officer who was flipping through the materials spanning several hundred pages.

 

“In Bae In-jun’s case, there are too many additional crimes to add, so I’ve written up a new complaint.”

“…!”

“It seems like a separate investigation will be needed.”

 

The police officer eventually sighed as he accepted the additional complaint.

 

“…It doesn’t seem like role-playing after all.”

 

That’s exactly what I mean.

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