Chapter 24 – Time Has Passed – Part 7

Chapter 24 – Time Has Passed – Part 7

This time, Kim Taehyun’s eyes showed curiosity.

“Oh, right. He was caught. But why do you think that? All circumstantial evidence points to the suspect we caught being the criminal.”

Woojin looked at Kim Taehyun and asked,

“If you believe that, why did you look for me?”

Kim Taehyun shook his head and smiled.

“They won’t confess, they just won’t. And it’s a bit strange, you know.”

“So, their alibi is vague.”

“Exactly. On the day of the incident, they claimed they didn’t go home but slept in a motel, paying in cash. Coincidentally, the motel’s CCTV was broken. The room number the suspect mentioned was supposedly occupied, but the drunken motel owner couldn’t remember well. From my gut feeling, the suspect doesn’t seem to be lying.”

Woojin examined the victim’s clothes.

He didn’t miss the kitchen either.

And he recalled the photos he had seen.

– A yellow thread, like a strand of fiber, or perhaps hair, found on the victim.

– There’s no yellow in the victim’s clothes. It must belong to the criminal.

Woojin returned to the entrance and checked the footprints.

Two people’s footprints, chaotically intertwined.

“As you can see from the photos, the criminal committed the murder with a long, sharp tool, like a sashimi knife. If we just assume, without suspicion, that the criminal works at a sushi restaurant, then the story becomes simple. That would also explain why no fingerprints were found, even though they entered bare-handed. Due to constant exposure to water, their fingerprints likely disappeared from severe housewife’s eczema. With murder weapons readily available nearby, they could easily evade intertwined suspicions without a problem.”

Woojin looked around and continued speaking.

“They might even be slicing fish with that knife right now. The hair-like substance found on the victim’s clothes could be animal fur, or hair from a completely different person, or even artificial hair.”

“What are you talking about?”

“They wore a wig.”

“So they deliberately disguised themselves to commit the murder?”

“Yes. To cause confusion. To be more precise, rather than confusion, they manipulated the situation to lead it that way. Look.”

Kim Taehyun followed Woojin’s gaze and looked at the footprints.

“As you know, when a person walks, their heel touches the ground first, then their toes. The heel, where the force is applied, is clearly imprinted, but the toes, without much force, appear faint.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means they deliberately wore oversized shoes. Also, oddly enough, the sides of the shoes are heavily imprinted.”

“Maybe they stumbled during a struggle?”

“They killed them by surprise. Even if we assume there was a struggle, this righteous path would have at least strained ligaments. There’s a high chance of fractures.”

Woojin handed him a tablet PC.

The suspect was seen casually making his way out.

“He’s walking perfectly fine, not limping at all. Even if adrenaline were secreted above the normal level in an excited state, this wouldn’t be possible. Look closely at his hair. It’s subtly different from when he first went in. His hair covers his ears a bit more than when he entered the studio apartment, right? Hair can’t grow that long in just a few tens of minutes, not in terms of its composition and structure.”

Kim Taehyun’s eyes slowly widened.

“Did he intentionally wear oversized shoes with insoles? And a wig?”

As Woojin slowly nodded, another thought formed in Kim Taehyun’s mind.

“Why would the criminal go to such lengths to commit murder? Just to hide himself? Now that I think about it…”

Kim Taehyun’s eyes shot open.

“The criminal had a reason to deal with two people at once: the deceased and the suspect who is currently in custody. Both had to be dealt with around the same time. They probably judged that the already murdered victim would be easy to kill because they were small. And indeed, they killed them. They determined that the tall and large suspect currently in the detention center would not be easy to kill.”

Woojin showed Detective Kim Taehyun the tablet screen and tapped it.

“The arrested suspect is 180 cm tall. Their shoe size is 270. When they were caught by the police, their hair color happened to be black. The police must have been even more suspicious because of that. The incident occurred, and they dyed their hair.”

Kim Taehyun felt the voice with which he had intimidated the suspect during the interrogation come back to him like a boomerang.

‘You dyed it right away so it wouldn’t be exposed!’

Woojin looked at the footprints.

“The real criminal’s foot size is 255 to 260, someone who is very close to both people. A person with an ordinary alibi. That person must be the criminal. Skin cells or criminal DNA haven’t come out yet, have they?”

“Ah…”

It was then.

Kim Taehyun answered the incoming call.

“Did it come out?”

-Yes, it’s not human hair, but animal fur and… what’s that? It’s Ira, artificial hair used to make wigs. Woojin, you don’t raise dogs, do you? And the DNA doesn’t match the suspect. Ha… I thought things were finally going smoothly, but it looks like we’re back to square one.

His head dazedly turned to Woojin.

In contrast to Woojin’s calm expression, Kim Taehyun’s pupils were shaking as if an earthquake had struck.

He said urgently.

“Hey! That guy who works at the sushi restaurant, right? Check on him quickly! Quickly!”

“Suddenly?”

“Quickly…”

As Kim Taehyun spoke urgently, the police officer guarding the front door glanced at Woojin.

‘The youngest profiler……. Is that what it is?’

Of everything he had seen and heard so far, it was a righteous path that sent shivers down his spine.

***

The next day, Woojin was able to hear the full story of the incident from Kim Taehyun.

-Woojin, I love you. Your big brother loves you very much.

-Not me. Thank you for the 100,000 won.

The man who worked at the raw fish restaurant was the criminal, and it was an incident that occurred due to entangled financial relationships.

Upon arriving at S University, Woojin immediately entered the lecture hall.

The first class was Introduction to Business Administration.

Even though it was 10 minutes before class, the lecture hall was packed with people.

Among them, he heard the voice of Oh Jeonghoon, who had been explaining during the department meeting that one absolutely had to do stocks.

“Me? I’m currently at 3% profit.”

Mansu, who had reserved a seat in the front, spoke enviously at his bragging.

“Wow……. That’s amazing.”

“You can do it too. It’s not too late, so give it a try. Blue-chip stocks are good, but since you need to make a profit in the short term…….”

Oh Jeonghoon said that, but his true feelings were different.

He was enjoying a sense of superiority.

Mansu scratched his half-shaved head.

“I’m struggling just to keep up with classes, hey~? Did you just come from CSAT Braille, did you come?”

“Yes, hello Mansu. Hello everyone.”

Mansu clung to Woojin as he sat down.

“You said you also participated in the stock competition, right?”

“Yes.”

“Jeonghoon already hit a 3% return rate, how about you?”

Just then, Professor Lee walked in a few minutes early.

Mansu quickly returned to his seat and the lecture began.

The freshmen focused intently, pens poised, not wanting to miss a single word from the professor.

“Securing talent, market share, and brand image…”

Professor Lee, on the other hand, was a little flustered but continued the lecture.

It was because of Woojin.

He used to listen to lectures as if he was shooting lasers from his eyes, but today he was sleeping with his head down.

But he didn’t wake him up.

It was because if he said, ‘Anyone have questions?’ or ‘Anyone finding this difficult?’, Ira would always raise his hand.

He would ask question after question, following up on the topic he had just mentioned, and there were times when it was difficult to deal with the headache it caused.

If he answered, he would ask a derived question.

It would become a discussion, not a lecture.

Meanwhile,

‘I can’t fall asleep. I guess I still need to put in a lot of effort.’

Woojin had seen people sleeping during lectures in TV shows, dramas, or movies.

It was something he had always wanted to try.

Just then, the professor’s fresh voice reached Woojin’s ears.

Out of all the classes, it felt very different.

“I’ll be giving you an assignment.”

Woojin’s upper body slowly straightened up.

To Professor Lee’s eyes, Woojin’s posture looked like a lying zombie rising up.

And he raises his hand to ask,

“Professor, what kind of assignment is it?”