Chapter 39 – Tour – Part 4

Chapter 39 – Tour – Part 4

Despite Kim Taehyun’s confident tone, the Team Leader seemed unconvinced.

But with the feeling of grasping at straws, they had to try everything possible before the media caused chaos.

Meanwhile, the Profiler, in his late 40s, inside the Police Line, was muttering while looking at the victim.

It was Han Johoon, who had said it was the work of an Acquaintance Criminal.

“This is the first time I’ve seen someone display such self-display…”

And that wasn’t all.

The bicycle was custom-made.

The victim was slumped over the bicycle’s saddle, both hands tied to the handlebars – no, bound like a slave’s shackles.

The same went for his feet on the pedals.

The method was as cruel and ruthless as something out of a movie.

The bicycle was also equipped with something like a battery, and wires connected to it were stuck into his thighs like needles.

The presumed cause of death was excessive bleeding from an awl stabbed into the neck.

Just then, Kim Taehyun and someone else’s voice were heard from behind.

“It might be gruesome.”

“It’s okay.”

Profiler Han Johoon turned his head to identify the unfamiliar voice.

It was a male student who looked like he was in high school or had just turned 20.

‘Is that him? The one I guessed was the Sanitation Worker?’

When he heard Kim Taehyun, he thought it was ridiculous.

However, Kim Taehyun broke into the suspect’s home without a warrant and found the victim’s blood on his clothes.

‘Is he some kind of Fortune Teller?’

Han Johoon didn’t like the fact that just because he got one thing right, they brought him to the crime scene.

It seemed no different from buying a Talisman from a shaman to catch a criminal.

In a modern society where science is highly developed.

Han Johoon frowned and approached the Team Leader, saying,

“He’s quite the show-off. Considering he even did welding, he must have a workshop. Very close to his house…”

On the contrary, Kim Taehyun was slightly worried about Woojin. It would be his first time seeing such a gruesome scene with a dead person.

However, Woojin’s expression as he looked at the victim was remarkably calm.

Many eyes were watching Woojin, and their gazes were puzzling.

He didn’t seem to be a Police Official, yet he appeared in a green tracksuit and quietly observed the crime scene.

Woojin, who had been staring at the victim whose hands and feet were bound by shackles, opened his mouth.

“Can I move it?”

“Huh? What?”

“The pedal.”

Kim Taehyun scratched his head and quickly scanned his surroundings.

He was being cautious.

“Do you really have to move it?”

“I think it’s necessary to understand how the Criminal interprets the symbol, Acedia, or the meaning of sloth.”

If thoughts differ, difficulties arise.

You need to match the level of thinking of the Criminal who acts smart and commits crimes.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Just a moment.”

Kim Taehyun awkwardly said, approaching the Forensics Team gathered around the victim.

“Oh dear, you’re working so hard. Aren’t you thirsty? Did you find anything? Oh dear… what a psycho…”

He glanced at the Forensics Team and quickly pedaled with his hand.

Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!

“What are you doing!”

“Stand back!”

“You old man, if you touch that…”

The Team Leader, who had been standing with his arms crossed, also shouted.

“You crazy bastard!”

Kim Taehyun, who was being cursed at, fell on his butt.

It wasn’t because of the voices of the Forensics Team or the Team Leader.

When he turned the pedal once, an electric current surged through him, making his hair stand on end.

“Damn it! What the hell?”

Woojin, who had observed the scene in a flash, nodded his head.

The people in Woojin’s vision gradually faded away as if blurring.

Then, as if deducing the situation, he replayed the scene in his mind.

The victim, sitting on the bicycle, was trembling.

His mouth was gagged, so he couldn’t scream properly.

The criminal was holding an ice pick connected to the bicycle, looking as if it would pierce the victim’s neck.

It was designed with a spring, and if the criminal let go of the ice pick, it looked like it would immediately spring up and pierce the neck.

The criminal seemed to be saying something to the victim, but it wasn’t audible.

Seeing the victim frantically nodding his head, it seemed he was being told a way to survive.

Soon, when the criminal let go of the ice pick that seemed about to pierce the victim’s neck, the victim began to pedal.

The spring-designed ice pick precariously moved up and down with each pedal the victim pressed.

If he didn’t pedal, he felt like he would shoot up immediately.

The electricity generated from the battery flowed into the needle stuck in the victim’s thigh.

“Ugh!”

Nevertheless, he had to keep pedaling.

If he didn’t pedal, a sharp awl would spring up and pierce his neck.

He couldn’t twist his neck to avoid it.

This was because something thick, like a dog collar, was fixed around his neck.

“Ugh!”

The victim wanted to scream loudly but couldn’t, so he continued to pedal.

His expression was tormented, but there was a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

Waiting for someone to come, waiting for someone to appear.

But he couldn’t last for more than a few hours.

The slowly turning pedal soon…

Crunch!

Stopped, and blood splattered.

And the Criminal cut off his right hand and took it.

“It seems to be conducting electricity?”

At Kim Taehyun’s words, who had approached at some point, Woojin nodded and opened his mouth.

“The Murder Bicycle must have been made in advance. They only needed to weld the hands and feet, so they didn’t have to consider the body type. Acedia. It was made with the meaning that if you are lazy and don’t try, you will die, and the Criminal must have proposed to the victim that if they tried until someone came, they could live. But it wasn’t a bearable pain for a moment. Don’t you think so?”

Even as Woojin said that, he thought he had over-packaged it.

This was because Woojin had already understood the Criminal’s thoughts with a contradictory idea.

Kim Taehyun, who was cursing the Criminal inwardly, nodded.

He knew well because he had experienced it himself.

The current from that Righteous Path, though weaker than a taser, must have made his brain go blank.

Even if he had pedaled with the sole thought of surviving, enduring for a few hours was nothing short of exerting superhuman strength.

“If I catch that son of a bitch, I’m taking him straight to the Room of Truth. He must have a workshop too, right?”

“Even if he does, it won’t matter. He’ll probably use a 5 to 7-seater van now. And it definitely won’t be in his name.”

Just then, a voice popped out from beside them.

It was Profiler Han Johoon.

“What do you mean it won’t matter? There must be evidence all over the place there. If it’s a Righteous Path that makes these killing devices and moves them around, I can’t even guarantee it’s just one killer, can I?”

Woojin shook his head, and Han Johoon glared and spoke again.

“I don’t know what kind of person you are, but it’s not good to get fixated and only think one way. You should keep all possibilities open and be comprehensive…”

“I didn’t get fixated and narrow my view; I thought comprehensively and then narrowed it down. And there’s only one criminal. Looking at the scene, there’s no disputed evidence. Only one person, one person, was trying to give meaning and assert themselves. That they were a great person.”

Just as Han Johoon, who was furrowing his brow, was about to shout, the Team Leader subtly pulled his arm and whispered.

“Johoon, I brought him just in case. Why are you so uncomfortable? Come on, let’s go have a cigarette.”

The two walked away, and Kim Taehyun said,

“Woojin, don’t worry too much. That old man is just jealous because you get everything right.”

Woojin was unfazed.

It was natural for people to experience emotional turmoil when their own thoughts were denied.

He thought it was a natural reaction.

Kim Taehyun ran his hand through his hair and let out a long sigh.

“Ha…”

If they couldn’t catch him, both the Team Leader and he would be dragged in and have their heads bashed in.

Even putting that aside, this guy was playing with human lives.

They absolutely had to catch him.

“Woojin, where can we get a mask for this bastard?”

Kim Taehyun even laughed at his own words.

Even the police on foot haven’t seen a shadow of him, so no matter how great Woojin is at deduction, would that be possible?

It felt like going to a fortune teller and asking, ‘Where is the criminal?’

Then the fortune teller would answer, ‘Go towards the north.’

It’s easy to locate the criminal because of their twisted symbolism.

Kim Taehyun’s eyes widened.

Really!? Is that true, Woojin?

Yes. The criminal is someone who values symbolism very much. But there’s a hidden agenda here. They take blood as if collecting trophies after committing murder, or this time, they took a hand.

Kim Taehyun nodded, his eyes burning with anticipation.

Oh, right! Right!

They’re also mocking the Seven Deadly Sins from the Bible while committing murders. For example, the criminal chose Latin, not Korean or English, to leave their mark. If you’ve seen movies, you’ve seen demons react to a priest’s Latin, haven’t you?

Oh! I have!

That Latin, which seems to contradict such demonic things, is a fake. It’s for show. A fake that they are doing sacred work, this is to confuse what they are doing. They will pass judgment everywhere. Like the first murder happened on Bugaksan, and this time a murder happened here. The first and second murders occurred within 7 days. Do you know the distance between Bugaksan and here?

Huh?

This scene is between Inwangsan and Suseong-dong Valley. Would you like to search the distance once?

Kim Taehyun searched the distance on his cellphone as if possessed by an ear-spirit.

6.97km……

Please forgive the 0.03Km error. As I said before, the criminal pretends to be smart, but they are not perfect.

Then assuming 7km… Huh? Come to think of it, 7 days since the murder happened again, and the distance between the first and second scenes is 7km?

Yes. It takes about 30 minutes by car. Would you like to see this?

The cellphone Woojin held out showed a star that looked like it came from an old book.

It’s a six-pointed star with all sides of equal length. It’s a star called Ira, used in demonic rituals. A sacrifice is needed at each point.

What?

A demon worshiper pretending to be a judge. Do you have a water-based pen?

Huh? Hold on! Hold on! Who has a water-based pen! Oh! Lend it! Lend it!

Kim Taehyun, who moved back and forth like a teleport, handed the pen to Woojin.

Woojin opened the map on his cellphone and placed the pen on Bugaksan.

Considering Bugaksan as the topmost point of the star, Ira, if you connect Bugaksan and the current scene with a line.

Woojin drew a straight line between Bugaksan and the current location.

[ / ]

“A diagonal line is being created.”

Kim Taehyun’s eyes widened.

“So this bastard is… drawing something like the Devil’s Star and committing murder? Gathering sacrifices like trophies?”

“Yes. He’s probably searching for a location to create the bottom side of the triangle. Or the search might already be over. It will happen in 7 days. It will be 7 kilometers along the Righteous Path from here.”

“But why 7? The Devil’s Star? That has six vertices, doesn’t it?”

“Where two triangles overlap, one more sacrifice goes into the center. The Criminal who committed murders at the vertices and gathered sacrifices, that’s himself.”

At that moment, Choi Gicheol, who had been silently watching next to Woojin as Kim Taehyun had told him to, fixed his gaze on Woojin and murmured.

Woojin’s words made too much sense to be a coincidence.

“What in the… wow, damn it…”