20. Seventy One
Team leader Kim Jung-soo’s car.
The musty smell of cigarettes makes it hard to breathe.
Team leader Kim Jung-soo asked twice in a row if I was really Jung-ho Chae, and he opened his mouth to my answer.
“Why haven’t you been in touch?”
“I didn’t know what the password meant.”
“password?”
“Behind your business card… Soccer 2002 quarterfinals.”
Instead of answering, he stared at me.
“Why do you look like that? Did you get anything on my face?”
Team leader Kim Jung-soo said with a smile.
“Because I’m not sure if I’m lying.”
“If you say you don’t know what you don’t know, what would you lie? But what does the 2002 quarterfinals mean?”
“… .”
“Then, is that the soccer round of 2004?”
He grinned at my question.
“Nothing. don’t mind.”
The smell of cigarettes vibrating in the car started giving me a headache.
I was desperate to get out of the car after I had to do my chores quickly.
I opened my mouth.
“actually… I called to make a report.”
“Report?”
“Yes, there is a company called Balhae Sports. It is a company that exports soccer equipment to foreign countries… There will be a case of embezzlement.”
“Will it happen?”
“yes… But I don’t know the exact date. Maybe today or tomorrow or maybe next week. The amount of the embezzlement was US$80,000 and the check number was M23893019AKE. The check was issued by CHASE Bank of the United States, bank number 38711, branch number 109171, check issue date October 23, issuer SPORTZ, an American company, and issuer Matthew S. Walker.”
Team leader Kim Jung-soo’s enlarged eyes fixed on me, and I continued talking without hesitation.
“Eighty thousand dollars will be paid out from the KEB. I don’t know which point it is. Considering the exchange rate, it was about 60 million won in Korean money, and the person who paid it was Kim Sang-in, managing director of Balhae Sports, but he didn’t actually find the money. You can’t trust the bank teller’s testimony. Later, this banker will overturn the testimony. The person who organized all this is Sangin Kim’s secretary.”
“Wait a minute… !”
Team leader Kim Jeong-soo, who cut off my words, looked at me with a hardened expression.
After a while, he still frowned and opened his mouth.
“So… Are you going to tell me about the crime that will happen?”
“yes… Right.”
Yes, I was right on purpose.
There were two reasons.
First, this is to save Anglo-American fathers.
If Yeong-mi’s father is arrested and died in a detention center, this will be an unhealed wound for Yeong-mi.
If I could stop this… I thought it would be okay if I revealed my identity.
And if they reveal their identity, who will believe?
The second reason was trust in Team Leader Kim Jung-soo.
In the past, when In-cheol’s case was solved, he kept it a secret even though he knew it was me who provided the decisive clue.
I continued what I was saying.
“The best way is to prevent embezzlement from happening… That would be difficult, right?”
“no… It doesn’t matter now.”
“You will have a lot of questions. But I’ll tell you the story later. Now this case is more important. Like I said, 80,000 dollars may be paid out today.”
I handed him a piece of paper and continued.
“I put everything I just said here. It’s already too late for school. I’ll just go.”
I got out of his car and ran towards the school.
At the end of school that day, I met Incheol in the school hallway.
We exited the school building together and were walking towards the school gate, but in an instant, In-cheol, who was walking next to him, started running towards the school gate.
In-cheol, who was gradually gaining speed, shouted toward the school gate.
“mister!”
In-cheol, who ran sprinting, was embraced by team leader Kim Jeong-soo.
When I arrived at the school gate, In-cheol clings to Team Leader Kim Jeong-soo and tells him.
“Uncle, did you come all the way to my school to see me?”
“yes? Yes… that, yes long time no see. You have grown so much.”
While In-cheol was bluffing to Kim Jeong-su, team leader, Yeong-mi arrived at the front of the school gate, and In-cheol said to Yeong-mi.
“Young-mi! Did you say you wanted to eat bulgogi pizza yesterday?”
“Yeah, talking about pizza makes me hungry already.”
In-cheol pointed to Team Leader Kim Jeong-soo next to him and said.
“This is the person who embodies a just society, and he’s going to buy us a pizza now!”
Young-mi, who understood In-cheol’s intentions, politely bowed his belly button to Kim Jeong-soo, team leader.
“thank you! I will enjoy this food!”
Team leader Kim Jeong-soo looked at me with a bewildered expression, and I pointed to the building across the road and said:
“Bulgogi pizza, that—-Gi Pizza Hot restaurant is the best in my neighborhood.”
After we ate three pizzas to our full satisfaction, team leader Kim Jeong-soo drove us home in turn.
First In-cheol got off and went up to the house, and then Yeong-mi got out of the car.
Team leader Kim Jung-soo and I were the only ones left in the car, and as Yeong-mi entered the apartment building, he asked.
“Is that kid? The family of the suspect in the embezzlement you mentioned?”
“yes that’s right. But, maybe… Has the culprit been caught?”
He opened his mouth with a short sigh.
“It’s not that simple. It’s a case of foreign exchange and embezzlement, so it’s not something I can handle.”
“… … .”
“Even if I’m in charge, if I want to catch the real culprit… They say we have to do a trap investigation, and that could lead to legal problems.”
“You don’t have to catch the culprit. Can’t we just stop this from happening?”
At my words, Team Leader Kim Jeong-soo shook his head.
“it is not so. It’s because you don’t know the psychology of people who commit these kinds of crimes.”
“… ?”
“In a case like this, the perpetrator is bound to be caught. There are few suspects. Investigate a few company officials and you’re done. That’s why normal people don’t even think about trying something like this. I know they will be caught soon.”
“… … .”
“Are you still planning a crime like this? If the culprit can’t do it this time, he’ll definitely do it next time.”
“… !”
“So it’s better to catch it when you have certain information like now.”
“then… You believe what I said this morning.”
“I believe.”
“then… What are you going to do?”
He chuckled and patted my head.
“I’ll take care of that, so don’t worry too much.”
Meanwhile, Team Leader Kim Jung-soo’s car arrived at our apartment building, and Team Leader Kim Jung-soo took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.
“Your parents will be waiting for you. Come on in. We’ll talk more about it later.”
The moment I greeted and opened the car door, Team Leader Kim Jung-soo said:
“ah! Wait a minute!”
“… ?”
“But how did you get the check information? Have you ever hacked a bank?”
“I went to the Balhae Sports Company last week, and then I had the opportunity to look at a copy of the check faxed to me.”
“So… You mean you memorized all the information on the check by looking at it?”
“yes… That’s it.”
“haha! Is that possible?”
“It is possible. My uncle’s card number is 4943 3307 6857 29XX, and the expiration date is November 1996. I saw it when I was paying at Pizza Hot earlier. This license plate is Seoul Lu 101X. The car he drove in the morning was the Seoul Bar 367X.”
“… … !”
“And I know that at Pizza Hot earlier, the man glanced at one of the employees. Can you tell me the name of the employee?”
By the way… I think this guy is a bit surprised.
“Hey, I ran out of cigarettes.”
“uh? uh. Wait, don’t get off… Close the car door.”
Team leader Kim Jeong-soo picked up the dropped cigarette and put it back in his mouth.
“You know the employee I saw?”
I nodded and said.
“Yeah, isn’t it tall, short sports hair?”
In an instant, he felt his eyes change.
“So what’s your name?”
“I don’t know the last name… They said it was sick.”
“Illness… ? Are you sure?”
I nodded and said.
“I called him that in the kitchen and I saw him react.”
Team leader Kim Jeong-soo picked up the radio and sent a call signal.
“Hotel-13, Hotel-13. Sydney-11, Sydney-11. Found the most wanted.”
While waiting for the other person’s reply, he mechanically lit a cigarette, perhaps out of impatience.
Team leader Kim Jung-soo, who made eye contact with me, quickly rubbed a cigarette in the ashtray and put it out.
“Sorry! I’m crazy… .”
After a while, an incomprehensible radio message came in, and team leader Kim Jeong-soo, who finished radio communication in still unknown terms, said with a smirk at me.
“I think you paid for the pizza you ate today? haha—!”
“Five… ! Looking at the atmosphere, with three pizzas… Do you think it’s not enough?”
“what? Well, he’s probably on a bounty… haha–!”
He reached out a hand the size of the pot lid and stroked my head.
Uh—- the smell of cigarettes… .
That night.
While compiling notes for proof of Riemann hypothesis… My mother came into my room.
“Hey Jungho… .”
However, the expression on her mother’s face is not serious.
“These days, your mother started working as a lecturer at a private academy, and she neglected Jeong-ho a lot, didn’t she?”
My mother recently started working at a TOEIC academy, and her lectures end both in the morning and in the early afternoon, so whenever I came home from school, my mother was always the first to arrive.
“no. In fact, I feel the same way.”
“Jung-ho is now in puberty, so it’s a very sensitive period, and I’m sorry that my mother didn’t care about him as much as I used to.”
“I’m fine… What are you sorry for, Mom?”
After a moment of silence, the mother opened her mouth with a long sigh.
“Jungho smoking a cigarette… I wish I could quit right now… But mom is fine. Instead, let’s make one promise with Mom.”
what?!
I smoke?
“Mom! I don’t smoke.”
The mother still had a serious expression on her face.
“Jeong-ho, your mother told you. Mom says it’s really good. Instead, you only need to promise one thing.”
“Ugh—, Mom, I really don’t smoke.”
next day.
After school, as always… I came home with In-cheol and Yeong-mi.
When In-cheol entered the house first, I cautiously told Yeong-mi.
“Young-mi, are you okay?”
“Yes? what? what?”
“Are you okay? you… What’s going on?”
Youngmi shook her head vigorously.
“no. nothing happened.”
That’s a lie.
Youngmi is still biting her upper lip with her lower teeth.
It wasn’t just this.
Youngmi’s expression wasn’t good all day today.
I asked Youngmi.
“Perhaps… What happened at school today?”
Youngmi shook her head again.
“No, it’s not like that. I’m really fine.”
Youngmi bit her upper lip again.
“Young-mi, maybe… Is it because of your father?”
As soon as I finished my words, Youngmi turned her head and looked at me.
Young-mi’s expression looking at me hardened severely, and Yeong-mi said in a trembling voice.
“It’s me, Jeongho… In the morning, you… you saw it too… .”
Instantly, tears welled up in Yeong-mi’s eyes and ran down her cheeks.
In both the past and this life, this is the first time I have seen Young-mi cry.
I was so startled that I took Young-mi’s hand.
“Young-mi… .”
“Hey Jungho… What do I do, my dad… my dad… You got caught by the police… .”