Chapter 37.2

The Compassionate Orphanage (2)

Black steered the conversation away from Mong-Doo’s topic.

However, to some extent, I could agree with what Mong-Doo had said.

Because I had thought something similar when I first heard the story from Myeong Bo-Hoon.

Should I describe it as feeling like someone had tried to clean up a street after a traffic accident…

After reading the investigation report sent by the National Forensics Service, Black spat out a curse.

“Shit. I thought this might be the case, but it really turned out to be.”

“The DNA from the abandoned hospital in Changam Neighbourhood has been matched with more than half of the people on the latest Missing Persons List.”

“Those sons of bitches. Really?”

The problem was that no organs had been found on board the passenger ferry.

Since that was the case, it might mean that the stolen organs were circulating within Korea rather than abroad…

“They still haven’t found any records of the long-term transactions, right?”

“Yep. They’ve really cleaned up after themselves. The search is ongoing, but it’s not looking good.”

“Should we check the bank records of the guys from the Joongmae Gang?”

“They’re illegal immigrants, do you really think they’d have that sort of stuff? Their business is all done through payments made in hard cash or money laundering. Still, for now let’s put in a transaction inquiry.”

“Roger that. They’ve also got Koreans mixed up in this, so there’s bound to be something.”

I nodded my head as I typed up an official request.

If it’s money laundering, that’s something that they had definitely taken part in.

If we can just pick up the trail from there, everything else becomes easier.

Then we can catch the tail of the illegal organ trading ring, and discover the source of the money that flowed into Wang Ong-Gu’s bank account.

‘Although I already have Wang Ong-Gu’s bank statements.’

It was part of the data packet sent by Ho-Un.

Although untraceable amounts of money had occasionally been deposited into his account, it would be hard to prove that they were from him taking a bribe to look the other way.

There also seemed to be a separate account for the money that he sent to his family in France.

Although we were overflowing with suspicion, there was currently no physical evidence.

The information I held was obtained through illegal means, so it couldn’t be used as evidence.

And it felt like we would be met with a backlash if we tried to push forward prematurely.

I finished typing up the official request that would be sent to the bank and threw on my jacket.

“I’m heading out for a little while.”

“Where to?”

“The hospital. I’m going to have another go at grilling the punks who’ve woken up.”

“Okay then. Be gentle with them.”

Grabbing the car key, I headed down the office stairs.

But what’s with this? I bumped into none other than Wang Ong-Gu.

“Seonbae-nim. Good morning.”

“Hey.”

Unlike last time, he avoided me while exuding a gloomy feeling.

His expression looked as if he was being hounded by something. And it appeared to be quite dire.

“So I’ve heard the latest gossip.”

I stepped in front of him while smiling softly.

“That it was Detective Wang who found out about the clue leading to the abandoned hospital.”

“So what? What are you going to do about it?”

That was quite a nervous reaction.

When I just looked down at him silently, Wang Ong-Gu shook his head slightly and conceded.

“No, sorry. I didn’t mean that. It just slipped out because I haven’t been sleeping well lately.”

How sensitive. Could it be due to his failure to bail out the Joongmae Gang.

Turning his body to the side, he tried to slip past me.

“Detective Wang.”

I had to squeeze him a little.

Then I could pry open the cracks caused by his stress and expose the inner traces of his dirty dealings.

While turning my head to the side, I grabbed hold of him.

“When I was subduing the punks on the cargo deck, one of them -Ju Sa-Oh- said something strange.”

“What?”

“He asked me why we hadn’t gone to the abandoned hospital. He was complaining that all the guys from the police were definitely supposed to have been diverted there.”

As Wang Ong-Gu’s expression crumpled, he shook off my hand.

“Hey. That’s been driving me crazy as well. All because of one of my fucking infomants messing around, I’ve been placed in a tight spot.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m in the middle of chasing that bastard right now, so get the hell out of my way.”

His expression showed no changes in the face of my lies.

Does that mean that he’s not worried about being forced to spit up the cash that he’s already swallowed?

Or else, could it be that he’s confident that his name won’t be mentioned?

I shrugged my shoulders. Whichever it was, it was only a matter of time until it would be revealed.

“However there’s something else, Detective Wang.”

“If you keep calling me, I’ll-”

“Why haven’t you asked me who Ju Sa-Oh is?”

Ju Sa-Oh. It was the Chinese name that Wi Yeon-Gil was known by inside his gang.

Although the literal meaning of the name was just ‘Guide’, it held the implication that he was the one who led the syndicate.

As the investigation into the gang hadn’t even started yet, neither the media nor even our colleagues in the department should have caught wind of it yet.

Wang Ong-Gu’s expression slowly worsened into a scowl.

He glared at me as if he would like nothing more than to wrap his hands around my neck.

“Stop joking around. Like I said earlier, I’m too tired for your shit.”

That’s a hit. Right in the bullseye.

Wang Ong-Gu stormed up to the narcotics department while grinding his teeth, and I walked out of the police station with a grin on my face.