Chapter 86

The End of Chu Oh-Myeong (1)

At that moment, the site foreman cautiously chose to speak up.

“That’s… Before we demolish anything, we always check everything to see if there is anyone or anything that might cause a problem.”

He seemed to be worried about being punished for inadequate safety management.

This was inevitable, after all, a call had come directly from Gunbaek Headquarters.

I gave him an easy smile, and lifted his concerns.

“Don’t worry. It’s not that sort of problem. We think that the criminal may have locked the kidnapping victim somewhere out of sight. If by any chance, you receive an unfair punishment, please give me a call. I’ll explain everything.”

“Phew. If that’s the case, I’ll owe you my thanks.”

“Well then, we’re a bit busy, so-”

“Hold on a moment!”

I was about to split up the police force when the foreman grabbed my arm.

“That is, if you’re looking for someone, wouldn’t it help if you had plenty of hands? We’ll help out as well. Isn’t that right, everyone?”

At the foreman’s words, all the workers who were sitting around got back up.

Then they nodded their heads in agreement.

“Someone’s life is on the line, of course we’ve got to.”

“That’s right. We weren’t going to get any work done anyway.”

“Park-ssi! Kim-ssi! Get over here. There’s an emergency!”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“You say that someone’s been locked up? That’s crazy. Oi, Kang-ssi! Grab your hammer and come over here!”

After all the workers who had been spread out around the site gathered together, we had dozens of men with us.

Each of them held their tools in their hands and grimly determined expressions on their faces.

“Okay then. Detectives. Just tell us where to start.”

“Ah…. If that’s the case, starting from this supermarket, Black will take the right. Mong-Doo will take the left. Team Leader will take this alleway…”

Hwanak Neighbourhood covers an area of 0.7 square kilometres.

Although we could count on further support from search and rescue, the neighbourhood looked far too large when seeing it all laid out on the map.

At the very least, we were fortunate in that most of the buildings were only one-story high.

Also, I knew Chu Oh-Myeong’s criteria for choosing his preferred housing.

“It has to be a large house, but one that no one is living in. The perp doesn’t care about cleaning up after himself, so he’ll want to change to a different room when the one he’s living in gets dirty. Whether it’s a yard or something else, somewhere with a wide, open area has priority. Also, avoid places that have people living next door. Places that have basements or rooftop access are good too.”

“Hm. If that’s the case, then it should be a little easier. All the houses in this neighbourhood are pretty similar, so there’s only a handful of large houses or ones with the other features.”

While we had our heads together, dividing the neighbourhood into areas, a man approached us.

He had a red bandana with the words ‘Oppose the Redevelopment’ wrapped around his head.

“Excuse me, detectives. By any chance, are you from the Su-An Police Station?

“Yes. That’s right, and?”

“My name is Yoo Chang-Su. Yoo Chang-Dong was my older brother.”

Yoo Chang-Dong?

If it’s Yoo Chang-Dong, wasn’t he the neighbourhood chief of Hwanak Neighbourhood, the one who was murdered by Song Dae-Ak.

“Thank you so much for solving his case. Thanks to you, my brother is able to rest in peace.”

He earnestly gave us his thanks.

“I happened to hear that you’re looking for someone. Although I’ve lost my home due to this redevelopment… No matter what, I believe that people’s lives come first. I’ll try to ask the locals to help out as well.”

It seems that Yoo Chang-Soo had inherited his older brother’s position and become the representative of the former Hwanak residents.

When the demolition was stopped due to the current crisis, for the forcefully evicted residents, it surely must have felt like a heaven-sent miracle.

But for them to give their all to resolving this crisis anyway?

I couldn’t feel any more thankful than I already was.

On top of that, these were people who knew every corner of this neighbourhood like the back of their hand. They would certainly be of huge assistance.

Weeoo- weeoo-

From afar, I heard the sounds of police sirens as the latecomers arrived.

It was time to start the search.

So with utmost sincerity, we earnestly bowed to everyone that had gathered.

“We look forward to your kind cooperation!”

We had already organized all the civilians into search parties.

They all also raised their fists in a show of determination.

“Let’s go!”

“Make sure to search every corner!”

Team Leader, Black, Mong-Doo, and I scattered in all directions.

The police and civilian search teams followed after us.

Bang-!

Clatter!

“Over here. We need to open the door from the inside.”

“Just break it open.”

Locked doors were broken down with hammers, and if that didn’t work, windows were shattered.

We left a red mark on each of the locations that had been thoroughly searched and confirmed empty.

Racing up stairs, knocking on doors, and jumping over fences.

As we did all this, time kept marching on.

Eventually our clothes were drenched in sweat and after everyone had run out of stamina, we squatted on the spot to replenish our fluids.

-The area over here is finished.

Meanwhile, the search in Mong-Doo’s area had finally ended.

The sun was already setting and was now resting on the peak of a nearby mountain.

Hwanak Neighbourhood had been cut from the electricity grid.

This meant that once it got dark, we might have to withdraw and come back the next day.

Although it would just be a few hours for us, it could feel like an entire lifetime for the surviving victim.