Chapter 037: What Must Be Done (6)
Chief Jang began speaking on the phone without answering the detective's question.
"Yeah, it's me."
"Do you know Detective Jo Hyeong-do at Dobong Station?"
"I'm busy today, so tell him we'll cooperate through written questioning."
"Okay."
"No, it's nothing like that."
"I'm just busy today."
Detective Jo frowned.
"Who are you calling..."
Before he could finish speaking, Detective Jo's phone rang.
"This is Detective Jo Hyeong-do."
"Ah, yes."
"Yes."
"Understood."
"I'll do that."
"No. Nothing like that happened."
"Understood."
After ending the call, he stared at Chief Jang in shock.
"Ah, I'm sorry."
"I'll send the questions to you. You can submit a written statement."
"By the way, who exactly are you?"
"A firefighter and a firefighter's representative."
Detective Jo stared at Chief Jang as though he could not understand him at all.
"I understand. Then I'll send a written questionnaire."
The detective quietly withdrew from the scene.
Chief Jang watched his back for a long time as he walked away.
The forensic team entered the building one hour after the fire was completely extinguished.
Because of the heavy smoke, the entire room was covered in black soot.
It was a fire in a small villa, but two people had died.
Until now, Hee-soo had never had fatalities at one of his rescue scenes.
The result was shocking to him.
It felt as if a stain had been left on his rescue record.
The villa had four floors plus a basement.
The fire burned through the basement and first floor before being extinguished.
The grandmother and her grandson, who had taken shelter in the basement bathroom, survived thanks to the rescue operation.
However, the grandfather lying in the bedroom had already died before the rescue team arrived.
The grandmother had escaped to the bathroom with only her grandson.
In that desperate moment, she had clearly chosen her grandson over her sick husband.
An even bigger issue was the body found inside the kimchi refrigerator on the third floor.
It was identified as the daughter of the father and daughter who lived there.
According to the National Forensic Service's initial examination at the scene, there were no obvious signs of homicide.
The father's whereabouts remained unknown.
Hee-soo could not stop questioning it.
What exactly was that red dot?
Judging by the marks on the window frame, it looked clear that someone had escaped through the window.
However, even after searching the area, they could not find any obvious signs that someone had escaped that way.
Hee-soo wanted to investigate further, but time did not allow it.
They had to leave the scene to the police and withdraw.
Hee-soo asked Chief Jang,
"Chief Jang, please keep an eye on this until the end and tell me what happened."
"Something doesn't fit."
"All right."
Hee-soo had been the only member of the rescue team to actually see the body.
The others wanted to ask him about the scene, but they were worried about how he might feel and could not bring themselves to ask.
Eventually, the quiet shift ended.
After work, Hee-soo returned to the incident site.
The police were still controlling the area and continuing their investigation.
Hee-soo asked Chief Jang,
"When did that person die?"
"Did they find any clues?"
Chief Jang shook his head.
"The body was the daughter. She had suffered from chronic illness for years."
"She had a developmental disability and metabolic syndrome."
"The father worked as a day laborer, but apparently he couldn't even work half the days in a month."
"Because of his daughter."
"Probably."
"But why would he put his daughter's body inside something like a kimchi refrigerator?"
"No one knows."
"The daughter was already eighteen, but because of her developmental disability, people said she looked only around seven years old."
"Hmm."
"What happened to that detective?"
"No idea. I told them not to let him approach you anymore."
"Thank you."
"There's nothing to thank me for. It's something I should do."
Hee-soo still could not stop thinking about the marker that had suddenly appeared and disappeared.
He returned to the area beneath the window.
Below it was the lid of a septic tank.
There was no wall between this building and the building in front of it.
There was no yard, so there had been no need for one.
While Hee-soo was looking around behind the building, a detective approached.
"Who are you?"
"Ah. I'm the rescue team member who first entered the third floor."
"Ah! Director Choi, right?"
"Yes."
"I'm Jeon Cheol-soo, chief of the Detective Division at Dobong Police Station."
The division chief handed Hee-soo his business card and greeted him respectfully.
Hee-soo bowed in return.
The chief asked,
"I'm truly sorry about earlier."
"That detective was new and didn't recognize you."
"It's fine. That can happen."
"What brings you here?"
"Ah. I was wondering whether you know the whereabouts of the man who lived on the third floor."
"The third-floor resident?"
"Yes. I heard a father and daughter lived there. The daughter was found inside the refrigerator, but the father is nowhere to be seen."
"Ah. The father."
"We're still asking around too."
"Did your inquiries find anything?"
"Someone said they saw him returning from the market as late as eleven this morning."
"This morning..."
Hee-soo's dispatch had occurred around one in the afternoon.
While Hee-soo was lost in thought, the detective chief watched him and asked,
"Did you happen to see anything unusual when you first entered that room?"
"Yes. I included it in the written response."
"Ah. I hadn't had a chance to read it before coming here."
"What did you see?"
The detective chief's eyes sharpened.
"There was a scraped mark on the window."
His expression darkened.
"Hmm. I see."
The detective chief looked upward.
"That window?"
