“It means he didn’t struggle. Just by looking at the fingernails, we can tell this wasn’t a death by fire. That’s why they brought him here.”
Baek Moonjong examined the entire body of the patient, which was horribly burned with no intact skin, looking for signs of strangulation, stab wounds, or severe bruising.
If it wasn’t a simple accident but arson—that is, if there was a perpetrator who started the fire—they probably burned the body completely black to hide the cause of death. Therefore, examining the surface was a meaningless procedure for this corpse. But despite that, Baek Moonjong didn’t give up or carelessly ignore the procedure. He meticulously examined the skin, even though it was damaged down to the dermis and barely remained.
“Now, let’s turn him over.”
After exchanging signals—you pull and I’ll push—the two began to turn the body. It would be a lie to say that it wasn’t strenuous for the two of them—a white-haired old man and a young but frail guy—to turn over a corpse, but they eventually managed it. With his arms drooping from the already drained energy and taking a couple of deep breaths, the older man said:
“Well, well. This fellow, the more I see him, the more I like him.”
And Baek Moonjong chuckled inside his protective gear.
“The guy who worked for a very short time before you came knew nothing and could only use brute strength. While turning over a similar corpse, he completely peeled off the skin and vomited right there.”
Geun-yeong wondered what would happen if someone vomited while wearing protective gear.
“There have been several instances where people who wanted to make money but were reluctant to touch a corpse even with a fingertip would use brute force and end up damaging the body.”
Geun-yeong, anxious about the ragged skin, turned the body by supporting it with his palms rather than fingertips, using his arms and entire body to embrace and lift it. The previous person had probably tried to grab and pull with just hand strength.
“Knowledge and skills can be learned. But even after learning and knowing, those who can’t do it like you never will. It’s a difference in respect for the deceased. The difference between someone with proper fundamentals and those without.”
Geun-yeong felt somewhat embarrassed by the praise. It seemed like excessive praise just for turning over a corpse, which made him uncomfortable.
After feeling shy and embarrassed, he was filled with respect. He grew to respect the man even more—the man who habitually said that one should listen to what the dead have to say and respect the body even after the soul has departed.
Above all, he really liked this place where he could learn and realize things that were hidden deep beneath the surface of abundant knowledge, things not easily seen. And he was deeply grateful to the man who had introduced him to this place. He was already very grateful, but now he was grateful once more.
Baek Moonjong, who was receiving respectful looks from Geun-yeong, began to examine and check every inch of the now-turned body’s skin. Finally, after meticulously checking even the inside of the anus, the two had to turn the body back over again—a body they had struggled to turn once. They didn’t skip the process of turning the body twice, even knowing they couldn’t learn anything from looking at the skin. Geun-yeong was once again filled with respect, and once again out of breath.
“So, haah, now, haah, just as we deduced from the fingernails that he was already dead before the fire, hak, it’s time to add physical evidence to our suspicions.”
Unlike Geun-yeong, who released his breath that had risen to the tip of his chin from exertion with a sigh, Baek Moonjong was taking several rapid breaths. Even in the midst of this, Baek Moonjong, who simply couldn’t stop talking, picked up a scalpel.
“Now, oh my, let’s open the airway.”
The ceremony to hear the unspoken words of the deceased began.
Around that time, the team leader of the Violent Crimes Unit 1 of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Regional Investigation Department and the officers on duty entered into a 50,000 won betting pool.
It was the 48th hour of stakeout. Based on past experience, it was about time for something to happen, and they were betting on which of the three teams, working in two shifts, would be on duty when it did.
Most predicted it would happen during Lee Dongjae’s night shift. They said that no matter how much Kyung Jiho was the type to attract cases, where would you find criminals bold enough to party in broad daylight? They all said it would probably happen during Dongjae’s shift.
All team members who predicted the logical situation bet on Dongjae, and only the team leader bet on Kyung Jiho.
After that, although it didn’t seem likely to happen now, they couldn’t leave their posts according to support standby guidelines, so they were having lunch with jajangmyeon and fried dumplings when a support request came in from the youngest member of the team on stakeout with Kyung Jiho.
[We’re at the rental office on the second floor of Punglim Bookstore at Miari Intersection! Please send transport vehicles! We’ve caught five guys at a transaction site! Four have been subdued! One of them jumped out the window and ran, and Detective Kyung is chasing him!]
“Ah, damn it…”
The detectives, who had just stuffed fried dumplings into mouths already full of jajangmyeon, threw down their chopsticks and sighed.
It wasn’t because one guy had escaped. The suspect would eventually be brought in, probably with a pulverized face, since Detective Kyung, who had clearly jumped from the second floor after the guy, was chasing him.
The reason for their sighs now was that thanks to Kyung Jiho, who defied even common sense, they had lost 50,000 won each and the jajangmyeon they had barely started eating.
Among them, only one person, the team leader, was smirking as he put on his outer garment. Before leaving, he said:
“Hey, grab a dumpling each on your way out.”
* * *
Including the guy that Kyung Jiho, who never lets go of someone he’s bitten onto, chased down and caught, all five men who had been selling, illegally trading, and handling drugs were arrested on the spot as they were caught in the act.
Evidence was overflowing, so arrest warrants were immediately issued. The Ukrainian ladies who had made great contributions to resolving this case were handed over to the Immigration Office. Even the lady who had acted as bait hoping for a romance with Kyung Jiho, truly regrettably, would be going through procedures for forced repatriation to her home country.
Now they had to write reports all afternoon, and although everyone except the team leader had lost 50,000 won each, the mood in Team 1 was very good. It couldn’t be otherwise after solving such a heavy case. In the midst of this, there was a complaint from Lee Dongjae over the phone: [Hyungnim, what the hell is this that you keep calling me! Not letting a person sleep!]
“I did your job for you, so ignore it and just sleep.”
Kyung Jiho cut off Dongjae’s call with a completely incongruous response.
In the chaotic situation, the team leader, who had briefly gone out and returned, opened a box that contained donuts. The team members who had gathered to see what it was all stood with their hands on their hips making fists in anger. “You made a clean 200,000 won and all we get are these hole-filled bread pieces?!” they protested.
Because it happened during lunchtime, the officers on duty had to rush out with just one bite of jajangmyeon and one fried dumpling each. Kyung Jiho and the youngest member, who had been on stakeout, also had to run after taking just two bites of their hamburgers. In the midst of all this, giving them just donuts as if mocking them—even just looking at them made their stomachs burn with acid—they all had no shortage of complaints.
The team leader, glaring at the guys sitting there cursing with their expressions, pointed at the innocent ceiling and shouted:
“Fine! I’ll treat you all to meat tonight!”
There was a brief silence.
“Korean beef!”
Only then did thunderous cheers and applause erupt. And only then did the detectives, who had been flocking around the box, pick up the donuts they had been ignoring as if they couldn’t stand the sight of them and start stuffing one each into their mouths.
* * *
Geun-yeong, who had assisted with the autopsy of a body that had died in a fire all morning, continued to work busily in the afternoon.
Being just a medical student without a license, he couldn’t perform medical procedures. But because he was young and had a good memory, and in the midst of that knew medical terminology well, there were many things he could do better.
When Professor Baek was in consultation and even Nurse Bong was treating patients, he manned the station, receiving phone reservations and attending to visiting patients. In his spare time, he worked on uploading medical records from before the introduction of the computerized system. In between, he also created a form that would automatically count the exact number of sterilization supplies used that day when entered. Baek Moonjong nodded with a pleased smile, and Bong Tae-hee, who was delighted with the convenient form, slapped Geun-yeong’s back repeatedly in joy. Afterward, Geun-yeong’s back hurt for quite a while.
Near the end of work hours, Professor Baek and Nurse Bong, who had emerged from the consultation room and treatment room, along with part-timer Ji Geun-yeong, sat side by side at the station peeling and eating tangerines.
In fact, Geun-yeong really liked tangerines. Not sour ones, but sweet ones. And the tangerines that Professor Baek had received from a patient were not sour at all but very sweet. Geun-yeong peeled the skin and broke them into pieces, eating them slowly, very slowly, savoring each piece.
And by the time Geun-yeong was eating the third piece of his first tangerine, Nurse Bong had already devoured three tangerines and was peeling a fourth. Baek Moonjong was not to be outdone either. He was moving his hands and mouth at almost the same speed as Bong Tae-hee, who was more than thirty years his junior, peeling, chewing, and swallowing the round yellow things.
“Oh my! Sssp, Professor, I heard your blood sugar is high! How many are you eating?”
At those words, Geun-yeong, who was about to put the fourth piece of tangerine into his mouth, paused briefly, then after checking the atmosphere, slipped it into his mouth. The juice that flowed and spread from the burst skin was so sweet and refreshing.
“I’ll die eating, I can’t manage my diet. I mean, these delicious tangerines, telling me to eat just one—I don’t know if that’s a joke to make me laugh or a provocation to make me angry. Really.”
Even while grumbling, Baek Moonjong had quickly peeled his third tangerine, split it in half, and tossed a section with five segments attached into his mouth in one go.
“Look at Geun-yeong! Just look at how this kid eats! This is how you should eat. Come on!”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
