A Somewhat Unusual Lawyer - Chapter 3

Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Violent Crime Investigation Division, National Office of Investigation, Investigation Planning and Coordination Office.

“The department name is awfully long…”

Nam Da-reum muttered lowly while looking at the signboard hung in front of the office.
Law Firm Reaper was located in Guro District, but Ma Sang-hyun had insisted on calling Da-reum all the way out here to the main police agency building.
While he had considered various law firms with his profession as a lawyer in mind, he had never once imagined working at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.
Watching the detectives bustling back and forth with yellow document folders tucked under their arms, Da-reum felt a strange sense of incongruity.

‘To think my first day of work as a lawyer is at a police agency.’

It was unusual right from the start.
When he pushed open the heavy iron door and entered, a scene of tightly packed desks cluttered with mountain-like piles of documents unfolded before him. At the same time, the mixed scent of cigarettes and instant coffee hit his nose.
Da-reum stood quietly at the entrance and swept his gaze over the office. Among the busy detectives, he spotted Ma Sang-hyun in the deepest corner seat of the office.
Ma Sang-hyun, belatedly discovering Nam Da-reum standing at the entrance, abruptly stood up from his seat.

“Lawyer Nam! Over here!”

At Ma Sang-hyun’s energetic voice scattering in all directions, the gazes of several detectives landed on Da-reum.
Da-reum put on an awkward expression and made his way toward the desk where Ma Sang-hyun was beckoning.

“Glad you made it. How is your body?”
“Thank you. I’m doing much better.”
“That’s a relief.”

Ma Sang-hyun replied casually while organizing his documents.
Da-reum asked while looking around with eyes full of doubt.

“But why did you call me to the police agency? Law Firm Reaper’s address is listed in Guro District.”

Ma Sang-hyun laughed briefly.

“Ah, did you not see the back of my business card?”

He took a business card out of his inner pocket and handed it to Nam Da-reum.
When Nam Da-reum flipped the business card over, small printed letters caught his eye.

[Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Violent Crime Investigation Division – External Advisory Counsel]

“I am currently concurrently serving as an advisory counsel for the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.”
“I thought you told me at the hospital to handle the ‘investigation review request’ case…”
“There are no changes. You will, of course, handle that case first. However, since it is an investigation review request, it will be more efficient for you to stay here. It’s a short-term contract anyway, so is there a need for you to commute all the way to Guro District? Stay here for a month and see how you feel.”
“Then, what about you, Lawyer Ma?”
“I have to return to the office. I am a very busy person, despite how I look.”

Da-reum asked back, seemingly flustered.

“Then the advisory counsel work…”

After taking a sip of his coffee, Ma Sang-hyun leisurely scanned Da-reum over his cup and answered.

“Now you will have to do it, Mr. Nam Da-reum.”
“Me?”
“You said you’d only be here short-term anyway. Just cover my spot for a month.”
“What exactly am I supposed to do here…”

Ma Sang-hyun crumpled his empty paper cup and tossed it into the trash can as he added.

“It’s simple. I’m going to have you do what you do best, Mr. Nam Da-reum. You’ll be called in whenever there’s a request for legal review regarding a criminal case or an investigation.”
“…”
“You just need to provide advice as a lawyer affiliated with the police agency. It’s only to the extent of detectives bringing over documents and asking, ‘Are there any legal issues with this?’ So don’t overthink it.”

Nam Da-reum still asked with a strange expression.

“Then, am I both a lawyer and a civil servant?”

Ma Sang-hyun let out a breathy laugh.

“No. You’re just a lawyer. Don’t even expect the treatment of a civil servant.”

He finished cleaning up his seat and stepped out from behind the desk as he spoke.

“I’ll introduce you to Inspector Jang Joo-young, so follow me.”

Nam Da-reum walked down the narrow hallway behind him.
Soon, Ma Sang-hyun stopped in front of an iron door.
Nam Da-reum glanced up at the nameplate.

[Suspect Identification Room]

“Let’s go in.”

Ma Sang-hyun opened the door with familiarity.
A scene of a suspect identification room, the likes of which he had only seen in movies, unfolded before his eyes.
Beyond the tempered glass that filled one side of the wall, five or six boys were standing in a line.
As they stepped inside, a man with a massive build welcomed Ma Sang-hyun.

“Oh. Lawyer Ma! You’ve arrived.”

The approaching man looked to be in his mid-180s in centimeters.
Broad shoulders and bushy hair. His rugged field jacket gave off the strong scent of the field.
He strode over and tightly grabbed Ma Sang-hyun’s hand.

“My, it’s been a while! That last case. It was cleanly sorted out thanks to your advice, wasn’t it?”

Ma Sang-hyun gave a short laugh and said.

“That’s a relief. I stopped by for a moment today because I have someone to introduce.”

He turned his head and pointed at Nam Da-reum.

“Say hello. This is Lawyer Nam Da-reum. For the next month, he will be helping you detectives as an advisory counsel in my place. Lawyer Nam, say hello. This is Lieutenant Jin Pil-seong.”

Lieutenant Jin Pil-seong narrowed his eyes and scanned Da-reum.
His gaze was rough, but a strange curiosity was mixed within it.

“But… isn’t he too young? Isn’t the police agency’s advisory counsel position usually for old folks with white hair? Is it okay for someone this young to come in?”

He spat out a pointed joke in his thick dialect.
Instead of replying, Da-reum showed a light smile. At that, Ma Sang-hyun took a step forward.

“My hair hasn’t turned white yet either, you know? Lieutenant Jin.”

Ma Sang-hyun laughed lowly and drove the wedge in.

“And Lawyer Nam, he may look young, but his skills are guaranteed. He’s the top scorer of the bar exam.”

At that sound, Jin Pil-seong’s eyes widened.

“Top scorer? Oh my, then I’ve said something completely unnecessary.”

He scratched the back of his neck and let out a dry cough.

“Excuse me for my rudeness upon our first meeting.”

Just then, a voice mixed with a sigh could be heard from the corner of the identification room.

“Honestly, your mouth is always the problem.”

It was Inspector Jang Joo-young.
He nagged at Lieutenant Jin Pil-seong as he stood up from his seat.

“How many times have I told you that you’ll stay in the middle if you just keep quiet. Yet you start flapping your yap again in front of someone you’re meeting for the first time.”

Rising sluggishly, he held out his hand with a fatigue-stained expression.

“Our family member has committed a discourtesy. Please be generous and understand.”
“Ah, no, it’s fine.”
“Lawyer Nam Da-reum. We’re old acquaintances, aren’t we? We meet again. I am Inspector Jang Joo-young.”

Nam Da-reum bowed his head deeply and offered his greetings.

“I am Lawyer Nam Da-reum. I look forward to working with you.”
“The pleasure is all mine. And it’s truly a relief. I didn’t know you would be up and about this quickly. You have great stamina.”
“I was lucky.”
“Lucky, nothing. It’s just good to be young.”

Jang Joo-young smiled amiably and squeezed Nam Da-reum’s hand tightly before letting go.
Then, he turned his gaze to look at Ma Sang-hyun and said.

“Anyway, Lawyer Ma. What happened with the investigation review request today?”

When Jang Joo-young asked, Ma Sang-hyun glanced at his watch and replied briefly.

“It is scheduled to be filed sometime today. I was originally going to do it…”

He turned his head toward Nam Da-reum standing next to him.

“Now Lawyer Nam will take over and proceed with it.”
“What? Lawyer Nam is going to handle that case too?”
“Yes.”
“Lawyer Ma. You’re not… quitting as a lawyer anytime soon or anything, right?”

As Jang Joo-young cracked a joke, Ma Sang-hyun answered calmly.

“No. I’m leaving it to him because an urgent matter has come up for the time being.”

Ma Sang-hyun concluded his words and turned his gaze toward the tempered glass.
Then he added.

“Anyway, the identification process is dragging on today.”

Jang Joo-young crossed his arms and scrunched his brow.

“Tell me about it. Every single one of these punks is saying they didn’t do it. It’s a huge problem. And there’s no CCTV either.”
“Are they juvenile offenders?”
“Except for the guy at the very end, they’re all under the age of criminal responsibility, but… a kid died.”
“How did he die for you to be like this?”
“They claim they were playing around and he fell off the railing to his death, but… the railing is quite high, so it’s not structured in a way where someone could just fall off while playing around.”

Jang Joo-young let out a short sigh.

“It looks like they pushed him off or threw him over, but the problem is… all of them are holding out, saying ‘I didn’t do it’.”

Ma Sang-hyun looked beyond the glass wall and said lowly.

“They’ve coordinated their stories. They agreed to say it was just a joke among themselves, and if even one of them slips up, they all go down together.”

Jang Joo-young crossed his arms and nodded slowly.

“Exactly. If only the dead kid’s parents would permit an autopsy, it feels like we could make some headway.”
“Did they say they wouldn’t allow an autopsy?”
“Yes. If there were even a piece of evidence, they might agree to an autopsy. But since there’s no evidence and the situation is uncertain, they probably don’t want to put a knife to their child’s body.”
“Hmm…”
“On top of that, that nerd wearing glasses, his father is apparently a judge. Seeing how much money they have, they must have already offered a huge sum to the victim’s parents. When a family that deals with the law pulls out money before the law, it makes things truly filthy from an investigator’s perspective.”

Inspector Jang Joo-young pointed his chin at the boy standing on the far right.
Then, he added with a bitter laugh.

“If the victim’s parents agree to settle… then we have no choice but to settle. Well. What else can we do?”
“Then, just send them home. Why do you have them standing in the identification room?”
“Just to make those punks reflect on their actions a bit. Whether it was intentional or not, if we let them go like this, no one would be able to say anything. I just kept them standing there out of pure frustration.”

Nam Da-reum quietly took in their conversation and stared beyond the glass window.
Where his gaze landed, five male students wearing school uniforms were standing.
Their appearances were closer to proper, model students rather than juvenile delinquents.
The kids were all acting as if they were innocent.
Nam Da-reum slowly shifted his gaze and scanned their faces one by one.
Then, he unconsciously let out a voice.

“Were they brought in straight from the scene?”

At Da-reum’s out-of-the-blue question, Inspector Jang Joo-young tilted his head and answered.

“Of course. We brought them in right after the incident.”

Da-reum’s gaze fixed onto the boy standing on the far right, who was wearing black horn-rimmed glasses.

“Try doing an under-nail test on that kid.”

Jang Joo-young glanced sideways at him.

“Under his nails? Is there a reason? The victim fell from the railing, you know?”

Nam Da-reum answered briefly without taking his eyes off.

“The cause of death might not be from falling.”

At that moment, Jang Joo-young’s eyes glinted fiercely.
Without hesitation, he instructed Jin Pil-seong.

“Hey, hey. Pil-seong. Avoid the guardian’s path, take him to the forensic science department, and ask them to collect DNA from under his nails.”

At Inspector Jang Joo-young’s command, Jin Pil-seong immediately crossed over to the other side of the identification room.
When the door opened, a thin ripple crossed the kids’ expressions.
Jin Pil-seong grabbed the wrist of the kid on the far right.
At that, the kid looked toward the glass window for just a brief moment.
In that split second, the letters that rose up like smoke were branded clearly onto the boy’s forehead.

[Murder – Strangulation]

The crime name wavering on his forehead soon spat out even the dead kid’s name.

[Jeong Jin-soo]

The boy was acting out perfect innocence, but reflected in Da-reum’s eyes, he was an undeniable murderer.