Sociopaths are good at investigating - C4 - Scars You Can't Make Yourself

After graduating from the Police Academy, I served as a public service officer for two years.
The officers who held positions as deputy and company commanders often envied me, saying that there was no such thing as easy military service with such a generous salary.
But behind my back, it seemed like they were criticizing the privileges given to graduates of the Police Academy.
In 2018, four years later, news articles came out stating that these service benefits would no longer exist.
Being a platoon leader during my alternative military service was truly a hellish experience.
Every morning we had roll call and physical training, repeating the same drills every day.
Each day was boring and monotonous.
I went to protest sites, got hit by bamboo spears, and inhaled tear gas, but it wasn’t very interesting.
I tried to adjust to the dull military life.
The only thing I could do was “work hard according to regulations.”
Thanks to that, I earned the nickname “FM.”
Later, I found out that nickname was actually an insult.
After my long alternative military service ended, I finally began my work as a local police officer at the [Maechun Police Station].
It was called a ‘rotational duty,’ meaning that after completing their service, Police Academy graduates are required to work at a district station or police precinct for six months.
Today was my first day at the precinct.
I was excited at the thought of being able to engage in investigative work, even if indirectly, after leaving the security department.
I opened the precinct door with a bit of excitement.
“Hello. I’m Captain Tak Jeong-tae, assigned to Maechun Police Station.”
As soon as I entered, I stood straight, saluted, and said the greeting.
It was something I did all the time in the police academy.
“……”
Inside the station, there were six people, but none of them returned my salute. They just stared at me.
One of the middle-aged officers was already looking at me with a gaze full of envy.
It was the same expression they used to give me back in the Police Academy.
After a brief silence, a tall officer quickly stepped forward.
“Oh, you don’t need to salute to fellow officers.”
He smiled brightly and extended his hand to me.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Officer Go Gyeong-su.”
“Nice to meet you.”
I lowered my hand and shook his.
He was tall, with long, narrow eyes and a sharp jawline, fitting the standard of a handsome man.
He seemed to be in his late 30s or early 40s.
Even in the brief moment of shaking hands, he kept smiling and making small talk.
He seemed bright and cheerful, unlike the other team members.
In other words, he might come off as a bit frivolous.
“Wow, a handsome elite officer joins us. Nice, nice.”
He complimented my appearance.
Now that I think about it, I felt like we resembled each other in some ways.
I was just a bit shorter.
“Captain Tak, during your rotation, we’ll be working together in pairs, kind of like a mentor relationship. My rank is lower, though. Haha.”
“I’ll do my best to learn.”
“Haha. I don’t know how much I can teach you, but I’ll try my best. Now, let me introduce our team leader…”
From then on, Gyeong-su introduced the rest of the team.
None of them could look me in the eye.
After the awkward introductions ended,
“Did you bring your uniform?”
“Yes, here it is.”
“Today, the station chief is on leave, so how about changing into your uniform and going for a patrol with me?”
“Understood.”
After changing into my uniform, we got into the patrol car.
Inside the car, there was a navigation system, a light switch box, and a vehicle radio.
I observed them carefully.
Even though I was in my second year as an officer, this was my first time seeing the interior of a patrol car.
“The office feels kind of cold, right?”
Gyeong-su, who was driving, spoke up.
“It’s because of Captain Tak. Older officers don’t like Police Academy graduates. They spent 30 years just to get the rank of captain, so when a younger person comes in with the same rank, it makes them jealous.”
Jealous, huh.
It seemed like they were envious of me, just like my fellow cadets had been.
“But I like you, Captain Tak. You’re the first Police Academy graduate I’ve seen salute like that. Most people are disrespectful and act inappropriately on their first day.”
“I’ll keep saluting with sincerity.”
“Oh, no, I didn’t mean that. I just meant you seemed like a good person at first glance.”
A good person.
It was the first time I’d ever heard that about myself, after being told I was handsome.
“You’re really smart, Captain Tak. You’ll learn the precinct work quickly. Even though I’m not great, I’ll teach you as best as I can.”
“Thank you.”
Just then,
*Ding ding ding-*
A bell rang from the navigation system, and then the radio crackled.
– “Maechun 1, 1189 case, please respond.”
– “Got it.”
A report had come in for case 1189 in the Maechun precinct area.
The navigation displayed the details of the report.
“Someone keeps trying to open our door.”
“Ugh, what a crazy person trying to open someone’s door in broad daylight…”
Gyeong-su grumbled as he turned the car towards the location of the report.
“This kind of call is 99% someone drunk.”
“Drunk?”
“They’re so drunk that they mistake someone else’s house for their own and try to open the door.”
It sounded plausible.
How was Gyeong-su able to deduce this just from reading the report?
“I’ve been working at the precinct for 15 years. After a while, you just know what’s going on by reading the report. This is just a case of sending a drunk person home.”
“Sounds simple.”
“It’s just that easy to tell. In a way, police work requires more of this kind of instinct than legal knowledge. Unlike judges and prosecutors, we’re the ones who deal with cases up close.”
Instinct is in the realm of emotion.
It was an area that was simple for Gyeong-su, but complicated for me.
“This is the third floor of this apartment building.”
Before I knew it, we had arrived at the scene.
We got out of the car and headed to the third floor of the building.
“Huh? No one’s here? Looks like they went home on their own.”
There was no drunk person at the scene.
Gyeong-su said that the person probably sobered up and went home on their own, so he suggested we just speak to the reporter and leave.
The doorknob of the reporter’s house was loose from how much the person had tried to open the door.
When we rang the doorbell, a woman in her early twenties opened the door slightly.
“Hello. I’m Officer Go Gyeong-su from Maechun Police Station. You made the report, right?”
“Yes.”
Through the small crack in the door, I could see the reporter’s face and arm.
“The person trying to open the door isn’t here.”
“I guess they went somewhere else.”
“Probably a drunk person. They were probably at the wrong house.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Are you hurt in any way?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Okay, we’ll be leaving now.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Gyeong-su quickly finished asking a few questions and turned to leave.
But then,
“… Excuse me, officer. Could you move your foot, please?”
Even with 15 years of experience, Gyeong-su missed something.
I put my foot in the crack of the door and blocked it.
Then, I immediately said,
“… What are you doing?”
I grabbed the reporter’s arm and rolled up her sleeve.
I hadn’t been mistaken.
There were clear handprints on her arm, as if someone had gripped it tightly.
“Gah! Captain Tak! What are you doing, grabbing the arm of a female reporter in this day and age…”
Gyeong-su, who had been about to leave, rushed back and jumped in front of me, trying to stop me.
But I held onto her arm and said,
“When someone grabs their own arm, the thumb mark will always face outward.”
“… What?”

Gyeong-su, looking puzzled, examined the woman’s arm.
There was a clear handprint on her left arm, with the thumb facing outward.
A handprint made by someone grabbing her left arm with their left hand.
It was a mark that couldn’t have been made by herself.
“The person who was trying to open this door…”
For the first time in a long while.
“Is in this house, right?”
Colors and shapes swirled in my mind.

When instinct shines through.