Move out? Move out! (1)

“Didn’t you say that the number of missing persons has tripled?

“That’s right. Although usually it’s only around twenty to fifty people in a month, as of today, we’ve already hit a hundred. And it’s not just women, the numbers of missing men and children have also risen.”

“Did you pass on my message to focus on the guys from the Joongmae Gang?”

“Huh? Of course. I passed on the message, but since Incheon is under their jurisdiction…”

He meant that there was nothing we could do as it was out of our jurisdiction.

No matter how much we insisted that it was the work of the Joongmae gang, as long as they didn’t want to listen, we might as well be spitting into the wind.

We were only able to give them some advice, it was up to them to make a judgment.

“Anyway, what have you been up to all day before finally heading back here?”

After a moment’s thought, Black had shot me a look that seemed as if he had noticed something suspicious.

I took off my coat and sat down next to him.

“I’ve been out spreading some pesticide here and there.”

“Pesticide?”

My preparations were complete.

For the sake of these increasing numbers of abductees.

My cats will act according to their nature and find the ratholes, then I’ll capture them all with my own hands.

“Now then. I should get to work as well.”

One day passed and then the next.

During this time, it wasn’t just Sae-Bom’s, but the handphones and belongings of two other women who had been reported missing were also found.

All while the investigation failed to make any progress, as if it was just pedalling in place.

Well, no, they were making slight bits of progress.

However with how they had chosen to focus their investigation, progress was too slow and, in the end, would end up too late.

“The car had a fake registry… And without any CCTV footage…”

Black grumbled with his arms crossed in front of him.

It had been confirmed that the culprits made use of a car after kidnapping their victims to throw away the belongings in different locations.

As such, this made it impossible to determine the exact location of the crime, and because they did this during the night or along sparsely travelled roads, the CCTVs hadn’t been of any help.

“What the hell are these bastards up to?”

“What else. They’re preying on people and selling them.”

While it had become clear that this was the work of the Joongmae Gang, the biggest challenge had always been finding their lair.

Since those guys were usually active around Incheon, everyone thought that they had to have a hideout somewhere nearby…

But from what I recalled, that wasn’t the case.

Back then, I felt like I had seen an article that said something about how the police had been fooled because of this.

“What are the guys over at Incheon saying? Have they made any progress?”

“If there was, our guys would have returned already. There haven’t been any new updates at all.”

At this time, it wasn’t just the officers from Suan; police officers from Gyeonggi and Seoul had also been called to Incheon.

Since they had figured out that this was a case of human trafficking, the entire Korean police force felt the urgent need to capture the culprits before the victims were shipped off.

“Are they all still alive?”

Black lamented as he looked at the photos of the missing people.

I quietly responded to his question.

“Definitely. They’re not organ traffickers after all, so there’s no reason for them to kill their captives. And I’ve heard that the officers over in Incheon are already tearing the port into pieces trying to find them.”

“That they are.”

While tracking down the Joongmae Gang, all sorts of information was getting revealed in the process.

Like the fact that control of the drug trade had transferred from the Guma Gang to the Joongmae Gang.

And that accompanying their rapid expansion in power due to this newfound control, there was a corresponding increase of activity in human trafficking.

Perhaps because everyone knew that their careers were on the line, but the speed with which they were gathering clues was much faster than usual.

“Today we have to check from here to here…”

It happened just as Black was sharing the video of the CCTV footage that we needed to analyze today.

Ring- Ring-

Suddenly, all the phones in the office started ringing at the same time.

Then even the officers’ personal handphones started ringing as well.

“Ah, could this be…”

This was a very familiar sight.

It was the same scenario that I had seen, back when I first came into work.

It had to be an urgent request for back-up.

I picked up my handphone and checked the contents of the message.

[Joongmae Gang’s base identified. Abandoned hospital, 187 Changam Neighbourhood, Incheon.]