The Snake’s Proposal (2)
The man who was waiting on standby held two bags in his hands.
A common black backpack and a paper bag.
A single business card was pinned to the front of the backpack.
It looked like it was either Ma Eun-Tae’s personal business card or one of his numerous subordinates’.
So he was saying to use this card if there was ever a need to contact him.
“Of course I’m not asking you to do this for free.”
“Mhmm.”
“As a businessman, I believe that a favor without any strings attached might come to bite me in the back.”
I could roughly tell what would be inside of the backpack.
Probably a stack of cash, right.
However I didn’t have a clue what was in the remaining bag.
“Honestly those thuggish bastards, don’t they just keep crawling back out even after they’ve been caught. They’re just like cockroaches.”
He really is talking about them like he’s not one himself.
I nodded my head as if I was telling him to go on.
Ma Eun-Tae took out an object from the paper bag.
He did so carefully, as if to show that the object was very precious.
“This is…”
It was a hammer. On top of that, one that was covered in blood.
The dark red blood looked sticky, like melted ice cream.
While my face had twisted in disgust, I was still examining it thoroughly.
Short head hairs were stuck to it in bloody clumps.
It was an item that naturally emanated a terrible aura.
“What do you think you’re pulling?”
“Song Dae-Ak. If he gets put behind bars this time, how many years do you think he’ll get?”
According to the violence punishment laws, he could possibly be sentenced to less than 10 years.
Although it was possible for the head of a syndicate to receive the death penalty, that would only happen if they could be said to have exceeded the limits of public tolerance.
If Song Dae-Ak could get hold of a good lawyer, he’d have no problems getting off scot free.
Of course, that would only happen if Dal-Gon agreed to pay the price
Well, the only way to know the outcome of a wedding or a trial is to go through with it.
“If we compare it to all the effort that you detectives put in, the outcome is just too disappointing.”
“It’s the ones that are aware of this who always get themselves into trouble.”
“I have a person planted at Song Dae-Ak’s side.”
“A person?”
“Mm. Let’s see. If we wait a little longer, a corpse is going to be found.”
Ma Eun-Tae muttered under his breath as he checked his watch.
“You’ll know this once you’ve checked it with the National Forensic Service, but that hammer is clearly stained with both Song Dae-Ak and the corpse’s DNA.”
“Hey! You…”
“Just so that you don’t get the wrong idea, it’s not a piece of fabricated evidence. That thing is the real deal.”
It was like I was dealing with a purveyor of luxury goods.
“What kind of nonsense is this?”
“It’s not nonsense, it’s an offer. An offer that will let you have your cake and eat it too. We are also searching for Song Dae-Ak’s location in our own way, but it’s proving difficult. Since he’s a very cautious gentleman.”
Song Dae-Ak was someone who had survived for decades in a life of organized crime.
He could be seen as someone who mastered the art of escaping sticky situations.
“So in place of the rat, we have prepared a consolatory piece of cheese. Is this to your liking?”
Ma Eun-Tae’s subordinate handed me the backpack.
I opened the zipper and took a glance inside.
Instead of greenbacks, all I could see was yellow.
It was heavy and packed full of their generous sincerity.
“Think of the money as a tip. The hammer is a present from me. If you catch Song Dae-Ak, you should be able to put him behind bars for sure. Ah. If you happen to catch sight of Song Dae-Ak’s hiding spot while you’re keeping an eye out for the location of our missing products, please hand him over to us as well.
“All this cash. It’s really too much.”
“What do you mean, too much. People who work hard for the country deserve to have a little extra on their plates. In business, if you keep your eyes open while making deals, you’ll see this kind of thing all the time.