Chapter 12 — The Witch of Rodeo Street
“Detective Kang, come over here for a second.”
As soon as I returned to the office after finishing my conversation with Officer Kim, the old-fashioned team leader called me over.
“Why?”
“Why, my ass. Don’t ask stupid questions!”
Whenever the old man was about to dump some troublesome job on me, he usually resorted to ancient jokes to hide how awkward he felt.
“Go to this address and take care of a complaint for me.”
The team leader discreetly handed me a slip of paper.
I knew it. He’s definitely hiding something.
One look at the address gave me a rough idea of what was going on.
“Come on, Team Leader. If it’s a case, you should officially register it. As a public servant whose salary comes from the taxpayers—mmph!”
The old man covered my mouth with his filthy hand.
“Hey. Keep it down. The others might hear.”
“Why does it have to be me? There are plenty of other detectives.”
“Because you’re the ace of the Violent Crimes Unit. If I give it to the others, they might take forever, so I’m giving it to you.”
Apparently, my reputation had risen quite a bit after solving the Jang Cheon-su serial murder case.
“When did I become the ace? Wasn’t I just an empty bun with nothing inside?”
“You really hold a grudge, don’t you? Fine. If you solve this properly, I’ll give you one day of paid leave.”
“Three days.”
“You brat. I was willing to go up to seven. Fine, three days.”
...
The old man was one step ahead of me again.
I had no choice but to admit defeat.
Feeling like I had somehow suffered a major loss, I returned to my desk.
I gathered up my handcuffs and prepared to leave.
“Senior, where are you going?”
“Yeah. The old man gave me something to take care of.”
“What about Officer Kim?”
“I’ll be back before she gets off work.”
“Don’t forget the six free servings of samgyeopsal.”
This guy was getting pretty good at handling me too.
I trudged out of the office with no energy in my steps.
Damn it. I should’ve held out for five days...
Not far from Jungbu Police Station was the downtown entertainment district commonly known as Rodeo First Street.
It was the nightlife district of the area, packed with bars and entertainment establishments.
It was around ten in the morning, so most of the shops were still closed.
Even restaurants had yet to open at this hour, so that was only natural.
The streets that had been loud and chaotic all night, filled with people trying to satisfy their desires, were now so empty that it was hard to find even a single ant crawling around.
Among all the buildings packed with bars, one stood out as especially flashy.
On the third floor was the Doremi Entertainment Bar.
It was called an entertainment bar, but in reality, it was a famous high-end room salon.
As soon as I entered, a huge man standing behind the counter came out and guided me toward one of the private rooms.
Everyone called him “Uncle.”
His appearance was rough and intimidating, almost like Frankenstein.
However, the women working in this world strangely called him Angel Uncle.
According to rumors, the Big Dipper Gang that had once controlled this area had been completely smashed apart by Frankenstein Angel Uncle’s fists.
Inside the room were some simple snacks and a bottle of liquor.
A middle-aged woman sat farther inside, quietly sipping from her glass.
She wore a navy-blue women’s suit and gave off a sophisticated impression, but her eyes were extremely sharp.
She must have been quite beautiful when she was younger.
Right now, though, she clearly wasn’t in a good mood.
“Hello, Madam Jang. Drinking alone this early in the morning? Something bothering you?”
I casually dropped into the seat beside her.
“So Team Leader Kim sent Detective Kang?”
Madam Jang was known as the Witch of Rodeo.
She was essentially the godmother of this entire entertainment district.
She managed most of the women who worked in the nightlife industry around here.
Naturally, gangsters and thugs didn’t like her very much.
Even if they wanted to freely squeeze money out of the women, Madam Jang forced them to guarantee the women an agreed-upon share of the profits.
And if they refused?
Angel Uncle would personally take care of that organization.
The police were friendly toward Madam Jang as well.
Ever since she began managing the women on this street, crime in the area had dropped by more than eighty percent.
On top of that, she seemed to have connections with politicians too.
In short, for a variety of reasons, the police were quietly supporting Madam Jang from both the shadows and the open.
No matter how I looked at her, she seemed like the type of woman whose life story could fill several long novels.
“Looks like the team leader must owe you something. Sending an ace like me all the way here.”
“Hohoho. Detective Kang might be an ace when it comes to jokes, but weren’t you an empty bun when it came to solving cases?”
Damn it.
Looks like that old geezer had been telling her all kinds of things about me.
“Forget that. What exactly happened? I only came because the team leader asked me to, but I’m a very busy man.”
Violating my private time was clearly against the law.
“Hohoho. Fine, fine.”
Should I just leave...? Ah, right. Three days of paid leave are riding on this!
I straightened my posture and decided to listen properly.
“Detective Kang, have you handled many missing-person cases?”
Madam Jang suddenly started with an unexpected question.
“People go missing every day, don’t they?”
I picked up the bottle of liquor from the table and poured myself a glass.
No need for ice.
Straight down in one shot.
Free alcohol was always the best alcohol.
“That’s true. Even in this business, plenty of girls disappear without saying anything because of various circumstances. Most of them don’t have relatives or family members they stay in contact with, either...”
“So someone disappeared, but since you’re not technically qualified as the reporting party, you couldn’t officially report it to the police. That’s why you personally asked the team leader for help?”
“Team Leader Kim has always cared about our girls too. That’s why he agreed to help.”
As far as I knew, the old man didn’t care about the women working here because he had some dirty motive.
The women in this industry were socially and legally vulnerable.
