“Right before my father passed away. Through him.” He thought it would be advantageous to make it sound as if Deok-gi knew about it.
The chief then asked Deok-gi, “Didn’t you say you’d changed the name on the deed last month when you handed over the seal?”
Sang-hun had thought it was fortunate that the chief had questioned him first. Regardless of how angry his son might be, he wouldn’t send his father to prison. Even if Sang-hun told outright lies, his son would not expose him. Knowing had eased his mind. But their stories didn’t match. Sang-hun felt dizzy, thinking there was no way out for him now and that at his age he’d be in grave trouble.
The chief stared at the father and son, red-faced and stupefied before him, and burst out laughing. He was eager to make a laughingstock out of Sang-hun. The chief held a deep antipathy toward Christians, and he had long ago taken a dislike to Sang-hun. The detective couldn’t resist this opportunity to humiliate him.
The chief ordered that the concubine be brought in. Ui-gyeong’s stilettos clicked loudly. She wasn’t handcuffed. Deok-gi hadn’t expected to see her.
The detective separated Ui-gyeong from Sang-hun. Deok-gi didn’t even look at her.
“How much is in there?” the chief asked, pushing a small suitcase toward Deok-gi.
“Two thousand three hundred won,” Ui-gyeong answered, without a trace of hesitation or fear.
Given the small sum, Deok-gi surmised that the land had been used as collateral.
“Didn’t you say you got three thousand five hundred in collateral?”
“Yes, but fifty won was deducted as interest in advance, and we spent some in Pyeongyang.”
The chief took out a ring of keys from the suitcase and tossed it toward Deok-gi. “We’re supposed to keep this here for now, but the safekeeping procedures are complicated. That’s why we’re giving everything back to you.” He asked Deok-gi to sign a receipt and then directed his attention to Ui-gyeong.
“Your man was all the more lovable when he pressed a large wad of cash in your hand, wasn’t he?”
Without any trace of concern, she smiled and said, “I had no objections, but I just kept it temporarily. He didn’t want me to use it all.”
Deok-gi couldn’t bear to listen.
“Did you talk him into doing this?”
“What’s there to talk him into? Did I know whether his wife owned a piece of land or part of the sky? I just went along with him. He told me we’d have fun.”
“Then out of all the deeds why did you make him liquidate his wife’s? You made him do it, didn’t you? You told him to get rid of that one first because it was too small for you to swallow but too big to ignore, right?”
“I had no idea what was going on. He said it was hard to find a lender or a buyer for the big ones.”
The chief laughed at her and said, “As long as you were at it, you should have taken a big one. You missed a good chance. As you see, they’re now going back where they belong.”
“Who wants to go to prison?”
“Do you think you won’t end up there anyway?”
“Why should I? What did I do wrong? Women follow men, I just did what I was told. Is that a crime?”
“Quite correct. Since women follow men, the wife should follow her husband right to prison.”
The word prison startled everyone.
The chief looked at Sang-hun and thundered at him, “How old are you? You’ve got to be at least fifty. Aren’t you well over the ‘age of doubts’? Was your learning useless? Aren’t you ashamed to look your own son in the eye?”
The detective resented that he, a man much younger than Sang-hun, didn’t enjoy the pleasures of a woman like Ui-gyeong. Deok-gi, on the other hand, pitied and scorned his father for sitting there and allowing himself to be humiliated by a callow young man just over thirty — a man almost young enough to be his son.
“If someone like me, who’s just of the ‘age of setting goals’. ” The chief kept using classical allusions in his flawless Korean. With no consideration for Deok-gi’s presence, the chief continued, “If someone my age sleeps around, it would be frowned upon but forgiven, for he still has time to grow up. But as the saying goes, a burglar who begins his career late in life doesn’t know when day breaks. Will you ever clean up your act?”
Deok-gi wished he could hide.
Sang-hun felt that merely being alive was itself a humiliation.
“Normally, it’s the wanton life of playboy son that prompts his father’s premature death. You masterminded your father’s poisoning, didn’t you?” The chief harangued Sang-hun, though he suspected the Suwon woman and her group and had obtained almost all the evidence he needed.
“It ’s only natural that you suspect me of this, too, but I am innocent.” Sang-hun bowed over and over again and pleaded with the detective in the humblest of tones.
“You mean to say that you committed this shameless crime when your son inherited the assets that should have been yours?”
Sang-hun hung his head.
“You stole your family’s estate, then sold and borrowed on parts of it. You were ready to flee all the way to Manchuria.”
Although Sang-hun had explained what had happened during his previous interrogation, which had lasted several days, he was now being threatened with a new account of the events. He sat and said nothing. Deok-gi couldn’t keep quiet. “That’s not true. I was going to give him some cash because he was being harassed by collectors, but then I was suddenly dragged in here. My father just meant to take the bankbook to get some money, but things got out of hand. If I had left the key to the small safe at home or left the bankbook in that safe, things wouldn’t have come to this.” Deok-gi did the best he could.
The section chief didn’t silence him, probably because he found Deok-gi’s explanation credible. He asked a detective to take Deok-gi to the High Police. Deok-gi was reluctant to leave his father behind but had no choice. After gathering up the keys, the land deeds, and the money, he was led away.
Acquittal
Deok-gi was released that very evening thanks to the efforts of the High Police chief. Actually, he had little to do with it; there was simply no reason to hold Deok-gi any longer. Deok-gi was relieved but kept looking back over his shoulder, not eager to walk away while his father was still detained.
A great flurry ensued at home, for everyone was euphoric to see him and doting over his health. Deok-gi himself was in even greater turmoil.
“How long do you think your father will be locked up? Ten years or so?”
“Don’t worry, Mother. He’ll get out tomorrow or the day after.”
“You think I’m worried about him?”
That bitter morning she had run around preparing a care package had been the first time since they’d become estranged that she had felt some affection for her husband. Since then she had been embarrassed in front of her daughter-in-law and her servants, and any lingering feelings of warmth for her husband had vanished. She no longer considered him her husband.
After dinner Deok-gi went out. He was planning to visit High Police Chief Kimura’s house.
I should have brought some ginseng with me, Deok-gi thought, already in a rickshaw. No, perhaps it’s better to arrive empty-handed; I will have to send something substantial soon. Reconsidering, he made a detour to Hwanggeumjeong and picked up eight hundred grams of ginseng at a pharmacy he knew well.
After returning home from Kimura’s, Deok-gi seemed satisfied with what he had heard there. The Japanese chief didn’t say that he’d grant Deok-gi any favors, but Deok-gi felt it was a good visit because he was able to talk freely with the inspector about his situation.