Sunye entered the interrogation room where Youngjae was kept in handcuffs. His face was hidden in his hands and the man was completely distraught. Sunye slammed the case files on the desk, startling him. Youngjae looked up and winced as Sunye dragged a chair to sit down.
"Hwang Youngjae, Captain of ship number 018653," she stated out loud. Her eyes were directly on him, not flinching from the criminal in front of her. "You've been charged with soliciting slavery of foreign nationals under the orders of Ambassador Mikhael of Country R."
"It wasn't me!" Youngjae claimed. "I didn't know about this! I was only told to transport the boxes-"
"It says right here, that you have ordered twelve tonnes of food for the ship's crew," Sunye said, handing him a receipt. "Whereas your crew had only consumed around four tonnes over the two day journey. The rest of the food was missing as well. We've talked to some of the victims and they said that the crew fed them. Your crew members were secretly feeding over a hundred people and you had no idea? How is that possible?"
Youngjae sputtered something incoherently.
"This is the receipt for the ship's expenses during the journey," Sunye said, putting forth more documents. "And these are transcripts we have received from the ship's blackbox and radio. You were referring to the 'gold' in the boxes. One of the lines you said clearly state and I quote, 'The gold has been fed.'"
She raised an eyebrow at Youngjae who was now shaking in nervousness. It was clear that he was not a strong man and would be easy to break.
"Tell us how Mikhael collected these people as slaves," she ordered. "And I'll appeal to reduce your sentence to two years. After that, you'll be put under a witness protection program."
Youngjae thought for a while, feeling trapped. He was not part of the Company but he knew Mikhael was and if he spoke about them, they might kill him.
"The Company won't touch you," Sunye said. "You're not important to them. It's your boss who's in trouble for betraying them. You'll be safe behind prison but your boss will be targeted."
The man gulped and picked up a plastic water bottle which was put on the desk. He drank up all the water and was sweating.
"I'll…" he took a deep breath. "I'll tell you what I know."
Sunye waited as the man composed himself.
"I've been the Captain of that ship for five years," he stated. "I knew about the trace which Ambassador Mikhael was involved in. I'm not sure how much he was involved with the Company though but they used to give him the tasks regarding the slave trade."
"A few months ago, the Ambassador asked me to work briefly for the Finance Minister," he went on. "Apparently, the Finance Minister was looking for a temporary captain for his own cruise ship because some important international delegation was arriving and the minister wanted to give them a tour. So the Ambassador told me to apply but there was an agenda. He wanted me to steal a map of that ship because he was plotting to bring down the minister."
"Framed?" Sunye echoed. Youngjae nodded.
"Mikhael wants to take over Hyun's drug cartel," Youngjae revealed. "So he had me prepare a map of that ship. I worked as per the plan and got hired temporarily on the minister's ship. I stole the map and when my job for the minister was over, I handed the map to the Ambassador. I don't know what he did with it."
But Sunye pieced the puzzle. The Ambassador had the drugs stolen from that ship and probably sold it off on behalf of the Company. If her hunch was correct, the Company had Hyun framed for betraying the Yakuza and also threw him under the bus for the murder of hs lover.
"As for the slave trade, it's one of the biggest businesses owned by the Company," Youngjae stated. "There are other people involved in this but I don't know their names."
"Your boss Mikhael is involved only with this trade?" she asked. "Or is there more?"
"I don't know," Youngjae said truthfully. "I really don't. I can only talk about the details of the slave trade for my ship."
Sunye suspected that the man was telling the truth. After all, he was a mere pawn and the big fishes were still at large.
"We'll keep you under our custody," she said. "And your boss will soon be arrested as well. If he fesses up, half of our work will be complete and the Company can be exposed."
"It's not so easy," Youngjae said in a dark tone. "The Company won't stay quiet. They'll not let you reach Mikhael this easily. He has gone into hiding, hasn't he?"
Sunye frowned. "How do you-"
"He isn't hiding from you," Youngjae revealed. "He's hiding from the Company. Even the slightest leak about them means death. I might be a low level employee in it but I've heard some whispers. The leaders are behind the shadows but they'll not stay quiet. They'll kill him before you can reach him."
Sunye was now alarmed. She picked up her files and scrambled out of the room. Judge Jeon and Commissioner Mushin were talking amongst themselves when they saw Sunye running towards them.
"We have to find Mikhael!" she exclaimed. "Now!"
"The police are trying to find him," Mushin said but Sunye shook her head.
"You don't understand!" she said in a heated tone. "The Company will kill him if we don't find him first!"
…..
Mikhael was pacing to and fro inside the dingy motel room. He had rented out this place and was hiding from the Company. All his cards, phones, laptops and everything else had been abandoned. All he had were a few thousand dollars which he took out from his safe and a bag full of clothes.
"This must have been done by Jaejun!" he cursed. "I should have known…"
Why else would the Secretary of the Prime Minister come to his office on the day of the shipment? Even though Jaejun stated the Company's leader had told him to visit Mikhael that night, the latter was suspicious of him. The guy was too efficient in his job to the point the Company relied on him for their dirty deeds. No one can be that good unless they had an ulterior motive.
"But who leaked that email from my account?" he muttered. I need more information, he decided.
There was a phone on a nearby desk. He took out a paper from his bag which had the number of SD on it. SD had given him this number which he used for business with his clients.
Picking up the phone, he dialed SD's number. He waited impatiently for the information broker to pick up.
"Hello?" a sly voice came from the other end.
"SD!" Mikhael exclaimed. "It's me! Mikhael!"
"Ambassador!" SD exclaimed. "What a lovely surprise! I've heard that you've run away."
"SD, I need to know who leaked my email's information to the police!" Mikhael demanded. "I have a little bit of cash. I can give you all of it. Just find out and tell me who is the culprit."
There was a short pause on the other end. "Sure," SD finally said. "But first, tell me everything you know about this leak."
"I know nothing!" Mikhael claimed. "I don't know how the information was leaked. It was an email between me and one of the buyers. The buyers' list is with Choi Kibum, the heir to the Choi clan. We don't know what happened to him but he had the list! Choi Taek will be able to verify it. They are the masterminds behind the whole slave trade! I'm just the middleman."
"Fine," SD said. "I'll do it. But I'll only take payment in advance. In cash."
Mikhael gritted his teeth. "I'm at a motel outside of the Capital," he informed SD. "It's ten miles south and is called 'Purple Haze'. Right off the highway. Collect your money from me."
"Alright," SD said and hung up the phone. Mikhael was now a little hopeful. SD was the sharpest information broker and he could find the culprit in minutes. All Mikhael had to do was wait.
Meanwhile, SD was at a lavish restaurant, sipping on watermelon juice. His latest client was treating him to a lavish dinner and he was smiling at the man widely.
"The food is great, Mr. Choi," he smiled. Choi Taek was studying the shady broker with interest.
"They say that you're the best information broker in the world," Taek grumbled. "Looks like they weren't lying. But how can I trust you?"
Taek had heard of the eponymous information broker named SD who would sell any data as long as he was paid. There were many rumors about him in the underworld so Taek had his men reach out to him a few hours ago so that they could find Mikhael. Luckily for them, SD had just returned to the country a day earlier and had agreed to help them.
"As long as I'm being paid, I don't care whom I have to sell out," SD shrugged. "Mikhael paid me for the drugs I had stolen from the Minister. I have no more obligations to him. Now, you are paying me to find where Mikhael is. Since you paid me in advance, I've got no qualms in selling this information to you."
"Scum!" Taek scoffed.
"Thank you for the compliment," SD smiled. He shamelessly scooped a mouthful of chicken chowmein and relished it.
"Where is he?" Taek asked.
"At Purple Haze motel," SD said. "Ten miles south. Outside the Capital. You'll find him there."
SD wiped his mouth and put the food away. "Now, if you'd excuse me, I'd rather leave," he declared. "Old people like you bore me."
"Aren't you going to stay and lead us to him?" Taek frowned.
"My job was to give you the information, not to lead you there," SD shrugged. "Besides, a handsome hunk like me should go to a bar and pick up the prettiest girl there. It's more fun."
He winked at Taek and casually strolled away. Taek watched him leave, silently trying to figure out the motive of that man. Shaking his head, he called his secretary.
"Prepare my car," he ordered over the phone. "We'll be paying a visit to Mikhael."
.....
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