Criminal Minds Episode 14: A Web Of Lies

A WEB OF LIES

FINDING OUT THE MYSTERY OF THE CASE THE QUEST FOR THE TRUTH The horror of it all. If, at first, Detective Tae had not really known what evil Sergeant Oh Jeong Taek was up to, he soon knew.  Kim Hyun Joon was sharp and intelligent. He had caught on very swiftly about Sergeant Oh's plans and he communicated his uncanny hunch to Detective Tae. The detective must have felt a chill. Kim Hyun Joon had already worked his magic on the detective earlier and Detective Tae had agreed to work in tandem with him. In another part of Cheongju, Team Leader Kang was also sharing similar worries with his team members. He was also convinced that Detective Sergeant Oh might kill Kim Jung Soo and fabricate his death as suicide so that he would be able to come out of the whole thing unscathed. Yoo Min Young reported that Kim Hyun Joon’s phone was switched on again. He was at Choi Sang Woo’s shop. The Team Leader was certain that the younger profiler was leading the police to the crime scene. Nana Wang was requested to locate Choi Sang Woo’s cargo van and trace its movements.  The vehicle, with Kim Hyun Joon in the driver’s seat, was heading towards the Youth Training Centre, the place where the fateful incident began 14 years ago and the place where Kim Jung Soo was planning to kill his main witness. Kim Jung Soo, looking dazed, had been hung like a cow to be slaughtered. He was compelled by Sergeant Oh to read out a prepared written confession on a piece of paper.  He confessed to all the crimes that he had committed 14 years before. And, to atone for his sins, he declared that he was going to take his own life. He also admitted killing Mo Jin Eun after she had witnessed his sexual abuse of one of the boys. By that time, Kim Hyun Joon had arrived at the centre and was creeping stealthily up the stairs. ‘And when Kim Tae Joon had figured out what I’d done, I staged an accident to kill him. After that, Kang Ho Young, who knew about all the crimes that I‘d committed ….. ’ read Kim Jung Soo. Suddenly, Kim Jung Soo burst out and categorically denied killing Kang Ho Young. ‘Nor was I responsible for Kim Tae Joon's accident!’ Instead, he accused Sergeant Oh of murder. At that exact moment, Kim Hyun Joon arrived. He had not made a serious error in judgement. Sergeant Oh was the villain that they sought. He ordered the lawman to throw away his knife. The profiler was trying to gauge the detective’s next move: Fight or Flight. Kim Jung Soo was fearful at the sight of the profiler and loudly claimed that Mo Ji Eun’s death was an accident, which, of course, was a blatant lie. She was unconscious when he strangled her. He laid the blame on Sergeant Oh as the one who had injured Kim Tae Joon, his older brother.  Kim Hyun Joon resented his verbal intrusion and yelled at him to zip his mouth. Kim Hyun Joon did not want anything to cloud his judgement. He was interested in what Sergeant Oh Jeong Taek had to say about his attempt to kill his brother. He repeated his order for the rogue officer to cast his knife aside. Kim Hyun Joon wrestled with him for the knife. In the struggle, he dropped his gun and Sergeant Oh quickly snatched it up. Kim Hyun Joon’s eyes brimmed with tears. ‘What you said before – Is it the truth?’ Did you kill Ho Young?  You faked your alibi on the day of the murder. You hid the real truth about the death of a girl for 14 years and staged an accident which ended someone’s life to hide your wrongdoings!’ The accusations must have been unnerving to the senior detective. Turning to Kim Jung Soo, Kim Hyun Joon pointed out that the defenceless children whom he sexually harassed were only 16 or 17 years old. The audience must have sensed a protective aura emanating from the profiler. Gazing at Sergeant Oh again, he drove home the point, ‘They were around your daughter’s age! Tell me, why did you do that? Why did you do that to my brother?'  'Why did you do that! Tell me!’ he suddenly bellowed. Kim Hyun Joo’s face was contorted in rage. ULTERIOR MOTIVE SERGEANT OH JEONG TAEK Sergeant Oh recalled his ill-fated decision. He had been driven by self-interest. He had a vested interest in covering up the murder at the expense of the truth.  His mind flashed back to 2003. His memory was sharp; it was certainly not clouded with cobwebs because his conscience must have haunted him. THE BRIBE Kim Jung Soo’s father, the Head of the Cheongju Youth Centre, had offered him a suitcase of cash to let his son go. The old man offered many spurious arguments, which clearly showed that he totally had no moral compass and no sense of right or wrong. He claimed that his son had committed ‘a mistake’ but Sergeant Oh argued that sexual abuse was not a mistake.  Then, the wily parent retorted, ‘A dead person is a dead person. The lives of the living must go on.’ The old man’s folly was clear; he had failed to understand the gravity of his son’s crimes. Sergeant Oh appeared to be an upright cop who could not be bribed. ‘Grab your money and leave or I’ll charge you with interfering with justice!’ Not easily defeated, the wily old man targeted his weakness, “Your daughter has a rare disease and you’re burdened with debts because of that.’ So, he offered Sergeant Oh more money. In the end, Sergeant Oh had accepted the bribe. But, he had not anticipated the ensuing tragic burdens that came with it which eventually spiralled out of control.

GOING ROGUE THE STAGED ACCIDENT KIM TAE JOON When Kim Tae Joon, the profiler’s brother learnt about Mo Ji Eun’s death from Kang Ho Young, he phoned Sergeant Oh. How would young people understand that some cops are bad guys? Evil and brutal police officers do exist.  The naïve young boy agreed to meet Sergeant Oh to discuss the matter. But the designated place was the road intersection.  Did Kim Tae Joon not have a sneaking suspicion that something was wrong? The very detective that he trusted made an attempt on his life.  He was not killed but his life just stopped. Sergeant Oh drove his car into Kim Tae Joon’s motorbike and the boy was flung away by the huge impact of the collision. He was in a coma after that. By then, Kim Hyun Joon, had calmed down considerably. He again commanded the detective to put the gun down. With raw intimidation, the sergeant pointed the gun at Kim Hyun Joon. But the initial flash of aggression quickly gave way to regret. ‘I was so happy when you became a police officer but I was afraid at the same time.’ He had conflicting emotions because there was a possibility that Kim Hyun Joon would return eventually to make him pay for his deeds. ‘What I wanted more than to be a police officer was to be a father who could save his daughter.’ Had fate been unfair to him? Sergeant Oh seemed to have been dealt a heavy blow in life. It was a poignant moment. He wasn’t a bad cop but one who had gone rogue. He succumbed to his human weakness. Having been reduced to an irrational emotional wreck due to his daughter’s rare illness, he resorted to killing to save his daughter’s life. Sergeant Oh must have felt the walls of justice closing in around him. Everyone who has transgressed the laws would eventually get his just deserts.  In his final moments, the law enforcement officer wanted to right the wrongs in the past. He shot the perpetrator, Kim Jung Soo, who was responsible for his heinous crimes and the subsequent evil that followed.  Before Kim Hyun Joon could stop him, he had swiftly put the gun against his head and shot himself. Kim Hyun Joon gasped in horror at the dying man whose final words were, ‘I’m sorry.’ It was ironic that Sergeant Oh, who was trying to stage the suicide of another man had become a suicide victim of his own desperate plans. His plans had backfired. At last, all of Kim Hyun Joon’s burdens fell away. All the deaths had been senseless. Lives would not have been lost or changed if only one law enforcement officer had upheld the law.