#84

Inside a large transparent plastic bag, the size of a backpack, were seven bundles of cash, each worth ten thousand won. Tae-heun reached in and pulled one out. He ran his thumb over the money, then examined the string that wrapped the bundle. All seven bundles had dots marked on the string, each one different from the first to the seventh. A smile crept onto his face at the sight of something he hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Where did you find this?”

Tae-heun asked.

“I found it in the warehouse you mentioned. We raided it early this morning.”

“Really? I thought everything had been used up, but it seems there was some left.”

He placed the bundle of cash on the floor.

“This is slush fund money, right?”

Detective Park asked with a voice full of certainty.

“Well, it’s similar. But how many did you find?”

“Just this one bag.”

“What about the seals?”

“The seals?”

“I mean, were they sealed?”

“Oh, just a moment. I left the details at the scene.”

Detective Park pulled out a small notebook from his shirt pocket and opened it.

“Yes. They were sealed properly.”

He hadn’t expected them to be stored without breaking the seals.

Tae-heun, who knew everything about the company’s funds, had completely forgotten about this item. He had only been in charge when the bag was first made, and he had handed over the ledgers to his uncle afterward.

“So, what are you curious about?”

“Well, it’s about the dots marked here. You asked me to find out if they have any special meaning. And also the source of this money.”

Detective Park pointed to the paper band that tied the bundles together.

“If that’s the case, you didn’t need to bring the money at all.”

He turned the question back, wondering what he was doing with the phone left behind.

“Oh, don’t even get me started. The manager doesn’t know our situation, and it’s been chaotic lately. I don’t know how they found out that the investigation is nearing its end, but we’ve been getting calls from everywhere. There are people involved in the investigation, reporters, and even moles; it’s been overwhelming. Plus, just a few days ago, there were signs of wiretapping.”

Detective Park shook his head as if he were fed up.

“Getting this bag was like a 007 operation. Originally, we were supposed to take the whole bag, but my senior barely managed to talk me out of it. How could I carry something that heavy?”

His tone was similar to that of Officer Oh, but his grumbling manner was unmistakably that of a rookie detective. Tae-heun chuckled and took out the remaining bundles of cash, placing them on the floor.

“There are some without dots, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct. I left those behind. Do they have any significance?”

“Of course. Like Arabic numerals.”

“Arabic numerals?”

Detective Park’s gaze shifted from the bundles of cash to the notebook.

“Oh, here it is. There are several bands without dots, but the numbers were all marked from 0 to 7. The numbers were stamped so small that you wouldn’t notice unless you looked closely.”

“This is it. Can you see it?”

Tae-heun picked up one bundle of cash and held it in front of Detective Park’s eyes. Detective Park tore his gaze from the notebook and examined the band. After a while, he found the number and marveled, ‘How did they manage to stamp something so small?’

Indeed. How much effort had it taken to stamp that tiny thing? The memory of that time came flooding back. They had stacked up 5,120 bundles of cash and stamped each one individually.

“It’s octal.”

Tae-heun said casually.

“Excuse me?”

“It’s octal. That number.”

Detective Park blinked as if he had heard a foreign language.

“There were 640 of these inside the bag, right?”

He gestured with his chin towards the bundles of cash.

Detective Park looked back at the notebook. Then, with wide eyes, he exclaimed, ‘Yes! That’s right!’

There was much to be surprised about.

He let out a small laugh.

“The bands tying the money are all different too. Some are white, some are yellow, and some have lines drawn on them. Something like that.”

Detective Park glanced at the notebook in response to Tae-heun’s words, but it seemed there was no mention of it.

“Is there any special meaning to that as well?”

Detective Park picked up a pen and prepared to write.

“No, it doesn’t mean anything. It was just for fun.”

Tae-heun replied.

It was truly something done without any particular meaning.

It was during the time when they were actively creating slush funds. It had been quite a while since the financial real-name system was introduced. Back then, the anti-counterfeiting measures on ten-thousand-won bills were practically non-existent, making it easy to create counterfeit bills. As long as one had a proper machine and a skilled artisan who knew how to operate it, they could print money that looked just like the real thing. However, the cost didn’t add up. Who would pay two to three times the cost just to print a single ten-thousand-won counterfeit bill? Maybe for dollars, but not for won.

Anyway, his uncle had also created slush funds using ten-thousand-won bills and dollars, favoring apple boxes. And in this immigrant bag, they had mixed counterfeit bills that were not of the highest quality but not completely flawed either, made to match the cost, with real money to create a reserve slush fund.

It was a somewhat experimental attempt, and even Tae-heun had his doubts. But the results were promising. They had taken several bundles of cash mixed with counterfeit bills to the bank for savings, and even the bank clerks had no idea that fakes were mixed in. They were never caught later either. Even if they had been, it wouldn’t have been a problem before the real-name system was implemented.

They immediately printed as many counterfeit bills as the machine could produce. Then, they mixed them appropriately with real money and divided them into eight immigrant bags. The real money used at that time was just over 200 million won. So, with 200 million, they had created a slush fund of 520 million won. It was quite a profitable venture.

There were five people in the company who knew about the existence of this bag, including Tae-heun. It would have been great if those five were discreet, but that was unlikely. If he told his right-hand man, the number would increase to ten, and if he informed his left-hand man as well, it would rise to fifteen. At that rate, within a week, it would reach the ears of dozens or even hundreds.

Tae-heun promptly created a ledger. He weighed each bundle of cash and recorded it, and naturally, he marked the bands. The system he used was octal. He got the idea from his favorite number, 8. The reason he liked 8 was simple. It reminded him of infinity. Even though it was just a symbol, it felt as if his abilities had become infinite. Of course, he reported it differently to his uncle. Thus, the eight immigrant bags, which bore his name in the ledger, were scattered across various warehouses of Ilgwang Financial.

Money laundering was carried out cautiously. Just because they hadn’t been caught once didn’t mean they wouldn’t be caught again. Moreover, there were rumors in the industry that ‘someone was making counterfeit bills,’ so it wouldn’t have been surprising if it reached the police’s ears.

For various reasons, after the artisan who made the counterfeit bills returned to either Hong Kong or Thailand, the immigrant bags that had been left in the warehouse came to light exactly one year later.

With all five of them, including Tae-heun, gathered, they opened one bag and divided it among the five branches nationwide. Then, they deposited it into the savings accounts of local banks and withdrew it in real money within a week to a month. In this way, one immigrant bag filled with counterfeit bills was completely transformed into real money. It took exactly one year and one month.

It goes without saying that his uncle was very satisfied. The ledger also passed into his uncle’s hands at that time. Later, he heard that the slush fund created in that way was used very effectively for over three years after the new ten-thousand-won bills were circulated in 1994.

However, one of those bags was found in the warehouse that Tae-heun had informed them about, perfectly sealed. This meant that there was still money mixed with counterfeit bills. Should this be considered a coincidence or a necessity?

“So, you’re saying this is a bag mixed with counterfeit bills?”

“Yes. It could only be used after breaking the seal. Moreover, if it were money laundered by the bank, it wouldn’t be this crisp.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

Detective Park diligently recorded everything Tae-heun said in his notebook.

“About that ledger, does Lee Seok-du still have it?”

“Of course. He wouldn’t throw it away since the bag is still there. He’s a very meticulous person.”

If there was one thing to learn from his uncle, it was that meticulousness.

“Got it.”

Detective Park wrote down Tae-heun’s last words and then closed the notebook.

Perhaps feeling thirsty, he opened a drink and gulped it down. He offered it to Tae-heun, but he shook his head. The man must be working hard in this scorching heat. He couldn’t just sit inside a cool house sipping drinks.

“This is purely personal curiosity, but can you distinguish counterfeit bills, Manager?”

He pointed to the bundles of cash with his eyes.

“Maybe.”

He had received some training back then. He had thought it was pointless to receive training since he would be exchanging it for real money anyway, but he had still guessed better than the other two who had received training.

“Really?”

Detective Park tilted his head as he passed the bundles of cash.

“I can’t tell no matter how I look at it.”

“With that perspective, even the person who made it wouldn’t know. You have to spread it out to see.”

Detective Park hesitated at Tae-heun’s words.

“What are you thinking so hard about? There are still hundreds more.”

Tae-heun untied the band holding the money and spread out just twenty bills on the floor.

“The basic unit is twenty bills. Experts can distinguish with just ten, but I can’t do that much. But it’s been so long that I’m a bit unsure.”

Detective Park, who had been worried about getting scolded by the prosecutor, had become completely engrossed in identifying counterfeit bills. He held the money up, scrutinizing it, shaking it, and even smelling it, making quite a fuss. After a few minutes, he finally picked out five bills.

“Indeed, a detective is a detective. How did you manage to pick out only the real money?”

Tae-heun teased, and Detective Park looked disappointed.

“Are they all real? Not a single counterfeit?”

“Yes. They’re all real.”

“But they look so shabby, how can this be real?”

“That’s what makes old bills interesting.”

As he said this, Tae-heun divided the twenty bills to the left and right. There were eleven counterfeits and nine real ones.

“This is counterfeit. This is real.”

“Oh, I can’t tell at all.”

Detective Park raised his hands in surrender.

Tae-heun skillfully gathered the bills back together and tied them with the band. After Detective Park took the money, he drank the remaining drink.

“By now, the search and seizure must be in full swing.”

Detective Park said while glancing at his wristwatch as he sipped his drink.

At his words, Tae-heun also checked the time. It would be good if it was indeed in full swing, but even getting through the company entrance would be difficult. They had considered all possible scenarios and had raided the place.

“Then I’ll gather the ledger and head out before it gets any later.”

Detective Park hurriedly said after finishing his drink. He seemed eager to avoid getting caught in the traffic jam at quitting time.

“That sounds good.”

Detective Park began to pack the ledger into the bag. Tae-heun helped him move the ledger. It didn’t seem like much when stacked, but once it was put into the immigrant bag, it was quite a substantial amount. Finally, he stuffed the last bundle of cash into the empty space in the bag and barely managed to close the zipper. The weight was considerable. Detective Park couldn’t lift it by himself at all.

With Tae-heun’s help, Detective Park moved the bag and dragged the immigrant bag down a steep alley. It was no easy task to put it in the trunk of a car. The weight was one issue, but the size of the bag was too large for the trunk. They managed to cram the ledger-filled immigrant bag in somehow, but the door wouldn’t close. With no other choice, they tied the main body and the trunk door together with some rope he had brought from home, improvising. In that brief moment, both of them were drenched in sweat.

“Phew, if it weren’t for you, Manager, we would have been in big trouble.”

Detective Park wiped his sweat and expressed his gratitude.

“I’ll come with my senior next time. We might even have to say goodbye then.”

“Is that so?”

Tae-heun smiled ambiguously.

Sorry, but that probably wouldn’t happen.

“Manager, I’m off now.”

“Yes. See you next time.”

Detective Park got into the driver’s seat.

“Oh, my mind is all over the place.”

The driver’s side door opened, and Detective Park stepped out onto the road.

“Director, here it is. Your new ID card.”

Detective Park took out the resident registration card from his wallet and handed it over. It was the new resident registration card that had changed since May of last year. Normally, Tae-heun would have had to get a reissue as well, but since he was planning to die before the expiration date of the old ID on June 1st, he deliberately didn’t do it.

Tae-heun’s photo was embedded on the stiff plastic.

Kim Tae-heun. 700908.

It started with the same numbers as Lee Seon-jae. The name was familiar enough to roll off the tongue, but it was the first time he had seen it written on an official document. For some reason, it felt like he was receiving someone else’s ID, and the shape of the resident registration card had changed one hundred eighty degrees, making it even more unfamiliar. Still, it definitely had a more luxurious feel compared to the coated ID he had been using. It sparkled every time he moved it.

“If it weren’t for the search and seizure, I would have delivered it to you myself next Monday or Tuesday, but since I’m here, I’ll hand it over. It’s a new product, after all.”

Detective Park made a lame joke as he got back into the driver’s seat.

“Just in case, please go to the town office on Monday and get a copy of your resident registration. If there’s anything unusual, contact me right away. Well then, I’ll be on my way.”

“Okay. Thank you, new product.”

Tae-heun waved goodbye, shaking the resident registration card.