Through the Darkness (Those Who Read Hearts of Evil / Akui Maeumeul Ilneun Jadeul / 악의 마음을 읽는 자들)

(The drama was based on a book, and all people, organizations,)

(locations, and incidents in this drama are fictitious.)

(It was filmed in accordance with COVID-19 prevention guidelines.)

I always had to do this alone.

But the three of you joined me today. Thank you for coming.

Gosh. There's no need to thank us.

I'm sure all the victims were loved when they were born.

But seeing how we couldn't even put a name to these victims...

makes me think life is futile.

So people don't come here.

Thank you for coming today.

These victims faced a bitter end after a life of hard work.

Please help them, so they could be happy over there.

And please give Gu Young Chun a taste of his own medicine.

To someone like Gu Young Chun, that's too generous of a punishment.

I heard that...

Captain Yoon has been working...

day and night to find families of those unidentified victims.

But I didn't think she'd come here.

Captain Yoon...

isn't cutting her hair for the victims.

Why her hair?

She thinks inconveniencing herself...

with long hair is her way of mourning for the victims.

I guess having this sense of guilt...

comes with our job.

Learning from the unprecedented case...

which resulted in countless victims,

we see the need to set up...

a comprehensive, government-wide solution...

for the public good and safety.

To prevent from making the same mistake in the future,

we will put together a manual based on Gu Young Chun's case...

for our investigations.

We are setting up the structure, so everyone can be informed.

Moreover,

police officers who committed grave mistakes...

while investigating the serial killer, Gu Young Chun,

were reprimanded to a great extent.

With this momentum,

we will strive to close unsolved cases of violent crimes...

by the end of this year.

And we will do our best...

to keep our people safe.

Good luck.

As you all know, we'll be studying...

Gu Young Chun's case.

The serial killer we recently apprehended.

The public and the higher-ups are criticizing us...

that we didn't catch the killer soon enough.

It's not like we purposely took our time to catch him.

That's right.

He went into hiding and didn't leave any evidence.

What were we supposed to do with him?

I know that it's a hassle.

But we've never had someone like Gu Young Chun.

If we caught Gu Young Chun sooner,

we wouldn't have this many victims.

Was there a problem with the initial investigation?

There was.

All the incidents took place in different districts.

All the initial investigations were done by different stations.

And putting together the information we had,

took a long time.

If we were to reorganize the protocol,

so the Special Crime Squad could investigate initially,

we might be able to lessen the confusion.

Great. What else?

After Gu Young Chun killed...

the wealthy elderly,

he changed his MO.

Despite receiving multiple missing persons reports on our victims,

they were categorized as simple runaway cases.

It's not possible to file adults missing in our system.

There were 11 missing women.

The fact that they were excluded from our investigation...

is a problem.

And we should recognize that...

our existing investigation method didn't work.

Looking for people who might have held a grudge...

and ex-convicts with similar records...

is the first step of our investigation.

How could we ignore that?

I'm not saying we should ignore the system.

With Gu Young Chun's case,

it was confirmed that he didn't have any motive.

And we haven't come across this kind of crime before.

Therefore, we need to accept new investigation methods.

She has a point. I agree with her.

The report from the Behavioural Analysis Team...

was spot on once again.

However, it would be prudent for us...

to also discuss the risk of only relying...

on the behavioural analysis reports when we investigate.

Here's the most ironic factor of this case.

It was figuring out the murder weapon.

Goodness. A hexagon-shaped steel hammer.

Why hadn't we thought of that?

No one uses a steel hammer to kill people.

That's why.

Gu Young Chun chose the steel hammer...

so it'd be easy for him to take down his victims.

In other words, killing was his sole goal.

By controlling his victims, he showed off his power.

And he prepared thoroughly for his killings.

"Prepared?"

As I mentioned earlier, he renovated a hammer...

so the job would be easier.

And he took a full-body X-ray...

to study where the body should be severed.

Once he started killing,

the degree of desecration gradually escalated.

So the preparations and the act of desecration...

gave him the thrill.

Correct.

So he's not the delusional type who sees hallucinations,

but I'm not sure if he did this with a sense of mission.

I'd say he does exhibit the traits.

He did say he committed the murders to root out social evils.

Using such preposterous logic,

he tried to justify what he did.

Power, influence, and money.

This world where the wealthy get rich illegally,

women live promiscuously,

and civil servants live like bugs.

They all have to be punished!

Gu Young Chun.

He could go on about his "sense of mission."

But essentially, he purposely chose weak targets...

whom he could take down easily.

He's just...

a cowardly loser who's all talk.

I'll build a factory right here.

- Hey! - Look!

Ta-Da!

- Look, right here. - Ye Won, Yu Hwa.

It's time to go home. Come on.

- Okay! - Okay!

Ji Hwan, let's go home and eat.

Okay, Mom!

Jun, let's go home.

- Okay. - What are you doing there alone?

Come on.

Don't people like me all have the same story?

An abusive father.

And no one to lean on. I had a miserable childhood.

So do you blame your father?

I bet you have no idea what it's like to live with a dad...

who threatens you with a hammer every time he gets drunk.

I never lived with my father.

He passed away the day I was born.

You're lucky.

Not having one is better than growing up with a father like that.

It's only natural to become all twisted.

You think that's the reason?

Didn't you say you were a criminal behavioural analyst?

Didn't you hear such a childhood...

could cause you to become a serial killer?

He's just trying to justify himself, like a wimp.

I'm home.

It's getting late.

You're still up?

- Good night. - You too.

Come in.

- You're still up? - Yes.

- Here, have some. - Thanks.

I guess I'm getting old. I tossed and turned a little,

and I can't fall asleep anymore.

I made it today. It turned out nicely. Try it.

Okay, thank you. Try to get some sleep.

What's with the booze?

He can't even drink.

You see, we never agree to interview requests,

but he kept pestering us about it.

I didn't know Woo Ju had such a cool friend.

My, what a pretty name. Reporter Choi Yoon Ji.

Here, have some coffee.

- Thank you. - How nice is this?

Thanks to Reporter Choi,

we can sit down and enjoy coffee in the office.

Cheers.

- Cheers. - Cheers.

- It's good. - It is.

As I mentioned last time... No pictures, please.

Oh, this.

It's like a soldier's weapon on the battlefield.

I always have it with me wherever I go.

I won't be taking any pictures today.

It'll just be a story that introduces the team.

My gosh, why am I nervous?

I feel like I'm being interrogated.

- Relax. It'll be like a chat. - Okay, sounds good.

Here's what I was most curious about.

Common motives for murder...

include money, lust, hatred,

and revenge, right?

That's right.

However, Gu Young Chun is a serial murderer...

who completely deviates from that.

What do you think is the reason behind...