"No, no. Quite so. I still remember the patjuk I ate at the Chairman's house."

The Prosecutor General's laughter carried through the president's office at Ilhyeon Construction.

"That would have been just about when I'd pinned on my District Chief Prosecutor's badge. The newly appointed District Chief Prosecutors went by turns to pay their respects at the Chairman's house, and the madam's patjuk we were given there was so good that I came home and asked my wife to make it — and it never came out anything like the same."

"The rice balls were especially chewy, weren't they?"

"Just so. Just so. They were chewy in a way you couldn't taste anywhere else."

The Prosecutor General was quick to agree with him.

His eagerness made Mun-jong Lee look all the more triumphant, and Seong-ho Kim only sat there without a word.

Knock, knock.

"Come in."

The man who came into the office was Prosecutor Dae-su Park, who had been directing the search and seizure at Ilhyeon Construction.

Once inside, Dae-su Park made his report to the Prosecutor General.

"It is all finished."

"Already?"

The Prosecutor General said it as though he were sorry to hear it.

Then he turned to Mun-jong Lee and said,

"We had better be on our way."

"A pity you must leave so soon."

As Mun-jong Lee rose from his seat, the Prosecutor General came over and took his hand.

"Vice-Chairman. Do not concern yourself. We shall tidy it up lightly and close it out."

"Goodness, no — tidy it up lightly and there will be trouble. Look at it closely."

At the offer to handle it lightly, Mun-jong Lee shook his head, saying it should be quite the opposite.

"Examine it closely and search for any wrongdoing. Though I expect that however closely you examine it, you will find none."

Hearing that, the Prosecutor General caught his meaning at last and nodded, his hand still in Mun-jong Lee's.

"Understood. We shall examine it closely and search for any wrongdoing. But to my mind, too, it does not seem likely there is any. Is that…