TLWSL 09

Chapter 09

“Your Honor! The defendant, Mr. Shim Oh-han, used banknote paper that had not gone through the official approval process of the Bank of Korea. If he had no intention of exercising it as currency, he would not have drawn pictures on that paper.”

“The ones who should be questioned about why they commissioned drawings on that paper, or how they acquired it, are the clients—defendants Jeon Jae-hyun and Min Yi-young. It is not Mr. Shim Oh-han’s burden to prove this.”

In fact, the strongest piece of evidence the prosecutor held was the paper itself.

Although it lacked strip holograms, partial 3D exposure lines, and latent images, it was still paper used by the Bank of Korea.

But what if I break this argument? How will Prosecutor Han react?

“Your Honor, Mr. Shim Oh-han did not know what kind of secret the paper held until I visited his studio and checked it myself.”

The judge turned on the microphone, looking incredulous.

“What do you mean by that? Are you saying that paper was in his studio? Attorney Cha Do-hyuk, speak clearly.”

“There was paper given by an investigator. And do you know why he didn’t notice anything unusual? The defendant’s studio only has one window the size of a 24-inch monitor and a single filament bulb.”

“By filament bulb, do you mean the kind used in old bathrooms?”

“No, Your Honor. I mean a tiny decorative bulb, about the size of a 500-won coin.”

“……?”

The judge’s expression seemed to ask, Could such a tiny bulb even light up a room enough to work?

If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it either.

“When I inspected the studio, I found it didn’t even have the work lights that hyperrealist painters normally use.”

“Work lights?”

“Yes. Most hyperrealist painters shine light from behind the canvas to trace the image outlines.”

“I see.”

“If Mr. Shim had gone through that process, he would at least have faintly noticed the watermark of Shin Saimdang on the left side of the paper. But the environment was so poor that such a process was impossible.”

I handed over a USB containing video of the studio, printed photos, and the paper itself for the court’s own investigation.

“If the defendant had intended to counterfeit money for circulation, he would have needed special solutions for drawing banknotes, as well as a proper workspace for post-processing. But there was nothing of the sort—only a small decorative bulb and a few art supplies like brushes.”

The judge must be gnashing his teeth. He hadn’t expected the prosecutor’s case to crumble so easily.

The judge turned the microphone back on.

“So, according to Attorney Cha Do-hyuk, defendant Shim Oh-han had nothing more than a commissioned-artist relationship with defendants Jeon Jae-hyun and Min Yi-young, is that correct?”

“That’s right.”

I suppressed a laugh and looked straight at the judge.

“Your Honor, defendants Jeon Jae-hyun and Min Yi-young knowingly overlooked the fact that the date of their first meeting, as stated in the prosecution’s charges, was incorrect.”

It could be regarded as perjury.

But there was no need to antagonize the judge.

So instead—

“Please permit me to cross-examine defendant Jeon Jae-hyun on this matter.”

“You may do so during evidence examination.”

Got it!

After the statements of the other defendants concluded, the judge spoke.

“We will now proceed to examine the evidence. Prosecutor, submit your evidence against defendant Shim Oh-han.”

Prosecutor Han submitted the necessary documents as in the first trial, then requested to call defendant Jeon Jae-hyun as a witness.

After taking the oath, Jeon sat in the witness box.

Their staged back-and-forth concluded, and the judge asked me if I wanted to cross-examine.

Of course I will.

“Defendant Jeon Jae-hyun, do you remember seeing Shim Oh-han’s work at Suryeon Gallery in Insadong around 4 p.m. on January 25, 2023?”

Jeon glanced at Prosecutor Han.

I quickly stepped to block their line of sight.

“Mr. Jeon, why are you looking at the prosecutor?”

“My eyes were just dry, so I shifted them a bit.”

“Then please answer my question. Do you remember meeting him or not?”

Jeon closed his eyes briefly.

“I don’t remember.”

“Then where did you meet Mr. Shim?”

“At his studio.”

“Is that what you remember?”

“Yes.”

“Then what did you see at Mr. Shim’s studio?”

Pretending to think, Jeon rolled his eyes.

But I already knew what he would say.

He’ll claim he doesn’t remember again.

As expected—

“I don’t remember. But there were items necessary for counterfeit work, aside from the art supplies you mentioned.”

“Items that can’t possibly be bought with the 800,000 won Mr. Shim earns from part-time jobs?”

“……”

As I thought.

Now it was clear.

This case was a scheme orchestrated by the prosecutor and the criminals to frame Mr. Shim.

“How did you first come to know Mr. Shim?”

“…To my recollection, an acquaintance recommended him after seeing his work.”

“And how did that acquaintance get Mr. Shim’s contact information?”

“They had his business card.”

“A business card? When was that?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Before his work was displayed at Suryeon Gallery?”

“Probably.”

“Then, you went to Suryeon Gallery to check out his work after hearing about it?”

“I don’t remember.”

“What kind of work did that acquaintance see?”

“A pencil sketch.”

“A pencil sketch?”

“Yes.”

“And just from that, you decided to contact him and even go to Suryeon Gallery?”

Jeon took a breath.

“Yes. Even though it was just a pencil sketch, it was extremely skillful.”

“So then, you saw Mr. Shim’s pencil sketch of a real banknote hanging on the wall of Mr. Heo’s restaurant, decided to approach him, went to Suryeon Gallery to confirm his ability, and then handed him banknote paper to commission ‘The Art of Money 2’?”

“……!”

Did you think I wouldn’t discover that sketch’s true identity?

After much thought, Shim and I had found one of his works displayed unexpectedly in another place.

A study sketch absent from his notebook—
the very sketch that triggered this case.

“Your Honor, I submit as evidence a photo of Mr. Shim’s sketch hanging on the wall of Heo’s 5,990-Won Pasta restaurant in Jongno.”

Prosecutor Han shot up.

“Objection! The defense did not submit an evidence explanation.”

“Your Honor, defendants Jeon Jae-hyun and Min Yi-young never mentioned this, and even Mr. Shim himself was unaware. I ask the court to recognize the difficulty in locating this work.”

The judge asked,

“When did you learn of this, Attorney Cha?”

“Just the other day, during consultation with Mr. Shim, when he mentioned an exhibited piece. On October 12, before closing time, I verified it at Heo’s Pasta restaurant in Jongno.”

“I will confirm this.”

“Thank you, Your Honor. May I re-examine defendant Jeon Jae-hyun?”

“Permission granted.”

I turned and looked at Jeon.

His eyes betrayed a flicker of fear.

“Defendant Jeon, why didn’t you mention in the first trial how you came to meet Mr. Shim?”

“……”

“Ten years ago, you committed a similar crime. Isn’t that true?”

“…Yes.”

“And during the profit distribution, you fell out with your teammate, the plate engraver Cho Jung-hoon, didn’t you?”

“No.”

“Then isn’t it true you tried to frame Mr. Shim as a criminal after seeing his talent? Otherwise, why hide the circumstances of your intentional meeting?”

“Objection! This is baseless speculation irrelevant to current evidence.”

“Attorney Cha, watch yourself.”

It wasn’t worth pursuing further.

But I had to make sure they realized their scheme was exposed.

I asked a few more questions, but Jeon stuck to “I don’t remember.”

In this situation, remaining silent would’ve been better than constant ‘I don’t remembers.’

I glanced at his lawyers.

They seemed to watch only whether Jeon said the “right things,” rather than truly defend him.

Well, it’s obvious. The only one objecting on his behalf was the prosecutor himself. And the person who gave him the banknote paper is likely entangled with the investigating prosecutor.

Considering the specialized paper, the backer must be someone powerful.

The prosecutor avoided probing into that, and I had no intention of provoking it either.

If mishandled, it could blow up like my mother’s case.

Most importantly—

Once Mr. Shim is acquitted, my job as his lawyer is done. The sooner I can strengthen my abilities to solve my mother’s case, the better.

“That’s all.”

I finished my cross-examination and sat down.

After questioning by other attorneys concluded, the judge scheduled the next trial date.

---

* *

After the first hearing ended, I submitted to the court a written record of the witness examination items, arranged in chronological order, based on what the restaurant owner had told me.

October 20.

The second hearing.

Mr. Heo, the restaurant owner, appeared as a witness.

“Defense, you may question the witness.”

First, I thanked him for coming despite it being the busiest time of day for his restaurant.

“When did you first see Mr. Shim Oh-han?”

“I don’t remember the exact date, but it was early last winter, at night.”

“At night? So you remember the time of day?”

“Yes. It was our last order, but it was also a situation impossible to forget.”

“Please tell us what happened.”

The owner took a deep breath, standing in court where one rarely appears without special reasons.

“Mr. Shim—let’s just call him that gentleman—came into the restaurant and ordered carbonara pasta without any extra toppings. Our restaurant’s pasta may be 5,990 won, but we really make our profit from add-ons, so we’re sensitive about that. And it was the last order of the night, too.”

“And then?”

“My chef wanted to cancel the order, but it was a cold night, and this young man came in wearing nothing but a thin windbreaker, shivering. He looked about the same age as my own kid. So I added extra cheese and pasta.”

He quietly showed kindness, not wanting to hurt the young man’s pride. A rare person these days.

“But when he finished eating and tried to pay, all he had were five crumpled 1,000-won bills.”

He was short 990 won.

Just 10 won short of 1,000—too awkward to waive.

“I was angry, but what could I do? He said he had no more money. So I told him not to pay, just to come back and eat again sometime. Then he pulled out a black notebook, searched through it, and gave me a piece of paper and a business card.”

It was a strip of paper, smaller and longer than A5 size.

“And why did Mr. Shim give you that? I don’t quite understand—what was on that paper?”

“A one-dollar bill.”

The owner held up his index finger.

“It was a one-dollar bill drawn in pencil. It looked like it had been printed. An amazing piece of work. How could I forget him after that?”

As murmurs spread in the gallery, the judge called for silence.

“What did you do with the drawing after receiving it?”

“I pinned it on the wall beside my restaurant counter.”

“So all customers could see it?”

He nodded.

“Everyone who came in couldn’t help but notice it.”

“Then did anyone ever ask about who drew it?”

“Yes. Some even asked for his contact information. Those two sitting in the defendant’s seats were among them.”

 

A critical blow landed.