Episode 3 of "Hunter with a Scalpel" unfolds with an eerie prelude, depicting a young girl meticulously scrubbing bloodstains from the floor, only to stumble upon her own ghastly, bloody handprints marring both the floor and walls. The scene abruptly transitions to the bustling street, where the same innocent child is revealed to have abandoned a suitcase harboring a grim secret – a lifeless corpse, concealed within. Jung-hyun, alongside fellow officers, surveys this macabre discovery, his gaze fixed on the dismembered body parts wrapped tightly in vinyl, strewn inside.
Back at the precinct, Jung-hyun passionately presents his hypothesis to his superiors, contending that the perpetrator of this grim deed is none other than the same individual who orchestrated the first murder. His basis? The telltale sign of a red thread tying up the second victim, echoing the earlier crime.
At the NFS (National Forensic Service), Se-hyun finds herself grilled about Oh Min-ho's inexplicable absence. Just as she's about to retreat to her office, Jung-hyun bursts in, sharing the harrowing details of the new homicide. Intrigued by the mention of the red thread, she readily agrees to take on the case.
Their investigation deepens as they uncover each body part meticulously bound with the ominous red thread. Inside one such compartment, Se-hyun stumbles upon a severed finger, a grim relic from the past. Through fingerprint analysis, they uncover a startling revelation: the finger belongs to Oh Min-ho, making him the tragic victim this time. Additionally, they manage to lift a partial fingerprint from the perpetrator, though it yields no matches in the existing databases.
Elsewhere, Mr. Choi lends a helping hand to two detectives, assisting them in erecting a banner that pleads for witnesses to come forward with any information regarding the vicinity where Lee Yeon-ju was discovered, adding another layer of intrigue to the already tangled web of murder and mystery.
At the National Forensic Service (NFS), Director Kwan and Joon-kyung are left in a state of disbelief upon discovering that the deceased is none other than Oh Min-ho. Director Kwan attempts to coerce Se-hyun into hastily concluding the Nam Seung-hyeop case without the benefit of a comprehensive toxicology report. When she steadfastly refuses, he turns to Se-hyun’s subordinate, Chun Su-yeon, instructing her to assume responsibility for all of Se-hyun’s cases.
Jung-hyun then interrogates Se-hyun, delving into the night she returned with Min-ho and probing into the intimate details of Min-ho’s life. His tone is filled with concern for her well-being as he vows to bring the perpetrator to justice.
At the police precinct, fellow officers have uncovered CCTV footage depicting Lee Yeon-ju’s stalker harassing her at her workplace. With arrest warrants virtually at their fingertips, Jung-hyun intervenes, suggesting that the man in the footage might not be the murderer. Instead, he persuades his colleagues to pursue the lead provided by the trucks spotted in the surveillance videos.
After painstakingly sifting through additional CCTV footage, Jung-hyun and his team finally locate the truck they’ve been searching for. They trace it to an address and, upon entering the premises forcibly, encounter a man dressed identically to the stalker. Jung-hyun gives chase, ultimately leading to the man’s capture.
One of Se-hyun’s peers later informs her that Lee Yeon-ju had been administered Pancuronium, a powerful muscle relaxant capable of inducing paralysis in large doses. Se-hyun, driven by determination, reexamines the vinyl and tape covering the victim’s body parts. She tears off a strip of tape and asks her colleague to examine it for DNA or fingerprints. Their efforts are rewarded when they uncover a fingerprint on the tape that matches a partial print previously found on the body, bringing them one step closer to unraveling the mystery.
