Chapter 5 Doubt_1

"...The victim was the proprietress of a tavern in the lower district, twenty-eight years old, who initially had a dispute with the criminal over a counterfeit sale case. On March 26th, patrons reported to Officer Veronica, who was on patrol in the street at the time, that the tavern was selling fake alcohol. After an initial investigation of the tavern, Veronica had the place sealed off and took the tavern owner— the victim's husband— back to the police station. The next day, the victim, having learned of this, came to the police station to protest and hurled insults at Officer Veronica in person, leading to a conflict between them."

In the warden's office, Flandre read out the information on Veronica to Aiden.

"Then, at 12:20 a.m., gunshots were heard from the tavern where the crime took place. Subsequently, the victim's body was found with a bullet through the heart from the back, dead on the spot. Investigators at the scene discovered from the casings left behind that the caliber of the gun that killed the victim was the same as the standard-issue firearm of the mounted police, and officer Veronica, who had had a conflict with the victim that day, was listed as a suspect. Later, when the investigating team retrieved Veronica's service weapon from the cavalry's armory, they found it was missing a bullet..."

"Wait a minute, she even returned the used service weapon to the armory?" Aiden interrupted, raising his hand.

"Yes, the person on duty at the armory testified that Veronica had returned the service weapon in a state of panic in the early hours. His testimony, together with the gun missing a bullet, became key in convicting Veronica."

"But normally, when returning a service weapon, it should be inspected. If it had been fired, it would have been discovered right on the spot, wouldn't it?" Aiden questioned.

Flandre nodded, "That's mentioned too, the person on duty at the armory that day was a rookie who had been trained by Veronica. He claimed that he had not checked her service weapon at the time."

"That does sound rather peculiar," Aiden stroked his chin.

"What do you mean?" Flandre was puzzled.

"According to this, the criminal, 3308, killed the victim out of personal grudge. Then, she must have killed in a state of emotional turmoil, right?"

"Yes, that's how the tribunal saw it. Werewolves are more likely than humans to lose control of their emotions," Flandre confirmed, "After all, if she had had any rationality while committing the murder, she wouldn't have used a police-issued firearm. If it weren't for her using her service weapon, investigators wouldn't have traced it back to her so quickly."

"When I was at the Tribunal for Heretical Inquisition, I handled some werewolf assault cases. When werewolves become enraged and attack people, they primarily do so unarmed, or by hurling objects close at hand. During rage, werewolves tend to exhibit transformation symptoms unconsciously. Although female werewolves don't change as dramatically as males, their fingers thicken and sprout claws." Aiden gestured as if gripping a gun, "Wouldn't it be awkward to use a firearm in that state?"

He retained the memories of "the former Aiden," who was a former ace investigator of the Tribunal for Heretical Inquisition, and compared the case with the werewolf violence cases in his memory, finding it indeed unusual for Veronica to have used a firearm to murder.

"But warden, criminal 3308 is a mounted policewoman. She would be very skilled with firearms, and even if slightly inconvenient, drawing and firing her service weapon subconsciously still seems possible," Flandre suggested.

"Then how do you explain that after committing the murder, she proactively returned her service weapon without turning herself in? If she intended to deny the crime, why hand over the very evidence that could convict her to the police? Even if she didn't manage to replace the bullet, she should at least have gotten rid of the service weapon and claimed that it was stolen," Aiden folded his arms, "She herself is a police officer after all, and from her record, she doesn't seem like a fool. It doesn't make sense for her to act so stupidly, does it?"

"Well, perhaps... it's because she was too panicked after killing someone?" Flandre hesitated for a moment, then looked doubtfully at Aiden, "Chief, you don't really believe she was framed, do you?"

"I'm just considering the possibility," Aiden shrugged.

Flandre sighed, "Chief, more than seventy percent of the prisoners here will argue that they've been falsely accused, and many were caught in the act. You know, the most important thing in our line of work is..."

"Not to trust the prisoners too easily," Aiden cut in smoothly, smiling, "I know, I know, I'm not trusting her, but there are indeed many strange aspects to this case. The sentence was delivered and the execution carried out in less than two months. That's almost inconceivably fast."

Flandre recalled, "I heard it was because the incident of a mounted police killing someone had impacted the reputation of the police force, so the higher-ups ordered to deal with it quickly."

"Pressure from above, huh? I can understand that; after all, it's quite a scandal for the mounted police," Aidan nodded.

At that moment, someone suddenly came in through the door without knocking.

"Warden!" a female prison guard exclaimed in a panic, not having the time to salute, "Just now... there was a fight among the inmates at the bathhouse!"

"Don't panic, speak clearly, which inmates started fighting?" Aidan asked calmly.

"It's two inmates from cell six of the core area, and two inmates from cell thirteen," the female prison guard reported nervously.

Aidan and Flandre exchanged a look, the two inmates from cell six were the female thief Katherine and the pirate Anna, and the inmates from cell thirteen were Fille and Veronica—the she-wolf who had just been transferred in had already caused trouble.

"What's the situation now? Are the people under control?" Aidan turned back to the female prison guard.

"The riot team has them all under control now, and they have all been transferred to the medical office, inmate 3307 from cell thirteen has a head injury and is unconscious, but not in danger for now, the two inmates from cell six also suffered some injuries."

"What about inmate 3308, the death row inmate?" Aidan asked again.

"3308..." the female prison guard thought for a moment, then shook her head, "she seems to be uninjured."

"Why did they start fighting, have you found out anything?"

"We haven't... when I heard the noise of the fighting and breaking things, I rushed in, and only the death row inmate was standing in the changing room, she was still strangling someone, looked very fierce... then I called the riot team to restrain them," she replied cautiously, clearly worried about being reprimanded by her superiors.

"Were there any other people present at that time?"

"No, the other inmates had already finished showering and were assembled outside, only those four were in the changing room at that time."

"So you're saying the death row inmate beat up the others, right?" Flandre sighed, holding her forehead.

"Take us there to have a look." After a moment of silence, Aidan signaled the female prison guard to lead the way.