The warden who guards the witches.

All Things Considered

"Just ...... let me stay here tonight, huh?"

　　Looking at the single room in front of him, Bruce was a bit dumbfounded.

　　After being brought to the Rosebud Iron Prison by Aiden, Aiden had arranged such a room for him, allowing him to "make do with a night's sleep first".

　　The single room looked a bit cramped, but overall it was quite clean. A single bed fixed to the wall, a cupboard, and then there is also a small cubicle toilet, the configuration does not look very different from the police force's dormitory.

　　To say where the difference was, it was that the door was barred, and only the outer side could be opened, and even the windows were barred.

　　This was a single cell.

　　"What's the problem?" Aiden looked at him knowingly.

　　"This is a ...... cell, right?"

　　"Don't think too much about it, it's just a loaner for the night. It's a little more fully configured than the wardens' lounge, this cell." Aiden smiled and patted Bruce's back, then added a sentence in the words, "And ...... you will have to go in sooner or later, it's not bad to get used to it just while it's still here."

　　"But ......" Bruce obviously still can't get over that hurdle in his heart.

　　"Then why don't I go outside to book a hotel for you? It's actually not a problem ......," Aiden pointed in the direction of the outside, "It's just that I don't know if I'll be able to see you in one piece the next day."

　　"I'd better stay here then." Bruce nodded his head as if he were pounding garlic.

　　All the way up here he'd vaguely always had the feeling that someone was quietly following him and Aiden in the shadows, and there had even been so many times when he'd turned around that he'd seen mysterious figures flickering away to hide in an alley or around a corner.

　　The assassin might have been watching him all along, and maybe as soon as he left the prison and took a few steps out, he was shot in the head with a black bullet from the shadows.

　　In contrast, the prison was really the safest place.

　　"This area is all empty cells, so don't worry, if you need anything, just tell the guards." Aiden put Bruce in his cell with a 'friendly' face, then quickly left the cell block and returned to his office.

　　"Everything destroyed, right?" He asked as soon as he entered his office towards Ivantha, who was sitting inside waiting.

　　"The clothes have been burned and buried." Ivantha, who had put her prison clothes back on, nodded.

　　It wasn't that Bruce had felt like he was being followed down the road he hadn't been cupped, in fact Ivantha had indeed been trailing behind them the whole way back to the prison.

　　"Well done, hard work, go back to your room for now." Aiden nodded and then called a prison guard to tell Ivantha to send it back.

　　Then he immediately started rummaging through the filing cabinets in his office, sorting a few prisoner files out of them and checking them, then noting down their numbers.

　　He then called in one of the guards on the night shift, "Call all three of these inmates here, I have something to ask them."

　　A few minutes later, the three inmates he had summoned were gathered in his office, lined up in a regular row.

　　These three inmates were all ordinary inmates from outside the core area, both old and young, and each of their faces were tense, obviously worrying if they were suddenly called out by the warden to receive some kind of punishment or transfer notice.

　　"You guys don't need to be afraid, there is actually a good thing about calling you guys out today, I have a chance to get some credit here." Aiden gave them a calm smile, "All three of you, you've all been in prison for gold-related offences of illegal trading or selling stolen goods. Recently, the prosecutor's office was looking into a stolen item and wanted our assistance in the investigation. It's a rose gold pocket watch that was sold to the black market on the afternoon of the 27th of March, it was collected by a small shop called 'Gold Plate' on Grey Finger Lane in the black market of the Lower City, and now I don't know where it's gone. Do any of you have a way to get it back? It doesn't matter if you can't get it back, anyone who has connections and can get someone from that shop to come out and testify is fine."

　　He finished looking back and forth at the three inmates, "If we can successfully recover it, I can give that person a one level treatment grade raise, and we can also fight for a reduced sentence."

　　The faces of the three prisoners all loosened up, Aiden was still offering relatively generous conditions.

　　But seconds passed and no prisoner raised their hand.

　　Aiden looked at them for a while and finally let out a long breath, "Really? None of them have any clues ah, well then ......"

　　He also knew that he couldn't always count on his prison to find relevant people with leads, after all, the types of criminals in women's prisons weren't as comprehensive as in men's prisons.

　　But at that moment, one of the oldest of these inmates, an old woman, spoke up, "Warden, I would like to ask first, if the stolen goods are found, will the acquirer be held accountable?"

　　Aiden was slightly stunned for a moment, and then realised that this guy seemed to be in for a treat, and immediately gave a reply, "As long as one takes the initiative to assist in the investigation, one can be exempted from being held accountable."

　　"In that case, I might ...... have a doorway." The old woman slowly said, "Grey Finger Lane's gold business, my son now has in getting a part of it, 'gold plate' is actually also we have handled the shop ...... rose gold pocket watch, craftsmanship is good if we generally will not be casually melted down , maybe it's still in his hands now. If there is a need, I can let him find someone to testify."

　　Aiden responded that the same kind of stolen goods received by many shops in the black market sometimes flowed into the hands of the same oligarchic operator with more access to dispose of them.

　　He picked up the old woman's case file and took a closer look, then nodded with a sudden realisation, "So that's how it is, you used to carry all the charges yourself, and let your own son continue to take over the business of the black market, right? ...... No wonder your monthly custodianship money is so much money."

　　"Warden, this really won't affect my son, right?" The old woman still looked a little worried.

　　"As long as you take the initiative to assist in the investigation, there's no problem, but well, maybe you'll have to take the initiative to hand over the stolen goods without compensation."

　　"That's no problem, I'll give him a clear explanation in the letter. Then Warden, if the treatment level is raised, the number of meetings can also be increased, right?" The old woman asked carefully.

　　"That's natural." Aiden gave an affirmative reply.

　　"Then I will definitely cooperate, definitely cooperate!" The old woman nodded repeatedly.

　　For these prisoners behind bars, treatment and rights were more tangible than money, the treatment level could not only determine the prisoner's quality of life in prison, but also determine how many times a week he or she could receive family and friends face-to-face meetings, and even those with a high treatment level could apply to temporarily leave the prison to save their relatives, and Aiden, as the warden, was in control of these more valuable resources than money here.

　　Now that the issue of the evidence has been clarified, the only thing left to prepare is a paper application for retrial written by Veronica.

　　Everything was ready, it was time to take the step of completely putting the dead opponent away.

　　"Go inform the core and bring in prisoner 3308 from room 13." He opened the door again and instructed the prison guard on duty outside.