Now it's personal.
1457 Words
Sitting in the rickety public carriage, Aiden once again sorted through the information he had received.
From what he had been told so far, Bruce Kane seemed to have made a fortune after Veronica's case when he suddenly showed a spending behaviour that was totally disproportionate to his income level.
From this, we can boldly speculate that Jaron Rudd asked him to perjure himself, and I'm afraid that the tactic is still based on inducement.
Moreover, combined with the clues provided by the "Midnight Rose" escort, Jaron gave him, I'm afraid, not only money.
"...... He carries around a gold pocket watch with his family's coat of arms on it, which he often takes out to show off."
Aiden hadn't forgotten this detail Veronica had told him, and at the time this was something he just listened to and passed over.
But when the chaperones told him that Jaron had replaced the pocket watch, he immediately thought of a possibility.
It took the investigation team less than a day from the start of the case to arrest Veronica, assuming that it was Jaron who killed the man, then bribing Bruce to destroy the evidence for him and planting the evidence on Veronica, the whole process should have been urgent for him to complete it all.
It was still the middle of the night when the murder was committed, there were no banks open at all, and it's unlikely that he had enough money on him to buy off the other side when he rushed to the vault to find Bruce.
Common sense would dictate that for something as big as perjury in a murder case, a mere verbal promise would not be enough to get someone to do it on the spot.
Then, the only thing he could have handed over at that time would have been the gold pocket watch that he was carrying with him.
In that case, that gold pocket watch was either still in Bruce's hands, or he had sold it - anyway, it hadn't returned to Jaron.
This clue might be a breakthrough in dealing with Bruce Kane.
With that in mind, the public carriage had driven him to the vicinity of the police station belonging to the Mounted Police.
Aiden walked into the police station on his cane, identified himself to the receiving officer, requested to see Bruce Kane, and was then taken to the parlour just like last time.
Aiden decided to try and intimidate Bruce, telling the boy that Veronica had actually filed for a retrial a long time ago, and that the investigative team that had been set up had gained ground on him. Then throw in the surprise that they had information that Jaron was the real killer and that he had received a gold pocket watch from Jaron Rudd, and then tell him that the only way out for him was to turn himself in in time for a plea bargain.
From the sense of contact, it seemed that the young man, though a mounted police officer, was ultimately a rookie, did not possess a hardened anti-detective mentality, and had been deeply disturbed and frightened by the fact that he had perjured himself.
As long as Bruce Kane's psychological defences were broken, he might be able to tell the truth.
With his testimony, it would be a natural step for a retrial to be held to set up an investigation team, and Aiden's intimidation could be turned into reality - the technique of interrogation involves occasional bluffs like this on prisoners and suspects, and as a prison guard he is comfortable with it.
It was the most direct way to break through at the moment, they didn't have much time, Veronica was only about a month away from execution and they had to file a motion for a retrial as soon as possible within the deadline, and a motion for a retrial required a reason.
After several minutes of continued waiting in the parlour, someone finally opened the door.
Aiden looked at the visitor and was slightly taken aback.
The person who entered was not Bruce Kane, but Jaron Rotten.
Aiden was vaguely aware of something bad, and just as he was thinking of what opening line to try, Jaron spoke first, "How many times do you have to come in before you stop, you annoying fly, are you trying to turn the tables on that woman?"
The blunt and rude words were like a stabbing blow, and the other party's hostility was obvious.
Seeing this, Aiden also simply opened the window of the sky, looking straight into Jia Long's eyes and opened his mouth to point out, "Seeing that Your Excellency is nervous to this extent, it seems that the person was really killed by you."
"You investigated very carefully, but I advise you not to waste your efforts, the trial is all over." Jaron sat down across from Aiden, the corners of his mouth with the eight-pointed moustache raised with undisguised sarcasm, "I've already told the boy that as long as he keeps his mouth shut and doesn't say anything, no one can do anything to us! He's not going to see you again, think about it, what reason does he have to help you guys retract your confessions, a guilty conscience? Just kidding, that s**t will just send him to jail himself!"
Aiden stared at Jaron without saying a word, knowing full well that there was a reason why the other man would be so arrogant.
If he was a criminal police officer who had the truth to track down the murderer, he had already lost to the murderer when Veronica was unjustly sentenced to death and the whole case was capped, not to mention that he was just a prison guard who didn't even have that little bit of investigative power.
Jaron was telling the truth, and it would be arguably harder to overturn Veronica's case if Bruce didn't retract his confession.
But Bruce Kane couldn't easily retract his confession, after all, perjury and bribery were never small things combined. The night of the murder Jaron and he had only been in a buy-and-bust deal, but now they had become an unbreakable and unbreakable complicity.
Aiden's intimidation might actually have a chance of bluffing Bruce, but it would be difficult with Jaron around Bruce all the time to influence him.
"You, don't eat your words. That kind of wolf girl is a hidden danger if she stays in the world, and I'm doing a good thing by sending her to prison." Jia Long spread his hands, still mocking, "Get your status straight, will you? You're just a prison guard, executing the sentence according to the ruling institute's judgement is your job, the ruling institute asked you to execute that woman, so you just obediently do it! What's the point of making all these extra little gestures? Huh?"
"You're telling me what to do?" Aiden reacted at that, narrowing his eyes at Jaron.
Jaron was stunned for a moment, then dejectedly glared at Aiden and sneered, "What can you do to me?"
"Officer Roden, I'm a person who has been a prison guard for a long time, punishing inmates every day, and I've developed two occupational diseases. One is that I particularly dislike amateurs teaching me things in my area of expertise, and the second is that I easily hold grudges. When a prisoner jumped face output in my face, I would make a note of it and then try to screw him over - only then could I build up prestige among the prisoners, and you, you have both." Aiden looked him in the eyes and said without moving, "Although I'm in charge of the women's prison now, and you probably won't have a chance to fall into my hands, I know the wardens of the other prisons in Silver City. In the future, regardless of whether you are sentenced to death or life imprisonment, I guarantee that I will do everything I can to make your life in prison worse than death."
I've been a prison guard for so many years, and a murderer on the loose still dares to teach me things?
If it was said that helping Veronica investigate the case before was just out of a sense of duty, now that this temper of his came up, the mood to screw the other party was his own personal will.
Jaron's cheeks twitched a few times after hearing this, and he was just about to say something back when Aiden suddenly stood up, picked up his cane and walked towards the door.
As he passed by Jaron, he glanced at him and left a comment, "It's personal now, fatso."
- Writer
