Chapter 106: The Bodyless Murder

After hearing Count Hewitt’s words, my mind became incredibly complicated.

No, the suspect is a seven-year-old kid. So why is he scary?

From an adult’s perspective, no matter how much a child threatens, it’s just laughable.

At a glance, Count Hewitt seemed to have trained with a sword to some extent.

He had a sturdy build, and there were quite a few calluses on his palms.

But upon closer reflection, there was a part that made some sense.

“Wait a minute, a kid with no real strength is accused of murder?”

That fact alone was terrifying, wasn’t it?

There was a movie similar to this.

A story about a child who looked as pretty as an angel, but after being adopted, brought about a horrific ending.

Nah, it can’t be that bad.

I moved to the interrogation room and met with Prosecutor Anderson Cantrell.

“Ah! Your Grace, thank you so much for coming like this.”

“Don’t mention it. If there’s trouble, we help each other out. Is there anything new?”

Baron Cantrell was having difficulty even grasping the basic facts.

The reason was simple.

Only the right hand presumed to be the victim’s had been found; the body hadn’t turned up yet.

Yet they were investigating it as a murder because the suspect claimed it.

“It’s driving me crazy. We searched all the places the kid mentioned, but nothing came up.”

“So he’s lying.”

“He’s practically toying with us.”

“What about witnesses?”

“Just statements that they saw him with the victim, that’s all.”

“That would be frustrating.”

“Moreover, the suspect’s maternal uncle is here, interfering with the investigation.”

“Who is that?”

“Sean Malone, vice president of the Lawyers Association.”

I nodded absentmindedly, but something felt really off.

It was a name and position I’d encountered for the first time, so why did it seem so familiar?

As I furrowed my brow in thought, Prosecutor Cantrell quickly added an explanation.

“Do you remember Marquis Wesley Malone? You had a bit of a conversation with him at the debate a few weeks ago.”

“Ah! Him? Come to think of it, the vice president has the same last name.”

“Yes, they’re father and son. The suspect is Marquis Malone’s grandson.”

“Oh? Was this the grandson he mentioned was facing trial at the debate?”

“No. The one indicted for mutual assault back then was Bilber Malone. The suspect in this case is Norman Hewitt.”

“So it’s a different incident.”

“That’s right.”

Coincidentally, both Marquis Wesley Malone’s biological grandson and his grandson through marriage were standing in court.

What an impressive family.

For young kids to already show such violence.

Well, maybe I shouldn’t judge too harshly.

They say kids grow up fighting.

Anyway, the important thing was the suspect in this bodyless murder case, Norman Hewitt.

“Let’s see his face first.”

“Yes, this way.”

Following Prosecutor Cantrell into the inner part of the interrogation room, there was a boy sitting in a chair.

The same blond hair and sky-blue eyes as Count Hewitt, with delicate features.

If he grew up like this, he’d probably hear he’s handsome quite a bit.

Shall we check first?

[Character Information]

Name: Norman Hewitt

Status: Eldest son of an earldom

Position: None

Relationship: No acquaintance

State: Extremely calm, confident he absolutely won’t be punished, no guilt or fear at all, prefers stimulating situations.

Overall Ability: C

There was so much “none” that it felt like a lot of information.

Still, up to the position and relationship tabs, no issues.

But moving to the state tab, there were contents that made me doubt my eyes.

He confessed to killing someone, yet no guilt or fear at all?

I remembered seeing a similar information window before.

A person with no sense of guilt, who committed fraud as easily as eating.

Wasn’t it Toby Acworth, the tax collector in the Yates Marquisate?

I judged him to be a sociopath back then.

But Norman Hewitt felt a bit different.

Some kind of psychopath?

A human with absurdly low empathy, showing impulsive behavior and aggression.

For him, killing a friend, getting dragged to the prosecution headquarters, and being investigated was itself an exciting element.

There aren’t many situations more stimulating than this.

“Your Grace, Duke Carius?”

As I carefully observed Norman Hewitt, someone suddenly spoke up.

Turning my gaze, a man who looked somehow sly came into view.

I didn’t even need to open the character information window; I could tell who he was just by looking.

He resembled Marquis Wesley Malone tremendously.

“You must be Vice President Sean Malone.”

“Thank you for recognizing me.”

“Don’t mention it. So, what is it?”

“May I ask just one thing?”

“Go ahead.”

“Why has the Chief Justice come to the prosecution headquarters? Surely not to investigate our nephew?”

I could understand why there were complaints about him coming and causing a scene.

I was just looking at the suspect, yet such intense checking came in.

Even a veteran prosecutor would have no choice but to shake his head and back off.

He was far senior in the legal field, and his family’s prestige was enormous.

But to me, it wasn’t threatening at all.

“The prosecutors will handle the investigation. I’m just here in an advisory role.”

“The judge giving advice?”

“I don’t have the authority to investigate directly.”

“Is that allowed? Clearly, the court rules state…….”

Attorney Sean Malone spat as he rambled on and on.

But none of it entered my ears.

It was utterly worthless talk, and all of it was wrong.

“Attorney Malone?”

“Ah, I talked too much. I’ll give you time to rebut.”

“Thanks. I’ll just say one thing.”

“Yes.”

“Study properly.”

“What do you mean? No one knows the court rules better than I do!”

“That would be the old rules.”

“Pardon?”

“They’ve all been changed.”

“When?”

“Recently. So stop rambling about nonexistent rules and only say what’s necessary. If you keep interfering, I’ll kick you out of the interrogation room.”

“……”

The rules restricting judges’ activities had long since disappeared.

I had them all abolished when I petitioned His Majesty the Emperor.

Attorney Sean Malone had a resentful expression.

However, he couldn’t say more and just kept his mouth shut tight.

Then he suddenly went out and came back with a large book.

It’s the court rules book. Where on earth did he get that?

He was a truly persistent person.

But he wouldn’t be able to spout nonsense anymore.

The changed rules were clearly written there; what more could he argue?

“……It’s really changed.”

“Yes. So stop being unreasonable and focus on your job.”

Attorney Sean Malone pursed his lips and sat down next to the suspect.

I watched as Prosecutor Cantrell conducted the investigation.

I couldn’t take the lead, but throwing in a few questions shouldn’t be a problem.

“Alright, let’s start over.”

So far, three facts had been confirmed.

The son of the butler, Norman’s friend, had gone missing.

The suspect had a severed hand, but the victim’s body hadn’t been found yet.

And Norman was claiming he killed him.

Prosecutor Cantrell furrowed his brow and opened his mouth.

“Is it really true that you killed him?”

“Of course.”

“But why isn’t Allen’s body in any of the places you mentioned so far?”

“I don’t know. I just pointed out likely spots. Maybe a monster took it?”

“There weren’t even any traces of that.”

“How would I know about that? I’ve been stuck here the whole time.”

Prosecutor Anderson Cantrell glanced at me.

It felt like he was signaling that it had been like this all along.

Then, with a stern face, he glared at Norman and said,

“If you keep not talking properly, I’ll have no choice but to send it to trial. Since you admitted to killing him, you’ll go to prison!”

But Norman just smiled faintly, showing no sign of fear at all.

Soon, an astonishing statement slipped from his lips.

“Mr. Prosecutor, do you know about the corroboration of confession rule?”

“What?”

I, who had been quietly listening, burst into hollow laughter inside.

How could a seven-year-old kid say something like that?

Article 310 of Korea’s Criminal Procedure Act dealt with the admissibility of disadvantageous confessions.

‘A defendant’s confession cannot be used as evidence of guilt if it is the only evidence disadvantageous to the defendant.’

Article 12 of the Constitution had similar content.

It was a rule to prevent infringement on the defendant’s human rights, and the imperial code had similar elements.

Anyway, how could such a child know intricate legal provisions that even adults might not fully understand?

I stared steadily at Attorney Sean Malone.

But he seemed a bit surprised too.

What? It wasn’t the lawyer who told him?

Norman knew about the corroboration of confession rule in advance?

That meant he had prepared by reviewing the law before the crime.

He’s an incredibly meticulous lunatic, more than I thought.

That’s why even the sturdy Count Hewitt says his son is scary.

If this continues, we’ll just keep falling for his tricks.

I needed to find the body as soon as possible or strike at the core to create an opening.

I casually threw a question at Norman.

“You’re well-versed in legal provisions and smart. But you were holding your friend’s hand, right?”

“That wasn’t me.”

“You killed him, but didn’t cut off the wrist?”

“Of course. How could a powerless kid like me do something like that? And how can you be sure that’s Allen’s hand?”

Come to think of it, it wasn’t wrong.

Norman Hewitt hadn’t said the severed hand was the victim’s.

He was just holding it.

If this were Korea, we could find out right away through fingerprints or DNA testing.

But this was a medieval fantasy world where scientific investigation hadn’t developed.

Proving that hand was part of the victim’s body was difficult.

Unless we matched it directly.

That’s why finding the body was most important, but with no way to know, it was frustrating to the point of madness.

Then, suddenly, this thought occurred to me.

What if the claim of killing him is also a lie?

So far, Norman hadn’t given a proper statement.

They searched all the places he said the body was, but every time it was a bust.

In that case, couldn’t we see the death itself as fabricated?

As I pondered deeply, a quite plausible idea came to mind.

This is a dark fantasy world. To get rid of one person, death isn’t the only option.

Wasn’t there another horrific crime that happened quite often?

Human trafficking.

Even high society figures like Skyler did such things; why couldn’t a smart kid?

To begin with, this guy is of very high status, even if young.

With a few words, he could easily send someone to their doom.

I gave Norman a meaningful smile and locked eyes with him.

“You sold your friend to slave traders.”

“……!”

Right at that moment, a change occurred in his character information window.

Finally, the word “flustered” appeared.

Got you, you little punk.