“Would Allen have remembered your name?”
The warden muttered skeptically.
“That fellow was always so indifferent to his surroundings.”
“Instructor Squong! Do you really want to see me get dragged away?!”
“No, I was just saying what came to mind. I didn’t mean you were the culprit! Although I am a bit suspicious…”
“It really wasn’t me! If you check the bathroom yourself, you’ll see. The ventilation plumbing structure is weird, so smells and everything get passed through!”
The detective snapped his fingers and shouted.
“Ah, right. That plumbing! Perhaps you committed the murder through the plumbing.”
‘The atmosphere is being completely driven toward Zefferd.’
It was hard to believe that things had progressed this far because of a single comment dropped by the culprit.
“Whether it was through the plumbing or the window, how on earth am I supposed to have killed Aaron?”
Zefferd trembled, his face pale, yet he tried his best to prove his innocence.
“According to you, Detective, I must have strangled Aaron to death without a single external injury and left no trace in that short time while Instructor Squong went to get medicine. I am a student receiving officer training, not an assassin! How could I have possibly done that?”
It was a very valid counterargument.
That is, if this were the world I used to live in.
“Huh? I wouldn’t know! Wouldn’t you be the one to know that?”
“Wha-what…?”
“Don’t worry too much. The police will find out soon enough.”
The detective gave a smirk and placed a hand on Zefferd’s shoulder.
“Usually, once we start the interrogation, they spill everything.”
‘How brutal. A presumption of guilt.’
I shuddered inwardly.
This was exactly why the police were hated in this world. The police here didn’t have much need for physical evidence or witnesses.
If a detective was convinced someone was the culprit and arrested them, the case was as good as over.
The suspect simply became the culprit.
There was only one way to prevent this. A detective had to point out another culprit using more valid grounds than the police.
‘But what should I do…’
I sank into thought.
‘There’s absolutely no evidence to push Edward Bur as the real culprit.’
As of now, the only ones who could be suspects were Zefferd and the dormitory warden. This was because no one else could have entered the victim’s room except for those two.
However, I couldn’t frame the equally innocent warden just to save the innocent Zefferd.
While I was agonizing, the culprit stepped forward.
“Zefferd as the culprit? That can’t be.”
He cried out in a hypocritical tone.
“Of course, Zefferd and Allen weren’t on great terms, but they weren’t on bad enough terms to hold a grudge. Above all, Zefferd is a truly good-natured friend. He’s always humble and knows his place. He’s not the kind of person who could kill someone!”
“Ed…”
Zefferd seemed quite touched by the friend who was defending him. But well…
‘Out of those, isn’t the only objective testimony the first sentence about them not being on good terms?’
Sure enough.
“Mr. Zefferd. What kind of conflict did you have with the victim?”
“What? No, we never once fought! As for a quarrel…”
“It wasn’t like there were none, right?”
The warden cut in once again.
“Now that I think about it, that’s right! Zefferd, weren’t you severely scolded by Allen a few days ago! I clearly heard Allen berating you for being noisy. Don’t tell me you killed Allen because of that? No matter how harshly Allen treated you, it wasn’t enough to kill him! You should have at least told me instead!”
Regrettably, the warden now seemed to firmly believe Zefferd was the culprit.
“Aha… I see. That’s how it happened.”
Of course, the detective was the same.
Zefferd seemed completely overwhelmed by the situation and couldn’t even make an excuse anymore. He just stood there trembling with his head bowed low.
‘Oh no, he’s really going to get dragged away at this rate.’
I had to stop Zefferd from being taken away right now, no matter what excuse I used.
‘…Ah, right! Let’s talk about that.’
“Detective. By the way, what happened to that other witness you mentioned?”
“Huh?”
“That person. The witness who was said to be coming a bit late. Shouldn’t we at least hear that person’s testimony before jumping to conclusions?”
“Ah, I wondered what you were going to say.”
Detective Beren looked somewhat uninterested.
“Lord MacDowell isn’t as directly connected to this case as the other witnesses. It’s just that, until now, I thought he was the most likely person the dying message was pointing to, so I was going to try interrogating him. I was barkin’ up the wrong tree.”
“The person the dying message was pointing to?”
“The witness’s name is Rosie MacDowell. Of course, he’s a student at this military academy.”
Rosie. It was a name you’d get by adding just one ‘i’ to the dying message.
“Since he was on very bad terms with the victim usually, he was a strong suspect. However, his alibi was confirmed long ago. On the day of the incident, he took sick leave from school and went to a tavern to play all night while pretending to go home. It’s a pathetic track record, but since there’s more than one witness, he can’t be the culprit.”
There was a reason the detective was indifferent to the interrogation.
“Maybe if there were no suspects, but now, I don’t think there’s a need to meet that pretentious young master. Now then, you should head home for the day! I’ll have a bit more of a ‘chat’ with this fellow at the station.”
“N-no! It really wasn’t me!”
Zefferd looked around with a pale face. He looked as if he were desperately seeking help.
‘Damn, what do I do?’
Since there was no way someone who wasn’t the culprit would confess to a crime, that ‘chat’ wasn’t going to end as just a chat. Zefferd would end up in an interrogation room.
Could that weak-looking human endure the harsh interrogation of a police station?
If he were pressured by the situation and made a false confession, his life would be over. That’s just not right.
‘Is there any way to persuade the detective?’
I racked my brain desperately.
‘For now, it seems best to push for the interrogation of Lord MacDowell.’
That way, I can stall for time and secure additional testimony. If I’m lucky, there might be a clue in that testimony to catch the real culprit.
‘The detective… didn’t seem to like Lord MacDowell very much.’
He seemed quite resentful toward the noble lord who was holding out and not responding to the testimony immediately.
‘He was grumbling with the nuance that he was being ignored by the police just because he was a noble.’
If I use that well to persuade him, the words I should say right now are…!
“Scared?!”
“……?”
A silence fell because no one understood what I said. Fortunately, it was a relief.
‘Agh, in my haste. Okay, again.’
“Ahem, k-khem. Detective, are you afraid of interrogating Lord MacDowell?”
“What?”
The detective’s face was instantly colored with unpleasantness.
“You think I’m afraid of a mere brat like him?”
He let out a snort.
“Ha! What a laughable provocation. I only decided not to interrogate him because it wasn’t necessary.”
“But will Lord MacDowell think the same?”
At those words, the detective paused.
“Lord MacDowell disobeyed the police’s orders and acted out, claiming he was a noble. What did you say then, Detective? Didn’t you say you would bring Lord MacDowell in even if it took a little longer?”
“Well, that’s because I thought his testimony was necessary then.”
“But if you give up on interrogating him now, what will Lord MacDowell think? From then on, he will look down on the police. He’ll think you retreated because you were terrified of his power, and that it’s okay for nobles to ignore the police.”
“……”
“Are you really going to let him think that?”
The detective fell silent for a moment, then clicked his tongue.
“Tsk. A brat trying to manipulate others with his silver tongue. Using such an obvious trick.”
“Haha…”
Was it too obvious after all?
“However, interrogating all suspects is a basic principle of investigation.”
The detective twisted one corner of his mouth upward.
“I do need to teach that brat that the police are not his subordinates.”
I let out a sigh of relief inwardly.
‘Good. Now let’s stall for time with the interrogation and find some kind of evidence.’
It would be nice if I could get a new clue from Lord MacDowell’s testimony, but the probability seemed low. He was just a witness whose name was similar to the dying message.
For now, it seemed best to use him to buy time and gather other clues in the meantime.
Yes, that’s what I thought, but…
“I know someone even more suspicious. That person is the culprit! It’s not me, it’s that person! The sender of the mystery gifts! That person is the culprit!”
“…Mystery gifts?”
“Yes. Those gifts that were placed in front of the dormitory room door every single night! On the night the murder took place, no gift came. Isn’t that suspicious to anyone!”
I ended up hearing testimony I hadn’t even considered.