novelraw Chapter 56 : Walking into the Trap
Chapter 56 : Walking into the Trap
Chapter 56: Walking into the Trap
The Delegate Officers who arrested the Deputy Director and Captain Martin wore black iron four-pointed star emblems on the outside of their uniforms, marking them as Disciplinary Officers from the Church Disciplinary Order.
If the Inquisition was the law enforcement force directed at the world outside the Church, then the Church Disciplinary Order was aimed inward.
They were like military police within an army, directly dispatched by the College of Cardinals to arrest bishops, knights, and inquisitors who violated Church law.
Leon realized that the newly appointed Director had already begun investigating Director Caron’s disappearance before officially taking office, and had obtained evidence of Caron’s corruption and abuse of power in Hamel Town.
Captain Martin and Deputy Director Theodore had likely handled some illicit funds and stolen goods for Caron behind the scenes.
Moreover, this investigation had not gone through the Hamel Inquisition, which meant that the newly appointed Director and Deputy Director possessed sufficient authority to mobilize other forces within the Church.
“Wait, sir, what is going on here?” Deputy Director Theodore dodged the shackles that were about to be clamped onto his hands and looked up to argue.
“Isn’t there some kind of misunderstanding?”
Director Aaron did not speak, but Bishop Beckett behind him smiled and opened his mouth:
“Your two informants at the Bourbon Street casino are already in our custody. They have fully confessed to your fencing of stolen goods and acceptance of bribes. Next, we will be reviewing your assets. We hope you will be able to provide reasonable explanations for all of them afterward.”
Deputy Director Theodore instantly deflated like a punctured ball.
The Disciplinary Officers shackled him once more, and this time he did not resist.
Seeing this, Captain Martin also gave up arguing, his face ashen as he was taken away together with Theodore.
“As everyone knows, the previous Director, Caron Eso, has been missing for quite some time.
The Church has appointed me to fully investigate this matter,” Aaron swept his gaze over those present.
“According to my preliminary findings, during his tenure Eso was suspected of repeatedly embezzling illicit funds, reselling stolen goods, and harboring criminals.
The two individuals just arrested were both involved in this process.
I hope this will serve as a warning to all of you.
“Next, all inquisitors of captain rank are to remain and gather with me in the Director’s office to assist me in understanding the situation of this Inquisition.
All other personnel are to return to their posts.
You may now disperse.”
Leon withdrew along with the others.
Watching Martin being taken away, he felt a vague sense of unease.
Previously, when interrogating the old shop owner, the man had said that Martin had been present when Caron approached him, although Martin had been sent away after the old shop owner spoke about matters involving Leon.
Not long after that, Caron had disappeared.
Captain Martin and the Deputy Director had likely both tried to probe along the old shop owner’s line, yet now the old shop owner himself had also vanished without a trace.
Both of them had been implicated in Caron’s use of the old shop owner, Roddy, to fence stolen goods.
They had probably feared investigation and therefore failed to report this lead to the Church.
Yet they had still been exposed and arrested.
It was very possible that they would soon confess this lead as well.
The old shop owner was gone, so even if the new Director pursued this lead, at most he would only discover that the matter was connected to a local gang dealing in Mana, and Caron himself had already been entangled with that business.
What made Leon nervous was that his first contact with the old shop owner had been when he ran errands at Captain Martin’s request.
If Martin mentioned this incident, Leon would likely also be investigated.
Merely running an errand once was not a serious matter in itself.
In the process, he had only received two hundred and fifty Fenni as an errand fee, nowhere near enough to constitute a crime.
At most, it would amount to dereliction of duty for failing to report what he knew.
Considering that the principal offender in fencing stolen goods had been his direct superior and that he could not disobey orders, the severity of the issue could go either way.
Even under the harshest punishment, it would only be dismissal from office, five days of detention, and a fine.
For Leon, aside from losing the conveniences of his position, this was practically nothing.
In comparison, what he truly worried about was the new Director linking Caron’s disappearance with the old shop owner’s disappearance.
In both matters, Leon could not withstand deep scrutiny at all, because he had indeed killed both of them himself.
If Leon’s concerns became reality, they would carefully investigate anyone who had connections with both the old shop owner and Caron.
Caron’s disappearance was a major case, and Captain Martin would certainly be subjected to intensive questioning, with every fencing transaction he had handled thoroughly examined.
In that situation, the likelihood of Martin mentioning Leon was very high—perhaps even almost inevitable.
If Captain Martin truly had not received money from the Director, then even if he were deemed derelict in duty, he would have a chance at a lighter sentence, provided that he confessed useful information.
He would certainly truthfully explain most of the fencing operations.
So what should be done now?
After returning to the duty room, Leon thought carefully.
Finding an opportunity to poison Captain Martin while he was detained was obviously impossible.
The risk was too great, and it would instead drag in a new murder case, causing the new Director to focus on internal personnel who had the opportunity to act.
Leon had no personal grudge against the Captain, and there was no need to go that far.
Approaching the Captain through a transactional method to persuade him not to mention Leon was also inappropriate.
Leaving aside whether it would even succeed, Captain Martin was already detained, and rashly contacting him at such a time would itself look highly suspicious.
After a moment’s thought, Leon made his decision.
He first left the Inquisition under the pretext of handling external duties and went to the Waystation to mail an anonymous letter.
After that, he returned to the Inquisition and headed straight for the Director’s office.
After taking a deep breath, he tried knocking on the door.
A moment later, a response came from inside: “Please come in.”
Leon opened the door and entered.
The newly appointed Director, Aaron Dias, was seated behind the desk, in the position that had once belonged to Caron.
Bishop Beckett, serving as Deputy Director, was standing to the side, helping him organize documents.
The captains were no longer in the office.
It seemed the new Director had only briefly questioned them before adjourning the meeting.
Seeing Leon enter, both men showed slight surprise.
“You are…?” Aaron examined Leon’s uniform.
With so many low-ranking inquisitors present earlier, it was impossible for him to remember every face at once, let alone know all their names.
“Low-Ranking Inquisitor Leon Set, joined two years ago.
I pay my respects to you both, sirs,” What business do you have?” A gentle smile appeared on Aaron’s face.
In terms of temperament, this young knight could not have been more different from Caron Eso.
“Regarding the matter you mentioned earlier about Director Caron embezzling illicit funds and stolen goods, I have information to report,” Leon replied solemnly.
Aaron exchanged a glance with Bishop Beckett and continued questioning Leon.
“Is this something you heard secondhand, or do you have concrete evidence?”
They had seen many internal reports added after someone fell from power.
Most lacked any real evidence.
If someone truly possessed evidence, then the informant himself would have been guilty of concealing it earlier.
“I once participated in the Director’s act of reselling stolen goods,” Leon replied, meeting Director Aaron’s eyes directly.
Rather than waiting to be discovered and then scrambling to defend himself, it was better to advance by retreating—to take the initiative before Captain Martin and expose this matter himself, thereby reducing its threat to him.
A minor offense could sometimes serve as camouflage for a major one.
By adopting the appearance of someone fearful of severe punishment for dereliction of duty and voluntarily confessing, he could, to a certain extent, greatly reduce suspicion of his involvement in Caron’s disappearance.
Those hiding grave crimes usually would not step forward at such a critical moment.
What he needed to conceal were murders and large-scale illegal transactions—crimes enough to earn him multiple death sentences.
Compared to that, being punished for dereliction of duty was completely insignificant to him.
Of course, if the other party were overly suspicious, there was also the risk of being suspected all the way through and detained for careful investigation, just like Captain Martin.
But this could also become an early warning for him.
He had already sent an anonymous letter to Rena in advance.
If he failed to make contact for more than six days, Rena would have to relocate the items in the Workshop, destroy the evidence inside, and then hide herself.
Without further evidence, even if he were detained for investigation, there would be a time limit.
“What did you say?” Aaron frowned slightly.