In the evening, the ship arrived at the inland port of Longsong District.
Pérot, who had received the news, was already waiting there with his men. When they returned to the castle, a grand welcome banquet was held in the hall on the first floor. Roland's mentality had also changed since he had completely occupied Longsong Stronghold. Looking at the nobles at the banquet, he always felt that Pérot was treating him with his own money.
After exchanging some pleasantries with the eldest son of the Honeysuckle Family, he got to the point. "Have those rats started to come out again?"
"According to the reports we received, it seems so." Pérot made a gesture of invitation and led the prince to a corner of the hall. "But compared with the organized Black Street groups, the criminals caught now are all individuals, such as theft, robbery, murder, and so on. Anyone who is caught is dragged to the square and sentenced to death by hanging. But you asked us to have conclusive evidence, so we only deal with a very small number of the reported criminals. It takes a lot of time just to verify the information, and... "The eldest son of the Honeysuckle Family paused." Recently, we have encountered a big problem. "
"What kind of problem?"
"Someone is openly resisting your policy, Your Highness." Pérot said worriedly, "Count Medde knows the details better. I'll let him tell you the details."
"Your Highness, the Elk Family salutes you." After being summoned, Rennes bowed to the prince and then began to explain what had happened. "Recently, there has been a major incident in the North Street of the outer city... Well, according to Minister Vader, it should be called a serial murder case."
"Well, that's my own term." Roland suddenly became interested. "Go on."
"Yes," Rennes Medde said in a low voice. "Since three days ago, a resident has been killed in their home every night. The commonality of the victims is that they are all men, live alone, and have no family members. Most importantly, they have all reported their jobs to the City hall."
The prince frowned. "They are all regular workers?"
"If handyman is a regular job," said the Earl of Elk, nodding, "there is a picture left in the room of every murdered resident: a crown and a red cross, painted in blood. Because of this mark, I asked the City Hall for confirmation and learned that their names were on the list of people who were going to build houses in the Redwater District. "
"So you think their goal is …"
"Sabotaging your recruitment plan, Your Highness," he replied. "This matter has been publicized in North Street, saying that as long as you apply for a job in City hall, you will be targeted by the killer."
"I think so too," Pérot chimed in. "The number of applicants was lower than expected, and now almost no one dares to sign up on North Street. Now, there's an additional group of residents in City Hall who have changed their minds, saying that they're not feeling well and can't leave the city for the time being. They're hoping that the officials can strike off their names. Right now, the news is only circulating on North Street. If it spreads to other streets, it may adversely affect your construction plan. "
Roland thought for a moment and asked, "Haven't you found any clues about the murderer?"
"Well …" Rennes opened his mouth and said after a long time, "No one saw the murder scene, and we don't know where to start searching."
"Really?" Roland was a little surprised. "How did you solve this kind of thing before?"
"Do you mean the patrol?" The young Earl of Elk hesitated. "As far as I know, they don't have a fixed method. If the victim's family appeals to the Lord, and the Lord decides to give justice to his people, they will try to pressure the Black Street gangs and force the Rats to hand over the criminals. As for whether they are scapegoats or not, the patrol doesn't care. If it's a foreigner or a person living alone, they usually choose to turn a blind eye. "
"This is so lawless," Roland thought to himself. In this way, the judicial power was almost equal to handing over to the Rats. No wonder some people said that the Rats were the other side of governing the city. In addition, there seemed to be no criminal investigation in this era. If there was no witness to the murder, it would most likely be an unsolved case. Of course, this was only limited to civilians.
Nightingale had always been in the town, and the composition of the population was simple. All kinds of crimes were solved as soon as they happened, so he ignored this problem. Rene didn't say it out loud. Perhaps he thought that it was too much for him to ask for conclusive evidence before he could pronounce a sentence.
But in any case, Roland would not allow a scapegoat to be used in his territory.
"I see. Starting tomorrow, the Security Bureau will take over this case. You just need to cooperate fully."
"Yes, thank you, Your Highness." Rennes was overjoyed.
…
After the banquet, Roland returned to the study on the top floor of the castle. Now the place had changed greatly. The surrounding bookshelves had been removed and replaced with soft reclining chairs, tea tables, and cushions. Two big holes were knocked in the wall behind the desk, and transparent floor-to-ceiling windows were installed. Although it was not smooth and flawless crystal glass, the sense of openness was instantly raised to a higher level. Through the slightly mottled glass, Roland overlooked the Stronghold shrouded in darkness and nodded with satisfaction.
It seemed that Pérot was quite attentive to his orders. It was right to choose him as the agent.
"What are you going to do about this matter?" Nightingale came out of the Mist and sat cross-legged on the table.
"I won't deal with this matter." The prince smiled and shook his head. "Now that the nobles have returned to Longsong, the first task tomorrow is to arrange for them to build a new second-level City hall. According to the model of Border Area, the departments and some people in charge will be divided. The sooner this system is established, the sooner Soroya can draw identification cards. I'll leave the crime fighting to you. "
"Me?"
"You're the person in charge of the Security Bureau. It's up to you to decide how to solve the case … You can use the entire police force of Neverwinter as you wish. Whether it's Vader or Rennes, they can all be regarded as your subordinates."
"But didn't you always say that the power of the departments should be separated and the administrative status should be equal?" Nightingale was puzzled. "I don't quite understand how the City hall works, but this means that the Security Bureau is above it, right?"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
