11 Chapter 11 Petition Letter_1

"This..." Veronica was stunned for a moment, then she shook her head. "Impossible!"

"How can you be so sure?"

"The one on duty at the vault that day was a rookie I had once trained. We had a rather good relationship. He made mistakes before and I managed to cover for him. I did him a favor. He knew I was a werewolf, but still respected me, he——"

"In that case, it was you who killed the person." Aiden couldn't help but laugh.

"I said I didn't kill anyone!" Veronica emphasized somewhat displeased.

"If you didn't kill anyone, then he gave false testimony. If he didn't give false testimony, then it was you who killed the person. You're really having your money counted by someone who sold you out." Aiden spoke with an unmistakable tone of derision. "Don't you understand why the court sentenced you to death?"

"Isn't it because I am a werewolf?"

"Perhaps they do hold a bit of prejudice against you for being a werewolf, but to sentence someone to death, how could they do it without clear evidence? I've seen your file. The key evidence for your conviction in court was that person's testimony and the pistol used as evidence. He said in the trial that you returned your service pistol in a fluster at half past twelve, and that he didn't inspect your service pistol then. Is this true?"

"This… It is true. That night there was a sudden downpour at midnight, and I was eager to get back to my apartment to bring in the laundry. Bruce… that rookie, he let me go without checking my gun on the spot."

"Well, his testimony could perhaps be seen as an unfortunate coincidence, but then the problem lies with the gun that was used as evidence. Think carefully, the service pistol you returned to the vault was missing bullets. If someone had tampered with it, then whoever it was, could not have bypassed the person on duty at the vault. How could you not see through such an obvious fact?" Aiden stated with conviction. "You, yourself, are a police officer. You should put aside personal feelings and think it through properly."

Veronica wanted to retort, but after thinking for a while, she was shocked to find that she indeed seemed to be as Aiden described, somewhat blind as an insider.

She had been on duty at the vault before and knew very well how secure the police vault was. Rather than considering someone could miraculously bypass the vault's guard and tamper with a service pistol, which was sheer fantasy, it seemed more likely that it was an inside job by the person guarding the vault.

"My experience working in prisons tells me, for an ordinary person, becoming a criminal is but a momentary choice. Anyone is capable of making a mistake, and many criminals don't seem like the type to do wrong based on their behavior and demeanor. If you truly believe you are innocent, you should suspect everyone," Aiden reminded her.

"But, but why would he do such a thing?" Veronica couldn't help but raise her voice in agitation. "I did him a favor in the past; he has no reason to frame me!"

Aiden thought for a moment. "Well, that might require us to consider the real culprit first."

"The real culprit?"

"Of course, if the person wasn't killed by you, then there must be a real culprit. I read in the case file that the investigation team, after studying the shell casings left at the scene, immediately focused their suspicion on the mounted police. Are your mounted police's service pistols somehow unique?"

"Yes, sometimes we form a ceremonial guard for festival celebrations, so our service pistols are different from other departments' equipment. They're custom-made. Our department just recently started using new Mauser pistols..." Veronica began to say, then suddenly realized, "You mean—"

"If the real culprit isn't you, it's very likely another mounted officer," Aiden continued smoothly, "With that presumption, since that rookie Bruce was responsible for the vault that day, then it must have been another mounted officer who committed the murder. He might have given false testimony not necessarily to frame you but to cover for the real culprit. The real culprit and the rookie guarding the vault conspired to make you the scapegoat."

"..." Veronica was thoroughly dumbfounded.

From birth, she had faced discrimination because of her werewolf identity, and she had cursed her werewolf lineage countless times. This time, being wrongfully imprisoned, she subconsciously blamed everything on the curse that had plagued her since birth.

It was this habitual way of thinking that had limited her perspective.

From blind rage to being utterly crushed, then to self-abandonment, she cursed her fate's injustice day after day in prison, yet she never deeply considered who exactly had framed her.

Aiden's hints were not exactly complex deduction. As a police officer, she should've realized such a simple thing much earlier.

If treating her differently because she was a werewolf constituted prejudice, then wasn't blaming all her problems on that fact a form of prejudice as well?

"I..." After a long silence, Veronica hesitantly began, "want to meet that person."

"It's impossible," Aiden replied decidedly. "You're a prisoner now. How could a prisoner meet whoever they wish to? Prisoners don't have freedom."

At his words, Veronica clenched her teeth.

Then, Aiden changed his tone, "However, I could go meet him for you."

Veronica suddenly stood up, grabbing the bars on the iron door.

"You... can you find a way..." she swallowed, her throat dry from emotion, her speech disorganized, "can you find a way... to clear my name? Is it possible... to find a way?"

Veronica pressed her face against the bars, staring eagerly at Aiden—this was the first time Aiden had seen a desire to live in her eyes.

"I can't give you any definite hope, but I suppose I can try to help you look into it. If you're truly not the killer, I will do my utmost to vindicate you."

After a long while, Veronica asked, "Why?"

"Why what?" Aiden replied, "My prison only holds criminals. If you're not a criminal, I have no reason to keep you here."

"I mean, why do you choose to believe me?" Veronica asked seriously. "Most of the people I've met look at me as a criminal just because I'm a werewolf."

"I told you I haven't believed you, I'm just listening to what you have to say," Aiden shrugged his shoulders, "Okay, I admit I don't give every prisoner this kind of opportunity, looking after you involves some personal considerations... Hey, don't suddenly look at me so strangely, that's not what I meant by personal!"

Aiden sighed, took a stack of neatly organized letters from his pocket, and passed them through the meal slot, "You'll understand once you see these."

"What are these?"

"They're petition letters. On the day you were incarcerated, a lot of petitions arrived in my mailbox," Aiden explained calmly. "Each letter was signed with real names and came from residents of your precinct. They pled for leniency in your case, and some of them simply don't believe you committed the crime."

Veronica stared blankly, her eyes wide. After a long moment, she reached out and carefully picked up the letters, as if they were written long ago, the paper now brittle with age, and her slightest force might crush them.

"These people all firmly believe you are a good cop, and I guess they probably sent some to the court as well. How do I put it, I'm not really a person of absolute impartiality, I guess. To be honest, these letters gave me the first impression that you might have been wrongfully accused, so I paid attention to your case file," Aiden said, putting on his hat and standing up. "Please remember, there might indeed be people who are prejudiced against you, but there are also people who remember your efforts."

"Well, it's about time for a shift change," Aiden said before walking towards the other end of the corridor, leaving Veronica alone, unable to speak as she held the letters.