Chapter 7 Vicious Cases

Celesis kicked it away, and then warned: "Provalos, shut up! Do you want to recruit all the slaves of the Laodician family behind the mountain!" You know, in order to avoid each other Attention, they made a big circle and turned over several mountains before they got here from the side and back.

Selysses' voice just fell, "Gah! Gah! Gah!..." A shrill cry resounded through the mountains, startling Selysses.

A flock of crows perched on the branches.

Provalus looked at Celisis' embarrassed look, couldn't help but wanted to laugh, and hurriedly covered his mouth with his hands.

"Damn the crow!" Celesis couldn't help but scolded in a low voice.

"That's the messenger of Hades, who is here to help us!" But Afitis in front turned around, saluted the crow reverently, and said sternly to Celisis, "If Paphogres recently If something is buried here, it's probably here."

"Here?!" Provalus looked suspiciously at the place where Afitis was standing. The trees and grass seemed to be no different from other places.

Celisis was tall, but he could see it: the grass in the area where Aphitis stood was obviously shorter than the surrounding area, as if this small area was sunken.

"Let's dig it!" Selysses' eyes were full of mechanical eagerness. During this period of time, he inquired from various sources, and none of the information returned did not see the missing girl in Paphogres' mansion, but instead It is a very small amount of information that confirms the fact that the slaves of Paphogres wandered in the forest many times. The most accurate information comes from the famous hunter Aphitis of Prosdemos, who will visit him many times. Help, this piece of land in front of him is his last hope!

He raised the pick up high and smashed it hard.

Provalus took a breath and started digging. You must know that although this mountain forest belongs to the kingdom of Dionia and is not divided among individuals, Laodisian's fields are on the mountainside of the former mountain. Due to the power of his family, there have been several conflicts. Over time, the people of Prosdemo went to the mountains to hunt and gather wood, and they tried to avoid the mountains as much as possible. He would never have ventured here if he hadn't been kind to him by Celesis.

It was very quiet in the col, even the crows stopped chirping, only the sound of low panting and the sound of a pick hitting the ground...

The soil here is wet and soft, and soon a small hole is dug...

"Wait!" Aphitis, who was standing on the side watching the wind, suddenly shouted, stopping the two of them from swinging their pickaxes. He got down and stretched out a small "twig" sticking out from the pool of water at the bottom of the pit. Lift it up, but can't pull it. He stretched out his hand laboriously to wipe the black mud on the "branch"...

The two people next to them widened their eyes: it was a swollen and corrupt finger!

"Aphitis,

Do you know where Inspector Theocassis and his men are hiding now? "

"I know, just when we came..."

"You go and bring them here right now!"

"understood."

...

When Diocassis arrived, it was already half-dark, but he was very excited, and when he saw Selysses, he said excitedly: "Celesses, you finally brought me good news!"

Selysses was sweating, standing by the pit with a pickaxe, looking a little tired, and said with a very heavy tone: "I found a rotting female corpse, it is estimated to be the missing girl. Also found two A corpse...I don't know if there are more in this land?"

Diocassis was taken aback, looked at the dark pit in front of him, and said angrily: "Damn Paphogres, he should go to hell and accept the never-ending torture!"

He suddenly turned back and shouted: "Brothers, light a torch for me and continue to dig this land!"

"Yes, my lord!" Many inspectors responded.

"This will alarm Paphograss!" Celesis hurriedly said.

"Now that the evidence is conclusive, Paphogras still dares to stop me, isn't he afraid to add more charges to him?!" Diokassi waved his hand in a smug voice: "Dig it for me!"

…………………………

The next day, an explosive piece of news quickly spread throughout the city: six corpses were dug up in the mountains west of Naxos. According to the inspector's investigation, the six skeletons were all female, and they were all strangled to death... …

The news heard by the Hittites shocked the people of Naxos: Dionysus has never had such a terrible murder since its establishment. Who is that crazy murderer? ! !

Just when the people were panicking, Diocassis had led a patrol to surround Laodice's mansion.

Although his butler, Antrus, vigorously defended that the corpse behind the mountain had nothing to do with his family, and also loudly protested the illegal behavior of the patrol team to break into private houses, but soon some slaves under pressure admitted: In the past few years, five The young slave girl who served Paphogres disappeared unknowingly.

There is also a slave identification: a skeleton with a missing tail finger on its left hand may be one of the female slaves.

The wife of the freedman who was brought in also recognized that the decomposing body was wearing the same clothes that her daughter was wearing when she disappeared.

Just when Diocassis was forcing the arrest of Paphogres, a male slave took the initiative to confess: These people were murdered by him, and they were willing to obey the law!

In addition to being surprised, Diocassis still took him and the "murderer" back to the police station next to the city hall on the grounds that "Paphogres is a major suspect".

…………………………

Stromboli recruited the young city inspector to the city hall, and as soon as they met, he asked, "Diocsis, is there any progress in the case now?"

"Pavgras has never admitted that he killed the person, only that he was not strict with the slaves and was willing to be punished. And the slave who admitted the murder, according to the other slaves, he was two of Pavgras's henchmen. One of the slaves, and the other committed suicide the night we found the body. I guess they've been burying the body all the time, otherwise he wouldn't have made it so clear where every one of the bones was... But he doesn't care what we do Punishment, always say that he killed the person..." Dio Cassis said with some frustration.

"In the past few days, members of the parliament have often come to intercede for Paphogres, and I can't handle it. If you can't find conclusive evidence of his murder, I'm afraid..." Stromboli felt Beard, thoughtfully said, "How is the punishment for indulging slaves to kill?"

"According to the judge, 'Severely sentenced to 10 years in prison, fined a lot of money.' But the dead were all slaves, and there was only one daughter who was only a registered freedman who was not a citizen, so even if it was true that he did kill , and most likely will not be sentenced to death! Judge Ardaurus also urged me to hand over the slave and Paphogres to the court as soon as possible, and to close the trial as soon as possible, so as to avoid the situation getting worse and causing panic in the city... I think he took advantage of that family!" Diocassis said angrily.

"Don't talk nonsense! The courts are independent, I can't influence them, and I can't interfere! Maybe Judge Ardaurus thinks it's nothing to die for a few slaves." Stromboli comforted him, but his face He was still a little worried: "But this way, Paphogres is fine, so you can't involve Laodician, he won't be punished by the Senate, you've completely offended him..."

"I'm not afraid of them at all!" Diocassis said stubbornly.

Stromboli sighed and said: "With our support, of course you don't have to be afraid, but it is trouble after all... It seems that I have to write to His Majesty again..."

"Why are you writing to His Majesty?" Diocassis asked suspiciously.

"Because Your Majesty hates citizens' abuse of slaves. A few years ago, a member of Crotone's local council severely injured his own slave for no reason, and the local judge imposed a fine. After His Majesty knew about it, he asked the court to re-impose the punishment. , not only fined him a lot, but also sentenced him to a year in prison... If he knew that so many female slaves were killed this time, think how angry he would be, can Paphogras still live!" Strombo A sneer appeared on his face.

Diocassis nodded suddenly.

At this time, Stromboli patted his forehead, and suddenly remembered something: "By the way, you immediately go to the priests of the Temple of Hadid to see if they can get the slave to tell the truth..."

…………………………

For the Greek city-states of this era, there are three most common ways of punishing criminals: fines for the light; corporal punishment for the severe, such as accountability, whipping, and punishment; severe city-states such as Lokrey, as well as chopping hands and gouging eyes Other cruel means, the most serious one is execution; of course, there is also a common method of deprivation of citizenship and deportation.

However, none of the Greek city-states have imprisonment and sentence of imprisonment, because in this way, not only do criminals not have to work, but the city-state must also provide them with food, which is unacceptable for a city-state with few people and money, so these Greek city-states There is no fixed public facility such as a prison.

However, the kingdom of Dionia is different from other Greek city-states. In the laws of Dionia, there is no punishment for mutilation of limbs, but there are provisions for sentenced to imprisonment according to the severity of the crime, so every city in the kingdom has Prisons, most of which are located in police stations.

At this moment, the priest of the Temple of Hades in Naxos, Corinthus, entered the prison of the patrol post with the respectful welcome of Diocassis.

Coriontus was originally a priest of the Temple of Athena in Turii, but after the Temple of Hades was established, his belief quickly spread to the alliance and won the hearts of the people. He came less and less, and he himself was drawn to the teachings of Hades, and finally turned to Pluto. Over the years, he has won the trust of the Priest of Wands, Plessinas, with his abilities. After the temple of Hades in Naxos was built, he, who had been promoted to priest, was assigned to be in charge of the temple of Naxos.