Clint Westfield opened the door of the interrogation room with a frown. When he saw Ashmia taking a seat first, the frown on his face deepened.
Squeak.
Clint pulled the iron chair and habitually tried to take a cigarette out of his pocket before he looked at Ashmia and put it back in.
“Smoke it, it’s fine.”
While hesitating at her daring attitude, Clint grabbed the cigarette from the table and opened his mouth.
“Little lady, you said you wanted to see me?”
Why in an interrogation room?
There was a strong hint of annoyance in Clint’s hoarse voice.
Should I just smoke it? Wouldn’t the little lady end this troublesome meeting sooner if she doesn’t like the cigarette smoke?
In the end, when he took out a cigarette, Ashmia finally spoke.
“Will you give me one, too?”
Clint frowned at Ashmia’s words.
“They’re not for minors.”
“Well, there are no wiretaps or cameras in this interrogation room anyway.”
Clint’s hand stooped.
When he heard that the little lady wanted to see him in the interrogation room, he wondered what kind of mischief she was planning. In addition, it was Interrogation Room Number 4. This was a brutal place, jokingly called ‘Room of Isolation’, because if you pulled down the window blinds, nobody could see or hear anything from outside.
“Little lady. No, I should call you the youngest daughter of Kalanishiel.”
“I don’t like either of them, but it’s up to you.”
Ashmia grinned and took off her sunglasses.
“I don’t think this is something a child like you should know, Who taught you that?”
The words ‘you did’ came up on the tip of Ashmia’s tongue, but she swallowed them.
“Let’s put that aside, it’s a waste of time. I’m here to give you information.”
“Information?”
Is she trying to whistleblow the Kalanishiel family?
tl/n: whistle blower – a person who reports or informs on wrongdoing within a corporation, government, agency.
“A list of people who smuggle and sell marijuana in large quantities, including some who use blackmail, intimidation, and extortion at the top of the list.”
Clint let out a dejected laugh at Ashmia’s words.
“I was wondering what you wanted me to do, and you want me to grab a lizard’s tail that will fall off anyway. Besides, wasn’t everything you said a special license for the mafia?”
“That was one of Andy Bolton’s works. The police got it all wrong and I said ‘was’.”
Clint forgot how to light his cigarette at Ashmia’s way of speaking in past tense as he waited for her next remark.
“We have never distributed marijuana. “Leon” and “Veros” are none of our business, but at least the source of marijuana circulating among the high nobility is not from the mafia.”
“…Then?”
Instead of answering, Ashmia pulled out a folded piece of paper.
“What is that?”
“Are you ready to make a deal with me?” Ashmia asked, grinning.
“A deal?”
Ashmia placed the paper on the desk and pushed it towards Clint, who had a questioning expression on his face.
“This is a list of the families responsible for more than 90% of the marijuana distribution in the system.”
Clint unfolded the paper with annoyance at Ashmia’s gesture to open it.
However, his eyes grew bigger and bigger as he read the words written on it.
“… Little lady, where did you get this information?”
“Are you kidding me? I can’t tell you that.”
“Then how do you expect me to believe this?”
“If you shake off one of the high-ranking people listed there for good measure, you’ll see that I’m not lying.”
“That joke is too much. None of them are worth shaking off for good measure. Even the low-ranking ones are all from the Pendragon bloodline.”
“Have you checked everything? Are you sure that everything written there is really related to the Pendragons?”
Clint didn’t answer.
“Actually, more than half of them have been involved with each other. Therefore, it will be easier to secure physical evidence, because I’m not afraid to hide it.”
“Then, aside from the Baron, it’s everyone listed here? Including the Viscount and the Count…?”
“Yes. The order of the list is not arbitrary. The ones listed on top are scammers pretending to be of the Pendragon bloodline as I just said.”
“Then the names written below…”
“They’re the real Pendragons. But we don’t have to go there. If you catch the ones on the top in order, Pendragon will take care of the lower ones.”
As Ashmia said, if things got bigger, even a Pendragon wouldn’t want anything unnecessary to spark.
“So there’s no need to look into Pendragon.”
“This is all… Andy Bolton, is it his work?”
“Who else is there? He became a police officer just to do something like this.”
One of Clint’s eyes twitched.
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On the paper, not only were the names of the family and the heads written, but also the stashing spots of the marijuana. Moreover, the provider of this information is none other than the youngest daughter of the Kalanishiel family.
Calling it a well-played prank would be too much.
But…
“Even if what the little lady said is true, I can’t get a search warrant on this alone.”
“I know. Therefore—”
Ashmia leaned her body forward a little as she spoke.
“Ask the Imperial Guard for assistance.”
Tsss!
At last he lit a cigarette, but Clint’s hands and expression were once again stiff.
The Imperial Guard (IG).
Although they also had a lot of internal problems due to the corruption of the guard commander Andrei Baklanov, they had independent investigative powers from the police in some cases, and ‘Drug Possession and Management Control’ was one of them.
But Clint spoke with a puzzled face as he heard the name.
“What are you talking about now…?”
“If the power of the nobility can be weakened, it is the Imperial Cabinet that welcomes them with open arms. And it goes without saying that if the opponent is Pendragon, Andrei will also rush to take this information from you.”
Clint looked around the interrogation room.
As Ashmia said, Interrogation Room 4 had no wiretaps or cameras, but his body reacted reflexively to Ashmia’s outspoken remarks.
“Look, Detective Westfield…”
Seeing his reaction, Ashmia smiled.
“We are not aiming for the heart of the dragon as of right now. We are just trying to cut off one of the hydra’s heads, so there is no need to be nervous.”
“… Hmm.”
Clint coughed to hide his embarrassment.
“If the power of the aristocracy continues to grow as it does now, it’s obvious that not only will the Imperial Cabinet and the police grow tired, but our mafia as well.”
Clint smoked his cigarette silently and looked into Ashmia’s golden eyes.
“So we have to press it before it’s too late. It’s nothing difficult. Touching a domino in a well-stacked pile is a detective’s job. Then, the rest will fall apart on its own. When they see Andrei getting involved, I’m sure Dimitri, the Commissioner of the National Police Department, will foam at the mouth and send out troops. I’ll use a printing press to send out search warrants if that’s what you’re concerned about.”
“…Then what will the little lady get in exchange?”
Ashmia grinned at the bold question.
“A society in which justice is served and there will be a place for reform?”
“It’s weird to hear the mafia say something like that.”
“I’m thrilled that you recognize me as part of the mafia.”
“Are you trying to use the police and the imperial family to defeat the power of the nobles?”
“Isn’t it better to say ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’?”
“…Do you have something like a wiretapping device hidden somewhere?”
“If you are in doubt, why don’t you search me? Or shall I take everything off here?”
“That’s a terrible thing to say. Come on now, I made a mistake.”
Click—
Clint lit another cigarette instead of puffing from the previous one since it turned into ashes before he got to finish it and frowned.
He hated smoking but he continued to do so anyway.
“Little lady. If you go all the way to the Imperial Guard and nothing really comes up, then you won’t be able to get out of it with a simple ‘it was a joke’. Do you know that?”
“Of course. I’ll surrender, so you can arrest me.”
If things really went wrong, it wasn’t going to end with Ashmia or Clint. Not only would several people, including Clint, lose their heads, but the position of the Imperial Cabinet would also be jeopardized, and it wasn’t known what move Pendragon would make using that as an excuse.
But if what the little lady said is true…
This event would serve as a very strong warning that the aristocratic crimes would no longer be tolerated, and at the same time it would serve as an opportunity to suppress the power of the arrogant aristocracy, especially the Pendragons.
High risks, high rewards.
However, it was an offer that couldn’t be rejected more easily.
And above all.
It’s going to be pretty fun.
Clint threw the dice over this ‘playboard’, which was hard to believe that a girl who was still only 17 years old drew, and smiled fiercely.
***
In Michael Rose’s words, he didn’t know if Clint Westfield was a ‘good shooter’, but there was no doubt that he was an ‘excellent cop’.
However, despite being normal, he was too good to be told ‘Clint Westfield’s ability was investigation’, so one day it became rather toxic and he retired. Clint died after being attacked by a mysterious man.
It was the work of those who were afraid that the ‘data’ he had collected during his lifetime would become known to the world.
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***
“This information isn’t free, is it?”
“Of course not. First of all, re-investigate my attempted murder case that was buried by Andy Bolton and share what you find. And—”
Clint grabbed another piece of paper from Ashmia.
“—Please do a background check on this person.”