Chapter 591
Celsius kicked it away and warned, "Provalos, shut up! Do you want to summon all the slaves from the Laodisian Family? " In order to avoid the enemy's attention, they had taken a huge detour and climbed over several mountains before coming here from the side.
As soon as Celsius finished speaking. "Caw! Caw! Caw! " A mournful cry resounded through the mountains, startling Celisis.
A flock of crows perched on a tree branch.
Provalos looked at Celsius' sorry state and wanted to laugh. He quickly covered his mouth with his hand.
"Damn crows!" Selysses couldn't help but curse in a low voice.
"That's the messenger of Hades. He's here to help us!" Aphetis, who was in front, turned around and bowed to the crows. He then said to Celsius with a straight face, "If Paphogris has been burying something here recently, it's probably here."
"Here?!" Provalos looked at the place where Aphetis was standing in doubt. The trees and weeds there did not seem to be any different from other places.
Although Celsius was tall, he could see that the weeds where Aphetis was standing were much shorter than the ones around it. It was as if the entire area was sunken.
"Dig!" Celsius's eyes were filled with mechanical eagerness. He had been asking around through various channels, but none of the information he got was about the missing girl in Paphogris's mansion. On the contrary, there was a small amount of information that confirmed that Paphogris's slaves had wandered the forest many times. The most accurate information came from the famous hunter of Prospero, Aphetis. That was why he had come to him many times to ask for help. The land in front of him was his last hope!
He raised his pick high and smashed it down.
Provalos took a deep breath and began to dig as well. Although this forest belonged to the Kingdom of Diónia and was not given to any individual, Laodisian's farmland was on the mountainside. Due to his family's power, there had been several conflicts. Over time, the people of Prospero who wanted to hunt or collect wood in the mountains would try to avoid this area. If it weren't for Celisis' kindness, he wouldn't have risked coming here.
It was very quiet in the valley. Even the crows had stopped cawing. Only the sound of breathing and the sound of pickaxes hitting the ground could be heard …
The soil here was wet and soft, so they quickly dug a small hole …
"Wait!" Afitis, who was standing on the lookout, suddenly shouted and stopped the two from swinging their pickaxes. He crouched down and reached out to pull up a small 'branch' that was sticking out of the water at the bottom of the pit, but he could not pull it up. Then, he stretched out his hand to wipe off the black mud on the "branch" …
The eyes of the other two widened: it was a swollen and rotten finger!
"Aphitis, do you know where Inspector Diocasis and his men are hiding?"
"I know, just now when we came …"
"Bring them here right now!"
"Got it."
…
When Diocasis arrived, the sky was already dark, but he was very excited. As soon as he saw Celisis, he said excitedly, "Celisis, you finally brought me good news!"
Celisis was covered in sweat. He stood next to the pit with his pickaxe, looking a little tired. He said in a very heavy tone, "We found a decomposing female corpse. It's probably the missing girl. We also found two skeletons … I wonder if there are more in this land? "
Diocasis was shocked. He looked at the dark pit in front of him and said angrily, "Damn Paphogris, he should go to hell and receive endless torture!"
He suddenly turned around and shouted, "Brothers, light the torches and continue to dig this land!"
"Yes, my lord!" Many of the inspectors responded.
"This will alarm Paphogris!" Celisis said anxiously.
"Now that the evidence is conclusive, Paphogris still dares to stop me. Isn't he afraid of adding a few more crimes to his name?" Diocasis waved his hand smugly, "Dig!"
… …
The next day, an explosive news quickly spread throughout the city: Six corpses were dug up in the mountains to the west of Naxos. According to the investigation of the inspector, all six corpses were female, and they were strangled to death …
The news shocked the people of Naxos. Since the establishment of Diónia, there had never been such a terrible murder case. Who was the crazy murderer?!
While the people were panicking, Diocasis had already surrounded Laodisian's mansion with the patrol team.
Although Andreus, the butler, tried to argue that the skeletons behind the mountain had nothing to do with his family and loudly protested against the patrol team's illegal act of trespassing on his private property, a slave soon admitted under pressure that five young female slaves who served Paphogris had disappeared unknowingly in the past few years.
There was also a slave who said that a corpse with a missing little finger on its left hand might be one of the female slaves.
The wife of the freedman also recognized that the rotting corpse was wearing the clothes that her daughter was wearing when she disappeared.
Just as Diocasis was about to arrest Paphogris, a male slave took the initiative to stand up and admit that he killed all these people, and he was willing to be executed!
Diocasis was shocked, but he still used the reason that "Paphogris is a major suspect" and brought him back to the patrol office next to the city hall with the "murderer".
… …
Strompoli summoned the young city patrol officer to the city hall. As soon as they met, he asked, "Diocasis, is there any progress on the case?"
"Paphogris has always denied that he killed them. He only said that he did not discipline the slaves well and was willing to be punished. The slave who confessed to the murder was identified by other slaves as one of Paphogris's two trusted slaves. The other one had already committed suicide on the night we found the corpse. I'm guessing that the two of them have been burying the corpses all this time. Otherwise, he wouldn't have told us the location of each corpse so clearly … But no matter how we torture them, he always says that he killed them … "Diocasis said in a dejected tone.
"These days, there have been parliament members coming to plead on Paphogris's behalf, and I can't handle it anymore. If you can't find conclusive evidence that he killed them, I'm afraid … "Strompoli stroked his beard and said thoughtfully," What's the punishment for allowing slaves to kill people? "
"According to the judge, 'Severe cases can be sentenced to ten years in prison and a large fine.' But those who died were all slaves, and only one was a registered freedman's daughter. None of them were citizens, so even if he really killed them, it is very likely that he will not be sentenced to death! Judge Aldarus also urged me to hand over the slave and Paphogris to the court as soon as possible so that the trial can be closed as soon as possible to prevent the matter from getting worse and causing panic in the city … I think he took advantage of that family! "Diocasis said angrily.
"Don't talk nonsense! The court is independent. I can't influence them, and I can't interfere! Maybe Judge Aldarus thinks that the death of a few slaves is nothing. " Strompoli comforted him, but there was still some worry on his face. "But this way, Paphogris will be fine, and Laodisian will not be implicated. He will not be punished by the Senate, and you will have completely offended him …"
"I'm not afraid of them at all!" Diocasis said stubbornly.
Strompoli sighed and said, "With us supporting you, of course you don't have to be afraid, but it will still be troublesome … It seems that I will have to write to His Majesty again …"
"Why do you need to write to His Majesty?" Diocasis asked doubtfully.
"Because His Majesty hates it when citizens mistreat slaves. A few years ago, a member of the Crotone local parliament severely injured his own slave for no reason, and the local judge fined him. After His Majesty Devers found out, he asked the court to impose a new punishment. Not only did he pay a large fine, but he was also sentenced to a year in prison … This time, if he knew that so many female slaves were killed, you can imagine how angry he would be. Will Paphogris still be alive? "Strompoli sneered.
Diocasis nodded in realization.
At this time, Strompoli suddenly slapped his forehead. He suddenly remembered something. "Right, immediately go to the priest of the Temple of Hades and see if they can make that slave tell the truth …"
… …
For the Greek city-states of this era, there were three most common ways to punish criminals. The lightest punishment was a fine; the more severe punishment was physical punishment, such as accountability, whipping, and other punishments. The more severe city-states such as Rockley had cruel methods such as chopping off hands and gouging out eyes. The more severe punishment was execution. Of course, the most common method was to deprive the criminal of his citizenship and deport him.
However, not a single Greek city-state had imprisonment and sentence. This was because not only did the criminal not have to work, but the city-state had to provide food for the criminal. This was unacceptable for a city-state with a small population and little money. Therefore, these Greek city-states did not have fixed public facilities such as prisons.
However, the Kingdom of Diónia was different from the other Greek city-states. In the laws of Diónia, there was no punishment for mutilation of limbs. Instead, there were provisions to sentence the criminal to imprisonment according to the seriousness of the crime. Therefore, every city in the kingdom had a prison, and most of them were in the inspection office.
At this moment, the priest of the Temple of Hades, Colientus of Naxos, entered the inspection office under the respectful welcome of Diocasis.
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