Claude had never thought that the procedures and procedures of the investigation would be so complicated.
All the soldiers who had seen Second Lieutenant Becky Milo and First Lieutenant Giprick would have to be questioned by the military law enforcement officer of the investigation team, not just himself and Captain Durioro's statements.
The squad of disarmed gendarmes and Dyavid's platoon of soldiers were the closest to the scene of the incident and heard the gunshot. All of them were interrogated at least two to three times and their statements were checked to see if there were any inaccuracies.
There was even an executive officer who temporarily set up the scene in Captain Durioro's office and asked Claude, Moriad, and another volunteer to reenact the scene of the fight between the three of them to simulate the situation when Second Lieutenant Bekimillo's gun misfired.
That made Claude understand why Durioro had him and Moriette practice the three-on-one combat more than usual. It turned out that he had expected the investigators to do something like that.
The ones who insisted on having Claude and Moriad simulate a fight between three men resulting in a misfire were the ones Claude felt had ill intentions towards him. They probably belonged to the faction of the nobles at frontline command.
Perhaps they thought that by this means they could expose Claude's story and establish the truth of their murder of the two military judges, Lieutenant Becimillo and Lieutenant Giprick.
It would have been better if they didn't reenact the scene of the three-man fight. The moment it happened, everyone's faces turned ugly.
For Moriad's loud voice was shouting, "I thought it was strange. I didn't even touch the gun. How could it have gone off?
So this bastard was trying to hit you, Sir … "
Scene of the reenactment: Bekimillo crouched down with his right shoulder lowered and his right hand tightly gripped the ignited gun.
Claude stood on his left and grabbed his left hand and shoulder in an attempt to turn him around.
Moriad was on his right, half-kneeling on the ground. His right hand was holding onto Bekimillo's right wrist and his left hand was holding onto Bekimillo's right arm.
Given the circumstances, Claude and Moriad's descriptions were correct. Bekimillo crouched down with his right shoulder lowered in an attempt to prevent the two from touching his gun and getting it snatched away.
But the strange thing was that, generally speaking, the gun in Second Lieutenant Becky Milo's hand should be held flat or with the muzzle lowered, but Second Lieutenant Becky Milo was shot in the face. This meant that Second Lieutenant Becky Milo had raised the muzzle and pulled the trigger herself.
Bekimillo couldn't have shot himself, so why did he pull the muzzle up?
The answer was simple. He wanted to shoot Claude on the left because Claude was holding onto his left hand and shoulder. His upper body was exposed above his left shoulder.
Bekimillo held his gun in his right hand and couldn't hit Moriad on his right. So, his only target was Claude on his left.
What he didn't expect at the time was that when he pulled the trigger, Moriad, who was on the right, forcefully pulled his wrist in his direction. As a result, his right hand moved, and the muzzle happened to be aimed at his own face. Thus, the tragedy happened …
"Preposterous!" Wilster slammed the table.
Durioro, Claude, and Moriad weren't lying.
On the contrary, Bekimillo was suspected of breaking the law.
He threatened a superior officer with a gun and tried to shoot during a fight. If word got out, it would be a scandal for the Ministry of Military Justice.
Fortunately, he was the one who died. There was still room for redemption.
"Close the case. Let's conclude that his gun misfired and hurt himself."
Wilster's words meant that there was no problem with the cause of Bekimillo's death.
It was already nine in the evening. Although they had a sumptuous lunch, they were busy at night. The members of the investigation team only ate a few pieces of black bread and drank some black tea to fill their stomachs.
Captain Duriad went up to ask if the investigation of Giprick's death should be delayed until tomorrow.
It was already late and they couldn't delay everyone's rest.
However, Wilster refused. The weather was getting warmer and it wasn't easy to preserve the body. It was better to examine the body before it was odorless and come to a conclusion.
With Bekimillo's death as an example, most of the members of the investigation team were willing to believe Claude, Duriad, and Moriad's statements.
When First Lieutenant Giprick's body was carried out, everyone took one look and confirmed that First Lieutenant Giprick had indeed committed suicide. The reason was simple. First, Giprick had killed himself by biting his tongue, and second, there was a strange smile on the corpse's face.
No one knew that First Lieutenant Giprick had been licked by a goat for an entire night. He was laughing so hard that his lungs were splitting, and he was so miserable that not only was he exhausted, but his tongue was also hanging out.
All Moriad and Dyavid had to do was grab his tongue, hug his head and kick his chin with their knees. Just like that, Giprick had killed himself by biting his tongue.
As for the executive officers of the investigation team, they did not know that there was such a case of suicide.
As far as they knew, there was something suspicious about suicide, be it suicide by hanging or poisoning.
Yet, it was suicide by biting his tongue. That was the least suspicious.
Nobody could force someone to bite their own tongue and make the suicide victim smile in such a creepy manner.
So, they only checked the area around the corpse's mouth to make sure there weren't any signs of being pinched, twisted, or clawed.
Then, they looked at the half of the tongue inside and confirmed that it had been bitten off by teeth. Soon, they came to the conclusion that Giprick had indeed killed himself by biting his tongue.
The few officers who had asked Claude and Moriad to reenact the scene of the fight between the three of them weren't willing to give up.
They took off Giprick's uniform and checked his entire body.
Much to their disappointment, there weren't any signs of torture on the body. There were only some bruises on the shoulder.
Moriad explained that it was because he had used a bit of force to capture First Lieutenant Giprick, who had been standing next to Second Lieutenant Becky Milo and instigated Second Lieutenant Becky Milo to threaten the three of them with a short gun.
As Ensign Bekimillo had just been killed, they were so shocked and angry that they used too much force, which was understandable.
The officers didn't pursue the matter further. They only questioned whether Captain Durioro and Claude had used dishonorable methods, such as threatening to kill his entire family, to force Giprick to commit suicide by biting his tongue.
It was then that Captain Durioro took out the statement Giprick left behind. He said that they immediately interrogated Giprick because of the death.
Perhaps shocked by the death of Second Lieutenant Becky, First Lieutenant Giprick answered every question and admitted that the two of them were accomplices of the four criminals who pretended to be official officers of the kingdom, and that they were here to rescue them.
The statement was also signed and stamped by Giprick. From the neat handwriting, it could be seen that there weren't any signs of coercion. It was just a little sloppy, which showed that Giprick was rather agitated when he signed the statement. He probably hadn't calmed down from Bekimillo's death yet.
But when Captain Durioro received the statement and pondered it, he realized that Giprick's statement stated that he and Bekimillo were to bring a squad of military police to take the four criminals away and release them. Who were they then? Were they accomplices of the two?
So, Captain Durioro decided to interrogate Giprick again. But this time, Giprick didn't say anything. Instead, he suddenly bit his tongue with a sinister smile.
That was something Captain Durioro didn't expect. He could only watch Giprick commit suicide right in front of him.
The military law enforcement officers were still a little confused. It was very likely that in their impression, Lieutenant Giprick was not someone who would have the courage to bite his tongue to commit suicide.
But all the evidence before them pointed to the fact that Giprick had indeed committed suicide by biting his own tongue.
"It's getting late. I think we should close the case.
The facts are clear. Claude and Captain Durioro didn't do anything wrong and shouldn't be accused of treason.
I think some people in frontline command should be given a warning. The war is over. Even if the first prince isn't back due to his illness, the authority over the frontline troops should be returned to the ministry of the army instead of being ordered around by frontline command. Do you have any more questions?
If you don't have any questions, please sign on this document … "
The one who said that was Wilst, the head of the royal guard's military law department. He was also the one in charge of the investigation team appointed by the ministry of the army. His words had already proven Claude and Durioro's innocence.
The deaths of Lieutenant Bekimillo and Staff Lieutenant Gipulioro had nothing to do with Claude and Durioro. Instead, Bekimillo and Gipulioro were the ones who should be held accountable for breaking the law and breaking the law.
Wilst was the first to sign his name on the document and stamp it with the official seal he carried with him.
Next, the heads of the military law department and the field officers of the eight second-line corps also signed and stamped their seals on it.
Finally, there were more than 20 junior officers. They also needed to sign and put their fingerprints on the record as witnesses to the investigation of the case. They needed to prove that there was no doubt in the record.
The junior officers didn't dare to find fault with Claude in case they angered their superiors. Even though they still had their suspicions, they still signed their names on the document.
Claude breathed a sigh of relief. They finally got through the ordeal.
Durioro asked everyone to wait for a moment. He would immediately get the tavern to provide a sumptuous supper for everyone's hard work.
It was rare for Wilst to be so polite. Perhaps it was because Claude and Durioro had been cleared of suspicion, so the general's tone was much friendlier.
He told them to just get something to fill their stomachs and that they would continue interrogating the four imposters the next day.
Durioro said that they should take a break after a busy night. As for the four imposters the next day, they would only have to go through the motions.
The four imposters were still alive and well. At the same time, there were also records of them posing as military judges to make things difficult for Claude. The truth would be revealed after a look at the case.
After that, Durioro got his adjutant, Staff Sergeant Siegfeld, to bring a few cases of fine wine he brought from home. It was his private collection. He had planned to enjoy it slowly, but now, he had no choice but to share it with everyone.
With the wine, the atmosphere in the tent became livelier.
However, the two corpses on the ground in the middle were still an eyesore.
Durioro asked for instructions on how to deal with the two corpses. Wilst waved his hand impatiently and said, "Just deal with them like the dead. Burn the corpses and put the ashes in small urns. Then, write their names on them and hand their belongings to the front line command's aftermath department. They will return the urns and belongings to their families."
It had been almost a week and livor mortis had already appeared on the two corpses.
Claude used the excuse of dealing with the corpses to leave the tent and ordered a few soldiers to carry the corpses to a hill far away from Squirrel Village. They found some dry firewood and poured oil on it before setting the two corpses on fire.
In the distance, the sound of singing and laughter came from the dormitory of the Squirrel Village investigation team. Captain Duriolo even packed the waitresses of the tavern and sent them to the big tent to wait on the members of the investigation team to enjoy the wine and sumptuous supper. Although it was called a supper, it was actually a banquet.
While the investigators were busy collecting evidence, Durioro had already ordered his adjutant, Staff Sergeant Siegfeld, to prepare everything for the tavern in the village.
The corpses were engulfed in flames and a strange smell of meat wafted in the air.
Claude wasn't unfamiliar with the smell. It wasn't as strong as the one he smelled when he burned down Squirrel Village back then.
On the other hand, the soldiers who were waiting to collect the ashes couldn't take it and retched a few times.
Claude took out two thales from his pocket and tossed them to the soldiers. He told them to go to the tavern and buy a bottle of gran wine each to rinse their mouths. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to eat for the next few days.
The investigators stayed in Squirrel Village for another two days before leaving. They took away the four criminals, the urns of the two military judges and all the documents related to the two cases.
Claude had wanted to tell General Welst about Skri's grievances, but the general refused to listen to him.
He said that the main reason he brought the investigators to Squirrel Village was to investigate the two cases. As for the case of Skri being wrongly accused of losing his land, it wasn't within his jurisdiction and he couldn't do anything about it.
Claude was a little disappointed as he looked at the retreating figures of the investigators.
Durioro, on the other hand, comforted him in a relaxed manner, "General Welst is telling the truth. He's the head of the royal guard's military law department. He doesn't have the authority to interfere with the military law department at frontline command.
If you want to save Skri, the only thing you can hope for is for the first prince to return as soon as possible. "
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