The Warden of Sexy Witches

Chapter 577: Chapter 577: The Standard for Murder_1

Rose Iron Prison, Aiden sat in his office, scrutinizing the three photographs on his desk.

"These three are the previous victims, right?" Veronica stood by the desk, observing the photos with Aiden.

When it came to firsthand experience in investigating murders, Veronica, who had worked with the Mounted Police, actually surpassed Aiden, which was why Aiden had specifically asked her to come and discuss the case.

"Yes, these two victims are from the Empire, and this one is from the autonomous region; all female, aged twenty-three, nineteen, and twenty-one. The crime scenes are these three cities in the picture, right along the railway line from the Empire to the central part of the autonomous region. Both victims from the Empire were locals from the place of the crime scene. Only the victim from the autonomous region came from a village in the suburbs; she was working in the city," Aiden summarized briefly. "The killer is very systematic. The three crimes took place each a month apart, always on the fifteenth or sixteenth—that is, on the night of the full moon. After killing, the perpetrator would use necromancy to create zombies. The victims’ characteristics are also quite distinctive."

"Targeting young, and quite pretty, women." Veronica scanned the photos back and forth, "Commander, did the killer plunder any of their belongings?"

"No."

"Then, at the time of their demise, did they..." Veronica paused for a moment.

"They were not violated," Aiden caught what she was about to ask, "All the killer did was impersonate the victims beforehand, then kill them, and finally use necromancy, as if he derives pleasure purely from these actions."

Turning a freshly deceased corpse into a functioning zombie is actually quite basic necromancy, so it is unlikely that the killer’s motive is to test the possibilities of dark magic. Moreover, a wizard conducting experiments with live subjects would select as many and varied samples as possible to obtain the most accurate experimental results.

This killer seems to be satisfying his ego by killing, but the fact that he specifically chooses young and beautiful women without committing any acts of sexual assault is indeed rare.

"Could it be that the criminal is a woman?" Veronica suddenly suggested.

"That’s not impossible," Aiden nodded in agreement.

Serail killers who target women are not necessarily male, and those investigating must not be led by habitual thinking, thus overlooking other subtle possibilities.

"These three people..." Veronica compared the three photos back and forth, suddenly narrowing her eyes.

"Did you find something?" Aiden realized she had noticed something.

"No, nothing special, just felt the features that make them exceptionally attractive are a bit different," Veronica waved her hand dismissively.

"Be more specific," Aiden’s interest was piqued, no clue was too minor to overlook at this point.

"Well, this person has especially beautiful eyes, this one’s nose, and that one’s lips... and eyelashes," Veronica muttered softly.

"You’ve observed quite keenly," Aiden commented.

"That... just, just envy as another woman, I also know it’s not a useful clue," Veronica looked a bit embarrassed, "Please don’t ridicule me."

"I meant what I said," Aiden replied. His first thought was that it was not of much use, but he reconsidered the features Veronica mentioned—the women were indeed beautiful, but their most striking facial features were not exactly the same.

Aiden mentally noted down the distinctive features, and suddenly, those traits that surfaced in his mind bizarrely assembled themselves together, forming a face.

This was just a subconscious cognitive process, but a familiar face emerged naturally. The individual facial features seemed like loose parts finding their original unit, slotting into place, corresponding with that face.

Aiden’s eyes widened in shock.

That was... Deborah’s face.

"Commander?" Veronica noticed something odd in Aiden’s expression.

"Veronica, don’t you think that the features you just mentioned resemble Deborah Awen quite a bit?" Aiden asked.

"Huh?" Veronica also took another look, recalling the details, "Indeed..."

She nodded in agreement but didn’t feel much of it: "But, Commander, this only shows that Miss Awen’s face has hardly any flaws; her features are perfectly proportioned."

While saying this, she tried her best to suppress her own sense of injustice, keeping her personal emotions well hidden.

"Beautiful eyes vary, and different facial features can be attractive in different ways. But their characteristics are precisely like Deborah’s," Aiden spoke slowly, "What if I tell you the killer not only tried to murder Deborah in the past but might also have some sort of connection with her?"

Veronica believed Aiden’s clue without question and reorganized her thoughts: "Are you saying... the killer murders them because parts of their faces resemble Deborah?"

"I think it’s very likely," Aiden nodded.

"Have you asked Miss Awen about what exactly her relationship with the killer might be?" Veronica inquired.

"She has no other recollection except for having fought the killer herself," Aiden shook his head.

"If the killer selects his prey with such criteria, then wouldn’t his next target be Miss Awen?" Veronica realized with a start, "She’s recently been on the city’s news!"

"It’s possible, but not certain. Deborah holds the divine word and has caused him to fail before; he may not have the power to kill Deborah," Aiden said, "When Deborah started off in the Empire, she had been in the news. In the autonomous region, she is not very famous, but in the Empire, she is quite a topic of conversation. The killer also committed crimes in the Empire at that time. If he developed the urge to kill upon seeing news about Deborah, he would have targeted her back then." fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

"So, should we contact the Mounted Police for assistance in the search?" Veronica asked.

"Hmm, but now we can narrow down the scope a bit more, which is to prioritize searching for those who have partial or complete facial features resembling Deborah’s," Aiden replied, "Get their detailed information and make sure when we pinpoint the killer’s target, we can protect them immediately."

"But even narrowing down the scope like this, it’s hard to ensure we haven’t missed anyone. Silvertown is so large, and the police can’t possibly devote all of their resources to help... especially when we don’t have substantial evidence," Veronica said, her expression grave.

"Do what we can, since this matter concerns human lives. I’ve also requested help from the Heresy Tribunal. At that point... we’ll just have to rely on luck," Aiden said.