Chapter 77: Chapter 77: A Scapegoat_1
A quarter of an hour later, Aiden and Veronica appeared in the interview room, separated by an iron table, with Camilla, who had been brought over from solitary confinement, sitting on the other side.
"I didn’t expect to get a chance to come out and take a breather from solitary confinement. Suddenly calling me into this tiny room... Does the warden want to play something thrilling with me here?" Camilla smirked provocatively at Aiden and glanced at Veronica, "And you’ve brought an extra little secretary? You guys play pretty wild."
"Watch your mouth, or you might not be able to eat if all your teeth are gone," Veronica said coldly, locking eyes with Camilla.
The conversation started off explosively, but both seemed accustomed to it.
In the past, Camilla was a small-time gang leader, whereas Veronica was a Mountie who was at stark odds with the gangs, so such confrontations were natural.
Aiden, often on the receiving end of prisoners’ taunts, appeared nonchalant as he cut to the chase with Camilla, "I called you here because I have a question for you..."
"Can I get a smoke?" Camilla suddenly interrupted him.
"What are you thinking?" Aiden’s face was expressionless.
The prison wasn’t entirely smoke-free, but there were still considerable restrictions on smoking for inmates.
Those with low treatment levels, especially those in solitary confinement as a punishment, naturally had no cigarettes, and Camilla was subject to both disadvantages.
"Oh come on, no need to take it so seriously. I was just joking..." Camilla came back with a playful grin, "It’s agony being locked up in there craving a smoke, just one drag would be fine. I’ll cooperate with whatever you ask!"
Veronica rolled her eyes; she despised such evasive and troublesome old prisoners who always dragged the conversation and occasionally made demands, giving the officers a hard time.
But the person in charge at the scene wasn’t her, so she could only glance at her superior sitting beside her.
Aiden, without speaking, took out a cigarette and matches from his uniform pocket and flung them over.
Camilla was thrilled, quickly catching them with her cuffed hands, skillfully putting the cigarette to her mouth, and lighting it.
Veronica was slightly surprised; Aiden didn’t smoke himself, yet he had prepared a cigarette in his pocket—although he initially refused Camilla, it seemed he had anticipated her request and prepared accordingly.
Camilla took a big drag, exhaled with satisfaction, and then, with a slight frown, examined the cigarette in her hand: "Isn’t this the cheap stuff they sell here in prison?"
"You expecting me to get you a top-grade cigar?" Aiden scoffed, "Now put out the cigarette. I said just one drag."
"Alright, alright, your turf, your rules," Camilla replied sarcastically, pinching out the freshly lit cigarette with her fingers.
"I’m questioning you today because I received an anonymous letter here, about one of your past cases..."
Aiden took out the letter and waved it, then briefly outlined the situation to Camilla.
"...So, what do you have to say?" Finally, Aiden asked intensely, staring into Camilla’s eyes.
Camilla’s expression remained unchanged throughout, giving no hint of her inner thoughts.
Camila let out a sigh and then raised an eyebrow at Aiden, "That’s it? I thought you called me over for something big..."
This reaction caught Aiden by surprise—she seemed to not take to heart the possibility of being framed at all.
"So, what do you mean?" Aiden gestured for her to clarify.
"If that’s what the letter says, then it’s probably just that." Camila nonchalantly scratched her ear and said, "As I recall, I only punched the kid twice, once in the chest and once in the face, and he still had the strength to run away. From my experience, unless the body is particularly frail, it’s usually not fatal. After all, I’ve been a hired thug for a few years."
"So you’re saying, you really might have been set up," Aiden asked tentatively.
"Probably." Camila replied indifferently.
"But you seem to be quite unconcerned," Aiden folded his arms.
Camila, who also believed she was wrongfully imprisoned, reacted completely differently from Veronica; she had no intention of trying to clear her name.
Knowing she had been forcibly framed by a rival gang for manslaughter, and enduring many years of imprisonment, the normal reaction would be raging fury, especially considering Camila’s aggressive nature.
"Yeah, because I’ve long suspected I might have been screwed over by someone." Camila shrugged, "This kind of trick isn’t uncommon in the underworld."
"Don’t you appeal? If you’ve been wronged, you could at least fight for some leeway," Aiden questioned.
"Wronged?" Camila’s eyes widened as if she’d heard a joke, then she burst into laughter, "Hahaha... My dear prison chief, just because I carried a black pot doesn’t mean I’m innocent. Considering all the crimes I’ve committed before, it’s no surprise I’m in prison for eight years, let alone if I were to die here or end up on the gallows."
She said, narrowing her golden, gleaming eyes, "You could ask your little secretary about this; I had a bit of a reputation with the mounted police back in the day."
Aiden looked at Veronica, and Veronica nodded, "Although I never directly handled her case, I have heard of her. Before her incarceration for this incident, Camila was already associated with a lot of cases. Assault, robbery, extortion, kidnapping, illegal detention... If all the cases were proven, she’d get life imprisonment at the very least."
"That’s just it, I’m a complete bad egg. You’re not unaware of that, are you, prison chief?" Camila laughed proudly.
"That is true indeed."
Aiden nodded lightly, agreeing with her.
After all, he had been dealing with Camila for about a year.
Finding someone with a completely clean record in a gang is nearly impossible.
As an organized, tightly structured entity with a long history of illicit operations, gangs often possess sophisticated countermeasures against investigation—destroying evidence, bribery, or even finding scapegoats—leading members always find ways to protect themselves, making it difficult for the police to lay a hand on them.
"But the crimes you’ve committed before, probably none had solid enough evidence to convict you, or they would have already been fully pinned on you. Don’t tell me you decided to turn over a new leaf, and that’s why you swallowed this and came to sit in prison," Aiden said.
"I didn’t want to, but at that time, I didn’t have much choice." Camila shrugged, "After all, not all the mounted police are incompetents."
Aiden still felt confused and was about to ask more when Veronica suddenly spoke as if enlightened, "I see, did you... make a deal with the mounted police unit?"
