Chapter 38 Chapter Thirty-Seven

The court opened in accordance with established procedures. "Before the gate of justice, the judge will hear all the complaints of the plaintiffs, distinguish the truth from the false, and protect the weak from the bullying of the powerful in this great place (this is the inscription carved on the gate)." This time, the court adjoining the pylon gate of the temple of Ptah was enlarged in order to accommodate the great number of dignitaries and curious crowds about the event. Pazar and the assistant clerk stood in the deepest part of the courtroom. The jury was on the right hand side of the judge. The members included Chief of Police Mengmosi, Mrs. Ninofa, Blarney, Meifeng, and a priest from the Temple of Putah. , a priestess of the temple of Hador, a landowner, and a joiner.The presence of Blaney, considered a philosopher by some, underscores the seriousness of the case.The elder of the gate hall is on Pazar's left. He attended as the most senior judge to ensure the legality of the court debate.

The two judges wore white linen robes and plain old-fashioned wigs, holding a scroll before their eyes, which sang the golden age of cosmic harmony governed by Maat. "Myself, Judge Pazar announced the opening of the court. The plaintiff in this court is Suti, the chariot captain, and the accused is General Asher, the fan holder on the right side of the pharaoh and the officer trainer of the Asian Legion." The audience whispered to each other.If it weren't for the solemn and solemn atmosphere in the courtroom, most people would have thought he was joking. "Chariot Captain Su Ti is invited to attend."

As soon as the war heroes came out, it immediately caused an uproar.He's handsome and confident, not at all the paranoid or demoralized soldier who's broken with his commander. "Will you swear that everything you say in court is true?" Su Ti followed the oath presented by the clerk. "I swear by the name of the eternal God Amon, and the name of the eternal Pharaoh...and wish the Pharaoh who has power more terrifying than death will live forever, the fortune of the country will be prosperous, and the world will never change...There will be no ignorance." "State your allegations."

"I accuse General Asher of renewal, treason and murder." The crowd in the auditorium was shocked and angry, and could not help booing everywhere. The elder of the door hall stopped immediately: "In order to respect the goddess Maat, everyone please keep quiet during the debate, otherwise you will be expelled from the court immediately and fined heavily." The elder's warning took effect. "Chariot Captain Suti," Pazar continued to ask, "do you have evidence?" "Have." "I have opened an investigation in accordance with the law," the judge noted, "and the results have uncovered strange facts which I believe to be relevant to this lawsuit and which I suspect imply a conspiracy against Egypt and endangering the people of the country. "

At this point, the situation in court has become more tense.The dignitaries present were all amazed to see that such a young judge could be so majestic, so determined, and speak so weighty. "General Asher is invited to attend." No matter how prominent Asher's status is, according to the law, he still has to appear in court in person and cannot hire someone to represent him.The short, filial general stepped forward to take the oath.He wears battle clothes: short loincloth, fish mail, chain mail. "General Asher, what do you say about the allegations just now?" "Chariot Captain Suti was appointed by me personally, he was very brave, and I also awarded him the Golden Fly Medal.

During the last Asian campaign, he performed outstandingly several times, and he is indeed a hero who deserves his credit.I also think he is one of the top archers in the army.His accusations against me are baseless and I will never admit it.I think he just lost his mind for a while. "The general had no fear, Pepe talked. "You mean you're innocent?" "yes." Suti sat under a pillar, facing the judge a few meters away; Asher sat on the other side, close to the jury, so that the jurors could easily observe his demeanor and almost expression. "The role of this court," Pazar explained, "is to reconstruct the facts. If the crime is proven, the whole case will be referred to the Prime Minister. Dentist Kadash is now invited to attend."

After Kadashi took the oath nervously in court, the judge asked, "Do you admit that you ever broke into Chemist Xieqi's laboratory and attempted to steal?" "deny." "Then why did you appear at the scene?" Kadashi tried to answer calmly: "Because I just bought a batch of high-quality copper materials, but something went wrong in the transaction." "Who told you about this metal?" "The head of the barracks." "That's not true." "It's true, I..." When he was in a hurry to defend himself, Pazar interrupted him: "This court has already obtained the written testimony of the person in charge. Regarding this, you lied. And you lied again after taking oath. You have committed perjury. "

Kadashi couldn't help trembling all over.If he met a strict jury, he would be sentenced to torture in the mines; if the jury were more lenient, he would also have to be sentenced to four months of hard labor on the farm. "Your previous answer is doubtful." Pazar continued, "I ask again: who told you the information and location of this precious metal?" Kadashi half-opened his mouth as if convulsed, and did not make a sound. "Is it Chemist Sheche?" The dentist's face was stained with tears, and he collapsed.Pazar gestured to the clerk to help him back to his original position.

"The chemist Xieqi is invited to attend." After waiting for a while, Pazar thought that this sick-faced scientist with a black mustache would not appear. He came anyway, and the Chief Constable was right, he was a reasonable man. At this point the General suddenly asked for the floor: "Let me interject. Isn't this another case?" "I think these people are inseparable from the cases we are dealing with now." "But Kadashi and Xieqi are not my subordinates." "Please bear with me a little longer, General." Asher was annoyed, and gave Xie Qi a sideways glance.He seems very relaxed.

"You do work in a research lab that specializes in improving weaponry for the military, right?" "yes." "In fact, you have two jobs: one is an official job in the palace laboratory in broad daylight, and the other is more secretive, and the place of work is covered by the barracks." Sheki nodded. "Afterwards, because of the attempted theft by Dentist Kadash, you moved all your equipment without filing a complaint. " "Because I have to keep it secret." "You're an expert at fusing and casting metals, so you'll have materials from the military, stockpiled and inventoried."

"Of course." "Then why do you have the god's iron bars for religious ceremonies, and a god-made cross-axe chisel?" As soon as the problem came out, the four were even more shocked.As Pazar mentioned, neither the divine iron nor the chisel could leave the sacred realm of the temple, and the thief could be punished with death. "I didn't know there was such a treasure." Xie Qi said calmly. "But it appeared in your laboratory, how do you explain this?" "It was someone else's malicious framing." "Do you have any enemies?" "If I can be blamed, my research plan will also be stopped, and Egypt will be in danger." "You are not an Egyptian, but a Bedouin." Under the judge's stern questioning, Xie Qi only said calmly: "I have forgotten." "You lied to the laboratory director that you were born in Memphis." "He misunderstood. I mean I feel like a Memphis guy." "The military inspected and verified your information according to the procedure. General Asher, the inspection department should be under your jurisdiction, right?" "Probably." Asher muttered. "That means you vouched for a lie." "It's not me, but my staff." "You must take legal responsibility for the mistakes of your subordinates." "I admit this, but who will pay attention to such trivial matters?" The general couldn't help crying, "The clerk makes mistakes every day when writing reports, not to mention that Xieqi is already 100% Egyptian. His current achievements prove that we have no The wrong person, he is indeed trustworthy." "But there's another version: you've known Sheki for a long time: you met him early in your campaigns in Asia, and you were intrigued by his abilities in chemistry. So you helped him get into Egypt and hid his past from him , and arrange an opportunity for him to engage in the manufacture of weapons." Pazar's tone was a bit aggressive. "It's a complete fabrication." "The Divine Iron was not made by grabbing. What are your plans? Why did you give the Divine Iron to Xie Qi?" "Nonsense." The general just sneered at the judge's questioning. Pazar then turned to face the jury, and said: "Please pay attention to one thing: Kadashi is a Libyan, and Xieqi is a Bedouin originally from Syria. I believe that these two must be accomplices, and General Asher also There must be a connection. They have been planning for a long time, and intend to use the Shentie to cross an important threshold." "It's just your idea, you have absolutely no evidence." The general retorted. "I admit that I have only three facts that should be punished: the perjury of Kadashi, the false statement of origin by Sech, and the administrative failure of your department." The general folded his arms haughtily.So far, the judge has only been humiliating himself. "The second point of my investigation," Pazar continued slowly, "is the incident with the Great Sphinx at Giza. According to an official document signed by General Asher, the five honor guards responsible for guarding the Sphinx should have all died in an accident.Is that right? "I did stamp it. " "However, the content stated in the official document does not match the facts." Asher lowered his arms with a puzzled face, and replied, "The military has already paid the funeral expenses for the victims." "That's just three of them. He is the chief guard and two other guards who live in the delta, and I can't find out the exact cause of their death; as for the other two, they were sent back to the Thebes area to retire. Therefore, in that After the so-called fatal accident, they are still alive and well." "That's weird," General Asher admitted. "Can we hear what they have to say?" "Both of them are now dead too. A fourth veteran died in an accident, but it was probable that someone shoved him into the bread oven. A fifth veteran, out of fear, made anonymity as a stalker. Then he too drowned, or should I say murdered." "Protest." The elder of Mendian declared, "According to the report sent to me by the local police, the incident was indeed an accident." "In any case, at least two of the five guards were not killed by falling from the Sphinx as General Asher claimed. Moreover, Shao Gong once revealed to me before his death that the other guards were armed. Several men and a woman were killed in the attack. They spoke a foreign language. This is the fact that was concealed in the general's report." The elder of the door hall frowned.Although he hated Pazar, he always believed in what the judge said in public, especially the seriousness of the facts he revealed could not be underestimated.Even Meng Moxi was deeply shocked, so the real trial began. The general defended himself excitedly: "I have to sign so many official documents every day, I can't verify every one by myself, and I seldom care about the affairs of retired soldiers." "The jury must have found it interesting, because the laboratory where Xie Qi collected the Shentie box is located in a veterans' camp." "What does that matter?" Asher said angrily. "The accident has been verified by the military police. I just signed an administrative document so that the funeral can be held as soon as possible." "Don't forget you took the oath." Pazar warned first, and then asked, "Now I ask you, do you deny being informed of the attack on the Sphinx guard?" "I deny it. And I also deny any direct or indirect responsibility for the deaths of these five people. I have absolutely no knowledge of this tragedy or its aftermath." The general defended himself eloquently and won the approval of most jurors.The judge did uncover a tragic murder, but Asher's fault was at best a minor administrative error rather than involving one or more murders. "I don't want to drag these strange phenomena into this case," said the elder of the door hall, "but I think it is necessary to conduct further investigations.Besides, is there no doubt about the words of the fifth veteran?Wouldn't he have fabricated the facts to attract the judge's attention? ""After he talked to me, within hours, he died. "Pazar reminded. "An unfortunate coincidence." "If he was murdered, it means someone has kept him from revealing more information and not giving him the opportunity to appear in court." "Even if you are right, what does it matter to me?" asked the general, "if I had checked, I would have found, like you, that the guard of honor did not die in the accident. During this period, I have been I am fully committed to this important task of preparing for the Asian campaign." Pazar knew that the possibility was not high, but he still hoped that the general's self-control would lose control a little bit. However, he still resisted the opponent's attack after all, and even the sharpest words couldn't hurt him at all. "Su Ti is invited to attend." The chariot captain stood up with a serious expression."Are you still not dropping the charges?" asked the judge. "yes." "Tell me why." Suti recounted what happened: "When I first went to Asia, my officer and I went to meet up with the army led by General Asher, but the officer was ambushed by the enemy on the way and died. At that time, I was walking alone through an unknown Too safe area, I thought I was lost, but at this moment, I witnessed a terrible scene. A few meters away, an Egyptian soldier was tortured and killed; I was exhausted and there were so many people attacking him that I couldn't help him.One of them questioned him first, and then brutally slit his throat.The criminal, the traitor, was none other than General Asher. "After hearing these words, the defendant still looked blank. The audience was dumbfounded, and everyone waited with bated breath.The faces of the jurors suddenly became serious. "These shameful statements are sheer nonsense," said General Asher with an almost solemn tone. "It's no use denying it. I saw it with my own eyes, you murderer!" "Calm down," Pazar ordered. "This testimony proves that General Asher was in collusion with the enemy, and that's why the Libyan traitor Eddafi is still missing. His accomplice informed him of the location of our army in advance." , and planned the invasion of Egypt together with him. This crime of General Asher has to make people suspect that he is involved in the Sphinx case. Did he kill the five soldiers to test the What about weapons? Maybe after further investigation, the events I just mentioned can be connected together one by one, and the truth of the matter will become clear." "You can't convict me," said Asher calmly. "You question what Suti said?" "I believe what he said was true, but he was mistaken. According to his own testimony, he was exhausted and possibly dazzled." "The image of the murderer is deeply imprinted in my mind," Suti said affirmatively, "I even swore to find him. At that time, I didn't know he was General Asher.When we first met and he praised my exploits, I recognized him right away. "Did you send scouts to infiltrate enemy territory?" ’ Pazar asked the general. "Of course." Asher replied. "How many people are you sending?" "three people." "Will their names be registered?" "This is the rule." "Did they all come back alive after the last battle?" General Asher showed a disturbed look for the first time. "No... one person died." "It's the one you killed yourself, because he discovered your true identity." "No, I'm innocent." The jurors noticed the tremor in the general's voice. "You, with countless honors and even the responsibility of educating military officers, betrayed your country by the most despicable means. You should confess your guilt, General." Asher's eyes suddenly looked blank.This time, he was almost about to admit defeat. "Suti made a mistake." "Please allow me to lead a few officers and clerks to the present site," Su Ti suggested. "I will definitely find the place where he was buried. We can bring back his body, ask someone to identify it, and then Give him a grand funeral." "I order you to leave immediately." Pazar announced, "General Asher will be detained in the main barracks in Memphis for the time being, and will be guarded by the police. Until Suti returns, he is not allowed to have any contact with the outside world. At that time, the court will be held again. The jury will also reach a verdict."