New Gods of North America.

Chapter 332 "Stepping on the Foot"

After a night of cross-examination,

After all, the detective agency is not a notorious hidden organization, so the deterrent effect is probably not enough.

Therefore, some of the questions asked can basically only be regarded as "small chips", but there are no "bullets" that can be fatal.

The content involved includes such things as jointly suppressing certain new priests, deliberately exposing the scandals of some competitors when researching candidates for priests of small parishes, or threatening insiders, covering up some accidental deaths and injuries to innocent people during exorcisms, etc.

Of course, there are also some minor issues such as abusing discretion and using the church and one's own influence to make excess profits.

As for things like "secretly arranging people to investigate the detective agency", it can't be considered a "thing" at all.
At best it could be described as "overcautious" or "misjudgment", but it did not fall into the category of "mistake" - of course the premise was that it was not like tonight, when one was caught on the spot by the person involved.

Even if all these things were published in the newspapers, it would only make people whisper or murmur behind their backs.

At most, the church will do a little more investigation and hold people accountable, and the issue will basically be resolved. The church may even try to suppress public opinion.

It might be useful during special times like elections, but on ordinary days, it is not enough to cause anyone to be "excommunicated" or "resign".

After all, to be honest, it is difficult to find solid evidence for some things, and it is not impossible for witnesses to change their statements.

Since the "quality" is not enough, then "quantity" should be pursued.
Wayne took advantage of the fact that the three prisoners were separated to obtain some inside information.

For example, if this person tells a new story, he will tell the other two people that it has been revealed by someone else. He will also use the new information to pry open the other two people's mouths and try to verify its authenticity.

In theory, if a person can name one or two "gray deeds" that he or she has participated in, rounding up to the nearest two,
If you then tell the other party that "this matter has already been told by two other companions", you can pick up four pieces of information for free. If you continue to squeeze in, you may be able to squeeze out two more pieces of new information.

The last three captives squeezed out a total of fifteen "little scandals".
Reverend Tyrell has a little more stuff to do, but in Wayne's opinion, this guy is relatively "clean".

Accidental deaths and injuries to innocent people during exorcism seem to be something that is difficult to completely avoid, and of course, malicious cover-ups are not right.

You can't say it's right to use your influence to make a little extra money or give "friends" some convenience, but it's not "wrong" in America either.

As for abuse of discretion…

Sometimes they secretly made private "deals" with some extraordinary criminals, and sometimes they increased the punishment and treatment of some "corrupted" people for some other considerations. Wayne felt that he could understand it.

The story of Pastor Bazzini is a little darker.
Digging up dirt, exposing scandals, secretly colluding, secretly "fishing", privately threatening, secretly "tripping"
In general, it is a normal operation of a sinister villain to "support his own party members and suppress dissidents", but it is slightly better than directly arranging murders and arson.

Wayne planned to tell Tom Hagen all the news. He didn't know how the cathedral would react when it found out.
It might be very exciting, and maybe Bishop Corleone and the others already knew about it.

The three captives did not know exactly the same things.
Wayne finally gave nicknames to all those scandals. Those who can understand will probably know what they are referring to, and those who don't know can just guess for themselves.

Then he read out the nicknames of the black material to them:
"What I just read is all the information our detective agency has gained tonight. Thank you for your cooperation. We will keep the source of the information confidential.

"By the way, two of the three of you only mentioned two things, and the rest of the information was provided by another gentleman. But the quantity is not important, as long as you have a cooperative attitude. I would like to thank you all again.

"If you are willing, we will pretend that what happened tonight never happened. You have not been discovered by us, and we don't know any inside information. The chef of our detective agency has prepared some delicious food for you. You can eat before leaving, or you can just leave."

Several colleagues from the Exorcist Association kindly declined Wayne's offer.
After picking up his personal belongings, he ran out of the cellar and drove away in a carriage.

……

The next day was Sunday.
Wayne went to Georgeburg Church holding his stomach. David Mills felt a little strange when he saw Wayne, "What happened to you? The last time I saw you, you were fine."

"Oh, it's nothing serious." Wayne held his stomach and took a deep breath. "I was followed on Wednesday night and shot. It had started to heal, but I tore the wound again this morning."

"Wednesday?"

David Mills recalled for a moment, "That was the day you reported the case to the police station?"

"Yes, it happened after I reported the case. So I suspect my judgment is correct. It seems that someone really wants to take action against members of the Fisk family, and I just happened to be in the way." Wayne nodded seriously.

It is said that you should look at the owner before beating a dog, but sometimes you have to beat the dog in front of the owner.
Those guys from the Exorcist Association were quite cooperative last night, so we won’t continue to bother them. However, we have to secretly arrange for people to investigate the detective agency. We have to find a chance to settle this account.

David Mills frowned. “I didn’t receive any news that you caught anyone. How could you let the attacker get away?”

Well……

Wayne shrugged his shoulders. “Most of our men have been out recently, and the other side is very powerful. But if we meet them again next time, we will try to arrest them.”

David Mills thought for a moment and said, "You should pay attention to the impact and not make things worse."

"Do not worry."

Wayne patted his waist out of habit, and before he was exposed, he quickly added a grin, "I'll pay attention."

Although we can only “fight without breaking up” with people within the church, we cannot “not fight at all”.
For example, if you are walking on the red carpet and see a foot secretly reaching out to trip you, one solution is to pretend you didn't see it, then walk over and step on it with a smile.
This way everyone will look good, and maybe fewer people will want to stretch their legs in the future.

From Wayne's perspective, the cathedral in a sense encouraged Wayne to do this.

At least Bishop Corleone didn't seem to like "the kid who was always being bullied".

If those three guys hadn't told others about what they had been caught last night,

Then Pastor Bazini might not know that he has discovered that he secretly arranged for someone to follow up and investigate.

You can still find an opportunity to "step on his foot".

For example, if he is followed next time, Wayne will have to consider sending the prisoner to the police station with great fanfare, and it would be best if he could notify the reporters and put it in the newspapers.

I just hope that next time I won’t meet those three unlucky guys from last night again.

As for Reverend Tyrell of the Exorcists Association… he’s a candidate for bishop, and he’s not directly hostile to the detective agency, so let’s not mess with him for now.

As Wayne thought about this, he went to the crowd to greet Sheriff Bill Tench of the police station:

"Hey, Bill. How did you know I was attacked last Wednesday night?"

"what?!"

(End of this chapter)