New Gods of North America.

Chapter 535 Insider Information
The carriage that Wayne was sitting in soon merged into the traffic on the street which was obviously busier than usual.

Not long after entering the cathedral, he saw Tom Hagen alive.

The good news is that this guy doesn't appear to be under house arrest, and his previous treatment doesn't appear to have been downgraded.

But the bad news is that things really looked like "something big" was happening in the cathedral.

Not only did the monk who led the way look like he was keeping his head down and speaking carefully, but almost everyone along the way had a serious expression and walked in a hurry.
Tom Hagen is currently packing up his office and seems ready to run away...

Wayne's brain was working rapidly, and thousands of words were combined into one sentence, "Is the news in the newspaper true?"

Tom Hagen was obviously in a bad mood at the moment. He kept moving his hands and nodded slightly: "In a sense, that is the 'fact'. You don't need to doubt it."

The things in the room were already packed into two large boxes, and there was an open suitcase on the table.

Wayne looked at a light-looking bag inside, recalling the past while trying to ask, "So the Bishop..."

"The funeral is scheduled to be held in seven days, mainly to wait for Bishop Jonathan Krontz to come and preside over the ceremony, followed by the election of a new bishop and the ordination ceremony the next day."

Tom Hagen said directly, then paused for a moment, "I met with the bishop for the last time this morning, and I will probably leave for Springfield the day after tomorrow."

Compared with the Holy See, the funerals of clergymen of the Holy Spirit Church are generally relatively simple and plain, but when it comes to the level of bishops, no matter how "simple" it is, it is not much simpler.

At least many of the prominent figures and main priests in the archdiocese will gather together. From paying homage, chanting, commemorating, blessing, to the final burial in the cemetery, everything will be carried out in the presence of the crowd. Ordinary people are not even qualified to stand in the large circle of "crowds" closest to the body.

Given Tom Hagen's relationship with Bishop Corleone, even if it wasn't his turn to give a memorial speech at the ceremony, he shouldn't have missed out on the final farewell ceremony...

Wayne's nerves tensed up, and many things suddenly became connected.

Tom Hagen's appointment had been agreed upon long ago, and what he said now roughly matched what Reverend Tyrell had said before, both of which roughly said that, at least this morning, Bishop Corleone could still speak on his own. If you think about it this way...

"What happened last night...was it something you had planned in advance?" Wayne asked.

"How should I put it? I don't know exactly what happened last night."

Tom Hagen seemed a little disappointed, but he quickly cheered up. "But you don't need to worry. I left because of the bishop's request and I have things to do. And from my point of view, Pastor Tyrell still has use for you. Unless something big happens, the situation in Virginia will not change significantly in at least one or two years. If you are interested, you are welcome to visit me."

Well……

Considering the current situation of the church, it may still be inconvenient to speak in the cathedral, even though it is a private space.
Wayne chatted with Tom Hagen for a while longer, and in the end he could only ponder the meaning of his words and temporarily excused himself. "I'll come and see you off when the time comes."

……

When we walked out of the cathedral, the square next to it was still extremely congested.
Generally speaking, the best place to get gossip is a bar or pub, but it was obviously too early to go there, so Wayne planned to go to the city hall and the police station and check out any freshly published newspapers, which might contain some updated news.

Looking towards the square, Sanders didn't find a good spot. At a glance, he saw that the space between them was either the roof of a car or a person's head.
It was estimated that the carriage would not be able to arrive for a while, so Wayne simply walked over by himself. As a result, he had not taken a few steps down the steps of the cathedral when, as soon as he was out of the range of the church guards' surveillance, a group of people rushed over.

"Sir, do you have any latest news about last night's incident?" "Can you please reveal your identity? If you have any valuable information, we can discuss it in detail alone."

"Mr. Wayne, I'm a reporter from the New York Sun. May I ask if the church has commissioned you to investigate the case again?"

"Wayne? The recent great detective? Entrusting you to conduct the investigation, does it mean that the Cathedral is completely disappointed with the Richmond police?"

"Can you tell me what you think about last night's incident? Some people say that this was a rebellion launched by large farmers in collusion with local clergy. How do you think we should criticize such vicious conspiracy theories?"

Good guy,
So many voices poured into my ears at once, and some of them were obviously mixed with other people's opinions, which made my mind go crazy.
What is high-fidelity full surround noise?

Wayne has never eaten pork, but he has seen pigs run. He squeezed through the crowd and said "I don't know, no comment" all the way. He just wanted to escape from this hellhole as soon as possible. He didn't even dare to say "no comment" which could be easily distorted and misinterpreted.
Fortunately, reporters these days still have some ethics. At least they chased the reporters into the square and stopped rushing over like waves. There were guards here as well, and the people guarding many of the carriages outside looked like tough guys. They all had an attitude of "If you dare to get too close to the carriages, I'll be in trouble."

Although it was also crowded, people in the square at least maintained the most basic social distance, and at least no one was blocking the way.

But things were not much better here. Soon a figure came over from the crowd. Wayne turned his head and saw that he had seen this face before. It was the butler of Mr. Russell, the current number one financial sponsor of the detective agency.

"Mr. Wayne, are you free now? Mr. Russell wants to invite you to meet."

Are you kidding me? What invitation? You could have just said "one for every one I get"...

"I don't know what happened last night, and I went into the cathedral just now for other things." Wayne told the truth.

The butler smiled and nodded politely, but he obviously didn't hear a word: "Mr. Russell specially arranged for us to invite you here. It won't take you too long. If you don't mind..."

Looking at the gentleman in front of him who looked like he was not going to understand what people were saying for the time being, a few other people who looked like butlers or footmen gathered around him, as if they were "queuing" according to some strange etiquette.
Wayne had given up. It was still too early to go to the bar anyway, so he had to give his sponsor some face. So he could only raise his hand and point from a distance, "My carriage is parked over there."

In the end, Wayne was politely "escorted" by the butler all the way, as if he was afraid that he would run away...

The two carriages drove one in front and one behind. Fortunately, Wayne was not taken to Mr. Russell's manor this time, otherwise it would have wasted a lot of extra time going back and forth.

Wayne entered a club whose name he couldn't see clearly through the side door. In a small hall that was not too spacious but even the carpet seemed to be made of wool, he saw that Mr. Russell seemed to be communicating with several people of similar status.

After taking a look at the butler who brought Wayne over, Mr. Russell quickly turned around and introduced him to the person next to him in a rather formal manner:
"You should all be familiar with this person, Wayne Constantine, the great detective who has been making headlines in the newspapers recently. We are long-term partners."

In addition to the slightly surprised and puzzled voices, there was soon a voice asking "What kind of cooperation is it?". One gentleman seemed to have other questions to ask.

Unfortunately, before Wayne could advertise the detective agency, Mr. Russell had already stopped several other gentlemen who also looked like potential sponsors.
One of his hands was now half on Wayne's arm, making him look like a kind elder treating the younger generation of the family who was the focus of much attention. But in fact, it seemed as if he was half-pushing Wayne to continue having contact with them.

Mr. Russell had a sunny expression on his face, and he seemed to be deliberately showing off his pride to the people around him: "Wayne, let's go to the reception room and talk alone."

Come on, I really don’t have any inside information…

(End of this chapter)