New Gods of North America.

Chapter 540 Rebellion

It must be said that the East Coast of America these days is, in a sense, a paradise for criminals.
Even if a murder occurs indoors, most crime scenes usually do not have the conditions for "long-term preservation."

Once the police investigation is complete, the landlords or new owners will often quickly clean up the property and make it look brand new.
Unless the house is still used by the victim's family, going back to look for solid clues after a few months is basically like dreaming.

- After all, in well-developed towns, real estate such as houses are required to pay property taxes every year. If the tenants do not share this money, the landlord will have to pay it out of his own pocket.

It is not so easy for an ordinary house to become a "famous haunted house" in the towns on the east coast of America.

Either the location must be remote enough - such as the headquarters of a detective agency - so that the idle cost is not high and the market demand is not large.

Either the premium has to fall badly enough - like in the case of a manor or a discarded mansion - the owner will suffer a huge loss on paper if he sells it, and can only wait for the right person.

Under normal circumstances, people will definitely still put "life first".
People have died, so let it be. Tenants come and go, and after a while no one knows about it. Even if someone occasionally knows about it, they can only say something like "If you mind too much, don't live here. If you don't mind too much, give you a little discount."

Compared to the case itself, Wayne is actually more curious about the possible motives of the "real murderer behind the scenes", but his curiosity is limited.

Although Inesa's investigation was detailed enough and she even went to the library to check all the newspaper news at the time, because the first-hand clues had been almost lost and the tenants who had lived at the crime scene had been replaced by the third group, she could basically only "rely mainly on guesswork."

Wayne thought about it himself and felt that the whole thing was a little helpless:

"Richmond City Hall was considered a 'friend' when we were investigating the assassination case. And we just received a $1500 reward from the police department, and now they are digging up their old cases. If this gets out, it will affect the reputation of our detective agency, both publicly and privately..."

"Will it?" Inesa was relatively rational in this matter. "But if there is really something wrong with this case, shouldn't it be a good thing if we can find out the facts and let them correct their mistakes?"

"It is true, but 'overturning a case' is not the same as 'investigating a case'. It may involve the issue of accountability... At least the previous case handlers may be publicly condemned by some people. If it is not handled properly, some people's careers may be seriously affected."

America follows the path of the Kingdom of Windsor in terms of law, using the system of "jury plus case law".
The police are responsible for collecting clues and evidence, the jury decides whether to be guilty or not, and then the judge determines the specific sentence.

Since the jury - the so-called "public opinion" - cannot be wrong, and the professional authority of the court as a whole cannot be questioned,

Therefore, if you want to overturn a murder case, there are usually only two ways to go.
Either they say that "the murderer was very cunning" and deceived the police or the jury, or they can only say that "there were problems in the investigation process", "there were flaws in the procedures" or "there were omissions in the evidence" or something like that.

in short,
In today's America, the blame for "wrong judgment" is basically only allowed to be put on the "local police" in the end.

It is normal for some members of the public to feel angry after knowing that "public opinion" has been deceived or misled.
Normal people would not first "blame themselves", so the conclusions made by some members of the public on the local police are often either "stupid" or "bad", which is definitely not a good thing. Regardless of whether the possible conspiracy behind this matter has anything to do with the police, the mere fact of "wanting to overturn the verdict" itself is almost equivalent to "finding fault with the police".

Although "investigating wrongful convictions" is a form of justice, this kind of thing will not offend the "police" in a broad sense.
But... you may still offend the specific "people in power" and "people doing the work" who are held accountable - they may not be bad people, they may just be ordinary workers with different professions, and anyone who is treated like this will be unhappy.

In addition, judging from the "personality portrait", "Southerners" generally care more about face than "Northerners".
Let’s not talk about Sheriff William who seemed a little strange, and just talk about the big picture. The local police have both provided assistance and given money, but the detective agency still did this. If there is a problem with public opinion, it will seem a bit "unethical".

No wonder Reverend Tyrell dared to send all these lists in one go. He also said that before, revealing that he wanted the detective agency to treat everyone equally...

If these things are true, then in the hands of ordinary people, it would probably be called a "conspiracy theory", and in the hands of those in the know, it would be called a "hot potato".
It’s the type that “would look bad on anyone if it was served on the table” and is more suitable for being “blended” in private.

If these dark secrets are revealed one by one, and people are offended openly and covertly, the detective agency may not be able to remain "impartial" in the end.
Damn old man, you were waiting here?
The detective agency has probably already offended the local secret service organization. If it now offends the local police, then it might as well offend the military as well tomorrow.

At least we can put all the violent organizations together and carve them on the tombstone. It will look more respectable...

However, Wayne could understand Inissa's idea. Regardless of whether it was fair or reasonable, judging from the purpose of the Hunter Association that she recognized, the core of "order" was probably "no double standards".
This can be seen from some details, for example, the hunters believe that no matter how sad and upset they are, once the Beyonder is completely out of control, the best way to deal with it is to "eliminate" it, rather than secretly raising a "monster" that has completely lost its humanity - even if the person out of control is themselves.

It is really difficult to really do this, and it often seems a bit inhumane and even "unrealistic".
But in the final analysis... "sticking to principles" is not a "wrong".

"Should we continue investigating these matters? At least from this case, the previous murderer was wrongly accused."

After listening to Wayne's statement, Inissa looked up from the records and asked, looking a little hesitant.

It's interesting to say that Wayne thinks that Inessa's personality is actually quite "straightforward", but she doesn't seem strong in her daily life.
The parrot in the detective agency used to like to fly out of the window and scream early in the morning. One time, Wayne saw Inessa being woken up, but she was still able to speak softly and patiently. He squatted there and persuaded the parrot not to do that in the future, saying that it could fly a little farther in the morning or something.

Maybe it's just like she doesn't agree with the church's philosophy, but is still willing to peacefully accept the "restraints" of the Exorcist Association.
When it comes to things that don't involve major principles, she's actually pretty calm, which is another way of "adapting to the order."

However, if a "knight" like this "doesn't know", it would be fine. But if he sees injustice but cannot help, he will probably end up working alone or develop a demon in his heart sooner or later.

And compared to Inesa's "persistence" and "adaptation", although Wayne is more "worldly", he feels that he is actually more rebellious in his bones. Since Inesa is interested...

Wayne smiled and said, "Since you already suspect there is a problem, let's continue investigating. Problems can always be solved."

(End of this chapter)