New Gods of North America.

Chapter 544 Dockside

The detective agency had learned about this when they went to the bridge in the middle of the night to "ask the gods". Richmond is now considered a dividing point for "internal and external shipping" in Virginia.

No matter whether the goods came across the ocean from the Old World or strolled along the east coast of America, when they arrived here they had to "change from big ships to small ships" or "change from water transportation to land transportation."

Vice versa, a considerable portion of local goods such as tobacco also depart from here.

In addition to the "distribution of goods" and "eating and chewing", the "meat" is moved back and forth here, and the people who handle it can naturally get some "oil and water".
Almost everyone in Richmond, from top to bottom, can be said to be a beneficiary of this incident. The city hall received tax revenue, businessmen had room to display their talents, and ordinary people, from clerks in various companies such as commerce and trade, to employees in various commercial stores, to the so-called "bottom-level" temporary manual workers, at least seemed to have "opportunities everywhere."

According to the list given by Reverend Tyrell, the "real murderer" behind the journalist's case lived in the cargo distribution area called the "Dock District".
Richmond's dock area was built along the St. James River. It was divided according to different types of goods and transshipment channels. It was called a "district", but in fact it was a large area with docks and warehouses. Many people lived nearby.

If you look at the map, the dockland area is actually a little larger than the "Richmond city area" in a narrow sense. To say that it occupies "half of" Richmond's city area is actually a bit modest - but locals generally do not regard it as "the city", and making a living here does not necessarily count as "having a job in Richmond", except for high-paying ones.

In theory, it is not easy to find someone in such a large area. The address given by Reverend Tyrell is only accurate to the "street", which is considered "rubbish navigation" in the urban area.

When the carriage reached a certain location, Sanders asked passersby several times for their names, but to no avail.
The dock area is not as standardized as the urban area. The streets are sometimes wide and sometimes narrow, and may even turn into alleys. It is even difficult to confirm where the beginning and end of a "street" are.

Wayne was about to get out of the car and knock on someone's door, but when he noticed that "Softening" seemed to be hesitant to speak, he turned around and asked, "Have you heard of this person?"

"Soften" carefully chose the words, as if worried that Wayne would feel embarrassed:

"Boss, you are from outside the area and may not know much about local affairs. This 'James Darmody', generally called 'Jimmy' by everyone, is the leader of a small gang. You usually won't get any information by asking this... Passersby who know or don't know will probably say they 'don't know' to avoid getting into trouble..."

So he's a celebrity. No wonder Reverend Tyrell isn't worried about the detective society not being able to find him...

Wayne was a little curious, "He's a big shot?"

"Forehead……"

It seems that it is not clear how to describe the word "softening". "Gangs that are too rampant will be eliminated in Richmond. However, the people in the dock area are too mixed, and it is difficult for the police to manage them. Therefore, as long as they do not cross the line, all parties will allow some "small gangs" to exist.

"Jimmy's gang is relatively young. It is said that he has military experience. His fame is all due to his ruthlessness, but his scale is not large. He should not be considered a 'big shot' in your eyes..."

Got it, street-level gangs.

But Reverend Tyrell is really something. He should at least make a note on the list. He only gave one name for one case. If you don’t know, you might think the other party is a “lone wolf”.

I don't know who is more powerful than "Grey Wolf" Freddy...

And according to Reverend Tyrell's style, there might be "a bunch of people" behind some cases...

Wayne was brief and to the point. "Do you know where their base is? How many people are there? Are there any Beyonders?"

"They should be ordinary people... just a few people, probably less than ten."

After all, Soften was from a local spy organization, and probably belonged to the upper end of the "food chain" in this regard. "How about you wait in the carriage for a while, Pekan and I... Expansion and I will go and bring the people back?" Wayne took a look at the two men's auras, "Try not to hurt anyone, and don't cause unnecessary trouble."

"Softened" nodded, "We heard Mr. Doug talk about the rules. Under normal circumstances, you must resist and not fight back."

"Go ahead, then. The carriage will follow you at a distance where you can be seen."

……

It turns out that Wayne underestimated the value of the local spy organization.

"Soften" and "Expand" them. They were previously caught by Inesa when they set fire to the temporary base of the detective agency. The overall impression Wayne had was that they were "inexperienced and cowardly" and that they were also an "outsourced team".
But if you think about it a little bit and think further back, all the bodyguards of Mr. Molière from Frank were killed in the attack, and there was not even a drop of blood at the scene. That incident should have been the work of a local spy organization.

They are like "a leopard will behave itself when it encounters a lion or tiger", not "really a vegetarian"...

"Softening" and "Expansion" I walked along the street for a while, and came to a house not far from the alley where someone was sitting outside smoking, chatting and reading a newspaper. It felt like an unprofessional "watching the crowd", but it was reasonable to have such a painting style.

Then they talked to someone for a few words and were taken inside by someone. A few minutes later, two gunshots were heard and everything became quiet again. "Zhuang" soon poked his head out of a window on the second floor and said that the operation went smoothly. It seemed that he was worried that Wayne would misjudge the situation.

After returning with the men, before Wayne could ask, "Softening" immediately explained:
"Boss, we didn't use any weapons. They were the ones who fired the gun just now. According to what we know, patrolling police officers normally wouldn't investigate the gunshots at the gang's base, so it shouldn't cause any trouble for the detective agency."

Wayne nodded and looked at the person who was brought back.

The style of this arrest was actually not quite right. The man's entire upper body was tied up into a coil, his hair was a bird's nest, his face was bruised, his nose was bleeding, and his formal attire, which had originally looked quite close-fitting, was now tied up in a mess by the ropes.

After signaling the two men to get on the car, "Soften" and "Expand" skillfully clamped the captive in the middle.
Wayne was sitting on the opposite seat in the carriage. He reached out his hand and helped the other person straighten his collar a little bit, with a kind expression:

"Are you James Darmody?"

I didn’t expect that I would have the opportunity to “pretend to be a good guy” like the gangster boss. It feels pretty good…

The other party's first reaction after hearing this was similar to those upright and honest people in movies and TV dramas. He seemed to want to talk trash or spit. Wayne had already made a plan for where to hide.

But after being "softened" and glared at, the other party quickly backed down, "Yes, I am. May I ask who you are? Did my people do something wrong that affected you? I will teach them a lesson when I return."

Wayne pulled a prepared old newspaper from the side and folded half of it on the top:

"Look at this news. Do you still remember the content?"

The other person's eyes quickly scanned the paper and soon froze on one of the lines.

Wayne glanced over and saw the victim's name written there.

(End of this chapter)