New Gods of North America.

Chapter 730 Full of Energy
As darkness fell and the gangsters gradually left, many of the agents responsible for cleaning up the area learned a new adjective from Wayne—"low-class."

Sometimes, organizing an event at home is like this.

A bunch of gangsters left cigarette butts and leftovers everywhere. The area around the "arena" was the worst affected. Now, if anyone tripped and fell there, they would not only get covered in other people's spit or blood, but might also knock out their teeth.

The gang bosses weren't much better off; they were probably the ones who threw the cigar butts.

Some people are not particular when they smoke cigars. It's one thing for their tableware to be dirty, but their tablecloths are riddled with holes.

Fortunately, this is still a construction site, so cleaning is relatively easy.

After collecting the shell casings and other debris, the rest could be handed over to the workers who would be coming to work the next day. They could just shovel it all away. The broken tables, chairs, and tablecloths weren't worth much anyway, and they would simply become fuel for the detective agency's campfire barbecue that night.

Inessa hadn't shown up all day, and by the time she did, the little leopard was already big enough for her to easily crumble and knead.

Not only would it avoid Lina and follow Inessa around happily, but it would even roll around on the ground next to her, letting Inessa rub its belly, without even hissing.

However, compared to Lina's style of "playing with the kids," Inessa spoke softly while holding the leopard cub in her hands.
But the implication is clearly not something that can be easily forgiven by the little leopard's coquettishness if it makes a mistake:
“I’ve heard that leopards are different from lions or cheetahs. Even if they are domesticated from a young age, it is difficult to completely overcome their wild nature. So if you still have a wild nature, I will release you back into the forest. But if you hurt someone first, then I will have no choice but to get rid of you. Let’s all learn to get along with each other first.”

The leopard cub, being half-lifted, obviously couldn't understand any of this. However, the Hunter Association clearly had methods for taming animals, and when Inessa later tried feeding it cooked meat, she had already begun teaching it some simple commands.
Wayne noticed that although Inissa maintained her usual calm expression, she seemed to actually like the little thing quite a bit, so he felt he hadn't made a mistake in buying it.

But...

"Is this how you tame a leopard? It feels like you're training a hunting dog, Inessa."

It's normal to make a kitten "lie down," but isn't it a bit strange to make it "sit"?

Inessa noticed Wayne's approach and turned her head slightly: "I haven't read much about this before, but as far as I remember, that's what the manual says, and it doesn't specify any particular animal species. If it doesn't work, then like you always say, 'if it doesn't work, change it.'"

That's true. Practice is the only true measure of success. If it doesn't work, we can change it.

With such a reliable zookeeper, Wayne wasn't too worried about the cub's future education and management. At least, he felt more at ease with the flock of crows that were being kept under Lina's name.

Inessa then held the leopard cub up to Wayne's face, letting it recognize her: "I think I only mentioned the leopard once. Thank you for the gift."

“Actually, it’s not just me who remembers…” Wayne smiled slightly, “but as long as you like it.”

To be fair, people in the detective agency like Doug, who also works as a butler, several veteran members, and even Liam, who used to be the most outspoken, all remembered this incident.

It was only after Lina mentioned it to Mr. Paul that the little guy was sent over. Even after arriving, Wayne almost sent him away, practically just holding him back.

Interestingly, while the little leopard seemed timid and hesitant towards Lina, it appeared quite relaxed in Inessa's hands, its hind legs dangling in the air without any effort or even panting.

Wayne gently stroked the head of the large feline cub. "What are you planning to name it?"

Inessa tilted her head and thought for a moment: "What do you think about calling it 'Wayne'?"

"It's not that it won't work... it just feels a little strange."

"Then let's call it 'Lina'?"

These two names aren't even for the same gender!

It's confirmed: Inessa is terrible at naming things.

However, Wayne had roughly figured out Inessa's naming strategy and was a little curious: "Are there any other options?"

Inessa replied almost without hesitation: "Or should we call it 'Hela'?"

Wayne had initially thought the next name would be "Doug" or "Pastor Hark" or something similar, arranged according to the frequency of his daily interactions with Inessa after arriving in the New World. Hearing this, he became even more curious: "Who is 'Hela'?" "She is my mentor in the Hunter Association and a senior hunter," Inessa replied.

Wayne glanced at it, confirming that the little one was a female leopard: "It's best to go with your own opinion, but I think it's better to avoid being called the wrong name in daily life..."

"Well……"

Inessa took the half-raised leopard cub back, turned it over, and their eyes met. "From now on, you'll be called 'Hela'."

The jaguar cub's bark sounded a bit like a puppy's, so Inessa and Wayne took it as agreement.

The two then walked to the campfire and joined the detectives, who had worked hard all day, to grill meat together.

The gangsters weren't powerful enough to hire a head chef, so the food was all sourced from the restaurant and manufactured elsewhere. However, for internal gatherings, they would eat Kansas beef that was escorted from the factory along with the head chef.
The energetic Connor was still looking for someone to fight one-on-one. He had suffered two defeats during the day, and now that he no longer needed to disable his abilities, he wanted to get revenge.

The guy with the fake beard who'd been secretly helping out lately was originally planning to come and say goodbye.

Even if he had run into them, after he finished talking, Connor half-pushed him into a sparring match, and he didn't even get to eat a piece of meat.

Wayne secretly tried feeding the little leopard a piece of roasted meat sprinkled with holy water, then realized it probably wouldn't find it spicy at all, and felt a little bored: "So, is Jason really not going to be found?"

Inesa was reluctant to nod: "It can only be said that after he 'jumped' again that night, there has been no trace of him since. However, according to the Hunter Association's practice, this can only be considered as 'disappearance,' and does not mean that the risk has been completely eliminated."

Wayne had by now lost his illusions about Jason's fighting prowess and felt that even if it reappeared, dealing with it wouldn't be too difficult.

So he tried to get Inessa to stop focusing all her energy on this: "After the initial talks with those gangsters today, the dock area will either quickly descend into chaos or gradually become under control. Didn't you want to clarify the facts for that witness who was silenced because of the hearing? Have you thought about shifting your attention there?"

Inessa was testing the leopard cub's protectiveness with pieces of meat: "I've already had Willie and the others investigate, but because the prison there is relatively independent and not part of the city police system, even the prosecutor's office has no authority to investigate without evidence."

Wayne thought for a moment: "Is there any chance of finding fingerprints or something from the evidence?"

Inessa shook her head: "Since the forensic examination concluded it was suicide, there was absolutely no physical evidence left."

It makes sense; if it were a cover-up, then "eliminating evidence" would be a perfectly logical step.

Even if fingerprints are found in the prison, the detective agency doesn't have a fingerprint database to compare them with, so it's still unlikely to directly identify the person. Moreover, since it's highly suspected that Jason did it, finding him would be meaningless.

Wayne pointed to the fake bearded guy next to him who was actually going toe-to-toe with Connor—that guy seemed to be able to predict Connor's defensive movements to some extent and was surprisingly resilient—and his thoughts wandered a little:

“I remember that according to that guy, someone in the prison should have cooperated in the cover-up, or at least deliberately left a loophole for the killer. If we start from there, wouldn't the clues be more likely to lead directly to the mastermind behind it?”

Inessa thought for a moment: "That's related to the state legislature, and this matter involves the Secretary of State, which obviously involves members of high society. The prison guards probably won't cooperate with the investigation, right? We don't know any of the people involved."

"That's easy. The prison guards should have their shifts recorded, right? Find out who made the arrangements that day and who was specifically in charge, then you can try to ask them directly."

Some investigations are not suitable for a high-profile approach and need to be conducted discreetly, ideally by eliminating some intermediate steps.
Wayne came up with a wicked idea: "We'll send someone to the council to pretend to be drunk. They might be temporarily locked up in the same cell to sober up, and then we can sneak a peek at the guards' duty logs in the middle of the night or in secret. As long as they don't go too far, they can be released on bail after paying a fine, and even if they go to court later, it should be a minor offense."

Inessa hesitated for a moment: "It's theoretically possible. However, the prison is probably heavily guarded, and it won't be easy to sneak out of the cell. You'd need to have enough lock-picking and self-defense skills. For Lina, it might be better to find an opportunity to sneak in from the outside and skip the 'pretending to be drunk' step."

"We don't need Lina. Besides, several of our partners in the detective agency have attended quite a few local dances. If someone recognizes us, it won't look good."

Wayne then pointed to Connor, who was brimming with energy, and said, "I think Connor is more suitable. With his level, he shouldn't have any problems. Anyway, it's just a trial. If there's really no chance, then we can change it to having the intelligence team find opportunities to contact some of the guards and try to question them one by one."

If he's always looking for fights, then give him some "escape room" tasks.

People should develop in all aspects, and mental games are also very important.

(End of this chapter)