Law America, the Devil's Agent

Chapter 69 Angel Bullying: Division of Labor and Cooperation (Fourth Update, 3.3K Words, Please Subscribe)

After watching Martha and her son disappear into the corridor, Link stood at the conference room door for a moment.

He glanced down at the stack of paintings in his hand:

The little blue figure surrounded by black shadows, and the long robe with buttons and collars added heavily.

He then folded the drawing paper again, tucked it under his arm, pushed open the conference room door, and said to Celine, who was organizing documents in the hallway, "Tell Benny and Cona to come to my office in five minutes."

Emergency meeting.

Five minutes later, the door to Link's office was closed.

Benny was the last to come in, carrying several folders that had just been retrieved from the archives.

Upon arriving at the office and sensing the heavy atmosphere, as well as Link, Celine, and Cona already in place, he felt tense. However, he didn't ask anything, simply placed the folder on the table, pulled out a chair, and quickly sat down.

Once the door is closed, the office is completely isolated from the open office area outside.

Link sat behind his desk and spread the stack of drawings out one by one on the table.

A vortex of crimson and black, a slender figure without features, lips of a little man repeatedly blackened, and a long robe with buttons and a stand-up collar.

Four paintings, four stages of fear, from the onlookers to fingers on shoulders, from silent stares to a kind of tangible contact that Alex cannot describe in words.

"This was brought by our client, Ms. Martha Kate, this morning."

  

Link began by saying, "Her son, Alex, enrolled in Sacred Heart Elementary School, a private Catholic elementary school, a few months ago."

They began to be targeted shortly after enrolling.

During this process, I suffered many offenses from others.

Based on my conversation just now, the person in question is in a weakened mental state, but I still managed to glean some useful information from them.

The victims of the violence likely included his classmates and staff members on campus.

Martha tried to resolve the issue through the school, the media, and the police, but all her efforts were in vain.

The school gave evasive answers, the media was threatened, and the police were unable to file a case due to insufficient evidence.

The only physical evidence currently available is the photographs of Alex's bruises, his medical records, and his own paintings.

Oral testimony has not yet been formed.

When asked related questions, Alex is almost unable to speak without strong stimulation and guidance.

This shows how deep the trauma he suffered was.

Just now, he picked up a pencil in my office and added a clergyman's robe to the drawing.

He turned the last painting around so everyone could see the black figure with buttons and a collar added: "This is no ordinary event."

This is a case involving the religious field.

The case is tentatively codenamed "Angel Abuse Case".

From this moment forward, all work related to this case will be kept strictly confidential. All documents will be filed separately, and any discussions related to the case must not take place outside the office.

Benny nodded subconsciously, took a pen from the pen holder, and opened his notebook.

Celine's fingers were already flying across the laptop, taking notes of the meeting.

Kona leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, her usual smile gone, her eyes fixed on the paintings.

Link stood up, walked to the whiteboard on the wall, picked up a black marker, and began to write.

Victim: Alex Kate.

White male.

Congenital Tetralogy of Fallot, postoperative recovery period.

His expressive abilities are affected by both illness and trauma, and he is currently unable to fully describe the victim's experience.

Location of the incident: Sacred Heart School and its affiliated Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

The perpetrators are initially classified into two groups:

First, classmates. Targeted attacks by a group.

Second, clergy.

He wrote a number on the whiteboard and circled it: "We are currently facing two difficulties."

First, the other party is a church-affiliated organization.

I don't need to elaborate on how deep the Catholic Church's network of relationships and how strong its social resources are in this regard.

Martha's previous attempts to seek help from the school, the media, and the police were all rejected, indicating that the other party has a well-established response mechanism.

Second, the direct evidence we currently possess is weak.

Alex's photos of bruises can prove the existence of the injury, but they cannot directly prove the perpetrator's specific identity and behavioral details.

Medical records can prove the timeline of the injury, but they cannot pinpoint the specific person responsible.

Alex's paintings are the most direct physical evidence, but in court they need to be used in conjunction with other evidence; a child's drawing alone cannot constitute a complete chain of evidence.

Benny's pen flew across the paper, and Celine's keyboard clicks were almost synchronized with Benny's pen tip.

Kona remained leaning back in her chair, but her fingers tapped lightly on her chin, a habitual gesture when she was thinking.

"But their strengths are also their weaknesses."

Because church schools have deep social resources and political protection in Philadelphia, their internal management inevitably involves a lot of gray areas that they don't want outsiders to see.

Once we find a breakthrough:

Even if it's just a past traffic ticket, a complaint record, or a scandal that was suppressed internally—

This will cause cracks to appear throughout the entire wall.

Link turned around, drew a dividing line on the whiteboard, and began assigning tasks on the right side of the line.

"Now I'm going to split the investigation into three parallel lines."

"First, we went to the front lines to collect evidence."

Benny, you are responsible for obtaining publicly available information from Sacred Heart Elementary School, including but not limited to:

List of school board members, church affiliation and information on the supervising bishop, and any records of complaints, legal disputes, and negative media reports against the school in the past five years.

At the same time, Alex's complete medical records were obtained through Martha, and the timeline of the bruises was cross-referenced with the course schedule and activity schedule on the school calendar.

You need to contact Nathaniel Hawthorne about this—

He is now the chief of cardiothoracic surgery at Jefferson Hospital and has the ability to access relevant diagnostic resources.

Tell him it's my request, and he will comply.

Note that at this stage, absolutely do not proactively contact the school. Any requests for external information must be made through public channels or indirect means, and the other party must not be aware that we are investigating them.

"Understood, the team leader will contact Dr. Hawthorne immediately."

Benny made a heavy circle on his notebook.

"Secondly, what I need is relevant legal and case law research."

Kona, you are responsible for finding relevant case law in Pennsylvania and the federal government concerning bullying in church schools and clergy abuse of minors.

Three key areas: judicial practice boundaries of tort law, education law, and exemption clauses for religious institutions.

I need you to compile a complete case law index, noting the applicable conditions for each case and the potential risks that would be unfavorable to us.

At the same time, it should be determined whether the Catholic Church is currently involved in any other similar lawsuits within Pennsylvania.

If so, which law firm did the other party use, what strategy did they employ, and what was the outcome?

Kona nodded in response, "I'll start compiling the research tonight."

I'll give you a preliminary index by tomorrow afternoon.

"The final third line of defense is on-site control and peripheral investigation; I'll handle that myself."

Link turned around and drew a third line on the whiteboard: "I will contact Los and have him arrange for a few reliable people to conduct an external observation of Sacred Heart Elementary School and its affiliated church."

Record the daily patterns of people entering and leaving the school, especially the daily movements of clergy—when they arrive at school, when they leave, and whether they have fixed times and places to contact students.

At the same time, I will contact Mancla to find out through informal channels of the South African gang whether the church where Sacred Heart Elementary School is located has had any other suppressed scandals in other parts of Philadelphia.

Sometimes, the locals know more about church matters than the archives do.

In addition, I need to obtain the architectural plans of Sacred Heart Primary School and its affiliated church through my connections with Antun Company.

If the case proceeds to litigation, the scene layout will become an important basis for cross-examination.

He put down his pen and turned to the entire team.

"Everyone here needs to keep a few principles in mind."

First, gather evidence before revealing your true intentions.

Before sufficient evidence is obtained, no one is allowed to disclose case information to the outside world, nor is anyone allowed to contact school or church personnel alone.

Second, all field operations must be conducted in pairs to ensure personal safety and compliance with evidence collection regulations.

Third, this case involves the Catholic Church. Once they realize we are investigating, they will use every means to retaliate, including but not limited to pressuring the law firm, speaking out to the media, and threatening the client.

Therefore, from now on, all internal communication regarding this case will be conducted via encrypted email, and paper documents will be locked in the office filing cabinet, with the key kept by Celine.

In addition, Celine informed Antoon to arrange temporary accommodation for Martha and her son, and then have them arrange for a few people to guard them.

Regardless of whether they use it or not, let's prepare the place first.

I don't want Alex to go back to a house where someone leaves a dead cat on his doorstep.

Celine nodded.

Kona placed the folder on the table, stood up, and spoke with her usual crisp and decisive tone.

"I'll contact the investigation company to see if anyone has worked on the Sacred Heart Elementary School case before."

She didn't say anything more, but glanced back at Link as she walked to the door.

There was worry in his eyes, but also a deeper trust.

Then she pushed open the door and went out.

Benny and Celine packed up their notes and laptops and quickly left the office.

Link was the only one left in the office.

He stood in front of the whiteboard for a moment, drew a question mark next to the category "Clergy" with a pen, and then wrote a few words below the question mark: Who else?

Then he picked up the phone on the table and made the first call.

But he did not press the call button.

A name is displayed on the screen:

Miles White.

The DEA sergeant who got promoted by him owes him a favor now.

Church-affiliated medical institutions and charitable clinics require federal funding and are also subject to federal regulations.

This experienced and well-connected sheriff seems to be able to provide some openings for himself, perhaps extending to some unexpected corner.

But this remains an unknown.

He put his phone on the table, leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and mentally reorganized the whole situation.

From Martha's trembling voice to Alex's blacked-out drawing, from the school's indifferent attitude to the dead cat on the porch, every clue points to:

A network that systematically abuses children, cloaked in the guise of power and religion.

What he's going to do is essentially no different from what he did in the Philadelphia General Hospital corruption case:

Find a sharp enough cut, then tear it open with all your might.

"Where could it be?"

Link muttered to himself.

P.S.: Updating with extra chapters now requires permissions, and I forgot. I'll contact the editor tomorrow to add more chapters.