New Gods of North America.

Chapter 564
The next morning, as soon as Wayne opened his door, he saw Doug, Willie, and "Soften" already waiting in the hallway.

Doug was the first to greet him: "We have news from the cathedral. Tom Hagen says he's leaving this morning."

Counting the days, it's already a few days later than Tom Hagen himself had originally predicted...

After a quick check, Wayne realized that there was no need to rush to see Tom Hagen off; he could even have a simple breakfast first before heading out.

So he turned to Willie and "Soften" and asked, "Have you gotten any results from your investigation?"

Willie gestured for "softening" to speak first, and the latter took two steps forward:
"Boss, I've already questioned James Damody in the dock area and contacted several other gangsters who have recently had similar experiences. Based on preliminary information, it's confirmed to be the work of an extraordinary individual or someone who used extraordinary items. Their actions were primarily intimidation; no actual harm was caused."

"However, according to James Damotic, the vengeful spirit mentioned the word 'journalist' before it dissipated, and judging from its expression, it probably suspected something..."

Wayne understood. "You suspect it was one of our people who did it?"

"Soften" didn't dare to answer, but simply nodded and lowered his head. Then he continued speaking, taking out a small bag from his pocket:

"At two different locations, the sound of marbles bouncing was heard before the incident, and marbles that did not belong there were indeed found at the scene, but they had already been sent to the church."

“I went back to James Damody’s place and looked around, and that’s when I found this.”

Noticing that Doug seemed to want to stop him, "Soften" quickly added, "I've checked, and it doesn't seem dangerous anymore."

Wayne opened his eyes to the minimalist lines of the room and, feeling that everything seemed fine, gestured to Doug not to be nervous.
Upon opening the small bag, one could see that glass beads were not uncommon in this era, and it wasn't too difficult for poor children to get a few to play with. However, upon closer inspection, it did appear that there were indeed some very subtle lines of extraordinary power remaining inside.

It's a bit like the tiny air bubbles left when applying a screen protector to a phone; they're not noticeable unless you look closely, and it seems like they'll disappear if you just "squeeze" them out.
But if you look closely, it's not too hard to notice.

Wayne didn't have much experience in this area. "Have you shown it to Inessa and Lina?"

"Soften" shook his head: "Not yet. This is a task you assigned me, boss, and I feel I need to report to you first."

This guy's way of doing things sounds pretty "savvy," huh?

Wayne thought "Softening" was a promising talent and returned the small bag to him.

“Let’s show this to Inessa and Lina first. Then we’ll see how to catch that haunted person. Whatever his motives, he’s definitely affecting us now, and we need to ‘talk’ to him.”

"Yes!"

"Soften" quickly left with the items, leaving Willie behind—a familiar face, so there was no need to be too reserved.

As the three of them walked downstairs, they talked. "Willie, how's things going on your end?"

“We have found two new fingerprints, and if the court and jury approve them, we can link the journalist case and another case to that ‘Little Jimmy’ gang.”

Willie was a little unsure, perhaps about Wayne's attitude, "but since they were the ones who committed the crime, I'm not sure whether we should submit evidence to the police now, or continue looking for evidence linking them to the mastermind..."

Wayne's approach this time is different from when he investigated the cathedral assassination.

So he thought for a moment: "We can submit the evidence first and see if we can overturn the case. However, the evidence is not submitted to the police. According to the division of functions, this kind of thing should be under the jurisdiction of the prosecutor, whose office should be in the city hall."

In the past, the main purpose of investigating cases was to "catch the murderer," so finding the "mastermind" was very important.

Now that Wayne is showing a slight interest in "taking over territory," he can proceed "step by step," investigating wherever the investigation leads—after all, the so-called "mastermind" also requires these people to actually carry out their tasks.

First, make room for the person who will take action, then the detective agency will have a place to "settle down".

Willie was a little embarrassed and scratched his cheek after being told off. "I've never been in charge of this kind of thing before, so I don't know enough about it. I'll be more careful in the future..." "It's okay, it's normal. Nobody is born knowing all this."

This reminded Wayne, "Go ask Inessa for some money later, from the detective agency's fund, to buy some introductory and professional books on law, which can be freely borrowed at the agency. In the future, the detective agency may not only complete cases and arrest wanted criminals, but the agents will also need to have relevant legal knowledge. Who knows, we might become witnesses or prosecutors in court someday."

"Yes! Thank you, sir."

Seeing that Willie was quite proactive in this regard, Wayne thought for a moment and continued making arrangements:
"If you have any unclear legal issues in the short term, you can consult Seth. He originally intended to become a lawyer. Although it is unknown whether he will be able to achieve his goal, he is able to study at the college. Now that he encounters problems, he can consult the professors, which should be able to help solve a lot of things."

"Yes! I understand!"

……

After breakfast, Wayne took a carriage and went out to the cathedral to find Tom Hagen.

Tom Hagen's destination was Massachusetts, and his luggage filled a whole wagon, so he chose to travel north by boat.

When he saw Wayne arrive, he sat down next to Wayne, and they could chat on the way.

Before I could even ask him why the departure time had been delayed, Tom Hagen tossed me a small gift after I boarded the bus:

"Did you work with that young man from the Brook family to develop this?"

Wayne caught the silencer without hesitation, glanced at it and saw that it was brand new. He didn't hide anything, saying, "Just an accidental little invention. As a private investigator, sometimes you really don't want to be the center of attention."

"Unfortunately, it didn't work as well as I had imagined," Tom Hagen said, sounding slightly disappointed.

Wayne peeked inside. Tom Hagen's open briefcase contained even more gadgets; he immediately noticed several large bullets among them, and pointed to them.
Tom Hagen handed over the bullets, saying, "The military factory in Springfield is doing quite well, so I picked up some Southern specialties to take over, thinking they might come in handy."

Many people—including Wayne before he traveled here—actually have misconceptions about firearms, believing that different types of firearms represent different levels of "firepower" or "power."
This understanding is not wrong, but if we go a step further, the essence of a firearm is actually a "bullet launcher," and the bullet is what truly determines the "maximum power."

For example, lever-action rifles and revolvers, which are common in the West today, often use the same caliber and interchangeable bullets because different types of ammunition are not readily available.

When using a lever-action rifle, the range is greater because the barrel length, rifling, and gas tightness are different from those of a revolver. Rather than saying that "lever-action rifles are more powerful," it is more accurate to say that "lever-action rifles can make better use of the same bullet."

Therefore, it's not hard to understand why Inessa's bolt-action rifle had a longer range.

Even disregarding other factors, the bullets she used were different.

The bullet Wayne was holding was even larger than the pointed bullets Inessa used, and he couldn't help but wonder, "Is this also a specialty of the South?"

Tom Hagen looked somewhat surprised. "You haven't seen it before?"

Wayne shook his head.

“That’s strange.” Tom Hagen took the bullet Wayne handed back. “The Brook family’s new repeating weapon is said to use this kind of bullet. I heard you were one of its original inventors, but you didn’t know that?”

Well……

Wayne thought for a moment,
Now I understand why his new machine gun keeps exploding.

Modern bullets are meticulously designed in terms of propellant charge and internal pyrotechnics.
It's not that if you enlarge it by one size or increase the amount of explosive, it will necessarily work better...

(End of this chapter)