New Gods of North America.

Chapter 635 Identification
After visiting several houses near the Sailors' territory, Wayne wandered around and soon arrived at the police morgue in the dock area.

Unlike the previous victims who died in accidents at the docks and whose families could handle their own burials,

The remains of criminals involved in cases that clearly involved the deaths or injuries of civilians, like those from last night, will not be easily handed over to relatives or funded charitable funeral organizations. In fact, they will receive official protection in a certain sense, making it somewhat difficult for ordinary people to access them again.

According to the basic practices of this era, insignificant dead people have no right to affect the normal lives of other living people.
So after the Richmond Police Department officers conducted an on-site investigation of the area where Wayne was attacked last night, it was quickly cleared up to allow the surrounding warehouses to resume normal operations as soon as possible. Apart from some bullet marks and residual bloodstains washed away by water, there was basically nothing else to see.

It's better to go to the morgue while the corpses are still fresh and see if there are any you've seen before.

Wayne had been visiting various places in the dock area over the past few days and had met quite a few people, but he had mostly interacted with gang leaders. The number of gangsters he actually knew was probably still only a drop in the ocean in the dock area, making up a very limited percentage.

But it doesn't matter, Wayne has managed to build up some connections here; you can always rely on friends when you're out and about.

After exchanging pleasantries with the officers who had been on duty there during the day, Wayne quickly received permission to enter the semi-basement morgue to begin facial recognition.
Lifting the first gray-black white sheet covering a row of "beds" in the basement, Wayne glanced at the face and realized he hadn't seen it before, so he stepped aside. "Come and see, everyone. Do you recognize this person?"

Then, following the queue, James Damody, the guide Seren from the Erland community, and the troublemakers who had just been locked in the small square for public humiliation and whose time was not yet up, were forced to pay their respects to the not-so-peaceful remains of the deceased.

The first two were local bullies from the dock area, whom Wayne forcibly recruited as laborers.
The unlucky few behind him were "voluntarily" added to Wayne's sentence reduction plan. Those who could be recognized were released on the spot, those who couldn't be recognized were sent back to be locked up, and those who made random identifications were to be careful not to get caught again, otherwise their crimes would be compounded. If they were locked up in the small square again, they could forget about going to the toilet and would be completely ruined on the streets. Anyway, these guys were caught by the "Red Armband" for trying to obstruct the investigation. Now that Brother Merlin was not around, Wayne could arrest or release them as he pleased.

Nobody knows the first guy, so we move on.
The second one is the same, pass;
When it came to the third one, although no one said anything, Wayne sensed something was off.
He pointed at the guide, Seren, and the other lucky person, "Do you two know him?"

Seeing that the two men shook their heads in unison, Wayne realized where he might have gone wrong, so he quickly added a hotfix to his "reduction plan":
“Let me add two more rules. First, no one is allowed to mention what happened in this room after we leave, or they will be completely hostile to our detective agency—you all saw it just now, we have some friends in the police force. Second, anyone who recognizes someone but pretends not to know them will be punished more severely if discovered, just like anyone who makes a false identification.”

After Wayne finished speaking, he stared silently into the eyes of the lucky winner.

Alas, heroes of the underworld are often concerned with their reputation. They might betray their comrades in secret, but they feel it would be unseemly if word got out. Moreover, they tend to be hesitant and timid when they feel they might offend the underworld. However, they might be more "brave" when facing "lackeys" of the government, such as local law enforcement officers.
Since the guide Seren didn't have the "original sin" of hindering the plague investigation, he could only make things difficult for the other one.

Lucky Guy stood by the morgue bed, surrounded by a group of living people. He slowly began to lose his composure and finally turned his head away from Wayne's gaze, looking down at the ground. "This guy usually works for the Ellan thugs."

Seeing that the guide, Ciel, also subconsciously nodded his chin, Wayne was greatly encouraged:
"Very good, you can leave now. If anyone causes you trouble because of this, try to contact me or leave a clue. Our detective agency will do everything we can to ensure your safety." With this precedent set, breaking the ice further will be much easier.

The group followed the simple beds down to identify the bodies, and even went back to check the first two corpses again. Sure enough, there were still some who had slipped through the net. In the end, four of the six corpses in the room came from the district of Erlan. The Erlan gang was definitely involved.

Having sorted out the room, Wayne led his team into the hallway and peered out to ask the officer waiting at the end of the corridor who was too lazy to follow them in: "Officer, we've identified all the bodies. In which room are the remaining bodies kept?"

The police officer, who was smoking, was stunned for a moment. "All the bodies related to the case are in that room. There are no other bodies."

This isn't right...

Although the bolt-action rifle had a slow rate of fire, Wayne had reloaded it and fired at least nine shots. This morning, when the monks helped return the gun and ammunition, he checked the remaining bullets.

He missed vital organs with three of the shots, but the remaining shots should have been enough to kill the people. Combined with the random shooting from another cultivator and the final explosion with high explosives, the number of corpses did not match the scene situation he had roughly confirmed when he left.

Silently returning to the room, Wayne, this time surrounded by onlookers, completely removed the black and white sheets covering each corpse, checking their condition and the location of their wounds one by one.

The on-site investigation records are not at the morgue; you have to go to the police station to see them. However, the police officers are generally aware of the investigation results, and compared to others, there are clearly fewer bodies.

Wayne quickly made a guess.

A group of people launched a sneak attack in the middle of the night, surrounding three people who were alone. They even had to "pool their resources" to cover the cost?
It seems that even though the detective agency has toned down its efforts, the "red armband" members' actions have still offended quite a few people behind the scenes.
So far, those who have come forward include a sailor gang, an Irish violent group, and another gang that was involved in the attack last night, but whose members are still unknown.

James Damody was quite quick-witted. Seeing Wayne fall silent, he immediately explained, "My men are still here. Mr. Wayne, you should have seen it just now. I didn't send anyone to do it."

Hey, look at you, what's the rush?
With so many gangs in the dock area, everyone is a suspect. Just to be on the safe side, the intelligence team should go through each one on the whitelist. Don't keep trying to get special treatment.

(End of this chapter)