New Gods of North America.

Chapter 668 Scandal
Human beings' joys and sorrows are not the same.

After the hearing, a calm-looking William Garcia was taken away by parliamentary security personnel and will be handed over to the appropriate investigative body.

When Mr. Schwartz, the banker, learned of what had happened afterward, he was furious and gave the account manager in charge of the matter a severe dressing-down.

The latter also did not expect that the bargaining chips, which were originally intended for a moderate display, would suddenly turn into a "declaration of war" that went straight to the heart of the matter.
What was supposed to be an easy private task that would leave the boss with the impression of being "one of our own" turned out to be a "poor performance" that I had to be blamed for – Mr. Schwartz was the one who told me who to do it, but in the end, the responsibility seemed to fall entirely on my shoulders.

He didn't even dare to argue back when Mr. Schwartz was in a rage, and could only try to offer remedial suggestions.

Then he was scolded as an "idiot" and "useless," with comments like, "Why didn't you see the problem beforehand?" and "You can't even do a small thing right."

Wayne was unaware of what had happened at the state legislature hearing.

But he was still in a pretty good mood today.

This morning, Luke Matthew brought Wayne a reply from the Brook factory. They valued the Fisk family's order very much, and although the specific production quantity had not yet been determined, they had indicated that they would supply it at a preferential price.
The factory will produce several different sizes of canned goods samples in the next few days and send them over for Wayne and Luke Matthew to review. If the order quantity reaches a certain scale, they will also organize a dedicated production line and provide supporting production tools, employee training and technical guidance for the subsequent filling process.

At noon, I took Tax Officer Quinn to the police station. These days, the city police's official income comes from city hall grants, so they quickly agreed to send people to invite gangsters over to "assist in the investigation."
Although the police can only detain gang members for a limited time without evidence, they do have the authority to summon them. Since the detective agency is now collecting taxes for the city hall, they are more cooperative than before, after all, the police department also has the opportunity to be "a city hall department that has contributed to tax collection".

Sometimes, having powerful connections makes things much easier.

Unfortunately, everything has its advantages and disadvantages.
Now that they were somewhat familiar with the dock area, they took out the list that Bishop Tyrell had given to the detective agency and looked at it again.
Good heavens, they're all demons and monsters that escaped from the home of gods.

Wayne gave some of them the opportunity to fight each other to the death, which also had an element of diverting trouble.

Rather than making the detective agency the target of everyone's criticism, it's better to stir up trouble to a limited extent and try to act as a "mediator" or something.

I stopped by the restaurant in the afternoon. These days, its large glass facade makes it stand out from the crowd. The interior also looks spacious and bright, unlike many restaurants these days that are dark even during the day.
Compared to when it first opened, business has slowed down a bit, but according to the acting store manager, business is still much better than restaurants in the same price range. Some young people with good incomes or good family backgrounds come here every day, and some people use it as an affordable alternative to high-end restaurants for dates or something.

What Wayne didn't expect was that the restaurant was now beginning to resemble a neighborhood landmark.
It is said that some people have started using the restaurant as a meeting point for them to meet up in the area. The freckled waitress also said that she has met some customers who came specifically to try it out. They are all out-of-towners who were brought by their local relatives and friends to "broaden their horizons". There are also some who are said to be college students.

Of course, the main reason is that a meal with half a pound of beef or plenty of cheese sounds really extravagant. Even if some restaurants wanted to learn from it, they would have to consider the cost and wouldn't dare to issue coupons indiscriminately.

Wayne stayed at the restaurant until evening.
The main purpose is to understand Willie's work achievements over this period, and two new members have come to learn from him today, so we'll also check on how well they're getting along.

Moreover, Inessa brought Hope, who was originally an army soldier, along to help them recognize people and find their way.
We'll take her back together once she's finished with her work.

Hope is the type who can freely enter and exit churches and exorcist associations, making him more suitable for running errands than many agents. In a sense, he and Willie are like the "reputation" that the detective agency wants to project to the public.
The only difference is that Willie does things for the public through a public service approach, riding on the coattails of the prosecutor's popularity, while Hope's work is for the pastors and monks in the church, proving that the detective agency actually accepts extraordinary individuals from the "sacred" realm, and is not some strange, exclusive, hidden organization.

These days, urban residents tend to have dinner relatively late, and most working-class people don't get off work until dark.
The restaurant hadn't yet entered its evening rush hour, and there were still some empty seats, unlike when I first arrived in the afternoon, when even the owner seemed like a busybody blocking the way, and I had to hurry up to the second floor so as not to delay his work.

Then, Wayne noticed two customers as soon as they entered. One of them was a newspaper employee whom Wayne had encountered before when he went to buy advertising space, though he hadn't spoken to him and didn't know his specific position.
They seemed to be in a hurry, but they didn't go to the counter to order or pack their food. They were talking to each other before entering, but they stopped talking after entering. Then they glanced around at the empty seats in the lobby and quickly chose one of the quietest spots.

This suggests they have something relatively private, but not entirely secret, to discuss.

With nothing else to do, Wayne ordered some fries, took his plate, and sat down nearby with his back to them, intending to listen to any gossip they might have, perhaps related to the city hall's tax collection or the dockside gangs.

The freckled girl wrote down their order: two dine-in portions and two takeout portions. After she had walked a short distance away, one of them continued speaking:
"I'm planning to write a feature article about what happened today, calling it a major scandal in state politics. What do you think?"

The other person seemed hesitant. "But this is only the witness's side of the story so far, and the specifics still need to be verified... Perhaps we can take a slightly more measured approach, for example, by using a thought-provoking theme like, 'Is there more to the state archives fire case than meets the eye?'"

“That wouldn’t be sensational enough. I just made a few inquiries, and it seems that the witness has previously leaked information to a few guys, and they have even more to say. If our wording isn’t strong enough, it’ll be hard to get the readers’ attention.”

"Actually, that witness had come to our newspaper office before, and the things he wrote should still be piled up in the storage room."

"?! How come I didn't know? Where exactly is it located?"

"I also read the contents at the time, and as far as I remember, it wasn't the same thing he was talking about today, so it wasn't worth reporting. But it seems to be related to an accident, so I'll take a look later."

"Looks like we'll be spending the night in the office again tonight. We need to get back before the editor-in-chief goes home, or it won't be ready for tomorrow's paper... But isn't Schwarz Investments an investment bank? What do you think their motive was for targeting Mr. Price at the hearing?"

"I don't know. It's best not to jump to conclusions right now. Just ask the questions, and more information should emerge."

"..."

Wayne ate with relish nearby. Secretary of State Pryor and banker Schwartz had recently become targets of the detective agency's attention, being the men behind the Irish yakuza and the Sailors' Gang, respectively.
Although the specifics of what the two people next to each other were talking about are still unclear, the key words are already there. The latest time is today, and the location is a hearing. Considering the Secretary of State's position, it can only be a hearing in the state legislature. With the names of the people and the event, it shouldn't be difficult for the intelligence team to find out.

There's probably no need to ask around; these two have already said they're working overtime tonight with the editor-in-chief to finish the article and get it in the paper tomorrow.

It seems quite a few reporters know about this, and it feels like newspapers are vying for the story. I estimate that once the new papers are delivered to the workshop tomorrow morning, the details will become clear.

It seems that when the little demons fight, the gods behind the scenes aren't just watching.

But then again...

The Erlan thugs and the Sailors' Gang had previously teamed up to attack him, so whatever their reasons, it's a good thing they're fighting each other now.
It would be best to strike hard and let everyone see rivers of blood flowing.

(End of this chapter)