New Gods of North America.

Chapter 206 Progress
When Wayne returned to the old police station, the review was still ongoing.

After all, for the church, even if they have found the commonalities between the several known "accomplices", the work is far from over.

At the very least, we need to find out whether there are any potential "accomplices" and organize and improve the entire logic and chain of evidence.

However, even though the detective agency has been temporarily isolated from handling cases,

As a bystander in the old police station, Wayne could still feel whether the case was progressing smoothly or not.

For example, when it was almost dawn, Tom Hagen suddenly dispatched a group of people from the old police station to rush to the church for support.
The detectives from the detective agency, who had nothing to do, temporarily replaced them and took over the outer guard of the old police station.

It seems that the people in the church encountered some problems when dealing with the holy emblem.

But the problem shouldn't be too big, at least Tom Hagen himself returned in less than two hours.

Wayne picked up the teapot on the table in the conference room and poured him a cup of tea while asking for information:
"Is there really something wrong with that holy emblem?"

Tom Hagen picked up the cup and said "thank you", then drank it all in one gulp before answering Wayne's question:
"Although the exact details are still unclear, the general outline of the case is clear. Once we have sorted out the current personnel, your detective agency should no longer be involved in this case."

Wayne thought about it for a moment and understood what Tom Hagen meant. "Then the contribution of our detective agency..."

Tom Hagen held his cup and thought for a moment:
“The Bishop will know the role you played in this.

"But I guess that Pastor Bazzini will also speak well of you in the report. After all, the murderer behind the scenes is so cunning and can also rely on the power of a higher-level person. Compared to admitting one's own negligence, it is definitely easier to accept the statement that 'we all foiled a conspiracy together'."

Wayne continued to refill his tea. "Who do you think will be in charge of tracking down the real culprit behind this?"

Tom Hagen raised his eyebrows and took another swig of the glass:
"This case involves too many clergymen, so it will definitely not be handed over to non-church organizations. Of course, if you see a wanted poster with a high reward one day, you might consider helping to arrest the criminal. But I guess it won't be that easy to catch him."

Wayne understood, so he stopped asking for details.

After a few more small talk, Wayne left the conference room where Tom Hagen was still in charge and stretched his muscles in the basement cell of the old police station.

Because some staff had been withdrawn, the prison guards seemed a little thin at the moment.

For those who are temporarily detained and investigated, this is a mixed blessing.

The good news is that the review and inquiry work has temporarily become less intensive, so everyone can take a break.

But the bad thing is that if someone shows "unusual movement" at this moment, instead of trying to capture him alive, the priority may become "controlling the situation".

Turning a corner, Wayne saw Lina seemed to have just finished chatting with a guard and was smiling and waving goodbye.

Wayne was a little curious, so he followed her around another corner and secretly asked her what she was doing.

Lina was taking notes in a small notebook at this time. She waved it in front of Wayne. There were already a lot of names and brief information written on it:
"Build a file. Didn't you say you wanted to collect information on gang members? Then I'll start with the closest ones."

Hey... not... you... I...

never mind,

What Lina has collected so far are just some personal information that can be found out by simply asking. People in the church shouldn’t mind too much... right?

Wayne thought for a moment and said, "Then you must keep your files safe, so as not to turn our detective agency into an illegal organization..."

Lina showed an innocent expression that fits the stereotype of blondes, blinking her big eyes:
"Should we set a trap so that if we open the filing cabinet in the wrong way, the filing cabinet will also be blown up?"

You're being a bit too extreme...

Wayne thought for a moment and said, "It seems that it is possible..."

"That's it," Lina stuffed the notebook back into her waist bag and prepared to rush to the next place. "When I heard their report before, they said that the problem might be the 'Holy Emblem'. I guess we should withdraw soon. I'll continue to work."

Wayne continued to wander around in the underground prison.

At this time, he had already begun to think about how he would escape if he was imprisoned one day.

The "fallen" will be wearing special shackles, and the first step should be to learn how to pick the locks.
Although there is a similar feeling of oppression and rejection in the prison as in the depths of a cathedral, it is not as strong, so this aspect is not a big problem.

As for the door inside the prison...

Wayne approached a single cell and was standing at the door, trying to figure out how to blow it up faster, but the door was suddenly opened from the inside.

David Mills came out, "Wayne what are you doing here?"

Wayne looked inside the cell and saw Roy Stampler was being interrogated by people from the church.

So Wayne changed the subject: "Have you made any new progress in your interrogation of Roy?"

David Mills closed the door from the outside:

"It's basically the same as before. But from the perspective of the current crime identification, I tend to think that he was the one who actually carried out the plan. The other accomplices were just affected by the extraordinary factors and their memories were confused."

"So he is the number one accomplice?" Wayne asked.

David Mills frowned. "According to my personal understanding, those who commit crimes under the influence of extraordinary factors should be classified as 'innocent'. But Pastor Bazzini believes that the specific details need to be further confirmed to find out the extent to which he was affected."

Well……

Wayne feels that the sentencing should be different for committing a crime while being "completely controlled" and for committing a crime while being "bewitched" or "induced", at least the degree of malice in the subjective consciousness should be different.

Especially when the modus operandi is so brutal.

So Wayne thought about it, "If we follow the church's practice, how will their trial proceed?"

David Mills replied:

"Usually, a 'three-person court' makes a ruling based on the case's investigation report and on-the-spot questioning. But since Pastor Bazzini also has a seat on the panel, I still want to try to find out the facts and make the verdict more reasonable. If I can get him acquitted, that would be the best."

(End of this chapter)