New Gods of North America.

Chapter 224 Digging a Hole
With your back to Clariceburg, continue east along the steam train line.
The group has completed a "crossing" of the Appalachian Mountains.

From here all the way to Ohio, the main terrain changes from the so-called "mountains" to the "forest" in the usual sense.

The route of the steam train is not the "main road" that people usually take. On the contrary, it is a bit avoided.
So as the altitude decreases, more and more small animals can be caught on the road.

The level of development here seems to be lower. Wayne also saw many legendary "big trees" along the way. The big trees with a diameter of more than three meters were not seen along the steam train line. It is estimated that he will have to go to more remote places to find them.

However, trees with a diameter of one or two meters that two people cannot hug together are not very rare. Some of the remaining tree stumps only need to be cut horizontally, and then they can be directly made into a so-called "log round table".
It’s a pity that the carriage was unlucky, otherwise Wayne actually wanted to make one to take back for fun.

Inissa prepared an ointment that was slightly toxic, but very effective in preventing mosquito bites.
Emma has been applying lotion crazily all day long recently, with the main idea of "burn everything together", and she has a momentum of "one of the mosquito and I must die today".

Due to technical and investment limitations, steam train lines these days are still relatively "down to earth".

Specifically, if you can avoid building bridges, do so and try to follow the terrain as much as possible.
Tunnels are relatively rare. Everyone knows they exist, but in reality, only busy roads in wealthy areas occasionally consider digging them. In a sense, they can even be regarded as a "tourist attraction" and a "man-made wonder."

So when Wayne first saw the so-called "railway bridge" in the forest,
Only then did I realize that this thing is now made of wood.

Although in theory, as long as the wood is thick and strong enough, and the renovation and maintenance are timely enough, a wooden bridge can be very strong.

But for Wayne, who almost equates "bridge" with stone or reinforced concrete,
This thing looks like a "safety hazard"...

Inessa noticed that Wayne had been staring at the wooden railway bridge and nodded beside him:
"I've been looking through some old newspapers I could find in the hotel these past two days. Because of the terrain in this area, there are bridges built at several locations along the steam train line. Some gangs like to blow up bridges when committing crimes, and then force the steam train to stop and rob."

Wayne listened and couldn't help but take a few more glances.

At this time, force analysis was already being conducted to study how professionals would usually blow up a bridge if they wanted to save trouble.

Wherever there is a bridge in the forest, there is a "valley", and usually there is a stream.

So everyone stopped by the water source to make a fire and cook, and also to take a short rest.

The four new members Doug recruited could barely be considered "locals." According to their own accounts, their activities in recent years have basically been concentrated in the large forest west of the Appalachian Mountains.
When there is no work, I am a hunter, and when there is work, I am a bounty hunter.

As for whether they have ever played the role of robbers, it is not clear. Anyway, Doug asked them to go to the police station to see if there are any latest wanted warrants. These people were able to walk out of the local police station normally.

There were hunters and chefs in the team, and there were small animals in the forest, so the meals for everyone became abundant.
It's not a good idea to have a barbecue dinner, but it's okay to make some soup and have meat every meal.

Cooking in the wild is relatively troublesome. Campfires require firewood, prey needs to be skinned, and the kitchen environment can only be adapted to the circumstances.

Fortunately, there are many people in the detective agency now. If one person can help share some of the work, and various tasks can be carried out at the same time, the overall time can be shortened a lot.

Wayne had nothing to do, so he just wandered around the stream, and soon he found a patch of "baldness" in a meadow a little further away.

Many friends who have been hanged know that

The purpose of digging a hole in the wild is mainly to prevent others from knowing that a crime has occurred, but once it is discovered, the hole itself cannot cover up too many problems. Even if grass grows again, the species and distribution of plants growing on the hole will be different.

Even a sheriff like Wayne, who had to secretly count his fingers and toes in his daily arithmetic, had watched Uncle Benjamin do it since he was a child.

They can roughly determine how long ago a pit in the wasteland was dug, and can also preliminarily determine whether there may be any large mammals buried underneath.

The size of this pit seems to be suitable for sleeping, and judging from the soil quality, it doesn't seem to be very shallow.

So Wayne thought about it for a while, then called Doug over and asked him to bring people over to dig after dinner to see who was buried there.

The meal was not very satisfying, and everyone consciously controlled their appetite to 80% full.

Then Wayne came over with a leather glove covering his nose to take a look.
The person lying in the pit at this moment is in the most tragic period of the scene. Some of them have bones and flesh, and can still be seen as a "person", but it is no longer possible to tell "who" they are.

But in this era, there are some things that even illiterate people can understand.

For example, a yellow six-pointed star was taken off and thrown near the head of the corpse.

Wayne briefly imagined the scene at that time.

I guess the murderer might have thrown it in the other person's face, and maybe even spit or spit something.

Unfortunately, police badges these days don’t always have place names on them, so they just have a word on them to explain their identity.

It looks shiny, but it's actually mostly brass. Rich people may add some gold plating on it. It's not cheap to buy, but it's hard to sell and not valuable.

After searching for a while, they found no valuables or writing on the body, and there were no bullet holes on the clothes.

The hole at the back of the head is smaller than the hole at the front. It was probably an "execution" where the person was held down, or a "sneak attack" when the person was caught off guard.

As for the exact time of death and whether the person was injured before his death, it is impossible to judge. The colors on the clothes are now a mess.

Wayne might have a little more knowledge in some weird professional knowledge than his peers of this era, but in practice he is not much different and one can only get a rough idea.

Finally, after taking away the police badge and recording the characteristics of the other party's clothing, everyone filled the hole again and erected a wooden stake next to it to make a simple tombstone and marker.

Wayne thought for a moment and signaled everyone to hurry up and get going:

"Let's continue forward and report the crime to the nearest town. By the way, from here on, we may have to be on guard against 'good strangers'. If it's a gang that's committing a crime, they usually won't spend time and effort to dig a hole."

(End of this chapter)