New Gods of North America.

Chapter 357 Come to the door
The effect of the notice published in the newspaper "Insufficient staff, no commissions accepted for the time being" is

It kind of left Wayne speechless.

The next day, two groups of people came to the detective agency, but they were not Extraordinary People who came to cause trouble, but clients who came to seek commissions.

No,

You guys didn't come when we were open normally before, but now you two are here as soon as we posted the closure notice.

Why are this generation of customers so willful?

After lunch, the first person to come to the detective agency was a lawyer named John Milton.

"Lawyer" is one of the most respectable professions at the top of the contempt chain in America. Basically, as long as you can officially enter the industry and don't have too many student loans or other debts, you will generally be considered to be a "middle class" sooner or later.
But if we break it down, the difference in status between lawyers can actually be huge.

John Milton's age was estimated to be in the range of "late forties to early fifties". Judging from the style of his carriage, his clothes and his personal image and temperament, he was more like a "big lawyer" with extensive connections, and one who had a social status and disposable resources that were not inferior to those of ordinary small rich people in big cities.

The commission from the other party was very generous, $8000 a year, and all the detective agency needed to do was to provide security services to the shareholders and executives of his client company, ensuring their safety in Virginia, mainly in Richmond and Georgeburg.
However, the other party's "client company" made Wayne feel a little hard to describe. The name was very familiar. It was the "Cohen Pharmaceuticals" that the detective agency had dealt with several times before.

Does this mean you want to "turn enemies into friends"?

If we only talk about the commission itself, this is actually the type of business that the detective agency "can't miss". The distance is close, the profit is high, and it is within the radiation range of many personal connections.

But considering the existence of the "School of Life" behind them, and the fact that Virginia may launch a massacre against hidden organizations at any time, it is not such a simple matter.

At least you have to consider whether the issue is too hot to handle or whether there is an alternative price.

However, the barrister was well prepared. After seeing that Wayne might refuse the commission,
He chatted with her for a few moments, changing the subject while maintaining the tone of "having a good conversation", then asked the servant to take the contract from the file box, indicating that Wayne could take a look at it before making a decision.

Wayne just received the contract.

Doug knocked on the door of the reception room, walked in like a qualified butler, lowered his hand and asked for instructions, saying that there was a guest visiting.

Wayne asked Doug to take the guest to his office first, and then he apologized to the lawyer and let the other party smoke a cigar and drink a few glasses of wine first. It was a good opportunity for him to leave here temporarily and take the opportunity to think about it for a while.

Bring the contract to the office.
There's another guy inside that I haven't seen before.

The American way of meeting people is actually very simple. People usually sit down, drink coffee or tea, and then start talking about things.

However, if the amount involved in the conversation or negotiation between men reaches a certain level, then if the status is close, the first choice of drink is still various strong liquors, usually whiskey, and the better one is brandy or even higher.

According to etiquette, although a higher-ranking servant such as a butler can do it, it is best for the host to pour the wine himself on such occasions to show closeness.

While pouring the wine, I exchanged a few pleasantries with the other party.
It turns out that this guy is Mr. Russell's colleague and competitor, and is also a shareholder of the steam train operating company.

However, the total mileage of the steam train line owned by this company is slightly shorter. It is considered the "South-West Line" in Virginia, heading south from Lynchburg, and even entering North Carolina for a section of the way.
Compared with Mr. Russell, this client is a "small shareholder" with an even lower shareholding ratio in the company, so he can only make the trip in person as a representative of the shareholders.

The source of this business surprised Wayne a little. On the surface, it was led by the tough guy Sanders, but in fact it was an escort team led by Lina. They had been heading south along their route.

At that time, the escort team probably still maintained a relatively "professional" appearance, and even repelled a wave of steam train robbers near the state border - to be precise, they eliminated all the gangsters on the train.

The news eventually reached the ears of the shareholders of the steam train operating company, and they heard that the detective agency had signed a long-term security contract with Mr. Russell, so they thought of seeking security as well.

Good guy,
It seems that these two customers today didn't even glance at the notice I put in the newspaper, right?
There is no need to hesitate too much about this commission. The detective agency has always intended to expand its business in this area. Except for waiting for the escort team to return, the detective agency has already initially explored the other work processes. It can just copy them temporarily and open a new office.
So Wayne told the other party roughly some of the terms of the contract that the detective agency had signed with Mr. Russell.

At the same time, I discussed the price with the other party.

Although the steam train route is much shorter, the company's budget unit price for this is actually higher.
The total contract price proposed by the other party was actually the same as the one the detective agency had signed with Mr. Russell before, which was also US$6000 per year.

Moreover, the other party seemed to be a little worried that the detective agency would not accept the order. In terms of specific terms, they basically said that "the same as Mr. Russell's" would be fine.

It seems much easier to communicate.

After the initial negotiations, the other party called the lawyer they brought with them and began to draft the terms that could be determined on the spot.
Unfortunately, this gentleman did not have the power to make the final decision on the spot. The final decision could only be made after he brought the draft contract back and showed it to other shareholders.

Even though the guests and hosts were having a great time, Wayne even took out the most expensive cigar he had and gave it to the other party.
The rest of the time was relatively relaxing, with Wayne occasionally working on confirming and weighing the wording of the clauses, while also taking the time to look through another contract he had just received from the "big lawyer" in the meeting room.

The contract offered by Cohen Pharmaceuticals was more lenient than Wayne had imagined.

One of the clauses states that if the "person being protected" violates local laws or violates the requirements of the church, the detective agency has the right to refuse to provide security for him or her, and can even cooperate with local relevant departments to enforce the law.

Is this really a social "protection fee" for the detective?
Wayne thought about what happened when he was protecting Mr. Ben Harmon. Cohen Pharmaceuticals actually had a precedent in this regard.

——If it is easiest to eliminate the other party, then eliminate them directly, but if this is not possible, then consider win-win cooperation.

Well……

This sentence can actually be said in reverse. Once the other party believes that the detective agency is not strong enough, they may at any time turn to a "lower cost" way to solve the "problem".

As the saying goes, a threshold is just a threshold when you can step over it, but if you can’t, it’s just a door blocking your way.
Sometimes, "sugar-coated bullets" are actually similar to "thresholds"...

Wayne continued to flip through the contract in his hand, and in the gap between the last two pages he saw a letter of recommendation, which was for him.
I never expected that I would be someone who could receive a letter of recommendation.

Wayne opened the letter and found it was from Tom Hagen.
The content of the text is not long. "As long as the rules are followed, the cathedral is not targeting anyone."

Wayne thought about it for a while.

Well, the "big lawyer" is quite well prepared.

Then it’s better to obey than to be respectful. Let’s just go with it and look around.

(End of this chapter)