New Gods of North America.

Chapter 435 Close
In the evening, the investigators who led the separate teams gathered together to summarize the current progress.

"The identity of Anton Chigurh has been confirmed by an insider, and he woke up at noon today. However, because of his uncooperative attitude and two attempts to escape in the afternoon, he has been transferred from the hospital to the old police station jail."

"I have been investigating the clues on his body and in the carriage, and have preliminarily confirmed that he has been hiding in an apartment that he rented for a long time in recent days. The carriage he drove last night was involved in a new murder case. If we only ask for a conviction, even without mentioning the murder of the manor and the sacrifices of other church colleagues, it is enough to send him to the gallows."

"Our team is still following the previous plan to investigate the urban area of Georgeburg. We have not yet found the heretic who claims to be named Weisman. We have completed the preliminary investigation of the main streets and found no mysterious disappearances of residents. However, we cannot rule out the possibility that he is hiding in an unmanned house, being sheltered by others, or that the homeowner himself is unaware of it. The next step is to investigate low-income areas, and then ask whether it is necessary to investigate each manor."

"My team has completed the tasks assigned to us today. We have retrieved the relevant files and archives, selected the parts that may be relevant to the investigation and are not strictly confidential, and have handed them over to Mr. Wayne and Ms. Inessa. We are waiting for new arrangements."

The investigations in reality are always less interesting than the detectives in the stories, and it is rare to encounter the so-called "Snowstorm Manor" model.
Sometimes “everyone can only stay in one place and can’t leave”, which is actually a big cheat.

After everyone else finished reporting, it was Wayne's turn:
"After preliminary interrogation, it has been confirmed that Macon Reeve still retains his previous memories, but it is still unclear whether he has any 'extra' memories.

“The pendant found on Macon Reeve was indeed related to the faith of the Illuminati. Combined with the appearance of Anton Chigurh last night, the logic and chain of evidence have taken shape.

"I currently believe that in this series of events, Pastor Pycelle is the key node among church personnel who is directly connected to the Illuminati heresy. I have not yet found any evidence or supporting evidence that other pastors are also directly involved. Next, we need to confirm Pastor Pycelle's role in this case and arrest Mr. Weissman, and the case will basically be closed."

In fact, if he wants to "provide evidence", Wayne has a great chance now.

All we need to do is change the "presumption of innocence" to "presumption of guilt", and then the situation will become that the pastors themselves have to prove their innocence.
When it comes to the Church of Light, this approach is not considered out of line.

But Wayne still prefers a simpler way of playing. He investigates cases when he needs to, and fights when he needs to.
There is a saying, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's."

If you put it here and change "God" to "Holy Spirit", it will be universally applicable.

Tom Hagen looked over and asked, "You think most of them are innocent?"

The exorcists who were in charge of the separate investigations were not all from the cathedral.

Wayne then acted like a serious person:
“Whether he is innocent or not cannot be completely confirmed, but there is indeed no reason to directly convict him at present. Our detective agency only speaks based on facts.

"But at the same time, if there are still doubts in the case at the end, I would suggest that the cathedral exclude the doubtful personnel from the candidate list when considering the promotion of clergy."

Tom Hagen did not comment further on this. He asked if there was anything that needed to be coordinated and resolved, and left the rest to Wayne to handle.

Mr. Weissman's public office and residence in Richmond have been searched, and all handwritten items have been packed and shipped here. Inesa is leading people to search for clues.
Seth was also arranged there to take the opportunity to dig up some negative information. Wayne couldn't help but imagine some strange scenes in his mind, such as "Sir, you don't want your affairs to be known by others, right?" and so on.

Lina stayed at the church hospital to look after Macken Reeve.

That guy used to carry a hidden heretic pendant with him. Although there is no way to confirm whether it is the one in Pastor Pycelle's will, with the daughter of an evil god watching him, he might be more sensitive than the clergy of the church in some aspects.

After the meeting, Wayne went to inform Reverend Tyrell about the situation.
Just as he was about to leave, someone came to Wayne and said that Pastor Bazzini wanted to see him.

Wayne and Pastor Bazzini did not have any deep hatred, but the more Wayne thought about it recently, the more he felt that something was not right.
The detective agency has encountered so many incidents in the local area before. It seems reasonable to say that Cohen Pharmaceuticals is the culprit, but I always feel that the local church seems to be secretly adding fuel to the fire.

Just like the "misunderstanding" that Reverend Tyrell secretly arranged a few days ago, Reverend Bazzini at most "said a few words" in it, and he might not be convicted in court.
But some things are like an empty house after watching a horror movie, which always makes you wonder if the bad guys are everywhere.

After the meeting, Pastor Bazzini seemed to be very well-informed and seemed to have already started thinking about the "future".
He also understood that Wayne still needed to keep busy looking for those two guys from last night to "chat", so after a brief greeting, he threw a new clue to Wayne.

Pastor Bazini said that Pastor Pacelle was an expert in brewing medicines. He thought about it over the past two days and felt that although many of the materials that Pastor Pacelle had previously used were compliant, the loss was too serious and it was very likely that they were used elsewhere.

The detective agency had investigated the matter of the potion before, but in the end they didn't get any useful results. Wayne felt that with Pastor Bazzini's level, he would not be aimless, so he continued to ask for advice honestly.

Reverend Bazzini is like a patient professor:
“Making banned drugs generally leads to two questions: first, ‘why do you do this?’ and second, ‘where do the key raw materials come from?’

"I have the impression that you should know Mr. Ben Harmon? It is said that his wife once had a good relationship with Reverend Pycelle, and I heard that her childbearing age does not match common sense. According to rumors, Mr. Ben Harmon once had a lover who died of a strange illness. Perhaps this is also something worth investigating."

Wayne quickly filled in the storyline in his mind.

Life in a wealthy family is so exciting...

But at this time, why would you ask me to look up an old case from who knows how many years ago? The clues are long gone, so you might as well go straight to the police.

Wayne thought about it and decided to tell David Mills about it as soon as he got back.

Pastor Bazzini paused for a moment, as if sensing Wayne's reaction, and continued:

“As for the source of some raw materials, the church sometimes has to acquiesce to some practical issues. For example, the peripheral members of the Exorcist Association also need to make a living, but they are not formal members of the church.

"So they occasionally need to secretly intercept and provide some slightly illegal materials in exchange for financial benefits. As long as the materials are not found to have leaked out of the church, the church will not investigate such matters."

hiss……

It is not difficult to guess what Reverend Bazzini meant. This clue points to Reverend Tyrell. Selling contraband to Reverend Pycelle privately is of course very suspicious in the investigation.

But according to Wayne's standards, this may not prove that the Tyrell priest has any connection with the light heretics.

No wonder the detective agency couldn’t find the key source before, it turns out you were “producing and selling your own products”.

Wayne's nerves tightened a little. The degree of binding between some groups seemed to be tighter than he had imagined.

Pastor Bazzini left Wayne there to continue thinking, picked up the cup and began to drink tea, and seemed to chat about something else:
“Many high-ranking priests in the Exorcist Association actually have a group of peripheral members under their command, and the proportion of extraordinary people among them is not low. Of course, the fact that those peripheral members can be accepted by the Exorcist Association shows that their own qualities are actually not bad.

“Their working model seems similar to your detective agency, but their profit model is not as healthy as yours, and their salary seems to be even lower than your agents. If some of them lose their protection, I think your detective agency is still very attractive, and maybe they can accept a lower salary.

"If I were a bishop, I would reorganize the peripheral members of the Exorcist Association in the diocese. Rather than continuing to run shady businesses, I think they need more positive guidance."

If you are a bishop...

Wayne thought about it for a while and felt a little moved, but compared to other things, his tense nerves relaxed a little.

Well……

It seems that the binding is not that tight.

(End of this chapter)