New Gods of North America.

Chapter 441 Turkey
For Wayne, who used to love to read detective stories and had experience as a sheriff, he didn't mind saying that he had a "black heart".

However, he was not willing to think the worst of others, and only stated the simplest fact: the contaminated holy emblem was placed in George Berg's church before, and no problem was found.
And tonight, Anton Chigurh was still staying "near" the public hospital with injuries. He is definitely not easily ruled out as a suspicion.

In the words of Sherlock Holmes, if we eliminate the so-called "impossible", the remaining situation, no matter how outrageous it is, may be the truth.
Then according to Wayne's conjecture, the seal arranged by the Church of Light might not be "problematic" before it was "unsealed".
The "key" to unlock the secret might be related to the extraordinary people in the "sacred" realm.

If we think about it more deeply, important items conceal their true value and are placed in crowded places. If no one is watching, they may be brought in casually and taken away by irrelevant people at will.

From a safety perspective, the managers on site were either deceived or suspected to be accomplices, and the probability that they were completely unaware is very small.

The answer given by Ms. Dorothy was okay, and she barely avoided the "A few days' tour of the old police station".
When the exorcist came back, there was an expression of disbelief on his face:

"She was reluctant to talk at first, saying she had a promise to keep. But the thing in question was probably in the prayer room, where Pastor Pycelle had been, on the pretext of asking the Holy Spirit for blessings on the women who had given birth.

"Ms. Dorothy is a believer herself. She felt that Reverend Pycelle was too old to have any direct contact with the women who had given birth. She thought he was doing this out of kindness and love, so she helped him keep it a secret. When we asked her just now, she didn't tell the truth."

Wayne had nothing to say about this, so he asked the exorcist priest to lead the way, and the group went to the prayer room again.
Anyway, even the exorcists from the church didn't get a good look just now. Wayne felt that the management here might be stricter in some aspects. If he couldn't find anything in the prayer room and the lady couldn't give any other explanation, she would probably have to go back with everyone.

……

The so-called "prayer room" is actually a mini version of the prayer hall for one person.

Women seek comfort before giving birth, and whether they are truly devout or just temporarily "have some faith", it is not surprising to see such facilities in public hospitals these days.

But this place is really simple, basically just a small empty room, with a holy emblem on one wall, an old holy book nailed on a small table below, and a candlestick fixed next to it.
When believers come to pray, they can only kneel on the mat in front of the small platform.

Because they hadn't found the problem before, the exorcists in the original group seemed to be working harder.

The holy emblems and decorative paintings on the wall were pried off, the contents of the cushions were emptied, the small table was disassembled again, and the hard covers of the old holy books were scratched on the sides to prevent any interlayers from being found inside.

Considering Reverend Pycelle's age and unsuspected status, the item shouldn't be too big.

Finally, a bunch of people thought about it for a while, and the exorcists tried their own methods one by one.

Meow,

In the end, it turned out that there was something wrong with the scripture itself.

The yellowed and worn pages inside looked like they would be thrown into the trash, but after the blood of an exorcist priest dripped on them, they were completely absorbed.

It feels like the problematic interior was pasted onto the original cover, and there is indeed no visible reaction to the extraordinary power.

After finding the thing, Wayne didn't study it in detail to find out what it was used for. He asked the exorcists to pack it up and then went back.

Several people continued to stay with weapons. Wayne also asked Sanders to leave a few bottles of kerosene. If someone else came, they would not be able to succeed even if they burned down the prayer room.

Back to the church hospital,

Lina had already picked up "Willy" and Emma. The seemingly ordinary carriage was ready. The horses looked bulging, as if they had just been fed. At first glance, it looked quite sincere.
Tom Hagen stood a little further away, silent and calm, and did not question why one of "Willy's" arms was swollen like a fiddler crab.

Wayne thought the style of painting was indeed weird, and he wanted to persuade Damon MacCready to consider giving up. Otherwise, cutting off the left arm might be a solution.

Fortunately, Lina is still reliable, and the real Willy was also brought over, but he was not qualified to show his face for the time being and was stuffed in a carriage. He only waved slightly in the carriage when Wayne passed by, as a greeting.

Wayne took the old bible that was wrapped like a dumpling and walked directly to Tom Hagen. He tried to be concise and said, "I found the things over there. It was said that Pastor Pycelle personally put them there."

Tom Hagen took it and weighed it: "The Holy Code? First the holy emblem, and now this. The heretics of light seem to be more pious than us." Wayne took out his pocket watch to check the time. It was still half an hour before midnight, and he didn't know whether the other teams had gained anything.

So he asked directly for the answer, "What are you going to do now? Are you going to pretend to continue the transaction, or are you going to just throw the thing in his face?"

Tom Hagen waved his hand back, signaling his followers not to follow too closely, and then led Wayne into the small building that was surrounded by people:
"Now this guy can be confirmed as a heretic of light. No matter who is inside his body, the existing evidence is enough to determine the identity.

"But what is the purpose of our investigation? To catch a few more criminals who have not yet been arrested, confiscate some of the sealed objects secretly placed by the Church of Light, and then the matter will be over? Do you think the bishop will be satisfied?"

What kind of fatal question is this...

Wayne recalled the real news he had seen in modern society, and combined it with reality, trying to figure out what Tom Hagen and Bishop Corleone were thinking:
"If we're just talking about solving the case, I think it would be enough if we can seize a batch of sealed objects and control the situation before it happens.

"By the way, we can spread the news and instigate the fugitive Mr. Weissman to retaliate. Regardless of whether he takes the bait or not, at least the hidden dangers caused by Pastor Pycelle and the heretics of light have been preliminarily eliminated. There will be no problem in closing the case."

Tom Hagen's tone did not change. "You think Reverend Tyrell and Reverend Bazzini are all right?"

Wayne spoke frankly: "If we dig deeper into the details, it will be difficult for them to prove that they have no connection with the heretics of light. But if we say that they are deeply connected with the heretics of light, I think it is unlikely."

"If you had to choose, who could you give details about?" Tom Hagen asked casually.

Wayne did not hide it. "Reverend Tyrell has revealed many flaws, but unfortunately it is not worth digging deeper. I actually want to find clues about Reverend Bazzini, but I haven't found any yet."

Tom Hagen shook his head slightly. "That's not a good answer. The bishop may not like to hear it."

Wayne is actually quite serious:
"From my perspective, it is not a good thing for the church as a whole if the news spreads that a high-ranking priest is involved with heresy. It would be best if the matter could stay with Reverend Pycelle and Mr. Weissman."

Tom Hagen raised his eyebrows. "Aren't you worried that they will find a chance to retaliate against you later?"

Wayne felt that the "they" in Tom Hagen's words should refer to "priests" rather than "heretics".
I silently complained in my heart, who do I think I am? Even if they want to take revenge, they will definitely find you first.

So Wayne started to talk about something off topic:
"You know what? I've read the old records left by my ancestors. When the people on the April Grass first wintered in the New World, they actually thought turkey was delicious."

Tom Hagen showed a rare look of confusion. "So?"

Wayne didn't keep anyone in suspense. "So if the other party has made up their mind, any excuses will become meaningless. Either prepare the carriage and run away quickly, or load the bullets and prepare for the battle."

Senior, I can only help you up to this point. From now on, it will be time for official struggles in your church. I will just sit back and watch.

Tom Hagen suddenly stopped, and Wayne turned his head to look at him, "What's wrong?"

Then he continued, "Nothing, I just suddenly felt that you and the Bishop are quite similar in some ways."

Wayne felt that it was his words that had awakened him, and he silently sighed, "The donor has realized it," and then continued to give Tom Hagen advice:

"The first person who brought the turkey became friends with our ancestors, or at least they were 'friends'. I think the bishop may not be targeting anyone, maybe he just wants to eat 'turkey'."

As we all know, inciting internal strife among the princes and making them compete with each other to show their loyalty is a compulsory course for almost every old emperor who has been in power for a long time.
Wayne also hopes that Tom Hagen will stop while he is ahead, so as to avoid ending up like Heshen, where the new emperor had his property confiscated just a few days after taking office. It would be better for him to learn from Guo Ziyi. Even if the princes fight each other, whoever comes to power will have to ask him to keep the peace in the end.

Tom Hagen seemed to understand, "Then let's deal with tonight's heresy first."

(End of this chapter)