New Gods of North America.

Chapter 481 Origin
Find a local who is familiar with the situation.
The most reliable person to ask at this time is naturally Tom Hagen, the victim of the assassination.

It’s a good thing that this guy is not dead, otherwise Bishop Corleone is not at home, and Priest Tyrell who is investigating with him has his own plans. Wayne might really have to study whether there is any way to "summon the spirits" in this world.

After a wasted trip to the church hospital, Wayne followed the instructions and went to the cathedral.
Tom Hagen is a very stubborn guy. As the saying goes, "It takes a hundred days to heal a broken bone." It feels like less than ten days have passed since he took the initiative to return to work.

However, he was sitting in a large chair behind his desk at the moment. If he wanted to move a little, he had to cover the wound first. He probably needed someone to help him walk.
It has a bit of the flavor of "Xi Shi holding her heart", or "Dong Shi imitating Dong Shi"...

After listening to the progress of the investigation and understanding Wayne's suspicion and intentions, Tom Hagen was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help shaking his head, "I didn't expect this case to involve so many forces."

Tom Hagen did not directly answer Wayne's question about the background and situation of the local spy organization. Instead, he covered his wound and wrote a short letter of introduction on the cathedral's letterhead:
"After all, I am not a politician, and out of the custom of mutual respect between all parties, I have not taken the initiative to explore matters that are not related to the church.

"But I can recommend you to someone who, I'm sure, would be interested in investigating matters involving Walter Norton."

Wayne took the letter of introduction and read the contents. At Tom Hagen's suggestion, he took out a new envelope from the side and prepared to bind it. At the same time, he asked directly: "Bask Beaton? Who is this guy?"

Tom Hagen was obviously a little surprised. "You run a detective agency in Virginia, and you don't know him?"

He then explained:
"This old man once served as the majority leader in the federal Senate, and can still be considered the de facto head of the Beeton family. It is difficult for anyone who wants to go into politics in Virginia to completely avoid the influence of his family - in fact, mainly himself."

The federal Senate is composed of federal senators from various states. The leadership positions, from top to bottom, are the "President of the Senate" who is usually the vice president of the federation, the "President pro tempore of the Senate" who is second only to the president of the Senate, and then the "Majority Leader" and "Minority Leader" of the Senate.

Neither "majority leader" nor "minority leader" means "party boss". Strictly speaking, they are actually "party positions" rather than "federal positions". They are additional roles created during the operation of the two houses of Congress.

Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have people who are responsible for and hold corresponding positions, that is, there is a pair of candidates for each position, who are responsible for leading the members of their party in the Senate or the House of Representatives respectively. In the case of the same position, it is generally believed that those who serve in the Senate will have a higher rank than those who serve in the House of Representatives.

Among them, the party with the most seats in the House of Representatives will naturally be the "Majority Leader", while the member of parliament from the second largest party in the House of Representatives will be the "Minority Leader". As for the remaining small parties, they basically have no chance of these leadership positions.

Senate Majority Leader...

In other words, this guy was at least a "front-row figure" of the largest party in Congress at the time, and basically reached the top of the food chain in American politics. Even if there is some water in his words now, he has at least "been at" the top of the food chain.

Wayne couldn't help feeling a little guilty. "If a private detective like me were to visit such a big shot, would he be willing to provide assistance?"

The smile on Tom Hagen's face seemed a little meaningful:

"Counting from Mr. Basque, the Beaton family has three generations. Mr. Basque is naturally the leader of the first generation of the family. The current leader of the third generation is Mr. Basque's eldest grandson, Victor Beaton. You have seen him. He also attended the last small meeting held by the bishop to report on the war situation in the Old Continent."

Wayne thought about it and thought, oh, it's the guy who looks like he's from the military.
After all, apart from Pastor Bazzini and Pastor Tyrell, there were only two young people attending the meeting, and the other one should be older than Wayne. Then Wayne also noticed that Tom Hagen seemed to have forgotten to mention "a generation", so he cooperated and said, "What about the leader of the second generation of their family?"

Tom Hagen didn't keep the secret any longer:
“The leader of the second generation of the Beaton family should have been Mr. Basque’s only son, Pastor Beaton.

"When Pastor Beaton was a state senator from Virginia, after he participated in the election for the U.S. Senate, he selected Mr. Walter, whom you want to investigate now, as his successor and made Mr. Walter take over as a state senator.

"Unexpectedly, Pastor Beaton failed to become a U.S. senator representing Virginia that year. When he returned to run for a state senator seat, he was blocked by Walter Norton and the opposing party.

"It was finally ruled that Pastor Beaton's eligibility to run for state senator was flawed, and he lost his prestige in the state's political circles because of this incident. The situation in the next election was even worse, and his political career was ruined because of this."

Because the successor turned against him, he ended up destroying himself...

This kind of story fits Wayne's stereotype of American politics, so he understood it quickly. "So this 'first-generation' Basque old man, if given the chance, wouldn't mind bringing down Mr. Walter as well? Especially when Mr. Basque is old and the third generation of their family has not yet officially taken over that influence."

"Perhaps. As a member of the Cathedral, I do not comment on political matters."

Tom Hagen first shrugged, then his evil deeds got him into trouble as his wound was affected by his own actions, and he changed to the "covering the wound" posture again.

"I see." Wayne put the letter of introduction away and put it in his coat pocket. "I know what to do."

……

After leaving the cathedral, Wayne found the large estate of the Beaton family according to the address. In fact, this place was very easy to find. You could find it all the way there without looking at the map and simply asking local passers-by. Then, Wayne quickly handed the thick letter of introduction full of cathedral characteristics to the butler in charge of receiving guests.

The efficiency in the manor was quite high. After just a few minutes, the person who returned with the reception butler seemed to be at least a butler-level servant.

Wayne looked at the old butler for a few more times and felt that he looked very familiar, but for a moment he couldn't remember where he had seen him.
It was not until Wayne was led to the greenhouse in the manor and saw the "Old Mr. Basque", the head of the Beaton family, pruning green plants with scissors under the introduction of the old butler, that he suddenly realized.

So it's you, old man.

When I had a public duel with that guy from Cohen Pharmaceuticals, the beautiful pair of guns used for the duel were provided by you.

(End of this chapter)