The next morning, as Wayne opened his door, he saw Doug, Willie, and "Soften" already waiting in the hallway.
Doug was the first to greet him: "There's news from the Cathedral. Tom Hagen said he's leaving this morning."
By the looks of it, it was already a few days later than Tom Hagen's own previous estimate...
Wayne quickly confirmed that if he was going to see Tom Hagen off, there was no need to rush; he could even have a quick breakfast before heading out.
So he turned to Willie and "Soften" and asked, "Do you have any results from your investigation?"
Willie gestured for "Soften" to speak first, and the latter stepped forward two paces:
"Boss, I've already asked James Damody in the Dock Area, and I've also contacted a few other gang members who recently had similar experiences. Currently, it can be preliminarily confirmed that it was done by an Extraordinary Person or someone using an Extraordinary Item. Their actions were mainly intimidation, causing no actual harm."
"However, according to James Damody, the vengeful spirit mentioned the word 'reporter' before it dissipated. From his expression, he probably suspects..."
Wayne understood, "Suspects it was done by our people?"
"Soften" didn't dare to respond, only lowering his head and nodding. Then he continued, pulling out a small pouch from his pocket:
"At two different locations, before the incidents, people heard the sound of marbles bouncing. Marbles that didn't belong there were indeed found at the scene, but they had all been sent to the Church.
"I went back to James Damody's residence to search again and found this."
Noticing that Doug seemed about to stop him, "Soften" quickly added: "I've already checked it; it seems to be harmless now."
Wayne opened his simplified vision and felt that there really wasn't any problem, so he signaled Doug not to be nervous.
Opening the small pouch, glass marbles were not uncommon in this era; it wasn't too difficult for children from poor families to get a few to play with. However, upon closer inspection, there indeed appeared to be some very faint residual lines of Extraordinary Power inside.
It was a bit like the small air bubbles left when applying a screen protector to a phone; inconspicuous when not paying attention, as if they would disappear with a slight "squeeze."
But as long as one looked carefully, it wasn't too difficult to notice.
Wayne didn't have much experience in this area, "Have Inessa and Lina seen it?"
"Soften" shook his head: "Not yet. This is a task you assigned, Boss, and I felt I needed to report to you first."
This guy's style of doing things sounded quite "on the ball."
Wayne felt that "Soften" was also a promising talent and handed the small pouch back to him:
"Show it to Inessa and Lina first. Later, we'll see how to catch the person causing the haunting. Regardless of their motives, they are indeed affecting us now, and we need to 'talk' to them."
"Yes!"
"Soften" quickly left with the item. Willie, who remained, was an old acquaintance, so there was no need to be too formal.
The three walked downstairs, talking as they went. "Willie, what's the situation on your end?"
"We have currently found two new fingerprints. If the court and jury approve, we can already link the reporter case and another case to 'Jimmy's' gang."
Willie was a little unsure, possibly about Wayne's attitude, "But since they were the perpetrators in the first place, I'm not sure whether I should submit the evidence to the police now, or continue to look for evidence linking to the mastermind..."
Wayne's thoughts this time were different from when he investigated the Cathedral assassination case.
So he thought for a moment: "You can submit the evidence first to see if the case can be overturned. However, the evidence is not submitted to the police; according to the division of responsibilities, this matter should fall under the prosecutor's jurisdiction, and his office should be in City Hall."
Previously, investigating cases was mainly about "catching the culprit," so finding the "mastermind" was very important.
Now Wayne was slightly thinking about "claiming territory," so he could "take it step by step," investigating as far as he could—after all, the so-called "mastermind" also needed these people to actually carry out the deeds.
By first "clearing out" the perpetrators, the Detective Agency would have a place to "settle down."
Willie was a little embarrassed, scratching his cheek after being told, "I haven't handled this kind of thing before, and I'm not familiar enough with it. I'll pay attention in the future..."
"It's alright, that's normal. No one is born knowing all of this."
This reminded Wayne, "Go and apply for some money from Inessa later, from the Detective Agency's fund, to purchase some introductory and professional law books, to be kept at the Detective Agency for free borrowing. In the future, the Detective Agency might not just complete commissions and arrest wanted criminals; Agents will also need to possess relevant legal knowledge. Who knows, perhaps we might even become witnesses or prosecutors in court."
"Yes! Thank you, sir."
Feeling that Willie was quite enthusiastic about this, Wayne pondered for a moment and continued to arrange:
"If you have any unclear legal questions in the short term, you can consult Seth. He originally intended to become a lawyer, and while it's uncertain if he'll succeed, being able to study at the academy and consult professors when encountering difficulties should help solve many problems."
"Yes! I understand!"
...
After breakfast, Wayne left in a carriage and went to the Cathedral to find Tom Hagen.
Tom Hagen's destination for this trip was Massachusetts, and his luggage filled an entire carriage, so he chose to travel north by boat.
When he saw Wayne approach, he sat next to Wayne, so they could talk along the way.
Before Wayne could ask him why his departure had been delayed, after getting in the carriage, Tom Hagen first tossed a small item over:
"Is this what you and that young man from the Brook Family researched?"
Wayne caught the silencer effortlessly. It looked brand new. He didn't hide anything, "Just a small, accidental invention. As a private Detective, sometimes you really don't want to attract attention."
"Unfortunately, its effect isn't as good as I imagined," Tom Hagen said with a hint of regret.
Wayne leaned over to look. Tom Hagen's open briefcase contained more gadgets. He immediately noticed several large bullets among them and pointed at them.
Tom Hagen handed over the bullets, saying, "The arms factory in Springfield is doing quite well, so I collected some Southern specialties to take with me, thinking they might be useful."
Many people—including Wayne before he transmigrated—actually misunderstand firearms, thinking that different types of firearms represent different levels of "firepower" or "power."
This understanding isn't entirely wrong, but if one goes a step further, the essence of a firearm is actually a "bullet launcher"; the bullet is what truly determines the "power ceiling."
For example, the common lever-action rifles and revolvers in the West today often have the same caliber in the same area, and their bullets are interchangeable, because different types of bullets are not that easy to obtain.
When using a lever-action rifle, the range will be longer. That's because the barrel length, rifling, airtightness, and other conditions are different from a revolver. Rather than saying "a lever-action rifle has greater power," it's more accurate to say "a lever-action rifle can make the same bullet perform better."
Therefore, it's not difficult to understand why Inessa's bolt-action rifle has a longer range.
Even setting aside other factors, the bullets she uses are different.
And the bullet Wayne held in his hand at this moment was even larger than the pointed bullets Inessa used. He couldn't help but be curious, "Is this also a Southern specialty?"
Tom Hagen's expression was somewhat surprised, "You haven't seen it?"
Wayne shook his head.
"That's strange," Tom Hagen said, taking the bullet Wayne handed back. "The new repeating weapon the Brook Family developed is said to use this type of bullet. I heard you were one of its original inventors, but you don't know about this?"
Hmm...
Wayne thought for a moment,
I guess I know why his new machine gun keeps jamming.
Modern bullets, their propellant charge and internal pyrotechnics are carefully designed.
It's not that if you make it one size larger and increase the propellant, it will necessarily work better...
