Chapter 605 Gangs
The scene of the accident looked even more deserted than Wayne had imagined.
The Dock Area, after all, was a “workplace” and a bit of a distance from the residential areas, so the proportion of onlookers was relatively low to begin with.
Most laborers needed to busy themselves with making a living. Compared to lingering at the scene to watch, it was clearly more important to find ways to secure their food and living expenses, so they probably all voluntarily dispersed to other nearby places to find work.
Therefore, on this dock, which was clearly temporarily out of operation today, besides scattered management personnel and a team of cleaning workers, there were basically no other living people left.
The police officers guarding the scene were also just a few lazy cats: “Mr. Wayne, why are you here? This dock is temporarily closed. If you’re receiving goods, you might have to wait until tomorrow. However, the cargo ship might have also temporarily changed its unloading location, which might require confirmation with the trading company.”
“I heard an accident happened here, so I just came by to take a look; it’s a personal professional habit of mine,” Wayne said, pointing to the two bodies that hadn't been removed yet a little further away. “Can I go over and take a look?”
One of the police officers seemed about to refuse, but another police officer interrupted him in advance: “No problem.”
The latter also added to the former, “Mr. Wayne is a professional and very good at solving cases; he won’t mess up the scene.” The former’s attitude was not firm; he just lit a cigarette and stayed put, continuing to slack off.
The speaking police officer also enthusiastically led Wayne – although the area around the dock was flat and the scene was actually unobstructed – explaining the situation as he walked:
“The accident happened last night. There were no cargo ships docked at the time. The laborers were reportedly helping to move goods piled on the dock. Some bodies have already been claimed by their families, while the rest will be handled by charity funeral organizations that receive funding, but their efficiency is always low, and they haven’t finished removing them yet.”
The scene at the time must have been bloody everywhere, and even on the empty ground next to the bodies, one could still see unwashed drag and placement marks.
Wayne bent down and lifted a piece of tattered cloth. This guy’s back of the head was slightly flattened, but his face was still unharmed, clearly the result of “single-sided force” from behind. And the location of the wound was not on the top of the head, so even if it was a high-altitude falling object, it felt very difficult to cause this kind of effect.
The fatal injury on the other body was similar, but the final display looked even more tragic, with even the chest cavity caved in, yet there were no bruises or swelling visible. These marks must have been added after death, and the method was too simple and crude.
Wayne, covering his nose, quickly stood up, his minimalist vision beginning to observe the surroundings, frowning slightly, “The police determined this was an accidental accident?”
“That’s indeed the official statement.”
Seeing Wayne had already turned to look at the remains of the lifting timber frame, the police officer, while answering, quickly moved a little closer, “In reality, it might have been a group brawl between gangs. However, after initial confirmation, none of the deceased were local official residents, and they might not even be America citizens, and the dock management also has no intention of pursuing their economic losses, so…”
Wayne quickly nodded, “I understand the police’s difficulties.”
The other party also looked a bit more relaxed: “Thank you for your understanding. It would be great if all citizens could be as professional as Mr. Wayne.”
Well, “don’t waste taxpayers’ money,” right.
In this era of freedom, where urban public services can only be maintained by “local taxes” and “voluntary donations,” police force is also a cost of urban management and naturally will not be wasted on irrelevant personnel.
If this idea were implemented more thoroughly, then the tax amount could be further divided into “more” and “less.” If these two clashed, some things might actually become even uglier than the current scene.
Many truths are not difficult to understand, but when seen with one’s own eyes, they often still make people feel uncomfortable.
After confirming that the matter was indeed just an “ordinary man-made disaster,” Wayne found that the police officers were not concerned about the specific truth and seemed to know little inside information, so he decided not to stay at the scene. He thought he would inquire a bit more, and the rest would wait for the summarized results collected by the intelligence team.
Wayne’s thinking was very direct. If extraordinary factors were excluded, since it was a gang conflict, then at least “two groups of people” must have been involved, or at the very least, two groups within the same gang.
This was the territory of a gang called the Ireland Violent Group, which mainly took in illegal immigrants from Ireland. Its nature was that of “dragon slayers eventually becoming evil dragons.” It was originally said to have been spontaneously organized by Ireland laborers to resist other black gang forces, but later it became “fellow countrymen scamming fellow countrymen.”
If it was an internal conflict, and they lost more than a dozen people at once last night, the gang might be on the verge of disbanding, and their current territory might be targeted by others.
And if it was an external conflict, it would be necessary to find out who the other group of people were, and then think about how the Detective Agency could fish in troubled waters then.
Anyway, the fatal wounds were on the back of the head, so the claim of a brawl definitely didn’t hold up. A sneak attack and infighting would be closer to the truth.
This grudge certainly wouldn’t be small.
With an idea in mind, Wayne first went to the Sailor Gang’s territory to check on the salesmen’s work status, and then conveniently visited several nearby gangs.
Theoretically, gang leaders should be more sensitive to incidents involving bloodshed. However, Wayne went around and found that they were not very concerned about last night’s accident; instead, they were more concerned about when Wayne would make a move on the Sailor Gang.
James Damody, who recovered loans for the unscrupulous banker, was even more nervous. When asked, he even subtly probed back: “Mr. Wayne, do you want me to say who did this…?”
Wayne immediately understood his meaning. This guy probably thought Wayne was trying to “set a narrative.” “I currently only have some personal grievances with the Sailor Gang; there’s no reason to suddenly target other gangs. I’m conducting a normal investigation now; just tell me the truth.”
“That’s strange…”
James Damody still looked a bit skeptical, “It is said that no goods were lost at the scene, and none of the deceased were identified as members of any gang—people in gangs are very particular about such things, and I also had my subordinates secretly identify them today—this looks like an ordinary accident no matter how you look at it. If you hadn’t brought it up, I wouldn’t have suspected it. After all, similar accidents are not uncommon in the Dock Area.”
No wonder those gang leaders just now had that attitude… It turns out they weren’t “insensitive,” but had already confirmed that “it doesn’t concern them.”
Wayne thought for a moment, “Can you help me find out the identities of the deceased?”
“It’s difficult. Those Ireland people are basically illegal immigrants and are always very wary of outsiders, especially official personnel and people like me who are in gangs. And their movements are very low-key; they usually sneak in mixed with cargo ships and leave in a similar manner. It’s estimated that some people, even if they die, no one will know except their relatives and friends.”
“Then did you notice anything unusual in the Dock Area last night?” Wayne continued to ask.
James Damody recalled briefly, “There wasn’t anything too obvious… It is said that someone saw a convoy of carriages in that area late at night last night, and the number of people seemed to be quite large. But this kind of situation is not uncommon in the Dock Area. Even without mentioning the military and the church, some wealthy individuals occasionally secretly send people to smuggle some goods. Everyone automatically avoids large groups of people when encountering them late at night to avoid bringing disaster upon themselves.”
Hmm…
That’s right, in more chaotic places, people tend to be more “disciplined.”
Otherwise, it’s really easy to “die right in front of you.”
But this way, the events of last night became more and more unsettling the more he thought about them. It wasn’t a gang fight, there were no goods lost, and ordinary people still had a philosophy of survival.
More than a dozen people… It couldn’t be just “killing for fun,” could it?
Could the Wise Sage’s warning to Lina really be because of this incident?
Then extraordinary factors cannot be easily ruled out…
