Chapter 635 Identification
After visiting several doors near the Sailor Gang's territory, Wayne meandered through the Dock Area and soon arrived at the Police Station morgue.
Unlike the deceased from accidents at the docks, whose relatives could claim them, the bodies of criminals involved in cases with civilian casualties, like last night's, would not be easily handed over to relatives or charity funeral organizations. Instead, they would, in a sense, receive official protection, making them difficult for ordinary people to access.
According to the standard procedures of that era, irrelevant dead people were not entitled to disrupt the normal lives of the living.
Therefore, after the Richmond Police Station officers investigated the scene of Wayne's attack last night, it was quickly given a preliminary cleanup to allow the surrounding warehouses to resume normal operations. Aside from some bullet holes and residual bloodstains washed away by water, there was little else to see.
It was better to identify the faces at the morgue while the bodies were still fresh, to see if any of them were someone he had seen before.
Wayne had been visiting many places and meeting many people in the Dock Area these past few days, but he mostly interacted with gang leaders. The actual gang members he knew in the Dock Area were still just a 'drop in the ocean,' a very limited proportion.
But it didn't matter; Wayne had accumulated some connections here. After all, you rely on friends when you go out.
After greeting the police officer on duty there during the day, Wayne quickly received permission to enter the semi-basement morgue to begin facial recognition.
He lifted the first grey-black sheet from one of the 'beds' in the basement, saw he didn't recognize the face, and stepped aside. "You all come and take a look, do you recognize this person?"
Then, in order, James Damody, the Ireland community's Salem Guide, and the troublemakers who had just been publicly displayed in the small square and whose term was not yet up, were forced to view the not-so-peaceful remains of the deceased.
The first two were local gang leaders from the Dock Area, dragged over by Wayne to be temporary laborers.
The unlucky ones behind them 'voluntarily' joined Wayne's commutation plan: those who could identify someone would be released on the spot; those who couldn't would be locked up again; those who falsely identified someone should be careful not to get caught again, or their crime would be compounded, and next time they were locked in the small square, they wouldn't even be allowed to use the toilet, waiting to be completely ostracized in the underworld—anyway, these guys were all caught by the 'Red Armbands' for trying to obstruct the investigation. Now that Merlin was not around, no one cared if Wayne arrested or released them.
The first guy, no one recognized him, pass;
The second was the same, pass;
By the third, although no one spoke up, Wayne felt something was off.
He pointed to the Salem Guide and another lucky fellow. "Do you two recognize him?"
Seeing both of them shake their heads in unison, Wayne realized where he might have gone wrong, so he quickly applied a hotfix to his 'commutation plan':
"I'll add two more rules. First, what happens in this room, no one is allowed to mention it after we leave, or you will be completely at odds with our Detective Agency—you all saw it just now, we have friends on the Police Station side too. Second, if you clearly recognize someone but pretend not to, and are found out, the punishment will also be increased, the specific method being the same as for false identification."
Then, after Wayne finished speaking, he stared silently into the lucky fellow's eyes.
Alas, Jianghu heroes often care about their reputation. They can betray companions secretly, but they feel it would sound bad if word got out. And they tend to be hesitant when they feel they might offend gangs, but might act more 'bravely' when facing 'imperial lackeys' like grassroots law enforcement officers.
Since the Salem Guide did not have the 'original sin' of obstructing the plague investigation, only the other person had to suffer.
The lucky fellow, standing by the dead man's bed in the morgue, surrounded by a group of living people watching him, slowly started to break down. He eventually turned his head away from Wayne's gaze, looking at the ground. "This person usually works for the Ireland Violent Group."
Seeing the Salem Guide also subconsciously nod his chin, Wayne was greatly encouraged:
"Very good, very good. You can leave directly later. If anyone troubles you because of this matter, try to contact me or leave a clue, and our Detective Agency will do its best to ensure your safety."
Once there was a precedent, it became easier to continue breaking the ice.
The group went down the simple 'beds,' identifying the bodies, and even went back to re-identify the first two bodies. Sure enough, there were still some who had slipped through. In the end, four out of the six bodies in the room were from the Ireland people's district. The Ireland Violent Group definitely couldn't clear its name.
Having dealt with this room, Wayne led his team out into the corridor and poked his head out to ask the police officer waiting at the end of the corridor, who was too lazy to come in: "Officer, we have finished identifying these bodies. Which room are the remaining bodies in?"
The smoking officer was stunned for a moment. "All bodies related to the case are in that room. There are no other bodies."
This isn't right...
Although the bolt-action rifle's firing rate wasn't fast, Wayne had reloaded and fired at least nine shots. This morning, when Merlin helped return the gun and bullets, he had also confirmed the number of remaining bullets.
Three of those shots he hadn't aimed at vital points, but the remaining shots should have been enough to kill. Plus, the other Merlin's wild shooting and the final high-explosive detonation, the number of bodies did not match the general situation he had confirmed at the scene when he left.
Silently returning to the room, this time Wayne, under everyone's gaze, completely lifted the black sheets covering the bodies one by one, confirming the condition of each body and the location of their wounds.
The on-site investigation records were not at the morgue; he would have to go to the Police Station to see them. However, the officer generally knew the results of the investigation. Comparing the two, there were clearly fewer bodies.
Wayne quickly formed a guess in his mind.
A group of people launched a sneak attack in the middle of the night, ambushing three isolated individuals. Did they actually have to 'pool their resources' for this?
It felt like even though the Detective Agency had been holding back, the actions of the 'Red Armbands' had still secretly offended quite a few people.
Now, just among those who had already come forward, there was the Sailor Gang, the Ireland Violent Group, and another gang that participated in the attack last night but whose identity was still unknown.
James Damody's mind was also quite sharp. Seeing Wayne fall silent, he immediately began to explain, "My men are all still here, Mr. Wayne, you should have seen them just now. It wasn't my doing."
Oh, look at you, what's the rush?
There are so many gangs in the Dock Area, everyone is a suspect. To be safe, the intelligence team needs to whitelist them one by one. Don't always think about getting special treatment.
