Chapter 687 Progress
For several days in a row, the Agents had to patrol at night to maintain public order, and during the day they had other things to do, such as some of them accompanying Seth and his team as they ran around.
Everyone was basically working at full capacity without a break.
Although the Detective Agency arranged for rotating rests and the Agents' physical fitness was good, it was not a problem to keep this up for a while, but it was more or less operating at a sustained saturation.
This state was fine for dealing with gangs, but if you added the possibility of high-level Extraordinary Persons appearing at any time, plus a large, white-masked man who looked more like a ghost than a human,
it would seem somewhat unstable.
The partners were in a similar situation; although they had a bit more time to slack off, there were still many issues to consider.
After dark, the three partners briefly met before their meeting, and Wayne felt that a lot of things at the Detective Agency hadn't made any progress.
Inessa temporarily focused her attention on the white-masked man. Judging by his known achievements over the past two days, he had already killed nearly twenty people from the Sailor Gang, including those tangentially related to them. He even "wiped out" entire groups when he encountered them during meals, treating everyone equally.
Today, she led her people, along with Monks in plain clothes, to track and suppress information throughout the Dock Area. It seemed she encountered many "meek little shorties" but still hadn't found the man.
Lina, who often roamed around during the day, also didn't bring back any useful new information:
"It's strange. What you told me before about the 'hearing,' 'Secretary of State,' and 'Schwartz,' I specifically asked several young ladies to secretly inquire with their elders at home. Even Miss Harley didn't find out any relevant information. Our intelligence team's informants haven't had any success on this matter either. Did you perhaps hear false information at the time?"
As for Wayne himself, this afternoon he was once again sought out by Luke Matthew, who had recently been diligently running errands for the Fisk Family. The other party also brought several empty can samples that the Brook Factory had tinkered with.
This was both for Wayne to choose from and to urge progress—the factory was settled, can samples were available, mass production could begin next, and orders and initial investments were ready, so when would his production line start?
Even Mr. Russell, the usually laid-back patron, uncharacteristically sent messages through his butler and lawyer.
The lawyer came every month to pre-check and settle accounts with the Detective Agency. Since the amount of the security contract was basically fixed and there wasn't much room for fluctuation, everyone just followed the process. When there was nothing else, Inessa, who managed the money, was responsible for overseeing it. It just so happened that Wayne was the one to receive them today.
The butler came specifically to convey a message: "Mr. Russell says that the shareholders are very satisfied with your Detective Agency's work. However, the operation of one of the company's steam train routes has recently caused some concern among shareholders by comparison. Can your Detective Agency include that area in your security coverage as soon as possible?"
There aren't enough people to spare right now. We can't just send the chef or Emma, can we?
At the earliest, we'd have to wait until the can workshop takes shape, and the people and matters at the Cathedral are withdrawn, before we can assign a batch of new Agents, who have basically completed their work adaptation, to various offices.
Moreover, mass production of cans also requires raw materials. The twenty cattle that the mayor had sent before are still being raised at the slaughterhouse and haven't been fully slaughtered yet.
But the restaurant cannot be cut off, and large-scale production certainly needs to save costs. Wayne has already sent a message to the mayor to quickly send another batch of beef cattle, live pigs, and even cheese. Pigeons will fly directly to the First Office, and then people will deliver them by fast horse.
In any case, it will take at least another ten days to half a month. If the Fisk Family's cargo ships are in a hurry, then the first batch of goods will take a slight loss, starting with local fresh meat.
In addition to luncheon meat and processed cheese cans, they also made some meat soup cans and bean cans from the scraps, just to make up the numbers and test the waters.
At the small meeting before going out on night patrol, Merlin, the special envoy from the Cathedral, brought a new piece of news that was relatively less annoying:
"We have confirmed the situation with Jason Voorhees. He has escaped from the Monastery, and the Extraordinary Person you encountered last night should be him."
"Bishop has already arranged for Warren Lechter to conduct a security assessment and internal review of that Monastery. But for us, what's more important right now is that he is now also on the pursuit list. Besides that high-level Extraordinary Person whose identity is unknown and who may still be hiding in the Dock Area, we have another target."
This was not too surprising.
If the news that "an Extraordinary Person successfully escaped from a Church prison" could evoke some sighs of emotion from everyone,
then an Extraordinary Person who could reach Tier 7 on paper, even if they destroyed a Church Cathedral somewhere, would sound quite reasonable.
The several core Agents present would not even doubt the reliability of the Church's guards because of this.
They silently glanced at Inessa, then secretly peeked at Lina, all seemingly thinking that the problem was not with the Church's Monastery itself.
So, the night patrol team had a bunch of Monks in plain clothes or Church guards who actually didn't care about petty gang matters.
After reaching a consensus, they set off together, each with their own focus.
...
Mr. Schwartz, the banker, was truly furious today.
The news of the witness's death did not surprise him. Mr. Schwartz also disliked that person. He finally managed to get him to the hearing, but instead of saying what he should have, he tried to expose a scandal of politicians deliberately deceiving Parliament.
He had no motivation to protect that guy and even took some pleasure in the witness's death, only hoping that Secretary of State Mr. Pryor would let the matter rest there.
Everyone was a civilized person. Even if they were enemies, it was a matter of playing cards and exchanging chips.
Flipping the table publicly was too ugly and uncontrollable, clearly an overreaction, and did not conform to the universally respected tacit understanding and decorum.
However, the one who had now gone too far was Mr. Pryor.
The Sailor Gang had lost so many men in just two days, and the killer did not take any valuables from the warehouse or the scene, clearly indicating that someone was seeking revenge.
Mr. Schwartz knew that quite a few people secretly resented him; anyone who received a loan from him could eventually become an enemy.
But he never believed in coincidences, only in rigorous assessment and calculation.
"You go back and tell them, whoever can gather more men and take over more territory from the Aierlan Gang, I will support them to become the new leader of the Sailor Gang."
"Those bloody goods in the warehouse are theirs. Let them figure out how to turn them into manpower and weapons. I don't want money this time; I only want blood."
"Those few people from the Aierlan Gang haven't been released by the police yet. I'm certainly not the only gentleman in Richmond who is dissatisfied with them. Everyone has a tacit understanding about this matter now, so let them go ahead and do it."
After the visitor from the Dock Area left, the butler discreetly brought hot tea to Mr. Schwartz to soothe his anger.
Then he quickly brought up another matter to divert Mr. Schwartz's attention, lest his own work be unfairly criticized by his employer: "I have already contacted several witnesses willing to expose Mr. Secretary of State for insider trading. Mr. Pryor also once had a rumor of competing for a partner with Victor Biddon. Should we try to contact the Beaton Family?"
However, the butler was still reprimanded by the still-angry Mr. Schwartz: "What's the point of gossip?! Can it make an incumbent politician step down? Big families value interests. A small portion of their ball expenses is enough to make all the dancers in the Dock Area take off their skirts and flatter them to their heart's content!"
"That lady is actually a bit different..."
Just as the butler said this, he was glared at by Mr. Schwartz, so he quickly added the key point, "That lady was once a socialite in New York City. She inherited the estates of her family and husband. Although she no longer attends various balls ostentatiously, she is a VIP client at Richmond Commercial Bank and is still well-known in a small circle."
Since it involved money, it was indeed different, and it might even be true love.
Mr. Schwartz's anger subsided slightly, "You go find out the details and see if there's an opportunity for us. If not, then try to win over a big client. A VIP client of Richmond Commercial Bank is valued at least over ten thousand gold pounds. As 'extra income,' it's enough to make any bachelor from any family fall for it."
