Chapter 594: Briefing

Curiosity aside, once Connal and the others were confirmed safe, the arms depot matter no longer concerned the Detective Agency.

Judging by the archives and the scale of its construction, the arms depot had been secretly in use for quite some time.

Inessa's ability to uncover clues so quickly was certainly due to her skill, but conversely, it also indicated that the place wasn't hidden as well as it could be, with some clues still traceable.

Even if the Church, City Hall, the state government, and local intelligence agencies were a bit slow, it was clearly impossible for all of them to remain completely unaware for so long. This indirectly proved that the place had a “legitimate existence.”

—Since its existence was “legitimate,” then the Detective Agency secretly investigating it in the middle of the night and causing such a stir was, conversely, “illegitimate.”

So, having successfully escaped by his own means last night, even if Wayne was still interested in the place, there was no reason for him to incriminate himself and provide clues to them now. He at least had to wait for things to calm down. For now, focusing on the Detective Agency’s own affairs was more important.

After completing all possible procedures, when Wayne returned to the workshop, Lina was sitting on the floor of the archive room, spreading out a large pile of old newspapers and reading them, with several stacks piled up nearby.

Noticing Wayne, she straightened up and pointed to a few papers on the table. “The briefings for the past two days are out. Read them and then put them back or give them to Inessa. Doug still needs to archive them as usual.”

It must be said that after Lina started organizing the collection and compilation of intelligence with Soften and the others, while the amount of truly effective information the Detective Agency could obtain might not have significantly increased, seeing regular briefings being compiled still gave one the feeling of “I’m at least a BOSS now.”

The sources of these messages were actually similar to how the Detective Agency used to “ask around in bars,” “chat with residents,” or “honestly buy newspapers,” with only a slight addition of “informants” like street kids and flexible vendors.

Although this temporarily wouldn't uncover any secrets, and the veracity of some rumors might not stand up to factual scrutiny, the density and breadth of information in the briefings were already much higher than local newspapers, and the news arrived more promptly.

Furthermore, with someone else handling the specific collection process, Wayne and the others didn't need to run around themselves. They only needed to read the briefings daily, and without leaving their homes, they could generally understand the latest situation in Richmond, and even compare briefings from different dates to get an initial idea of how certain events were developing.

Once it became a habit, it was actually quite convenient.

Wayne quickly scanned the contents of the briefing, flipping pages and commenting offhandedly:

“Another change in priests. The Cathedral has been adjusting many parish priests within Virginia recently… Tiriel’s energy seems to be primarily focused on internal church matters right now, no wonder he hasn't paid much attention to us lately.”

Lina shrugged beside him. “It’s better if he’s always too busy to pay attention. But normally, priests’ parishes shouldn’t change so quickly. I’m reviewing old news reports to see what detailed information needs to be assigned to Soften and the others to dig further.”

Lina had, after all, worked in a professional organization, and some work requirements, even if simply copied, were more detailed than what an amateur might come up with on their own.

For example, she would have Soften and the others note the intelligence source on the briefing. News about priest adjustments, for instance, came from newspaper reports. Such non-confidential public information, once seen, needed no questioning.

Out of professional sensitivity, Lina would also comprehensively judge existing information and then point out general collection directions to Soften and the others. This was like having an experienced guide from the very beginning, preventing a group from aimlessly running around like headless chickens. Besides occasionally focusing on various gossip, the instructions wouldn't be too outlandish.

And Soften and the others were originally peripheral members of a local intelligence organization, already very proficient at the execution level. The combination of the two sides meant almost no need for a settling-in period; they could “hit the road” quickly.

The Dock Area remained the current focus of the Detective Agency. After reaching a consensus, Soften and the others have recently been trying to thoroughly investigate the “territorial” gangs, understanding their internal situations and their rivalries.

These matters had no official sources. Relying solely on residents’ gossip might not be reliable, and information provided by informants could also be partially distorted. For example, stories like “two gangs once had a shootout involving X number of people” often exaggerated the numbers.

Some gangs sounded very formidable in rumors, with everyone saying they were “not to be trifled with,” and examples were given convincingly.

However, battle reports lie, but front lines do not. The changes in gang territories over the past few years were very objective. No matter how fierce the boasting, it was not as credible as actual territorial expansion and contraction.

The briefing in Wayne’s hand had already been reviewed by Lina, so it also had her annotations. Two items were highlighted with priority symbols and marked “Notify Willie.”

This was another benefit of division of labor. Soften and the others only handled intelligence gathering, focusing more on breadth and timeliness. Once certain information was filtered out and deemed useful, it was provided to Willie for focused follow-up, fact-checking, and targeted searching for clues and witnesses, then converted into evidence for court.

Everyone performed their own duties, saving effort for all.

After temporarily letting James Damody go, the Detective Agency was currently targeting the Sailor Gang, who had recently caused trouble for Wayne. They had almost replicated the previous journalist case exactly. The probability of pinning it on Wayne wasn’t too high, but the intimidation was very strong.

Therefore, Soften’s side, following the Detective Agency’s advice, had recently focused much attention on matters related to them. This was both to have Willie legally sanction them according to Inessa’s idea, and to allow Lina to freely promote old incidents that could provoke hostility from other gangs towards them.

—They didn’t even need to spread false information; just bringing up some things they had done before was enough.

However, no matter how fanciful the imagination, real-world confrontation always required the backing of strength.

Soften’s side was still relatively covert, but Willie assisting the prosecutor was a “playing open cards” situation. If the Detective Agency itself wasn’t strong enough, they might sooner or later encounter “accidents.” Therefore, after reading the briefing, Wayne went to check on the onboarding training of the new members.

Hmm…

By the Arena, Wayne looked at the dejected “drenched chicken”: “Connal, what happened to you?”

Connal sighed, still spitting out water occasionally. In the distance, two “water monkeys” were still wrestling in the river. “Boss, I still prefer the Arena in Georgeberg…”