Chapter 668 Scandal

The joys and sorrows of humanity are not interconnected.

After the hearing concluded, William Garcia, with a calm expression, was escorted away by the Parliament's security personnel and would subsequently be handed over to the relevant investigative agencies.

Banker Mr. Schwartz was furious when he later learned about the situation at the scene, scolding the client manager responsible for the specific handling of the matter.

The latter had not expected that what was originally planned as a bargaining chip for a moderate display would suddenly turn into a 'declaration of war' aimed directly at the heart.

The private task, which was envisioned to be easy and leave an impression of 'one of us' on his boss, instead became a case of 'ineffective handling' for which he had to bear the blame—the person in question was clearly suggested by Mr. Schwartz, yet the responsibility seemed to fall entirely on him.

He didn't even dare to contradict Mr. Schwartz during his rage, only attempting to offer remedial suggestions.

He was then reprimanded as a 'fool,' a 'good-for-nothing,' 'Why didn't you see the problem beforehand?' and 'You can't even do a small thing right.'

Wayne was unaware of what had transpired at the State Parliament's hearing.

But his mood today was still quite good.

In the morning, Luke Matthew brought Wayne the reply from Brook Factory; they were taking the Fisk Family's order very seriously. Although the exact production quantity had not yet been determined, they had already stated they would supply at a preferential price.

The factory would rush to produce several samples of canned goods of different specifications in the next few days and send them to Wayne and Luke Matthew for review. If the order quantity reached a certain scale, they would also organize a dedicated production line and provide Supporting facilities production tools, employee training, and technical guidance for subsequent canning processes.

At noon, he took Tax Officer Quinn to the Police Station. In those days, the city police's official source of income was appropriations from City Hall, so they quickly agreed to send people to invite the gangs for 'assistance with investigations.'

Although the police could only detain gang members for a limited time without evidence, they did have the authority to summon them. The Detective Agency was now collecting taxes for City Hall, so their attitude became more cooperative than before, as the Police Station also had the opportunity to become a 'City Hall department that contributed to tax collection.'

Sometimes, having powerful backing makes things easy.

Unfortunately, everything has its pros and cons.

Now, after getting a preliminary understanding of the Dock Area, he pulled out the list that Bishop Tiriel had initially given to the Detective Agency.

Good heavens, every single one of them was a demon or monster that had escaped from the heavens.

Wayne giving some of them the opportunity to fight each other to a bloody pulp actually had an element of deflecting trouble.

Rather than letting the Detective Agency become the target of all sides, it was better to stir the waters to a limited extent and strive to be a 'mediator' or something similar.

In the afternoon, he stopped by the restaurant. In those days, large glass curtain walls made it stand out on the street, and the interior looked spacious and bright, unlike many restaurants nowadays that were dark during the day.

Compared to when it first opened, business had slightly declined, but according to the acting manager, it was still much more popular than restaurants of similar price. Some young people with good incomes or family backgrounds even came every day, and a portion of people regarded it as an affordable alternative to high-end restaurants for dates and such.

Moreover, what Wayne hadn't expected was that the restaurant had subtly begun to take on the character of a neighborhood landmark.

It was said that some people had started using the restaurant as their meeting point in the vicinity. The freckled waitress also mentioned that she had encountered some customers who came specifically to try something new during this period; they were all out-of-towners brought by local relatives and friends to 'see the world,' and some were even said to be academy students.

Of course, it was mainly because a half-pound of beef or a dish with ample cheese sounded truly extravagant. Even if some restaurants wanted to imitate it, they would have to consider the cost, and they certainly wouldn't dare to issue random discount coupons.

Wayne stayed at the restaurant until before evening.

Mainly, he wanted to understand Willie's work achievements during this period, and two new members had come to shadow today, so he observed how they were getting along.

And Inessa also brought Hope, who was originally an army soldier, to recognize people and routes.

She would wait until she finished her work, and they would leave together.

Hope was the type who could freely enter and exit churches and the Exorcist Association, making him more suitable for running errands than many Agents. In a sense, he and the current Willie were both 'fronts' that the Detective Agency wanted to present to the public.

However, Willie operated on a public service line, doing things for citizens to see, leveraging the prosecutor's influence, while Hope was presented to the priests and monks in the church, proving that the Detective Agency also accepted Extraordinary Persons from the 'holy' domain and was not some strange, exclusive, hidden organization.

In those days, city residents' dinner times were relatively late; most working-class people generally didn't get off work until after dark.

At this time, the restaurant had not yet entered its evening rush hour, and there were still some empty seats, unlike when he first arrived in the afternoon, when even the boss seemed like an idle person blocking the way and had to quickly go upstairs to avoid hindering people's busy work.

Then, as two customers entered, Wayne noticed them.

One of them was a staff member from a newspaper office whom Wayne had encountered when he went to buy an advertisement. However, he had never spoken to the person and didn't know their specific position.

They looked somewhat hurried, but they didn't go to the counter to order takeout. Before entering, they were still talking to each other, but they fell silent after entering. Then, they scanned the empty seats in the hall and quickly chose the most secluded one.

This clearly indicated that they had something relatively private but not entirely secret to discuss.

Wayne, having nothing to do at the moment, ordered a portion of French fries, carried his plate, and sat down nearby with his back to them, intending to listen for any gossip they might have, perhaps related to City Hall's tax collection or the gangs in the Dock Area.

The freckled girl took their order: two for dine-in and two for takeout. After she walked a little further away, one of them continued to speak:

"I plan to write a special report about today's events, calling it a major scandal in state politics. What do you think?"

The other person seemed a bit hesitant. "But this is currently only the witness's unilateral statement; the specific situation still needs to be verified... Perhaps we could soften it a bit, for example, using a suggestive title like 'Are there hidden motives behind the State Archives fire?'"

"That wouldn't be sensational enough. I just made some inquiries, and that witness seems to have leaked information to a few guys before, and they have more. If our wording isn't strong enough, it will be hard to get readers to pay attention to us."

"Actually, that witness also came to our newspaper office before. What he wrote should still be piled up in the storeroom right now."

"?! How come I didn't know? Where exactly is it?"

"I read the contents at the time. My impression is that it wasn't the same incident he talked about today, and it wasn't worth reporting. However, that also seemed to be related to an accident. I'll go look through it later."

"It seems we'll be spending another night at the office tonight. We need to rush back before the editor-in-chief goes home, otherwise, it'll be too late for tomorrow's paper... But isn't Schwartz Investment Company an investment bank? What do you think they were targeting Mr. Pryor for at the hearing this time?"

"I'm not sure. It's best we don't jump to conclusions right now; we just need to raise the questions, and more information should surface then."

"..."

Wayne ate with relish nearby. Secretary of State Mr. Pryor and Banker Mr. Schwartz had both been objects of the Detective Agency's attention recently, the men behind the Ireland Violent Group and the Sailor Gang, respectively.

Although he wasn't clear about the specific matters these two people were discussing, he already had the detailed keywords. The latest time node was today, and the location was a hearing. Considering the Secretary of State's identity, it could only be a State Parliament hearing. Adding the names of the people and events, it shouldn't be difficult for the intelligence team to inquire about it.

They might not even need to inquire at all. These two guys had already said that tonight they were going to pull the editor-in-chief in to work overtime on the manuscript, striving to get it published tomorrow.

It seemed that quite a few reporters knew about this, and it felt like the newspaper offices were competing for news. It was estimated that by tomorrow morning, when the new newspapers were delivered to the workshops, the specific situation would be clear at a glance.

It seemed that when the little imps fought, the gods behind them weren't just watching, either.

But then again...

The Ireland Violent Group and the Sailor Gang had previously teamed up to attack him. Now, no matter the reason, it was a good thing that they could start fighting each other.

They should fight fiercely and let everyone see rivers of blood.