America 1982

Jim was always very efficient in doing things, and he called back in the evening.

At that time, Tommy was setting up a grill to barbecue in the backyard of Stephen's house, trying to help Stephen prepare dinner to influence him, so that he could sell his dream to Stephen and trick him into taking out the money.

"Your vixen lady is trying to become famous with her two colleagues by investigating Wicca, a religious organization in New England." Jim said on the phone what he knew.

Tommy held the phone in one hand and a brush in the other hand, smearing amber honey on the barbecue. When he heard what Jim said, Tommy was stunned: "Is that a variant of Christianity?"

"I'm not sure. Robert said it seems to be some kind of witch religion. Most of the believers are women. TV stations and newspapers have already reported on it last week. Lawyers for the Wicca organization have approached TV stations and newspapers and tried to shut them down. But obviously no one listened, are you sure you want Robert to cause trouble for that girl?"

"It's as easy for a religious organization like that to find a few fanatics to kill reporters as it is to kill a chicken. No matter which party dies, it doesn't seem to matter, so I think to be on the safe side, I should ask Mr. Page to take her to Los Angeles for a vacation. , stay away from that kind of investigation." After Tommy finished speaking, he hung up the phone.

Stephen, who was feeding the dogs the sausages that Tommy had worked so hard to bake, glanced at him: "Even the dogs don't like the food you bake, Tommy. I'm sure humans won't die if they eat this stuff."

"Have you ever heard of W-I-C-C-A, Wicca? Stephen?" Tommy frowned slightly and asked the other party.

Stephen repeated the word Tommy said, chewed gum in his mouth and thought for a while, then shook his head: "No, I definitely don't know the woman with that name."

"It's not a woman, it's a religious organization. It's best to stay away from weird religious organizations like the United States. Their crime cost is lower than that of black people. The lower-level believers are equivalent to free killers for the middle and upper levels of the religion, and they can still have firm beliefs. He took all the charges and went to jail." Tommy also didn't expect Stephen to have heard of this religious organization active in New England, so he called Sophia's phone:

"Sofia, ask Mr. Page to go on a business trip and fly to Worcester, Massachusetts, to pick up Zoe and come to Los Angeles for a vacation. The rich man has a new play, and there is a character based on her as a prototype. I hope she will help with this. The film cast the right actor to play her and Mr Page knows Zoe, whom he met at David's wedding."

Stephen heard Tommy asking someone to pick up Zoe, and said from the side: "Do you need help? I'll ask someone to pick up your Mr. Page? My father's Gulfstream III manufactured in 1982 was parked at the Los Angeles Airport. He felt The interior of the plane was terrible and it was too small for a long-distance intercontinental flight, so I accompanied my mother on Air France first class to Paris.”

"Ask Mr. Page to wait at the company, and Stephen's people will pick him up and take him to the airport." Tommy was not polite. After speaking, he hung up the phone: "Didn't you say that your father didn't get a cent of the inheritance? Gulfstream 3 , my future father-in-law also owns one, and the basic model costs about seven million yuan."

"Just like I got into Stanford on my own merit, my father also earned this money through his own efforts. Come on, he served as the assistant secretary of health for two presidents, and served as a board director or CEO of several pharmaceutical companies. , the salary he earned was enough to buy a small plane as a means of transportation, not to mention that what he bought was second-hand. Originally, the plane belonged to a pharmaceutical company owner, but after paying the money, he lost interest, so he transferred it to the owner at half price. My father."

"The collusion between government and business in the United States makes you describe it as kind and beautiful as a fucking fairy tale."

“So, Zoe meets the other party and is looking for trouble?”

"She's not in trouble yet, but I feel like she needs to stay away from those stupid religious believers. I don't want to see Zoe in the newspaper like Hollywood actress Sharon Tate, who was cut open by cult believers. Tommy continued to bake the delicious food and said:

"Those brainwashed idiots are ignorant and fearless. They will do anything for their bullshit beliefs, but it doesn't matter. Mr. Page will bring Zoe safely. He is very organized and efficient."

…

Worcester, Massachusetts, morning, a common cafe.

In the innermost booth, Zoe turned on her portable recording equipment, spread out her notebook, holding a pen in her hand, and stared at the woman opposite.

The woman sitting opposite her was about thirty years old, with a sad face, and was wearing cheap clothes. Like Zoe, she had black hair, but it didn't look as black and smooth as Zoe's. At this time, her hands were constantly moving on the table. He clenched his fingers and pursed his lips hard.

Zoe slowly pushed the coffee in front of the woman: "Drink some coffee to relax yourself. I promise you are safe now, Sylvia. No one knows that I am here to see you."

The woman named Sylvia held up the coffee and took a few sips. Under Zoe's encouraging gaze, she finally spoke slowly:

"The high priest and the prophet said not to speak of church affairs to anyone."

Almost at the same time, Zoe quickly started recording with the pen in her notebook.

"Not even your own parents, or even your own husband, can inform them of any news within the church." The woman looked around with vigilant eyes while continuing in a low voice.

While writing, Zoe asked: "Why can't you tell your family?"

"They said that because the world is ignorant, they are worried that if they tell them the truth, they will misunderstand Wicca as Satanism or the Church of Lucifer. But Wicca is completely different from those cults. Someone once accidentally leaked it, and then she When she went to the assembly again, as she told lies to deceive the high priest, the candles on the altar suddenly turned green, which meant that the person who leaked the information was no longer one of our fellow practitioners, and she was taken away by the law enforcers within the church. , we never saw her again.”

"I already said in last week's news investigation program that it was a magic trick. We found out that after your prophet was released from prison in his early years, he once followed a magician as an assistant. During this period, he learned many magic tricks, and then he Disguise those magic tricks as magic in front of you.”

“Yes, I was shaken just after seeing the news.” Sylvia raised her head and looked at Zoe cautiously: “Your report convinced me that the prophet did not summon anyone at all during the previous grand ceremony. God.”

Zoe continued to ask: “What is the big ceremony you are talking about?”

The woman lowered her head, took several sips of coffee, and then said in a very light voice: "A fertility ritual within the religion, where gods and believers are combined. The prophet will summon the gods to come to him, and then combine with the believers."

After Zoe listened, her facial muscles were obviously twitching slightly. This big ceremony was really unintentional. More than half of the cult organizations in the United States will use similar excuses to deceive female believers into devoting their bodies, but there are always women who will be deceived:

"How often does the big ceremony you mentioned happen?"

The woman was silent for a while before giving the answer: "Once a week, the high priest will select the five most devout believers to participate in the ceremony."

"How many times have you been singled out?" Zoe asked.

"Five times, I haven't participated since I turned thirty and never made a large donation. The last time I participated in a big ceremony was three years ago."

"What made you shake and doubt the grand ceremony of Wicca?"

"After you said those spells were magic, I started trying to think of possible doubts, and then I remembered something that a real god would never do."

"What's up?"

"I once accidentally saw the prophet secretly taking some medicines. After thinking about it, my husband also took the same pills in the past two years, so I thought it was impossible for the gods to need some medicines to maintain their relationship with the five people. The union of female believers.”

Zoe first stared at the woman in front of her in stunned silence. After making sure that the other party was not joking, she recorded what she just said.

As soon as she finished, her phone rang. Zoe made an apologetic gesture to the other party and answered the call from her colleague: "What's the matter? I'm collecting information."

The woman couldn’t hear what was said on the other side of the phone, but she saw Zoe’s eyes visibly widened: “Holiday? Are you kidding me? For safety reasons, the show I am on is temporarily suspended from broadcasting holidays? What safety considerations? What did the police say, it was someone from Wicca who did it? So, I can’t do anything?”

Soon, Zoe hung up the phone with an angry expression. Sylvia on the opposite side stared at Zoe nervously: "What happened?"

"My department received a gift box. After opening it, we found a timing device inside. My colleagues at the TV station were so frightened that they all evacuated. The police arranged for someone to dismantle it, only to find that there was no bomb inside, only a box of chocolates." Zoe said irritably. said:

"Before the conclusion of the police investigation is released, for safety reasons, we are required to suspend all activities that may cause subsequent reactions from potential suspects, such as continuing to investigate Wika. To put it simply, I am on vacation. According to the speed of the police investigation, the vacation will be at least It will take two weeks. It is obvious that the people from Wicca are trying to intimidate us, and the gift box does not contain any threatening words. It contains chocolates. Even if the police come to the door, there is nothing they can do. They can be said to be enthusiastic viewers who gave the TV station a gift. Box of chocolates.”

At the public phone booth outside the cafe, the bald Paige in a smoky gray jacket saw Zoe hanging up the phone and immediately dialed her number. Looking at Zoe's back in the cafe, she said:

"Ms. Zoe Winters, this is Lott Page, Mr. Tommy Hawke's driver. He asked me to pick you up to Los Angeles to serve as a casting consultant for Mr. Stephen Bean's new movie. , TV, I asked the TV station where you work, and they said you just started your vacation."