New Gods of North America

Outside the poorhouse, the bodyguards and maids were divided into two teams.

One team escorted Miss Olivia away, and the other team followed Wayne and his men back to the hideout where the kidnappers had held the hostages.

The old butler invited Wayne and Inessa to get on the four-wheeled carriage he had brought.

Then another bodyguard got into the carriage. He was a familiar face that Wayne had seen several times around Ian Fisk.

The old butler introduced them one by one.

Wayne then realized that this man was actually Ian Fisk's bodyguard captain.

It sounds like he has at least a dozen people under him, and is only responsible for Ian Fisk's personal security or related matters.

The bodyguard captain explained to Wayne what they were responsible for in the past:

“There are several maids in the carriage at the back, and they will be responsible for cleaning up the traces of Miss Olivia’s life there.

"As for me, I will need to take those kidnappers away later."

Wayne had no big objection to this. As both the victim and the employer, he had the right to take the criminal away.

However, Wayne felt that some things might be better left to the police.

So he asked, "What will you do with them?"

The bodyguard captain did not hide it:

"According to Master Ian, if Miss Olivia is indeed not hurt, then as long as these people from the Underground Railroad are willing to cooperate, we will release them after questioning them and will not pursue their crimes.

"But as for the mastermind behind the use of extraordinary powers to control others that you mentioned, Mr. Wayne, it's not just Master Ian who wants to investigate him. I'm afraid the entire Fisk family will try to find him and deal with him."

He is more reasonable than I thought...

Then Wayne wondered, "What if they don't cooperate?"

The bodyguard captain smiled professionally:

"They should cooperate. Even if they are not charged with kidnapping, assisting slaves in escaping is against the law. If any of them are unwilling to cooperate, we will take them back to Georgia for trial.

"According to the activity level of the Underground Railroad, although some escaped slaves may not have been smuggled by them, if they were sentenced as accomplices, they would face imprisonment in addition to fines. Or even worse.

"You know, just as some Northerners hated slaveholders, some Southern gentlemen hated people who caused the loss of their property."

All right……

In this matter, the kidnappers themselves may be more willing to cooperate with the Fisk family than to be handed over to the police.

At least the Fisk family would not necessarily ask them to pay the fine, but if it went to court, according to the Fugitive Slave Act, there would be 100% no way to escape.

This world is quite magical.

…

The next morning, Wayne and his friends received an invitation from Ian Fisk at the hotel.

They said that in order to thank the detective agency for helping to find Miss Olivia, they specially prepared a small thank-you dinner for Wayne and others.

However, in theory, it was thanks to the detective agency, but in reality, the only ones who were invited were Wayne, Inissa and Lina, who were partners of the detective agency.

Considering Ian Fisk's generosity in spending money, Wayne and his friends did not hesitate and accepted the invitation that night.

The dinner was Frankish, with some plates bigger than faces, and more servants than guests.

To be fair, it’s not much better looking or tastier than what Parker made, because Wayne thought it was good, but the quality of the ingredients is obviously much higher.

In addition, there is peach pie, which is said to be a specialty of Georgia.

Miss Olivia also attended the dinner in her best attire, looking completely different from the one she saw in the poorhouse yesterday.

She is already a great beauty, and with her lavish attire, she is the kind of person who would shine brightly at a large banquet.

Especially when she smiles, she looks sweet and innocent, gorgeous and elegant, yet pure and kind.

Wayne couldn't help but turn his head and look at Lina, feeling that these two girls seemed to have been trained using the same teaching materials.

Then, Lina stabbed him with her eyes.

The people at the table talked about local customs and experiences.

Wayne, for example, was surprised that there were still black slave owners in the South.

The brother and sister of the Fisk family are more curious about life in a small western town.

Wayne originally thought that Ian Fisk would continue to entrust the investigation of the mastermind behind the kidnapping case to the detective agency.

But the other party didn't mention it until the end of the dinner.

Fortunately, although no new orders were received, Ian Fisk still gave Wayne and others a thank-you gift in the end.

A small suitcase obviously contained cash.

The other box contained a gold coin with their family emblem - their ancestors were colonial nobles who had been canonized by the Kingdom of Windsor and had a complete set of heraldic titles and the like, unlike some of the Puritans who had come here in misery on the April Grass.

Ian Fisk said the coin represented "the friendship of the Fisk family".

But Wayne thought this was probably the reward for the kidnapping plus hush money.

After leaving the mansion and waiting for the carriage in the courtyard, Lina couldn't wait to open the suitcase, which contained another 2,000 US dollars.

Then she started to calculate the income of this round:

"4,000 USD minus the 300 USD for hiring the six bounty hunters temporarily, there is still 3,700 USD left. Then the detective agency takes 30%, which is 2,590 USD. After that, the six of us split it 30% and 70%... I got 259 USD this time!"

By this calculation, the young lady doesn't seem to be much more expensive than "Grey Wolf" Freddy...

After that, the carriage was in place, and the three of them were chatting and preparing to get on the carriage.

Unexpectedly, the old housekeeper came over with two suitcases. "These two are Miss Olivia's personal thank-you gifts. They are given to Mr. Wayne and Miss Inessa who found her first."

Huh?!

There is still one?!

Wayne extended his hand and thanked him, "How can I be so embarrassed?"

…

On the way back,

After knowing that there were 1,000 US dollars in each of the two suitcases, Lina leaned against the carriage and chanted, "I clearly passed by the police station at that time, why didn't I go in and ask..."

Wayne is trying to trick Inissa into investing more money in the detective agency:

"Look, the detective agency is doing so well right now. It's obviously very cost-effective to continue adding shares. The dividends will definitely be greater, and we can bully the small shareholders together at that time."

"There are only three partners in the detective agency now! If both of you increase your shares, who else will be the minority shareholder?" Lina was unhappy.

Inesa thought for a moment, "What do you plan to do if you need the funds?"

Wayne told the detective agency about the temporary bounty hunters who wanted to join the agency. If they wanted to continue to expand the staff, they would have to draw more reserve funds into the detective agency's fund pool.

The amount seems large at the moment, but if you go to Virginia, you will need an office and accommodation, and then there will be various initial expenses. No matter how you think about it, it will cost a lot at once.

Inissa was quite decisive in making decisions. She thought Wayne was right, so she agreed.

Lina, who refused to admit defeat, also joined in, and finally succeeded in withdrawing another $1,000 from her personal piggy bank.

So, taking into account Wayne's previous all-in bet, the three people's shareholding ratios became one "five" and two "two and a half".