New Gods of North America

Because Lina and another trainee agent were "undercover" among the servants,

So although Wayne and his colleagues asked the servants to gather in the reception room to supervise each other, they did not prohibit private communication between the servants.

At this time, the number of servants still staying in the main house was about one-third of the total number of servants in the manor.

That's about ten.

The butler, the personal servants of several family members, and the ordinary male and female servants who are on duty and cooperate with them in their work - in fact, they are basically all maids.

The attacker Doug and his friends had witnessed earlier was disguised as a male servant.

So Wayne focused on the men and, out of politeness, started by asking the butler, Mr. Myron.

It turns out that when you and their employers agree,

The group of "housekeepers" are usually very easy to deal with.

"Mr. Wayne, is there anything you want to know?" As soon as the butler walked into the room and sat down, he showed a very cooperative attitude.

Wayne nodded, "Well... I'm very curious about the salaries of different positions in the manor. I happen to have a chance today, so if it's convenient, I'd like to ask about it."

In fact, Wayne had already inquired about the salary situation of the manor from the servants a few days ago.

The reason why he asked this question at this time was based on a small guess of his:

——The attacker who attacked tonight might not know much about the situation in the manor.

Although Mr. Ben Harmon nearly had an accident twice, both times due to ingesting allergic substances,

But Wayne felt that the situations were different these two times.

The last time they came, they mixed "peanut powder" into Mr. Ben Harmon's food.

Peanut powder is harmless to most people and is a symptomatic allergen, so it was a highly targeted action based on the understanding of Mr. Ben Harmon.

This time, the attacker secretly put a special paste into the coffee.

According to Lina, it is something that can produce specific effects, and it is not direct enough in terms of being "fatal". Mr. Ben Harmon is allergic to some ingredient in it, which has caused the opposite effect.

If we follow the attacker's thinking,

The foreseeable result is that Mr. Ben Harmon will inadvertently become physically ill due to the effects of a small amount of the paste.

At the same time, because the butler being impersonated didn't know about the coffee delivery, if no one specifically investigated, it would look like a simple "illness." It wasn't a particularly serious one.

Intuitively, the attackers tonight were professional enough and showed less malice.

At the same time, because the other party is professional, this oversight seems a bit abrupt.

Let's not talk about whether his deeds would be exposed because of this. If he didn't care about the consequences at all, wouldn't it be better to just use poison or a simpler "allergy substance"? It would even save some costs.

In other words, Wayne felt that these two incidents were done by two people, or two different groups of people.

The attacker tonight probably didn't know enough about what was going on in the manor. After all, most of the servants in the manor were aware of Mr. Ben Harmon's allergy to peanuts.

So Wayne specifically asked the butler some things he already knew.

If it is confirmed that there is no problem with the butler, Wayne can also learn more about other things and then continue to use them to test other servants.

"What are the salaries for different positions in the manor?"

After listening to this, the butler thought for a moment and then began to answer the question:

"If we follow our local customs, servants can probably be divided into 'management' and ordinary 'staff' according to their different positions in the manor.

"Generally speaking, the butler is the highest manager of servants in a manor, while the housekeeper is relatively independent and usually manages the daily expenses given by the employer and the "feminine characteristics" of the maids. These two positions are usually the highest paid among the male and female servants in the manor respectively.

"Below are the "general management staff" in the popular sense, such as the personal servants of the master and mistress and family members, or the servants responsible for the management of certain important areas in the manor, as well as cooks, gardeners, coachmen and other independent professionals. If the owner of the manor is wealthy enough, there will even be positions such as "head chef".

"The remaining servants and assistants of various professions can only be regarded as "staff" or temporary staff."

Wayne felt that the butler's statement was a bit too "broad", "Can you tell me the specific amount?"

Butler Myron was a little embarrassed:

“It may be difficult for me to reveal the specific salary amount of each servant, so it may be more convenient for you to ask Mr. Harmon.

"But if you just have a general idea, the salary of 'managers' is basically twice as high as that of ordinary 'staff', or even more. It depends on the specific qualifications and positions.

"Specifically in Mr. Harmon's estate, the information that can be made public is that the total salary paid to servants is about $6,800 per year. Of this, the "management staff", who make up slightly less than half of the total, take about $5,000 of it, and the remaining $2,000 belongs to the "staff", who make up more than half of the total."

This amount is right again...

The detective agency's commission of $1,000 is indeed roughly equivalent to at least half a year's salary expenses for all the "staff" in the manor.

Wayne checked it again in his mind and dispelled his doubts a little.

Although the average salary of servants in the manor was not low, the distribution was not even.

For example, the average annual income of maids is about 220 US dollars, which sounds higher than the average annual income of female factory workers, which is about 180 US dollars.

However, the housekeeper can earn 450 US dollars a year, the salary of the mistress's personal maid is generally in the range of 230 to 300 US dollars, and the most numerous maids such as odd jobs and laundry maids may only earn around 100 to 140 US dollars, or even less.

- Jobs on the estate usually provided accommodation and food, while positions such as laundry maids had shorter working hours, were less specialized, and generally did not require on-call work than factory workers.

But to be on the safe side, Wayne asked a more pointed question:

"Mr. Myron, do you still have the business card I gave you when you came to our detective agency? There was a printing error on the last business card. I want to recycle them and I will give you new ones when the time comes."

The butler was obviously confused. "I don't think I received your business card, Mr. Wayne..."

All right,

So sure, this one is probably the real deal.

Wayne did the same thing, and then tried a few more male servants.

Still no problems were found.

Wayne even started to doubt whether he had made a wrong guess, or whether his own attempts were no match for professionals.

It was not until he tried his best to ask the third maid that he finally confirmed the answer.

Good fellow,

I didn't expect that the other person could even change his body shape.

Following Wayne's words, he dared to praise Mr. Ben Harmon's daughter, who was in her early teens, as "kind, beautiful" and "having many suitors".

That's too beastly.

And even the name was wrong. Does that mean you don’t care about promotion or salary increase at all?