New Gods of North America

In fact, cameras had already been developed in this era.

There was even a daguerreotype camera that was hailed in newspapers as a “groundbreaking advancement.”

However, the "epoch-making" nature of the silver plate camera refers to the fact that it finally succeeded in shortening the exposure time of photography to less than 30 minutes, entering the "practical" stage.

After technical improvements, if the outdoor light is good, the shooting time of the silver plate camera can be shortened to "a few minutes".

Some journalists who have the conditions have started carrying cameras to take pictures - mainly to capture the "scenery", but "people" can also be photographed as long as the people being photographed are willing to cooperate and keep their poses still for a few minutes.

Then the engraver in the newspaper will make a woodcut based on the content of the photo, using a style that is as realistic as possible, and then print it in newspapers or magazines.

——Because what is finally presented in the newspaper are woodcuts, there is no need to worry if the photos taken by reporters are a little blurry.

But if you go to a photo studio to take pictures, the photographers will generally shoot for at least 15 minutes to ensure the best imaging effect.

Therefore, photo studios are even equipped with special "head stands" or "neck stands" to help the subjects maintain posture.

Of course, if rich people are willing, they can invite a photographer to their home to take photos.

After all, the silver plate camera at that time was just a not-so-big wooden box.

But if you want to "develop" the photos as quickly as possible, you will need a complete set of tools, enough to almost fill a carriage.

Because the Frankish government purchased the patent from the inventor of the daguerreotype camera and made it available to the world for free,

Therefore, the popularity of the silver plate camera around the world was quite "rapid", and manufacturers in various countries soon followed up with production and worked hard to promote it.

It may not have reached the level of being "popularized in every household" at this point, but at least most people know that such a thing exists.

Wayne thought of this at this time.

I just feel that it is really inconvenient to handle cases in this day and age without even a photo of the scene.

Bill Tench didn't notice Wayne's resentment.

At this moment, he was facing George Berg's map and explaining the case to everyone.

The other police officers in their department have been sent out to investigate, and they are the only ones here at this moment.

There are a total of four victims who have been killed so far.

The first person to be marked as "angry" was a street thug named George Berg.

He made a living by extorting and robbing poor families. His head was chopped off with an axe in the alley, and his neck was split several times, leaving uneven gaps.

The second person who was labeled "lazy" was an outsider who barely made ends meet by inheriting a property from a relative.

Most of the small house was rented out, and the family relied on the rent from the tenants to make a living. The victim was tied up and his blood vessels were cut. In order to avoid being discovered in time, the murderer poured the victim's blood on the open window, and half of it dripped onto the street.

The third person who was labeled as "gluttonous" was a worker in a small sugar factory.

The murderer tied him to the bed in the cabin. There was a bucket filled with "paste" and a thick tube leading out from it. It was inserted into the victim's throat, and some of it spilled onto the bed and the victim's face. The amount at the scene should have been far more than one bucket. He was probably choked to death.

As for his crimes, all that can be found out so far is that he probably stole some leftovers and brought them home every day, and in any case his weight reached over 200 pounds.

In short, these three people can perhaps be called the so-called "marginal figures in society".

They don’t have any important social connections, they can’t pay much in taxes, and they might not even go to vote in elections.

Although the murderer's method of committing the crime was said to look quite horrifying at the scene, it was actually not very advanced and did not feel "professional".

Therefore, in the first few days, the police department was also surprised by the bloodiness and cruelty of the murderer.

But it's just a normal way of blocking the news and then slowly launching an investigation.

Until the fourth case occurred.

The victim in the fourth case was the second son of a wealthy businessman.

Because his family was basically disappointed in him, although he had no worries about food and clothing, he was quite tight on money. He could not go to places with high consumption, and was not welcomed by the upper class circles.

This man was usually involved in some scandals. It was said that he liked to deceive ignorant girls from poor families.

So when he was killed, a goat's horn was hung on his head, and the clothes on his lower body were gone, as well as his lower body.

What was left at the scene was "lust".

The nature of this time is obviously different.

On the one hand, he was killed in his family's estate, which can be said to have "caused a huge impact on local security."

On the other hand, even though this guy is incompetent, he is still an official member of the wealthy family and is considered part of the "family face".

The wealthy businessman was a person with some influence in the local area, so when he expressed his anger and dissatisfaction to the mayor, the pressure was quickly transmitted to the police station.

If the police cannot arrest the murderer as soon as possible, the rich businessman will publicly offer a reward.

If a vicious case like this, which has never happened since the establishment of George Berg, is reported while he is in office and it is not handled well, the mayor's political career will be in jeopardy, but the police chief will basically be forced to resign early.

When encountering a case that sounds like it has religious elements,

Wayne has secretly started asking several professionals here:

"In a case like this, would it involve some strange rituals? For example, summoning evil spirits?"

Inesa was flipping through the materials while listening to Bill Tench's explanation.

Hearing Wayne's question, he shook his head slightly:

"It's not clear yet. The concept of these seven 'original sins' was originally used by the Holy See to slander the gods or extraordinary people in the other seven realms. However, after discovering that they could not be strictly matched, it was expanded to include the 'original sins' that everyone has. Compared to the extraordinary realm, it feels closer to a pure 'theological' realm concept."

Lina's thoughts were also moving in this direction at this time.

I saw that she had tried to draw several times with a pencil on the map at hand, trying to use symbols such as "seven-pointed star" or "hexagram" to connect the places where several victims were killed, but she couldn't match them.

David Mills listened more carefully and kept asking about some details of the scene.

After listening to it, several people had no idea what to do.

Wayne is still relatively "hardworking and able to make up for his shortcomings" in this regard:

"Since we only have so many clues, let's hurry up and check out the scene. Since the first crime scene is in the alley, it should have been cleared by now, right? Well, it turned out to be true.

"But the remaining few scenes sound like they are all indoors. They should still be basically the same at this time, right? Let's start with the last one?"

Everyone had no objection to this.

So Inesa took the time to look at the materials in her hands a few more times, and the few of them set off immediately.