New Gods of North America

Since its opening, the detective agency has been involved in quite a few investigations.

However, as Wayne opened the case file in the carriage, he realized that this was probably the first time he had encountered such a case.

Tom Hagen was attacked near the cathedral. The assailant happened to catch him alone and fired several shots into his back, using poisoned bullets.

But Tom Hagen didn't die, because the file also contained the victim's own testimony, with the location of the record being the church's hospital. Wayne thought that such detailed information could not be obtained through 'spiritualism'.

Looking further down, the file also contained the assailant's interrogation record. The motive for the attack was a personal grudge related to Tom Hagen's previous missions.

The assailant even described the preparation process for the attack, followed by a confession.

With witnesses and evidence, and the assailant already apprehended, in Black Stone Town, they could notify the townspeople to prepare to watch the execution tomorrow.

What was there to investigate?

Unfortunately, it seemed that not only Bishop Corleone thought there was a real culprit behind this, but even Pastor Tyrrell thought so.

Moreover, Pastor Tyrrell had already thought of the candidate for the real culprit: "Bazzini probably feels that he can't escape this time and is venting his dissatisfaction with this kind of public execution. But such a case is not easy to investigate. We have to find a way to get evidence to hold him."

Wayne wondered all the way if this was also Bishop Corleone's intention.

Back at the detective agency, he really didn't dare to send detectives out in a hurry.

The partners studied it for a while. Lena thought that political struggles were not surprising anywhere. On the other hand, Ineisha pondered for a long time but couldn't find any evidence pointing to Pastor Bazzini, wondering how Wayne and the others had identified the real culprit.

Some things can't be understood just by looking at the file. To investigate, they had to go to Richmond.

So Wayne first brought out the Big-Eyed Octopus, intending to ask the local 'insider' what they thought of the case.

After knocking on the fish tank several times and going to the kitchen to find fresh meat to feed it, this guy gradually woke up from its 'fresh seafood' state.

Currently, the time it could be 'intellectually online' was less than half an hour on average, including the time for thinking and recalling. Wayne picked the things he cared about most to ask, curious about whether there had been any grudges between the local church leaders in the past.

The blood vessels and nerves connected to the big eyeball were now inserted into the fresh meat. The long-cold fresh meat was wriggling and shaking again in the water, showing a disturbing vitality.

The Big-Eyed Octopus 'crashed' for several minutes before a hollow voice vibrated over:

"Many local pastors have criticisms of the cathedral, but there doesn't seem to have been any direct conflict..."

That's not surprising. Dignified people don't openly act like shrew and pull hair.

They might be killing each other's families tomorrow, but today they can still smile at each other and drink together.

Wayne changed the question, "In Pastor Pacyell's opinion, what is the root of the conflict between those pastors and the cathedral?"

This time, the Big-Eyed Octopus reacted much faster:

"The dioceses of the Holy Spirit Church are relatively independent of each other. The development of the church in the South cannot be separated from the support of the large and small planters, and the development of the church in the North cannot deviate from the expectations of the factory owners. The divisions of the believers are reflected at the church level, and there will be the so-called 'identity' problem. Pastors have to cater to the mainstream views of the core believers in their dioceses and make different interpretations of the 'Holy Book'.

"Among them, a more fiercely debated topic is, for example, 'Whether slaves can be considered sound people'. Planters must deprive the other party of some 'legitimacy' in law and morality in order to justify their actions.

"From this point of view, many pastors in Virginia feel that some of the current bishop's ideas will reduce believers' sense of belonging and support for the local church. At least the next bishop must not be such a person again."

You monks are also arguing about this...

Masters, your hearts are not calm enough.

Wayne felt that he had already obtained a preliminary answer, "So the person with the biggest disagreement with the cathedral is Pastor Bazzini?"

The Big-Eyed Octopus shook slightly on the piece of fresh meat, looking like it was shaking its head:

"Almost all Southern pastors think so. This is not something that can be simply reversed ideologically. Pastors Tyrrell and Bazzini are just the two with the highest prestige among them.

"If they lose the support of those planters, many churches may have to greatly reduce their daily maintenance, or even be unable to sustain themselves. Even if the slaves are more devout, they can't actually offer much contribution.

"If there is any difference, then Pastor Tyrrell seems to hope that he will eventually become a member of the College of Bishops, or even become the Chief Archbishop, while Pastor Bazzini is not interested in the College of Bishops dominated by Northern pastors."

Hearing this, Wayne really felt like he had seen Bishop Corleone's perspective.

As a local bishop and a member of the Holy Spirit Church's College of Bishops, the most important thing at Bishop Corleone's level might be to try to avoid a state of 'secession' in the large diocese.

Therefore, Bishop Corleone directly blindly chose Pastor Tyrrell before the truth was clear.

Since Pastor Tyrrell, who is also a Southern pastor standing on the side of the planters, hopes to enter the College of Bishops, then he will at least nominally maintain the authority of the College of Bishops. In contrast, if Pastor Bazzini takes office in the future, he may be more likely to 'form his own faction'.

Thinking about it this way, the detective agency's positioning as a pawn in Bishop Corleone's mind seems to be emerging.

If the trend of 'Southern pastors' forming a climate is inevitable, then we must support the forces of different factions to carry out 'neutralization'.

Therefore, Bishop Corleone will pay attention to the detective agency's 'harvest' situation. What he wants to avoid is the 'tail wagging the dog' within the diocese, or even the 'independence' after continued expansion.

It is only because America is a scattered country 'from the bottom up' that the Holy Spirit Church can propose various rules that believers should follow, but it cannot force believers to donate to a certain church. This kind of thing will become a problem.

There was probably no such problem in the Old Continent and the Middle Ages. Just send the Knights to 'have a touch', and the losing party will know how to accept fate.

Wayne felt that the detective agency now seemed a bit like the role of the 'Knights'.

But after thinking a little about the story of 'Black Friday', he felt that this metaphor was not very auspicious.

But since he had already figured it out, he would honestly investigate.

Let's see which lucky one will be raided by order.