New Gods of North America

To find a "local" familiar with the situation,

the most reliable person to ask at this time is naturally Tom Hagen, the victim of the assassination attempt.

It's fortunate that this guy didn't die, otherwise, with Archbishop Corleone not at home and Pastor Tyrrell, who is investigating with me, having his own agenda, Wayne might really have to research whether there's a way to "summon spirits" in this world.

First, he made a wasted trip to the church hospital, and then Wayne followed the directions to the cathedral.

Tom Hagen is quite dedicated; as the saying goes, "a hundred days for bones and tendons to heal," but it hasn't even been ten days, and he's already actively back at his post.

However, he's sitting in a large high-backed chair behind his desk, and even a slightly larger movement requires him to cover his wound, and he probably still needs someone to help him walk.

It's somewhat like "Xi Shi holding her heart," or rather, "Dong Shi imitating her frown"...

After Tom Hagen listened to the current progress of the investigation and understood Wayne's suspicions and intentions, he was slightly stunned and then couldn't help but shake his head. "I didn't expect this case to involve so many forces."

Regarding the background and situation of the local intelligence organization that Wayne wanted to know, Tom Hagen didn't directly give an answer, but instead covered his wound and wrote a short letter of introduction on the cathedral's stationery:

"After all, I'm not a member of the political world. Out of mutual respect, I haven't actively explored matters unrelated to the church."

"But I can recommend someone to you. If you want to investigate matters related to Walter Norton, I believe he would be interested."

Wayne took the letter of introduction, reading its contents while, at Tom Hagen's suggestion, he took a new envelope from the side to prepare to seal it. At the same time, he directly asked, "Bask Beaton? Who is this guy?"

Tom Hagen was obviously a little surprised. "You run a detective agency in Virginia, and you don't know him?"

Then he explained:

"This old gentleman once served as the Senate Majority Leader in the Federal Senate and can still be considered the actual head of the Beaton family. Anyone in Virginia who intends to enter politics can hardly completely avoid the influence of their family—especially him personally."

The Federal Senate is composed of federal senators from each state. The leadership positions in it, from top to bottom, are the "President of the Senate," usually held by the Vice President of the Federation, the "President Pro Tempore of the Senate," who is second only to the President of the Senate, and then the "Senate Majority Leader" and the "Senate Minority Leader."

Neither the "Majority Leader" nor the "Minority Leader" means "party boss." They are strictly "party positions" rather than "federal positions," roles that are additionally created during the operation of the two houses of Congress.

Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have people responsible for and holding the corresponding positions, meaning there are pairs of individuals for these two positions, each responsible for leading their respective party members in the Senate or the House of Representatives. When the positions are the same, it is generally believed that those serving in the Senate have a higher rank than those serving in the House of Representatives.

Among them, the party with the most seats in the House naturally has its party member serving as the "Majority Leader," while the "second largest party" in the House has its member serving as the "Minority Leader." As for the remaining small parties, they are basically out of the running for these leadership positions.

Senate Majority Leader, huh...

In other words, this guy was at least a "front-row figure" in the largest party in Congress back then, basically reaching the top of the food chain in the American political world. Even if it's a bit diluted now, he's at least "once reached" the top of the food chain.

Wayne couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive. "If a private detective like me visits such a big figure, will he be willing to provide assistance?"

The smile on Tom Hagen's face seemed a little meaningful:

"Counting from Mr. Bask, the Beaton family has had three generations until now. Mr. Bask is naturally the leading figure of the first generation of the family's rise, and the leading figure of the third generation is Mr. Bask's eldest grandson, Victor Beaton—you've met him. He also attended the small meeting held by the Archbishop to report on the situation of the Old World War last time."

Wayne recalled for a moment, oh, the guy who looked like he was from the military.

After all, besides Pastor Barzini and Pastor Tyrrell, there were only two younger generation members attending the meeting at the time, and the other one should be older than Wayne.

Then Wayne also noticed that Tom Hagen seemed to have omitted "a generation," so he cooperatively followed up, "What about the leading figure of the second generation of their family?"

Tom Hagen didn't continue to be mysterious:

"The leading figure of the second generation of the Beaton family was originally supposed to be Mr. Bask's only son, Pastor Beaton.

"Back then, Pastor Beaton, as a state senator of Virginia, nominated Mr. Walter, whom you are now trying to investigate, as his successor after participating in the election for federal senator, allowing Mr. Walter to replace him as a state-level senator."

"But unexpectedly, Pastor Beaton failed to become a federal senator representing Virginia that year. And when he retreated and wanted to re-run for the state-level senator seat, he was instead prevented by Walter Norton and the opposition party colluding."

"Finally, after adjudication, Pastor Beaton's qualifications to run for state senator were flawed, and his prestige in the state's political world was swept away because of this matter. Afterwards, the election situation in the next term was even worse, and his political life was thus cut short."

Because his successor betrayed him, he ruined himself instead...

This kind of story is quite in line with Wayne's stereotypical impression of the American political world, so he understood it quickly. "So this 'first generation' Mr. Bask wouldn't mind pulling Mr. Walter down from his horse if he had the opportunity? Especially when Mr. Bask is old and the third generation of their family hasn't officially taken over that influence."

"Maybe. As a member of the cathedral, I don't comment on political matters."

Tom Hagen first shrugged, then suffered the consequences, his movement aggravated his wound, and then he changed back to the "covering wound" posture again.

"Understood." Wayne put the letter of introduction away and stuffed it into his coat pocket. "I know what to do."

...

After leaving the cathedral and finding the Beaton family's large manor according to the address—in fact, this place is super easy to find. Even if you don't look at the map and simply ask the local passersby, you can find it all the way—Wayne quickly handed the thick letter of introduction full of cathedral characteristics to the male servant responsible for receiving guests.

The efficiency in the manor was quite high. After almost a few minutes, the person who returned with the receiving male servant again should at least be a butler-level servant.

Wayne glanced at this old butler a few more times, always feeling very familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him for a while.

It wasn't until Wayne was led to the greenhouse in the manor and saw the "Old Mr. Bask," the head of the Beaton family, personally holding scissors and pruning the green plants under the old butler's introduction, that he couldn't help but suddenly realize.

So it's you, old man.

When I publicly dueled with that someone from Cohen Pharmaceuticals before, the pair of beautiful dueling pistols was provided by you.