New Gods of North America

After the initial agreement was settled, Margaret didn't stay for too long.

She was essentially juggling three jobs simultaneously—the Windsors initially sent her from the Southern New World to Frank, then Frank sent her to America, and with the support and promotion from both sides, her acting career was unexpectedly thriving, with countless greetings, farewells, and various social engagements.

She was incredibly busy, with almost all of her personal time allocated to 'overtime'.

Knowing that the detective agency, besides the experienced hunter and Lina, also consisted entirely of extraordinary individuals with combat experience, she was relatively assured of Mr. Morrie's safety in the short term.

However, to prevent any mishaps with the task assigned by Frank, she left Wayne and the others with a small reminder before leaving:

"The distress letter Mr. Morrie sent us showed signs of having been opened beforehand, which is why I was temporarily dispatched to urgently contact him—he hasn't completely shaken off surveillance. The methods used by the other party are professional; if it weren't for the fact that high-level Frank letters use special envelopes containing small particles that deteriorate after fumigation, it would have been almost impossible to detect the problem."

Fumigation was said to be one of the common methods used by intelligence agencies to secretly open letters these days, with the aim of avoiding damage to the paper during opening and minimizing any extra glue residue left during resealing. The technology wasn't difficult to understand; the challenge mainly lay in the specific 'handiwork'.

However, to Wayne and the others, this reminder was like a thunderclap.

Lina quickly recalled what happened at the time: "I delivered that letter while escorting that guy back to the temporary base. Because there was still a possibility of being pursued at the time, I deliberately got off the carriage early and took a detour to drop it into a mailbox that the carriage didn't pass by. It shouldn't have been a focus of attention."

Judging from the timeline, when Mr. Morrie was attacked, members of the assassin group had already begun to be arrested. That group didn't have the ability or motivation to spend the effort on 'surveillance-searching letters-opening' operations that consumed so much time.

It also seemed unlikely that the third-party force that attacked Mr. Morrie would do this. They chose to take action directly, so why would they bother opening the letter? Wouldn't it be more straightforward to just get rid of Mr. Morrie himself?

The most suspicious party in this matter was the local intelligence organization that managed the postal routes.

They could focus on tracking letters sent to specific locations or to special personnel during routine sorting. This was in line with their identity and work tasks, and it was also the most reasonable from a work arrangement perspective.

But if you think about it that way, the problem becomes significant.

Inessa immediately frowned, "Excluding other smaller possibilities, it seems that the postal route is the most likely problem. That is to say, the relevant personnel we've tracked so far, including Mr. Morrie and the assassin group, may have already entered the local intelligence organization's field of vision."

Yes, they don't care if foreigners are attacked, and they may also know about the assassination of Tom Hagen but don't report it. Their overall attitude is very suspicious.

Taking a step back, since they have this control capability, and there is a third-party force with a considerable number of people active in this series of events, who would believe that the local intelligence organization is completely unaware?

Wayne realized that digging deeper into that third-party force seemed much more difficult than he had imagined: "That third-party force may have colluded with the local intelligence organization or is in a state of being sheltered. It feels almost impossible to conduct an investigation bypassing the local intelligence organization..."

Then why not...

...

Many experiences in life tell people that as long as one's thoughts slip, ease and joy will soon follow.

Tom Hagen, who was stubbornly working while injured, had clearly been sanctioned by his body at this point. As soon as the friar who led the way closed the door to his office, he lay back down on the long sofa.

After listening to Wayne's plan with his eyes closed, Tom Hagen remained lying there, feigning death:

"You plan to cooperate with Priest Tyrrell and the Beaton family to jointly set up a scheme against Walter?"

Wayne shook his head, "Not really. Our detective agency's current operating principle is still 'ensuring the objectivity and truthfulness of the investigation results' and 'not getting too involved in politics'. But since the subsequent investigation feels like it can't bypass the local intelligence organization, it's better to provide some facts to their opponents first, to divert their attention and allow that third-party force to surface. This can only be considered an investigative strategy; I don't think it can be called 'cooperation'."

After speaking, he looked at Tom Hagen's appearance: "Why do you look worse than before? Shouldn't the medical conditions at the cathedral be pretty good?"

"The assassin's mistake only reduced the toxicity of the compound poison, not made it completely harmless. Although I'm temporarily managing some affairs, I can't simply give an order like the bishop and have it executed. I haven't had enough rest during this time, the toxins aren't being metabolized enough, and the damage has accumulated."

After finishing his digression, Tom Hagen quickly returned to the main topic, "The answer I can give is still the same as before: the cathedral won't get too involved in political affairs. At most, I can make a note of it in the internal memorandum. As for the benefits or risks of doing so, you may have to bear them yourself."

Wayne understood, "That's enough. I'm just here to 'file' it."

Tom Hagen seemed to think for a moment: "Actually, just the news that 'the postal system knew about the assassination attempt beforehand' being released will make it difficult for your detective agency to avoid being targeted by Walter or the relevant负责人under him. Since that's the case, it's better to do it thoroughly; it feels like you can at least sell it for a good price."

Wayne glanced at him, "Is this a suggestion from the cathedral?"

"No, just a casual chat, merely a personal opinion. I won't admit it afterward," Tom Hagen didn't even raise his eyelids.

Wayne pondered for a moment, "Then my idea will remain unchanged for the time being; I'll just investigate the case first. I'll see if the Beaton family can make enough noise before considering subsequent matters."

"That's good too."

Tom Hagen nodded, then he suddenly opened his eyes, "Speaking of the political world, I remember your family has been operating in the West for many years, right? Which party are your relationships in the local area with?"

Wayne was also a little stunned by this question.

Oh yeah,

I've been thinking about the detective agency, but the bulk of my family property is still in Black Stone Town.