New Gods of North America

Back at the detective agency, everyone was busy unloading and moving things.

Lina specifically told everyone not to close the two big doors in front and on the side of the courtyard, but just to keep them slightly closed.

Wayne took a bag of chestnuts to Chef Parker and said he wanted to try chestnut dishes tonight.

The chestnuts in America should be the "American chestnuts" that Wayne had heard of, which are functionally extinct in modern society.

It is said that this thing tastes sweeter and more fragrant than ordinary European chestnuts, and the hairy skin is easy to peel off. It is said that a proper American turkey must be filled with this thing before being roasted.

The most exaggerated thing is that the yield of this thing is very high. Since it has not been developed on a large scale by humans, after countless years of growth, some American chestnut trees are said to have grown to 30 meters in height, with a trunk diameter of more than three meters. In addition, the wood is anti-corrosive, so it is considered to be a very high-quality raw material.

The popularity of wooden houses in America and the sleepers for steam train lines are inseparable from their great contribution.

If this is the case for all trees, one can imagine the fruit yield.

Unfortunately, the size of these chestnuts is very "mini". When peeled, they are generally smaller than the chestnuts Wayne remembered. They are as small as fat peanuts. Therefore, their commercial value is not very high at this time. It takes too much time and energy for ordinary families to eat them.

This was a good thing for the poor and slaves. During the harvest season, they could pick and gather food in the tall chestnut forests and enjoy a fairly delicious meal without spending any money.

I heard that some farmers even bring their own pigs to the chestnut forest to fatten them.

Chef Parker was not picky about the ingredients. After thinking about it for a while, he started to peel the shells.

After making sure he could have chestnut roast chicken and chestnut paste cake tonight, Wayne returned to the big barn.

Hearing that someone was following them, many detectives in the detective agency were very excited.

These two days, the detective agency happened to copy the interrogation class from the church. Everyone had seen the operations of high-end players before, and now they were eager to try it out, and they couldn't wait for the other party to jump into the detective agency.

Then the detective agency also held a meeting to arrange the next tasks.

If we put aside some fancy stuff, Mr. Russell's commission is actually two things:

One is that they are willing to pay some extra subsidies to allow bounty hunters to prioritize those wanted criminals who commit crimes against steam trains.

Another thing is to stop robberies from happening and deal with potential and future "wanted criminals" in a timely manner.

But Wayne thought about it and decided to take the worst-case scenario into consideration:

“From what I have learned so far, some of the robbers may be colluding with local forces, so the local law enforcement agencies may not be trustworthy. In addition, some robbers may be more professional and may not come openly with fanfare. We must be careful of their actions in the dark.

"We can't even rule out the possibility that some bounty hunter teams will allow other teams to suffer casualties for the sake of profit, or take the opportunity to attack other teams. Therefore, we must try our best to ensure our own safety. We cannot over-trust members outside the detective agency just because we have also accepted Mr. Russell's commission."

Inissa looked at the direction of the steam train line that Wayne had marked on the map and thought for a moment:

"If you look at the route from east to west, it first goes through the relatively low-lying mountains in western Virginia, then through the mountains and forests to Columbus, Ohio. Further west to Chicago, there are large plains.

"If there are gangs, then their bases are likely to be hidden in the mountains or in the hills. If they are gangs acting as robbers, then they will go to the cities or towns along the route. These are two different directions."

Lina seems to prefer the so-called "lawless place":

"Under an open competition, I would suggest sweeping westward along the steam train line. As for the robbers in the mountains, if they are caught, they are caught. They can go anywhere to exchange for the bounty, and no outsider will know the situation at the scene. But for the occasional robbers, we still have to find evidence or catch them in the act, which sounds very troublesome."

"It would be a good idea to start with western Virginia... Our charter is valid throughout Virginia."

Wayne thought for a moment, "But in this case, we may have to go all out, otherwise we may not have enough manpower. What about Emma? How about fostering her in Bill Tench's home for the time being?"

Lina raised her hand, "I can take them with me! It's not good for children to stay at home all day. They need to go out and relax occasionally."

Hmm...

Wayne actually felt that it was not a good idea to let children get involved in these things, but from a safety perspective, it would definitely be more reassuring to bring the child along himself rather than leaving it to someone else, so Wayne shrugged his shoulders and said, "Then let's ask Emma what she thinks and see what she chooses."

The agents are fine with whatever they do, they have Doug and his friends as role models, and the salary and conditions are good.

As long as they have a place to return to where they are not afraid of being dragged out by the church for "dealing" at any time, they don't mind traveling to make money.

As for the overall action plan, it is the same as other teams.

Since you want "free competition", the detective agency will also try its best to "take it all".

…

After finishing dinner, the agents who had nothing to do all hid in the dark tacitly. The courtyard seemed to be haunted and no living person could be seen.

Doug's birds stood on the wall of the courtyard, acting as surveillance cameras.

Emma is actually quite interesting. Although she usually gets along better with Lina and Willy, her favorite is Inesa, who is not particularly enthusiastic about her.

Like a kitten.

So she finally chose to set off with everyone from the detective agency.

Even to show that she is not that fragile,

Emma also performed a "lift high" for Wayne and Inisalina in the office.

The specific appearance,

There was a little girl who was as beautiful as a doll. Suddenly, she "held up" her head, and her expression was frozen into a child's innocent smile.

Even in a horror movie, this scene can be considered a "high-energy shot"...

Then Inissa and Lina were studying Emma's extraordinary abilities.

Wayne brought a few people to the cellar to dig a hole, intending to bury the newly purchased safe behind the large iron cage in the cellar.

We will set up a few more traps by then. If some ignorant thieves break into the detective agency when no one is there, we will blow those bastards to death.

Thanks to the financial industry in Virginia, I can keep my cash and valuables in a local bank. I plan to stay here for the next few years, so I don't need to move around.

The charter that the detective agency relies on will be easier to handle. When the time comes, we can just take it to the cathedral and give it to Tom Hagen for safekeeping. Even if it is lost, he can always replace it with a real one.

However, a detective agency also needs a few places to hide things, such as some strange files, which are not suitable for outsiders to have the opportunity to come across.

By the way, I'd like to ask Bill Tench to take care of it. It won't be a big problem.

David Mills seemed to be thinking about reducing the punishment of the "accomplices" who were affected before, so he was running back and forth between the detective agency and the old police station.

Wayne let him stay here temporarily for a while, which was considered as a free security guard for a short period of time until his vacation was over.

The general arrangements were completed. After dark, Wayne read the letters sent from Blackstone Town, replied one, and went to bed peacefully.

If a few random surveillants or intruders could cause serious damage to the detective agency, then there would be no need for the detective agency to go out and take on work.

So when Doug knocked on the door in the middle of the night to report the situation,

When Wayne heard that the intruder had been caught, he asked a few questions and found out that there were no casualties. He then turned over and continued to sleep, leaving Doug and the others to handle it themselves.