New Gods of North America

Back in the interrogation room,

At this moment, Pastor Bazzini and David Mills were sitting side by side at the interrogation table, and sitting opposite them was the suspect in the case, Roy Stampler.

As for Wayne and the other three from the detective agency, they returned to the "judges' seats" against the wall in the interrogation room.

Watching them from a distance over there.

Let me tell you one thing.

When Wayne first got involved in this case, he was just thinking about doing Bill Tench a favor.

So Wayne's detective agency,

Not only can he improve the favor of the local police as a good citizen of Georgeburg, but he can also use the excuse of "public welfare activities" to more legitimately recruit David Mills as a free laborer and take the opportunity to test his waters.

It's like killing two birds with one stone.

Then, although Bill Tench was out, David Mills took over the investigation of the case.

Now that we're here, the case is still the same case, and it doesn't matter who we help.

It doesn't seem to be a problem.

Then to now,

The local parish priest came with his men, apparently wanting to snatch the "murderer" from David Mills.

Pastor Bazzini believes that

The case occurred in the parish of George Berg, and the current suspect is a deacon in the parish church. As the direct person in charge of the parish, he has the authority to take action.

David Mills believes that

It has been confirmed that the suspect is a staff member of the parish church. His targets also include Pastor Bazzini and the local parish church. Therefore, whether as the "immediate superior of the suspect" or as a "person directly related to the case", Pastor Bazzini should "avoid" himself according to the rules.

Wayne thinks there is nothing wrong with either view.

Anyway, the murderer has been caught now, and Roy himself has confessed the crime. Although it may seem like a "half-baked meal", if it is used to get the job done and as a result of "helping", it feels acceptable.

Moreover, the detective agency is not an internal organization of the church. How the murderer should be dealt with is none of their business. Let the people in the church discuss it among themselves.

The people in the church are relatively civilized.

Although the people brought by Pastor Bazzini had already controlled the entire area outside, they did not directly fight for it on the table.

Just by watching Pastor Bazzini and David Mill chatting politely for a long time, not to mention swearing, and not even saying a word to each other, you can tell that they won't fight.

But David Mills still felt that he had suffered a loss.

On the one hand, he was not a local boss and had no followers around him, so he was naturally inferior in momentum.

On the other hand, he seemed unable to win the debate with a veteran like Pastor Bazini, so the current situation has emerged.

Wayne, who had appeared in the internal meeting of the cathedral and sat next to the bishop,

At this point, the detective agency inexplicably became a "neutral third party" recognized by both sides.

Even if I want to leave now, I can't...

Therefore, the partners of the detective agency were very well behaved at this moment, watching the show quietly.

…

It's interesting to say,

According to common sense, Pastor Bazzini was the murderer's next target, so he should have taken Roy away and made a solid case by killing him.

But at this time, Pastor Bazzini seemed to be trying hard to give Roy a chance to "reconcile" or "make meritorious service for his crime."

At this moment, Pastor Bazini was wearing the formal attire that a pastor wears when preaching to believers.

The crown, vestments, and chasubles were all there, giving him the air of a "spokesperson for the Holy Spirit on earth."

The words he said also seemed to have a bit of the "divinity" of a "clergyman":

"Roy, you are a believer in the Holy Spirit and a deacon of the church. Tell us who is behind you and repent sincerely. The Holy Spirit will forgive the sins you have committed."

The people brought by Pastor Bazini have already rearranged the magic circle in the interrogation room.

At this time, Roy was like a guy with a dual personality. His expression sometimes looked innocent and pious, and sometimes looked ferocious and evil, switching back and forth.

However, the words Roy said to Pastor Bazzini were still the same:

"You arrogant sinner! Even if you hide your sin under the priest's crown, I can still feel its presence."

Pastor Bazini's actions should be in compliance with the church regulations.

Although David Mills did not seem to approve of this approach, he did not protest.

At this moment, he was looking at the things brought by Pastor Bazini, as if looking for a solution - those were books found in Roy's house, which were said to contain "blasphemous" content.

Pastor Bazini was very patient and continued to persuade Roy slowly:

"Roy, judging from your awakened abilities, you are actually a talented and pious young man. If you have the opportunity to study theology in a monastery, you will have a chance to become a genuine priest. Don't let those heretical ideas disrupt your thinking.

"From the books found in your residence, I guess you were misled by the heretics of the Church of Light, or even controlled by them in some way.

"Have you ever thought that the 'sin' you saw might actually be someone with ulterior motives who deliberately let you 'see' it? We are just trying to find the real culprit behind you who deliberately tainted the hands of believers and carried out evil things."

Roy certainly disagreed with Pastor Bazini's statement and still insisted that what he saw was the "fact."

Then Pastor Bazini asked for Roy to be "purified" to remove any "evil influences" that might have been in him.

David Mills strongly opposed it, arguing that if he did so, if Roy was not affected by other extraordinary abilities, it might cause "irreversible" damage to his will.

So the two sides argued.

At this time, there has been no response to Pastor Bazzini's request to the cathedral.

Hmm...

In fact, Pastor Bazzini’s opinion is somewhat consistent with Wayne’s guess.

According to what is known so far, Roy himself seems to still be devout in his view of the "Holy Spirit", but it is also a fact that he has committed several murders, and his next plan was to attack the priest of the parish church.

To put it simply, this is just Roy's "personal behavior".

If we take it in a broader sense, this could be a conspiracy against the church.

Using the hands of devout believers and attacking the church in the name of the "Holy Spirit" is almost like finding a "perfect victim".

Regardless of success or failure, as long as the matter is finally exposed, it will cause quite a stir in public opinion. If it spreads to believers or within the church, it will probably be no less than an "earthquake."

Wayne could already roughly guess how the two sides would argue.

One group of people should stand on the side of the church, thinking that this was a "simple" clergyman who was misled by someone with ulterior motives, had illusions, and then committed a crime.

People from another group might think that the "sins" that Roy saw were the truth - the church itself was "corrupt", and it was the Holy Spirit who bestowed the gift to guide the devout believers to cleanse themselves of their sins.

But no matter which faction you belong to, you have to think about one question:

Why can a "fallen" hypocrite become a member of the church without being detected beforehand?

Or, why would a devout believer also "fall"?

Anyway, no matter what happens, as long as things get out of hand,

Reverend Bazzini, who is in charge of Georgeberg Parish, is probably unable to absolve himself of responsibility.

It is either due to poor supervision or teaching, or there is a problem with the students' own beliefs, the responsibility may be lighter or heavier.

So Pastor Bazini decisively chose the statement with relatively less responsibility.

It is more likely that there is a "mastermind" behind this incident who is trying to launch an attack on the church behind the scenes. Therefore, the best thing for the diocese to do is probably to catch the "mastermind" behind the scenes as soon as possible to prevent the situation from escalating further.

In this way, the entire church will become a "joint force" to jointly suppress the spread of the incident.

As for whether Roy was a "conspirator" or a "victim" who was misled or controlled, it is not very important. It is best to change his words in time, otherwise it is also OK to "keep his mouth shut".

From a rational point of view, perhaps Pastor Bazzini was simply "shooting the arrow first and drawing the target later".

But Wayne also really felt that this might be the truth of the incident.

Even if we look at it from this perspective, then David Mills's impartial and simple approach to investigating the case is

Instead, it seems a bit "ignoring the overall situation".

As for David Mills's view that "trials within the church are more fair and reasonable than trials in the secular sense\

,"Wayne neither questioned nor expressed any confidence.