New Gods of North America

Thus, the shared table felt a bit off from the very beginning.

Wayne, in theory, shouldn't have been familiar with Lina, and in reality, wasn't very familiar with Mr. Moliere, yet he had to take the lead in introducing Priest Tyrrell:

"This is Mr. Moliere, a businessman engaged in international trade, and this is Miss Histria, whom we met at a bar before."

Priest Tyrrell, being the good-natured person he was, reacted quite quickly. After all, he had initiated the greeting. Logically, he should have been more familiar with Lina,

so his tone was slightly hesitant, "Histria... long time no see."

Lina, who usually disliked associating with the church, especially its higher-ups, had swiftly transformed back into her "noble lady in distress" persona, "It's a pleasure to meet you here, Tyrrell..."

Before she could say "Priest," Priest Tyrrell, dressed in formal attire tonight, waved his hand to interrupt Lina:

"Just call me Mr. Tyrrell, you don't need to be so polite."

Only Mr. Moliere, whose mind seemed to be filled with the pink bubbles of a honey trap and was temporarily in the dark, felt that something was amiss, but couldn't quite put his finger on it.

So, he could only go with the flow, greeting everyone and sitting down, "Hello, Mr. Tyrrell, Wayne, what a coincidence."

Priest Tyrrell had already sensed that the detective agency seemed to be investigating this guy while concealing their identities, so his attention quickly shifted to him:

"Mr. Moliere, is it? Sounds like a Frankish name.

"I know quite a few people in Richmond. I wonder what kind of business Mr. Moliere is in? Perhaps we'll have opportunities to collaborate in the future."

Mr. Moliere, of course, wasn't a fool and wouldn't go around talking about his dealings in medicine and bandages for external injuries.

The public identity he presented made him seem rather unremarkable in Richmond, "I mainly deal in tobacco trade. Virginia's tobacco is quite famous in the Old World."

"I see."

Priest Tyrrell seemed to casually pull out his pocket watch to glance at it, the smile on his face appearing even more sincere, "If there's an opportunity, we should be able to collaborate."

After they settled down, ordered their meals, and watched the waiter leave,

perhaps because Wayne still needed him to provide clues and assistance to continue investigating the previous issue with the goods,

Mr. Moliere, when turning his head to speak with Wayne, was more natural than when answering the questions of Priest Tyrrell, who had a bit of a "big shot" demeanor, "I didn't expect the world to be so small, running into so many familiar faces just by having a meal."

Yeah,

I also didn't expect you to be so good at choosing places.

...

On the other side of the city,

Mr. Walter, who was enjoying a cigar with a guest at home, glanced at the note brought in by the butler on a tray, and then placed the note back, the butler then re-covered it.

The guest was very understanding, "If you have something to attend to, I'll take my leave first?"

Mr. Walter waved his hand, "It's nothing urgent, let's continue our conversation."

Though he said so, he couldn't help but mutter in his heart:

Tyrrell and that Wayne met again, and this time they brought along a Frankish man.

That Frankish man has military connections over there, supposedly the unsuccessful younger son of a general, with no hope in politics or the military, so he was sent here to do some easy work, secretly engaging in the smuggling of controlled goods.

What are they plotting?

The assassination was done cleanly. Even if they investigate, they won't trace it back to me. At most, they can push out those few latent agents who were used.

Now they're involving the Frankish man. Could this actually be a hidden line laid by Corleone? Is he also secretly assisting with the investigation?

Bazzini seems to have some opinions about Tyrrell recently, but Tyrrell has always been on "our side," so the possibility of him causing trouble is small.

However, Bazzini's concerns aren't entirely without reason. To become a bishop, Tyrrell might indeed make some sacrifices of short-term interests, especially to avoid competition, or to show "he's on Corleone's side."

Northerners have been on good terms with the Frankish people since the founding of the nation. Even if the relationship between the two countries is only so-so now, on a personal level, there might still be some connections.

Just in case, should I detain that Frankish man first under the guise of smuggling controlled goods?

Mr. Walter quickly made up his mind, smiling slightly apologetically to the guest beside him:

"I'll be back in a moment. I need to talk to the butler about something."

...

Wayne, after finishing his meal and getting into the carriage, finally felt a bit relieved.

Priest Tyrrell's awareness was decent, but he tended to blurt things out, almost exposing that Lina was a partner in the detective agency several times.

She's now a fallen noble from the former Frankish dynasty, not familiar with our detective agency, so why are you always talking about George Berg with her?

Thus, some things that Lina, in her current identity, couldn't conveniently say in front of Mr. Moliere, had to be relayed by Wayne.

Throughout the meal, their legs would occasionally clash under the table. If there were a camera, it might look like an affair scene from some TV dramas, where on the surface these two are a couple, but secretly those two are flirting.

Weird.

Priest Tyrrell was also clearly interested in that Mr. Moliere. With this old fox involved, Wayne felt that it would be difficult for him to sell that guy for a good price later.

It was a completely unwarranted loss.

Back at Inessa's place, the trench coat man was still honestly staying at home, and the two surveillance points nearby seemed normal.

Wayne told Inessa about the events of tonight. After Inessa listened to it as a joke, she instead focused on Priest Tyrrell's pocket watch:

"That pocket watch sounds like a supernatural item. You said Priest Tyrrell was interested in that Mr. Moliere, could it be because he's actually a supernatural being?"

Wayne had suspected this before, but after thinking about it, he still felt it was unlikely, "Really? That guy even had to honestly use a gun to threaten people. From my actual interactions these past two days, I feel like he should be an ordinary person?"

He wasn't a key target of the detective agency. Wayne was mainly interested in his identity and hadn't really paid much attention to the person himself.

Inessa wasn't too sure either:

"My impression of him is also that of an ordinary person. But considering his identity, he might also be the type who is good at hiding. The reason he chose to use a gun might just be because it's more intimidating in the eyes of ordinary people. We can focus on him more later."

Wayne felt that Lina should have a good idea and that asking her later would probably clarify things.

Since there were no warnings at the moment, the danger was probably small.

As they were talking, the room that had been under surveillance had already turned off the lights according to a normal person's schedule,

and then Wayne saw a guy sneaking over, acting suspiciously, a bit like a burglar who had scouted the place.

"Should we stop him?" Inessa asked.

Wayne thought about it, "Let's wait until he comes out before we make a move."