New Gods of North America

After confirming that only one theft incident had occurred in the cemetery in recent times,

Several people left the cemetery and walked in the direction where the grave digger fled. Unfortunately, they walked all the way to the river without finding any other clues.

Riverbend Town,

As the name suggests, it is a small town built at a river bend.

The water system around Kanks City is actually quite developed. In fact, Kanks City itself is located at the confluence of two large rivers.

One is called the Kansas River and the other is called the Missouri River.

The town of Riverbend is located in the state of Missouri. The river bend where it is located is part of the Missouri River tributary system.

Wayne's logic is simple.

It was obvious that Luke had run here to dig graves because he was broke, but after he returned to Kanks, he had enough money to go to casinos and bars - although he used counterfeit money in the casinos.

So he either got something valuable from somewhere and was cheated by someone using counterfeit money,

Or maybe he got the counterfeit money somewhere.

Now that we know he failed in his attempt to dig up the grave, we have to guess where his next stop would be to make a fortune.

The range of options is not very large.

If you want to steal, you must choose a place where there are valuables.

Wayne thought for a moment and said, "Lina, you said before that one of the female victims was employed as a housekeeper in a small manor in River Bay Town. She was fired because she was suspected of theft?"

Lina nodded.

Inissa next to her frowned slightly:

"According to the records in the file, the female victim was killed about half a year ago.

"Although it sounds like it's all related to theft, but the murderer was robbed twice in a row, isn't the possibility a little low?"

Wayne thought so too, but after all, it was a clue related to the victim.

So he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Since we are here now, we should investigate everything."

…

If we must connect the stories of the two victims,

So according to Wayne's imagination, Luke should have sneaked into the small manor where another victim worked after failing to dig a grave, then successfully stole, and finally was killed by the murderer when he returned to the city of Kankers.

If I were to think about it again,

That small manor might be on his way back to Kanks City.

After all, when a petty thief is caught stealing, his first reaction may be to be afraid of being chased with a gun, so he may want to sneak back home as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, Wayne and his companions continued walking along the river towards Kankers City.

After passing several small farms, we were almost at a relatively "deserted" area, and we didn't encounter any small estates that looked suitable for stealing.

Then this direction may be wrong.

Wayne waved the reins to turn the carriage around, intending to continue searching in another direction.

At this time, the sound of horse hooves came.

A man on a horse is approaching this side.

Wayne turned his head and saw that this man was a cowboy of another style——

Although he also wore a Statham hat, he was wearing a white shirt with a small bow tie, a black sleeveless jacket on the outside, a belt, trousers, and leather shoes.

It is a style that looks more "civilized" and "gentlemanly".

Then he had a similar six-pointed star-shaped police badge on his chest, and a pistol hanging prominently on his belt.

Yoho,

Let’s go together.

The other party rode a horse close to Wayne's carriage and introduced himself:

"I'm Will Kane, the sheriff of Riverbend. According to the townspeople, there are several suspicious people wandering around the town, so I came here to look for them and confirm the situation."

"Someone acting suspiciously? We don't seem to have seen any."

After Wayne finished speaking, he confirmed in his mind that he had indeed not seen any suspicious people along the way today.

After noticing that Lina and Inissa were looking at him speechlessly,

Wayne immediately reacted and continued to explain: "We are private detectives commissioned by the church to investigate the case. We are not suspicious people."

I was so used to wearing the police badge that I almost forgot that I had become a "civilian".

"Do you have anything that can prove your identity?" the other party asked.

Wayne thought for a moment, then handed over the investigation order signed by Roose Bolton to the Kankers City Police Department:

"I can show it to you, but I hope you can keep it confidential. Although this is not a secret investigation, I don't want it to be too public either."

——It is used to judge the enemy and ourselves, and also to leave traces of work.

After reading the warrant, the other party handed it back, "The public security in this small town is not under the jurisdiction of the Kankers City Police Department."

Don't worry, I know the rules.

"But since you are investigating a murder case, I am willing to assist you. Is there anything I can do for you?" the other party asked.

Wayne was not shy either:

"We want to know how many manors there are within the boundaries of Riverbend? Especially those that have had thefts reported recently."

The sheriff paused for a moment to reminisce, "If we limit it to 'Manor', there are six in total. But no theft has ever been reported."

Too,

These days, if there is no solid evidence, the reporting rate for theft cases is indeed low - most cases involve shooting directly at the scene.

So Wayne and his two companions looked at each other, then turned to look at the sheriff.

There was a smile on his face:

"Then would you mind taking us for a walk?"

…

With the local sheriff leading the way, many things become simple.

At least after the other party has made a simple explanation, many places can be easily entered, and when faced with questions, most people will be more cooperative.

So several people began to visit the manors in the town, and screened them based on three conditions: the name of the female victim, "whether the manor had hired a new housekeeper for a short period of time half a year ago", and "whether there had been any thefts in the manor during this period".

He would ask the owner who happened to be at home, and would also secretly ask the servants in the manor in private.

When we got to the fourth house,

The housekeeper of the manor finally responded to the name of the female victim:

"That lady used to work here."

After further questioning, it turned out that several silver tableware were lost from the manor.

Although the female victim was suspected at the time because "something was stolen as soon as she arrived", in fact, no stolen items were found in her luggage.

But according to the housekeeper,

The victim resigned on his own because he "felt distrusted", which was different from what the victim's family said about him being "fired".

Wayne originally thought this was a suspicious point.

But after being tested, the butler quickly admitted that he lied to maintain his employer's reputation.

Afterwards, Wayne and his companions, led by the butler, took a tour of the manor.

Indeed, no more suspicious areas were found.

Moreover, the housekeeper said that there had been no other thefts in the manor recently. The manor was indeed a bit far from the cemetery mentioned at the beginning and was not on the way.

Strange, what went wrong?