Chapter 549 Socializing
In the production of luncheon meat, in addition to mixing the raw materials into a "paste" according to different proportions, there is also a "water bath heating" process, which allows them to condense into a solid.
The cooking facilities in the restaurant were limited, and samples of different recipes could only be cooked one by one. In addition to the consumption of tasting, it was estimated that it would take at least two consecutive days for the people in the detective agency to digest the rest.

Inesa usually doesn't have high requirements for "delicious food" and thinks that anything is acceptable. This time, she escaped a disaster.
When Lina tasted sample number six, she couldn't bear it any longer and shouted, "I have to take Willy and the others on a mission tonight, so I can't eat too much." Then she ran away decisively.
Doug, who was lucky enough to participate in the tasting, persisted to the end - to be precise, he persisted until Wayne chose to surrender before retreating. It was probably around the twelfth or thirteenth sample, and the samples made by the chef were actually number 20 at that time...

The rest can only be put into the "public review" stage for the agents to evaluate.

Just as the lights in the restaurant were dimming, on the other side of the city of Richmond, a ballroom in a manor was still as bright as day with singing and dancing.

Mr. Walter had just finished his last dance and sent his partner back to the area where the ladies were gathered. Then he walked straight to the long dining table filled with delicious food.
A waiter approached with a tray of wine glasses on it. "We've already done some preliminary research. The young lady from the Fisk family did go to the current location of the Wayne Detective Agency today. She stayed there for almost the entire afternoon and must have brought a lot of gifts. As for Wayne himself, he went to the docks today and had contact with a member of a small gang."

Mr. Walter picked up a glass of champagne from the tray and pretended to quench his thirst. "Tyrell has already said, 'The investigation into the assassination ends here.' Now that Corleone is dead, what is that Wayne still investigating?"

"It's still under investigation. The gangster in the dock area was engaged in the business of collecting loans from the poor. We followed the requirements and did not directly get involved in these industries that might cause public resentment."

The waiter bowed his head slightly to apologize, and then continued, "But that little gangster seems to have a certain 'cooperative relationship' with Mr. Schwartz's men. To avoid suspicion, we didn't get to know too much details before..."

"Schwartz..."

Mr. Walter recalled for a moment, and soon remembered that at the party two days ago, Schwartz had taken advantage of Bazzini's incident to attack him in indignation.

He thought about it for a moment and felt that this was one of Reverend Tyrell's "new moves" after he was determined to become the bishop. He couldn't help but smile, "Since it's none of our business, there's no need to follow up. Let him solve it himself."

The waiter nodded, and quickly took the time to ask, "Then what should we do with those peripheral members who were caught by the detective agency before? Some people saw that they are now working for Wayne."

"Do they know much about the situation on our side?" Mr. Walter asked rhetorically.

The waiter replied, "They are just 'thugs' kept on the periphery. They probably don't have any important secrets, but they are quite skilled in their jobs and they must have memories of the things they have participated in."

Mr. Walter waved his hand upon hearing this, "You guys can do whatever you want. If there is a risk of leaking secrets, find a chance to deal with it, otherwise ignore it. The new bishop is about to be ordained, and we are not being pursued for the previous assassination case. We should not rush to be in the spotlight, and for now, we should watch more and do less."

"Yes!" the waiter said, and quickly left with the tray to avoid attracting too much attention from the guests.

Mr. Walter picked up a small sandwich that was held together by a thin skewer. Sandwiched between two pieces of peeled bread was the so-called "lunch meat" recommended tonight by the young lady of the Fisk family.
He chewed a few bites and glanced at Miss Olivia, who still looked radiant among the female guests.

The sauce in the sandwich was good, but the taste of the "lunch meat" itself was not that good. It was not as "novel and delicious" as the guests had just touted. The only advantage was probably that it was "easy to chew"...

Could it be that Wayne is really the future son-in-law of the Fix family?

No wonder he had given the order "that night" and Corleone's men had swept everywhere overnight, but the detective agency seemed to be completely fine.

It was not suitable for me to make any big moves at the moment, so I would let Schwartz try. While thinking this, Mr. Walter noticed the old gentleman who was looking at him while talking to someone in the distance.
So he laughed and took the initiative to walk towards Mr. Basque of the Beaton family, intending to test his attitude during this sensitive period.

Zoom out,

As the joyful music played again in the ballroom, the two of them, surrounded by others, began to talk to each other.
They look like close friends regardless of age.

……

The next morning, Wayne yawned as he walked to the dining table in the lobby on the first floor of the restaurant. He was about to join the agents in randomly tasting the "blind boxes of sandwiches" made from different versions of luncheon meat by Chef Parker, trying to choose the most popular version.

Lina next to him pushed the pile of things that had been placed on the table and they all piled up in front of Wayne.

Wayne looked at the pile of paper products and suddenly came to his senses. "What's going on? Why are there so many? I asked you to find the secret letters hidden by that little gang leader. You didn't bring back the love letters that he secretly wrote but never sent out when he was young, did you?"

Lina rolled her eyes and said, "I put that thing in the public room on the second floor. Peter is still guarding it. You must not have checked it before you came down."

Wayne was even more shocked. "What on earth are these?"

Inesa was kind enough to help explain, "The letters inside were handed over by the police station this morning. Some were sent to different newspapers before. The contents were probably refutations of your 'fingerprint' theory or academic discussions, and there were also letters from fans. The remaining few were invitations, sent by someone who seemed to be a butler. You hadn't gotten up yet, so Doug received them on your behalf."

Wayne then began to read these things. He opened the first one and saw a lot of exclamation marks on it. It was probably nitpicking. It was not suitable to read such things that could raise blood pressure so early in the morning. He didn't read it.
The second one was much better. It was written in beautiful cursive font. Upon closer inspection, it said, "Regarding the research on 'fingerprints', the academic community has not yet reached a conclusion, and it does not seem suitable to be used as guiding evidence in case investigations" - haha, the academic community is slow to catch up, you have to catch up.

There was nothing good in the two letters, so Wayne simply didn't read them. He quickly picked out several invitations based on the thickness and ornateness of the envelopes.

"Why are they all invitations to the dance? The dates conflict. The Beaton family is relatively familiar to me, and Mr. Russell is the financial sponsor of the detective agency... Who are the rest of these?"

Inesa's good memory was very useful at this time.
She took the invitation letters that Wayne had opened and translated them one by one. "This one is said in the newspaper to be a local big landowner, mainly engaged in tobacco and cotton business; this one is a member of some 'Industrial Alliance' and should be the operator of a large factory; this one seems to be a wealthy man, and there have been gossips about him in the newspapers. As for this one...you don't know this one either?"

Wayne leaned his head over to take another look, "No impression, should I know him?"

Inessa seemed to be unsure of what to say, and looked at him with a somewhat helpless look, "He is the mayor of Richmond."

Oh.
He's the guy who even makes a mess of the dock area.

(End of this chapter)