Gwen was downstairs preparing dinner.
Hawk was sitting in George's study, perusing the files of New York Times reporter Autos.
Before last Christmas, this reporter was found tied to a cross and burned to death on the Hudson River Shore.
Once the news was confirmed, the entire New York City media exploded.
The public was also in uproar.
Although the New York Police Department did not like this reporter very much, he was still a reporter, a peer in the media circle, so it was quite normal for the media to express their outrage and speak up for Autos.
The public also voiced their opinions, but their sentiments differed from the media; they believed that Autos must have uncovered some dark secrets, which led to his silencing.
The success is attributed to cheerful education.
The failure is also due to cheerful education.
What is called cheerful is actually just fooling the people.
It's well known.
Fooling the people can greatly reduce management costs, but if you choose to do so, you must be prepared for the moment when they can be easily incited and swept away.
Indeed.
Many people still believe the Earth is flat, and that there's another world behind the Arctic wall. Incited by the media, they took to the streets in protest, speaking on behalf of Autos.
Under these circumstances, the Twenty-First District, Alexander.
Especially Chief George Stacy.
He was bearing the pressure from both the public below and the headquarters above.
Actually, if George wanted to, he could easily pin this case on some dead drug addict to close it.
Don't think the Federation is free from forced confessions or wrongful convictions.
Even someone with solid evidence of committing murder could, with top-notch legal defense, walk out of court declared innocent. Such instances give a glimpse into how many people are wrongly accused.
Because the Federation uses a jury system.
Simply put.
In court, you don't need to convince the court itself, just the jury. Even if there's a video of you committing murder, as long as you can convince the jury that the footage was AI-generated, once they believe it, you can be acquitted.
Likewise.
The prosecutor only needs to convince the jury, even if the defendant has an alibi, that they committed the murder remotely with sheer intention. As long as the jury believes it, the defendant will end up in jail.
After all, would a defendant wrongfully accused by the prosecutor be able to afford a top attorney?
But George was unwilling.
He still pursued his own beliefs, even though the Hudson River Shore case was not the primary crime scene, nor were there any surveillance cameras nearby. He fully supported Detective Mahoney in the investigation of this case.
Ultimately, after almost two months, last month, the technical department managed to recover some scattered data from the burned laptop hard drive. From a name among the scattered data, they traced it back to the 'Blood Red Apocalypse'.
This was not a person's name, but the name of an organization.
A cult.
To be precise, it was a fringe religion.
But legal.
After all, there is freedom of belief.
The founder of 'Blood Red Apocalypse' was named Elani, an organization that believes in 'requiring blood to summon the four horsemen to cleanse the world'.
Beyond that, nothing else.
After all, it was a fringe religion. Although legal, it still had a secretive nature.
Just like reporter Matos, he barely uncovered that the founder was named Elani, and then there was no further progress.
Mahoney acted immediately, applying for an arrest warrant from the court.
Then—
Someone came forward to confess, admitting to the crime of killing reporter Matos. Before Mahoney and George could react, the prosecutor's office swiftly reached a plea agreement with the suspect.
As Mahoney said, the pressure from above for this case was significant.
After all, no one liked wasting considerable police resources for a reporter who constantly troubled the police department.
Someone confessed, and there was nothing George could do; even though he felt the person confessing was a scapegoat, under pressure from headquarters, he could only opt for closing the case.
Once again.
If George compromised, he wouldn't just be a chief by now.
Indeed.
He was investigating in secret.
And then…
He faced retaliation.
Hawk finished reading all the files, then shook his head slightly as he looked at the scattered information about 'Blood Red Apocalypse' online, though unsurprised.
In one sentence.
George went against the fringe religion, and it's no surprise they wanted to silence him.
In terms of fanaticism, the fringe religion is quite a bit more extreme than Hydra.
After all, Hydra is just an antagonist organization; they don't engage in mind control.
But the fringe religion…
They deal in mind control.
Hawk shook his head, closed the files, got up, and left the study, then went downstairs and found Gwen in the kitchen preparing dinner.
He relayed the contents of the files to Gwen, word for word.
Finally.
Hawk smiled and said, "If you want, I can go and take care of this Elani."
George, being a chief, needed evidence.
Hawk did not.
He typically didn't seek evidence; as long as there was suspicion, that was enough for him to act.
In other words.
If you weren't involved, why did I suspect you and not someone else?
Gwen furrowed her brow, then shook her head.
"No."
"Hmm?"
"This is Dad's case."
As her thoughts churned, Gwen, fighting back the urge to tell Hawk to take care of Elani, refrained, while taking the baked steak out of the oven, she glanced at Hawk: "You pursue the ends of justice, but Dad pursues procedural justice. That's why Dad isn't too fond of Spider-Man, and this is his case. He nearly got in trouble over it, so it's right that this case should be concluded by him."