Volume 4: White Devil Chapter 196 Mr. Page's Work Efficiency
Jim was always very efficient in his work and he called back in the evening.
At that time, Tommy was setting up a grill in Stephen's backyard and trying to prepare dinner for Stephen to influence him so that he could sell his dream to Stephen and trick him into paying money.
"Your Miss Shrew is trying to make a name for herself with her two colleagues by investigating Wicca, a religious organization in New England." Jim told the news he had learned on the phone.
Tommy held a brush in the other, smearing amber honey on the barbecue. Hearing what Jim said, Tommy was stunned for a moment: "Is that a variant of Christianity?"
"I'm not sure. Robert said it seemed to be some kind of witch religion, and most of the believers were women. The TV station and newspapers reported it last week. The lawyers of the Wicca organization went to the TV station and newspapers to try to shut them up, but apparently no one listened. Are you sure you want Robert to make trouble for that girl?"
"It's as easy for a religious organization to find a few fanatics to kill a reporter as it is to kill a chicken. It doesn't seem to matter which side dies, so I think for safety reasons, we should let Mr. Page take her to Los Angeles for a vacation and stay away from that kind of investigation." After Tommy finished speaking, he hung up the phone.
Stephen, who was feeding the dog with the sausages that Tommy had worked so hard to grill, glanced at him and said, "Even dogs don't like the food you grill, Tommy. Are you sure humans won't die if they eat this?"
"Have you heard of WICCA, the name Wicca, Stephen?" Tommy frowned slightly and asked the other party.
Stephen repeated the words Tommy said, chewed gum and thought for a while, then shook his head: "No, I'm sure I don't know a woman with this name."
"It's not a woman, it's a religious organization. It's best to stay away from weird religious organizations like America. Their crime costs are even lower than those of black people. The lower-level believers are equivalent to free killers for the upper-level members of the church. Moreover, they can bear all the charges and go to jail with their firm beliefs." Tommy didn't expect Stephen to have heard of this religious organization active in New England, so he called Sophia:
"Sophia, have Mr. Page go on a business trip to Worcester, Massachusetts, and pick up Zoe to come to Los Angeles for a vacation. The rich have a new movie that has a character based on her, and they want her to help choose the right actor to play herself. Mr. Page knows Zoe. He met her at David's wedding."
Stephen heard Tommy ask someone to pick up Zoe, and said, "Do you need help? I'll ask someone to pick up your Mr. Page. My father's Gulfstream III, which was manufactured in 1982, is parked at the Los Angeles airport. He thought the interior of the plane was too bad and it was too small for long-distance intercontinental flights, so he accompanied my mother on Air France first class to Paris."
"Tell Mr. Page to wait at the company. Stephen's people will pick him up at the airport." Tommy said without hesitation and hung up the phone. "Didn't you say your father didn't get a penny of inheritance ? Gulfstream 3. My future father-in-law also has one. The basic model costs about 7 million."
"Just like I was admitted to Stanford by my own ability, my father also earned this money through his own efforts. Come on, he was the assistant secretary of health for two presidents and served as a board director or CEO for several pharmaceutical companies. The salary he earned was enough to buy a small plane as a means of transportation. What's more, he bought it second-hand. The plane originally belonged to a pharmaceutical company owner, but he lost interest after paying for it, so he sold it to my father at half the price."
"The collusion between officials and businessmen in the United States makes you describe it as kind and beautiful as a fucking fairy tale."
"So, Zoe is having trouble with the other party?"
"She's not in trouble yet, but I feel like she should stay away from those stupid religious believers. I don't want to see Zoe being disemboweled by cultists like Hollywood actress Sharon Tate in the newspapers." Tommy continued grilling the food, saying:
"Those brainwashed idiots are ignorant and fearless. They can do anything for their bullshit beliefs. But it doesn't matter. Mr. Page will bring Zoe to safety. He is very organized and efficient."
…
A typical cafe in the morning in Worcester, Massachusetts.
At the innermost booth, Zoe turned on her recording equipment, spread out her notebook, held a pen in her hand, and stared at the woman opposite her.
The woman sitting opposite her was about thirty years old, with a sad face and wearing cheap clothes. Like Zoe, she had black hair, but her hair was not as shiny and glossy as Zoe's. At this moment, she kept clenching her fingers on the table and pursing her lips tightly.
Zoe slowly pushed the coffee in front of the woman: "Drink some coffee, it will help you relax. I promise you are safe now, Sylvia, no one knows I came to see you."
The woman named Sylvia took a few sips of coffee, and under Zoe's encouraging gaze, she finally spoke slowly:
"The high priest and the prophet said not to tell anyone about the affairs of the church."
Almost at the same time, Zoe started writing quickly in her notebook.
“Even if they are your parents or even your husband, you cannot tell them any news about the church.” The woman looked around vigilantly and continued in a low voice.
As Zoe wrote, she asked, "Why can't we tell our family?"
"They said that because people in the world are ignorant, they are worried that if they tell them the truth, they will misunderstand Wicca as Satanism or the Church of Lucifer. But Wicca is completely different from those cults. Someone once accidentally leaked the secret, and then when she went to the gathering again, as she lied to the high priest, the candles on the altar suddenly turned green. That meant that the person who leaked the secret was no longer our fellow practitioner. She was taken away by the law enforcers in the cult, and we never saw her again."
"I have already said in last week's news investigation program that it was a magic trick. We found out that after your prophet was released from prison in his early years, he worked as an assistant to a magician. During this period, he learned a lot of magic tricks, and then disguised those tricks as magic in front of you."
"Yes, I was shaken after seeing the news." Sylvia raised her head and glanced at Zoe cautiously: "Your report convinced me that the prophet did not summon the gods at the previous grand ceremony."
Zoe continued to ask: "What do you mean by the great ceremony?"
The woman lowered her head and took a few sips of coffee before she spoke in a very soft voice, "It's a religious fertility ritual where the gods unite with the believers. The prophet will call on the gods to descend upon him and then unite with the believers."
After Zoe heard this, her facial muscles twitched slightly. This grand ceremony was really heartless. More than half of the cult organizations in the United States would use similar excuses to deceive female believers into donating their bodies, but there were always women who were deceived:
"How often do you hold the great ceremonies you speak of?"
The woman was silent for a long time before she gave an answer: "Once a week, the high priest will select five of the most devout believers to participate in the ceremony."
"How many times have you been picked for this?" Zoe asked.
"Five times. I haven't participated since I turned thirty and haven't made any large donations. The last time I participated in a big ceremony was three years ago."
"What made you waver and doubt the great rituals of Wicca?"
"After you said that those spells were all magic, I started to think hard about possible doubts, and then I remembered something that a true god would never do."
"What's up?"
"I once accidentally saw the prophet secretly taking some drugs. Thinking about it later, my husband has also taken the same pills in the past two years, so I think it is impossible for the god to need the help of some drugs to complete the union with the five female believers."
Zoe first stared at the woman in front of her in amazement, and only after making sure that she was not joking did she write down what she had just said.
Just as she finished, her phone rang. Zoe made an apologetic gesture to the other party and answered the call from her colleague: "What's the matter? I'm collecting information."
The woman couldn't hear what was said on the other end of the phone, but she saw Zoe's eyes widen visibly. "Holiday? Are you kidding me? For safety reasons, the show I'm in is temporarily suspended for vacation? What safety considerations? What did the police say? It was done by Wicca's people? So, there's nothing I can do?"
Soon, Zoe hung up the phone angrily. Sylvia on the other side stared at Zoe nervously: "What happened?"
"My department received a gift box. After opening it, we found a timer inside. My colleagues at the TV station were so scared that they all evacuated. The police arranged for someone to dismantle it, and they found that there was no bomb inside, only a box of chocolates." Zoe said irritably:
"Before the police conclusions are released, for safety reasons, we are required to suspend all actions that may cause subsequent reactions from potential suspects, such as continuing to investigate Weika. Simply put, I am on vacation. According to the speed of the police investigation, the vacation will take at least two weeks. It is obvious that it is the Weika people who are trying to intimidate us. There is no threatening word in the gift box. There are chocolates inside. Even if the police come to our door, there is nothing they can do to them. They can be said to be enthusiastic viewers who gave a box of chocolates to the TV station."
In the public telephone booth outside the cafe, Paige, a bald man wearing a gray jacket, saw Zoe hang up the phone and immediately dialed her number. He looked at Zoe's back in the cafe and said:
"Ms. Zoe Winters, I'm Lotte Page, Mr. Tommy Hawke's driver. He asked me to pick you up and take you to Los Angeles to be a consultant on the casting call for Mr. Stephen Bean's new film. I asked the TV station you work for, and they said you were just starting your vacation."
