The afternoon after Mr. Kraken left by boat. The air is gradually filled with the temperature and breath of summer.
"The coffee is ready."
Ed first poured a cup for Eaton, then picked up the coffee pot and poured himself a large cup. He held the pot and waited until Mr. Eaton finished taking a sip and asked:
"anything else?"
"That's enough, thank you."
Mr. Eaton took out his handkerchief and wiped the corners of his mouth, waved his hand to refuse, and continued to look down at the minutes compiled by Ed.
Ed opened the sugar bowl and added a spoonful of sugar and some milk for himself. The milk quickly brought the coffee down from scalding hot to a palatable temperature. He picked up the cup and drank more than half of it in one breath.
Since entering the Bureau of Mental Regulation, due to the long-term reversal of day and night and irregular work and rest time, he drank coffee almost every day instead of water in order to refresh himself, and he had already developed a tolerance.
Fortunately, the Extraordinary's physique can withstand such torture, otherwise he would most likely have started to lose his hair early in middle age.
The two of them would hold such a routine tea party almost every two or three days to share the current intelligence they had obtained with each other. This is almost a tacit understanding.
As for Quinn, in a more emotionally intelligent way, she is better suited to handle executive-level issues. Therefore she rarely attended such tea parties.
"The negotiations between the sixteen-member delegation and the county council failed to finalize the plan. Have you heard about this?"
I'm afraid it should be renamed the Fifteen-member Delegation. Ed thought to himself that the delegation had left a few days ago, but the news was only revealed now. Due to the Bureau's consistent political neutrality, even they were unable to obtain inside information in advance.
This incident is not surprising. The disappearance of Jaros has already cast a shadow on this meeting. In addition, it is difficult for the three parties to reach an agreement on the distribution of interests. It would be a dream to achieve results. Tan.
"Yes, I saw it in the newspaper this morning." Ed replied truthfully.
"What do you think about why Jaros Oakland kidnapped Burke Orton?"
Eaton always liked to ask Ed for his opinion, but Ed knew that this was more like a quiz, and he had better answer carefully.
"I don't know much about Jaros's personality, but he doesn't seem to have any problems with Burke Orton and his family. Although the possibility of committing crimes purely out of vicious taste cannot be ruled out in theory, I think Orton should be taken into account. The special status of Senator Dayton." After careful consideration, Ed said this.
There are 25 seats in the county council, 13 of which are controlled by the Auckland family and their party allies, which allows the Horse Bandit Party to occupy a majority of seats in the council.
The remaining 12 seats are divided between the pirate party, the snitch party and the local power parties that have been successfully won over by these two parties. The overall ratio should currently be 13:7:5, with the Snitch Party controlling the fewest seats.
Councilor Orton's position is very sensitive. On the one hand, he is a traditional ally of the Auckland family, but on the other hand, he is gradually getting closer and closer to the Snitch Party - this can be seen from the fact that Burke Orton joined the aerobatic group under the name of the Royal Society.
Once MP Orton completely defected to the Snitch Party, the Conservative Party dropped from an absolute majority of 13 seats to 12 seats. Although it is still a strong party, on some key issues, as long as the pirate party and the snitch party reach a consensus, the conservative party will be constrained by them.
"...So, if Burke Orton disappears like this, the organizers of the event and the aerobatic team will bear corresponding responsibilities. This will worsen the relationship between Senator Orton and the Snitch Party, thus stabilizing the Conservative Party's absolute majority seats.”
"So your opinion is that Jaros actually did a dirty job for his family?"
"If everything goes well with the kidnapping plan, it seems right. That's what I thought at first."
Ed picked up the large coffee cup in his hand and drank it in one gulp.
"...but then I thought about it, what if someone deliberately wanted to expose this plan?"
Finally a light flashed in Mr. Eaton's eyes. He lit his corn cob pipe, flicked the match and said:
"Why do you say that?"
"The problem is that there are too many clues left behind," Ed commented.
"...With Jeros's financial resources and connections, a kidnapping operation like this can be handled by a more professional team. And he just hired a few middle- and low-level members of the woodcutter and fishermen gang to transport the people directly to the hotel. Kui and I Yin found his place at the club almost at the same time.”
Even Catalina. Even a young lady like her who has never been trained in tracking can find the location of the club by mistake, which obviously explains something.
"It's like a bait, waiting for the fish that thinks it's lucky to take the bait. If Burke Orton is found murdered at the scene, Congressman Orton will learn that the fourth son of the Oakland family cooked and killed his beloved son. , he will definitely not give up. In order to take revenge, he will definitely fall to the side of the Snitch Party."
"Jeros Oakland has always been dissatisfied with his family. Therefore, he thought of using the identity of his family members to murder Burke Orton, thus causing the family to completely lose an important ally and lose its absolute dominance in Eastwatch County. ——This is his revenge plan against his family."
Bang bang bang bang...
Eaton put his pipe in his mouth and clapped his hands. It was his way of showing appreciation.
"Pretty good reasoning, Ed. I think we're getting closer to the truth."
"Getting closer...what do you mean?" Ed was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head and asked.
Are there other factors that I haven't considered?
"There is nothing wrong with your reasoning. The regulations are clear and logical. But just like playing chess, we not only have to clarify the situation on the field, but also deduce the opponent's next move, and even the next move."
"It's true that 13 is greater than 12. But politics is not a simple operation of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. If what you said happens and Senator Orton completely falls to the Snitch Party, what will happen next?"
What happens next...?
Ed looked down at the empty coffee in his hand. Every drop of coffee stains on the rim of the cup was flowing back into the cup, forming a shallow pool at the bottom.
