North American detective: From scoundrel to god among men

Chapter 35 Delicious Holy Communion

Church A is a Gothic building with a magnificent double-domed design.

As Titus and his two companions entered the church, the priest immediately came to greet them.

"Inspector Mike, and these two too..."

"FBI Agent Titus Gallagher."

"FBI, Agent Clarice Starling."

We eagerly await your arrival!

The priest smiled and shook hands with the three men.

"Father, here's what happened. We received reports from the public that there's been a minor issue with the communion services the church has been providing recently."

"A small... problem?"

The priest hurriedly waved his hand and said:

"We can't afford to have any problems; I personally oversee every step of the communion process."

"Wait, Inspector Mike! You're doubting me? How could you think that of me?"

"You know me, I'm a devout Catholic, how could I defile Holy Communion?!"

Mike nodded, indicating his understanding:

"Father, we do not mean to question your faith, but we have indeed received reports."

The priest met Mike's steady yet determined gaze and could only sigh:

"They said there was something wrong with Holy Communion, that whistleblower letter?"

"They say... Holy Communion is delicious."

"tasty?"

The priest thought, "If Holy Communion is delicious, then let's praise the Lord's grace! Who says Holy Communion can't be delicious?"

He wondered if he was getting old and suffering from the kind of hearing loss and auditory hallucinations common in the elderly.

"That's right, it's just too delicious, with a unique flavor."

The priest pondered for a moment, then tentatively asked:

"You mean there's a problem with the ingredients for communion, or that some forbidden substances were added?"

Titus, struck by a sudden inspiration, interjected:

"Father, may I ask where your church has been getting the frozen meat from recently? Are there any samples of communion that we may sample?"

"Also, please have the chef who prepared the food come here."

The priest glanced at Mike and nodded, saying:

"No problem, please follow me."

The four first went to the cold storage in the backyard of the church. Mike turned up his collar, and Titus felt a slight chill.

"This is it. Our recent food supplies have all come from a nearby ranch."

The cold storage shelves are neatly arranged with various kinds of frozen meat, including large chunks of dismembered hind leg meat, fresh ribs hanging with iron hooks, and unidentified animal offal wrapped tightly in freezer bags.

The place is very well organized, with each type of meat labeled and the most suitable cooking method carefully written under each label.

The chef has cut the meat cleanly and neatly, and it has already undergone preliminary processing. The subsequent cooking only requires putting it in the pot, and at most, some minor adjustments to the cuts.

Is this a perfectionist chef?

The priest stood at the door, and the three of them, including Titus, began searching for clues in the cold storage.

Starling noticed a frozen piece of pork tenderloin, stored in a vacuum-sealed bag with a small white label attached to the top that read:

In life, the most important thing is knowing when to stop and when to act.

Starling unconsciously rubbed her arms, feeling a chill run down her spine.

At that moment, Titus walked over, patted her on the shoulder, and asked:

"Can you see anything?"

He glanced at the priest at the door and whispered:

"You know what I'm talking about, is this frozen meat...?"

Starling shook her head:

"At least this package shouldn't be it; human flesh wouldn't have such a thick layer of fat, and the muscle fibers are too coarse..."

As she was analyzing, Starling felt a slight weight on her shoulder.

Titus took off his coat and draped it over her shoulders, hoping that Starling's forensic degree would be helpful in quickly identifying the direction of the investigation.

"Please take your time and continue flipping through."

Titus patted her shoulder lightly with his strong, powerful hand.

Starling felt the chill dissipate considerably and instinctively clutched Titus's coat tightly, as if afraid it would be snatched away.

She felt that Titus was powerful and dangerous, and that he carried a dark secret. A little girl would be most easily attracted to the charm of such a person.

But Starling wasn't some naive little girl; she was just trying to solve the case faster!

As for whether Titus will catch a cold? He'll go out on his own if he gets cold, that monster.

But how can I accept his clothes so easily?

"Thank you," Starling said, trying to keep it as calm as possible.

Then, she quickly put on Titus's coat and, like a child who had stolen an adult's clothes, squatted down in front of the baskets of meat to carefully examine them.

Meanwhile, Inspector Mike watched this scene, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.

"Titus, look at this package of meat!"

Starling brought over a bag of frozen meat, took a deep breath, and said:

"The muscle fibers are fine, the fat is thin, the color is bright red, and the cross-section is delicate and dense; this is probably..."

Titus thought to himself, it's probably that bastard Lecter who did it. He couldn't think of another wild cannibal active in Florence right now.

Lecter used this cold storage as a food warehouse, mixing human flesh with other meats to make communion for devout Catholics!

Delicious communion... is human flesh!

He asked, "Are you sure?"

Starling quickly reviewed her knowledge of forensic medicine in her mind, then nodded.

How many packages of this meat did you find?

"Four packs. Lecter is cunning. He mixed the human flesh into the frozen pork category. If you don't look closely, even I won't notice it, let alone ordinary people."

"Well done, take them all back as evidence."

Titus thought that Lecter was probably hiding among the chefs here, especially the ones who handled the frozen meat.

At this point, the priest, who had been away for a while, returned to the cold storage. He went to handle some urgent church matters and arranged a late-night snack, or rather, breakfast, for everyone.

It was already dawn; they had been up for a day and a night since receiving Crawford's call.

The priest warmly invited the three to breakfast, and they gladly accepted.

Mike was exhausted from the continuous high-intensity work and wanted to take a break and eat something, which would actually help with the investigation.

Moreover, he and Titus agreed that they could extract the list of church cooks from the priest.

The four then went to a round table inside the church.

A white tablecloth was laid out on the round table. The food consisted of tasteless cookies, chickpeas, and cooked pork. It wasn't particularly delicious, but it was warming.

After the four finished their pre-meal prayers, they began to enjoy their breakfast.

"Father, where is your cook? I mean the one who makes the delicious communion."

"Don't worry, Detective, most of the chefs who prepared communion last week have arrived, but—"

Titus looked at him with a puzzled expression, waiting for him to continue.

"However, the head chef hasn't arrived yet. We couldn't get through on the phone. We've already sent someone to his house to call him. It's not his shift today, so he's probably still asleep."

The priest paused, stopped eating, and asked seriously:

"Compared to this, is there really anything wrong with our Holy Communion?"