Chapter 245: Chapter 245: Selective Blindness
[Chapter 246: Selective Blindness]
As the maintenance worker responsible for the utilities at St. Beatrice Welfare School, Ronald had numerous opportunities to tamper with the electrical equipment, causing it to malfunction and necessitating repairs. The apartment building near the church faced a minor electrical issue.
Father Michael Becker, overseeing the repairs, summoned Ronald, instructing him, "Perform a comprehensive check-up. Fix what needs fixing and replace what must be replaced; I need everything back to normal by the weekend."
Ronald immediately affirmed, "I'll conduct a full system check."
Michael Becker had trusted Ronald, who had worked at St. Beatrice for years. "Make haste."
...
Ronald acknowledged, returning to his office to grab his toolbox, then picked up a bag of supplies before heading to the apartment building.
He had noticed the place before and had repaired equipment in several rooms multiple times. He hadn't considered much of it in the past. However, having seen that one person earlier, Ronald had resolved to act.
He didn't lack compassion. Yet, determination had always eluded him. Otherwise, in those years, Ronald had merely offered quiet assistance.
What drove him to take action now was Hawke's application of a common yet unique quality. Most of the time, money served as a powerful motivator.
Ronald entered a room, opening an aluminum ladder, retrieving a camera from his supply bag. He found a suitable place to conceal it, drilled it in, hooked up the power, and hid it well.
This posed no challenge for him. Once satisfied with one room, Ronald moved on to another. Given the limited number of cameras, he couldn't install one in every room.
Ronald specifically chose rooms frequented by Michael Becker and a few other priests. They bore a stark resemblance to demons. After installation, he double-checked everything to ensure adequate concealment and then reported the work completed to Father Becker.
The priest appeared pleased, "The security work must be done well."
Returning to his office, Ronald pulled out his phone and made a call. As the line rang, he hung up abruptly without saying a word.
...
Nearby, the area surrounding St. Beatrice Church bustled with life. Just a tall fence separated the apartment road from a busy street.
Juan drove a modified van, passing in front of the church, turning to find a suitable parking spot on the nearby road.
Betty and Fiona urged the telecommunications tech, Hierro, "Get the equipment up and running; let's check it out."
Hierro powered on the wireless receiver, tuned the signal bandwidth, and connected to seven cameras. The van's screen instantly revealed images from multiple rooms.
Betty directed, "Let's test the recording feature on each camera."
"Already on it," Hierro said, deftly juggling a mouse in one hand and typing on the keyboard with the other.
Minutes later, he opened the server and clicked through the auto-recorded files to confirm that the recordings were operational.
Hierro declared, "Verification complete."
Juan started the van, "Let's pull out."
"Hold on!" Hierro suddenly stopped Juan, "We've got movement."
...
Juan hit the brakes, engaging the handbrake back. Betty and Fiona turned their attention to the display.
Hierro zoomed in on one image, taking up the entire screen. A priest opened a door, leading a young boy inside, intending to give the boy a private lesson about the grace of God.
Then, the kind of things that had circulated widely since the Middle Ages began to unfold. Fiona felt outrage and impulsivity bubbling within her.
Betty restrained her, "We need to save more lives."
Fiona had to hold herself back, asking, "Doesn't the diocese know? Doesn't the archbishop know? Doesn't the Vatican know?"
No one responded because everyone in the vehicle understood that the Los Angeles Archdiocese was certainly in the loop. Did they really think the archbishop was clueless? That the Vatican had no context for centuries of actions?
Yet, no one was willing to change any of it.
At the end of the day, victims were just some impoverished souls and expendable assets.
On the screen, the priest took the young boy away, and the room returned to a heavy quiet.
Betty reminded Hierro, "Copy and back it up, store separately."
Hierro hurried to it.
Juan lingered for a brief moment, ensuring no other events transpired, before finally driving away.
That same night, Campos personally delivered the footage to Hawke.
...
Hawke knew very well that this single piece wouldn't be enough; even if exposed, it could easily be dismissed as the actions of isolated priests.
He directed the Butterfly Company to gather more videos and photographic evidence.
...
On the weekend, St. Beatrice Church held mass, and throngs of worshippers filled the chapel.
Andrea accompanied Nicole Kidman into the church, both well-familiar with the routine.
Nicole had even made a donation to the church last time.
Like last time, Fiona entered the church, her main task still being to shoot Nicole Kidman.
...
As mass neared its conclusion, Juan navigated the van back to the road alongside the church's high wall, parking in the same spot as before.
Hierro worked quickly, connecting all cameras and activating the recording function.
Betty drove another vehicle, positioned a short distance away as lookout.
...
It wasn't long before the screens in the van displayed a deviant sight -- six out of seven camera angles captured activity.
The priests, including Michael Becker, were ushering boys into the rooms, one by one.
After several minutes, they even brought in adults.
Each room contained at least one adult and one boy -- some men, some women.
Juan noted that none of the people in this disturbing scene were any celebrities he recognized.
However, in an empty room, another priest ushered in a young boy.
Juan had already looked through the public records of the priests at St. Beatrice Church and the welfare school.
The prior priest, Michael Becker, was easily recognizable. This one, upon careful inspection, was identified as Stephen Weiss.
Both belonged to the publicly available list of priests from St. Beatrice Church.
Juan and Hierro remained silent, watching in horror as they witnessed the unfolding events, their anger fueling their resolve.
The majority of the boys, like Juan, were Latino.
It wasn't difficult to surmise that these children were descendants of Mexican or other Latin American immigrants.
In many respects, they echoed Juan's own identity.
Finally, after all rooms had emptied, Juan stated, "Make copies."
...
With the storage drives at the ready, Hierro set to work.
Being older and with children of his own, Hierro found greater depth in the situation, stating, "If we hadn't intervened, might our families have suffered the same fate?"
Juan recalled his days on the street, "Back then, we couldn't even take care of ourselves."
Hierro continued, "The boss is truly a good person; he could easily ignore this situation..."
Juan pondered a moment before replying, "All the good traits I've recognized in Americans combined still don't measure up to the boss."
He reassured, "Don't dwell on that; let's just do our jobs well. We'll earn our keep."
Without broaching the topic further, Hierro copied the video files to the storage drives.
Once they had finished this task, Juan shot off a text saying, "We're done."
Betty wasted no time, starting the engine and driving off, with the van trailing closely behind.
On the other side, Fiona took her time leaving the church.
...
Soon thereafter, they reunited at the Butterfly Company, where Hierro handed over the footage to Campos.
Campos instructed Juan to deposit one copy in a bank safe, taking another to Twitter.
...
At Twitter's fourth floor, Edward received Campos's call and promptly headed to the side door, waiting for Campos. Together they made their way to Hawke's office on the fourth floor.
Campos set the video copies onto Hawke's desk, stating, "We captured a total of seven videos since we installed cameras in those seven rooms, but there may be even more."
"You take a break first," Hawke replied, turning on his laptop and inserting the storage drive to review the captured footage.
The clarity of the video content would be crucial for their future strategy.
Hawke reviewed the seven recordings; six appeared to involve ordinary community members he didn't recognize, but one was evidently a priest.
Edward and Campos waited for Hawke to issue commands.
Hawke opened his drawer, pulling out empty discs, "Make copies for this footage."
He looked toward Campos, "Have you compiled the media list and the email addresses for sending out the news?"
Campos nodded, "I've gathered the list; both digital and physical addresses -- all totaling over 350 media outlets."
Without hesitation, Hawke instructed, "As per our plan, send a team to Latin America. Distribute the relevant content via email."
There would definitely be some agencies that would report on it; he was sure of that.
However, what worried him was mainstream media turning a blind eye.
That concern was not unfounded, given that selective blindness was practically a fundamental skill.
Hawke contemplated Fox News.
Campos prepared to leave, "I will send someone to South America when I return."
Hawke nodded, "Go ahead."
Campos departed in haste, with Edward seeing him out.
...
Hawke picked up the storage drive with the copies and thought for a moment before dialing Megan Taylor's number, "Got time tonight? Let's meet up."
Megan answered with a laugh, "What, did you figure out the cleaning pipes situation?"
Hawke replied earnestly, "I've gotten hold of a breaking story; you were the first person on my mind. Want to check it out?"
"Sure," Megan responded eagerly, asking, "Is it a bit messy?"
Hawke replied, "It's still related to what I mentioned before, but this time it's not just hearsay recordings -- it's actual video evidence."
Megan immediately declared, "I'll come over now."
"Come on," Hawke said before hanging up.
He was preparing for all potential outcomes on this matter.
*****
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