lovenovelstory Chapter 49 Two Ways to Cook a Fish
Chapter 49 Two Ways to Cook a Fish
A short while later, Finn walked in, carrying the scent of the sea breeze from the dock.
Fiona didn't exchange any pleasantries; she handed Finn a note.
The note had no name, no location, only six dates written in red ink.
"Finn, I need you to use your connections in the city, especially those clerks who copy documents in the Chamber of Commerce, law firms, and city hall."
"Help me find something. A company, or a business. I don't know its name or what business it does. All I know is that it received cash from unknown sources around these six dates."
Finn took the note, looked at the few lonely dates on it, and a hint of confusion flashed in his one eye, but he didn't ask why.
"How long will it take?"
"The sooner the better."
Finn's efficiency exceeded Fiona's expectations.
He didn't go to the pub or the docks, but went directly to a coffee shop near Court Street.
This is where lawyers, clerks, and business agents from all over Boston congregate.
With the help of "Old Chart" Ham, Finn went directly to a young clerk named Barnaby.
Barnaby works at a law firm that handles business disputes, dealing with various company registration documents and financial statements all day long. He earns a meager salary but longs for the life of the upper class.
Finn simply bought him an expensive cup of sweetened coffee and then "accidentally" let a gleaming gold coin slip through his fingers and fall onto the table.
"A friend of mine was looking for a 'dynamic' business partner in Boston. But he didn't like those old-fashioned companies with accounts as clean as the Bible; he preferred companies that were... adaptable and had 'active' cash flow."
Barnaby's eyes were immediately glued to the gold coin.
He understood Finn's implication and, almost without hesitation, whispered a name.
"Albion Textile Company," Barnaby's voice was barely audible.
"It was always losing money on paper, but its lawyer would always come to us at certain times to update its capital records. I remember it clearly because every time he came, he would complain about how stupid and greedy those clients in red shirts were."
"A red dress?"
"Yes, the red dress with leather boots."
Finn calmly pushed the gold coin over, while handing over the note Fiona had given him.
Barnaby's eyes lit up.
The date on the note matched almost perfectly with the date he remembered the lawyer coming to update the documents.
That afternoon, a thin, seemingly unremarkable business ledger was delivered to Fiona's desk through Finn's hands.
The cover of the ledger read "Albion Textile Company" in cursive script.
Fiona spread out the ledger and flipped through it page by page. She compared the date and amount of each purchase of sulfur and saltpeter with the peak prices on her drawings.
A name emerges from the collision of numbers.
Every purchase occurred precisely during the peak price periods she had identified.
The source of each fund was vaguely noted in the ledger, simply stating "cash injection".
The timing of this cash injection coincided perfectly with the payday of the 43rd Infantry Regiment.
Fiona picked up a quill pen, dipped it in red ink, and clearly wrote a name in the blank space of the drawing:
Captain Marcus, Quartermaster of the 43rd Infantry Regiment, Royal Army.
As Fiona, Finn, and Seamus gathered the information again and conducted another round of investigation, it had already been the fourth day since Levi assigned them the task.
……
Oak Bay Estate, Levi's office.
Fiona laid two huge sheets of paper on Levi's desk.
One was a hand-drawn graph showing the fluctuations in saltpeter prices. The other was a simple list indicating the paydays for the 43rd Infantry Regiment of the Royal Army.
"Sir, look here."
Fiona tapped the chart with her slender fingers.
"Every month, within three to five days after the 43rd Regiment received its pay, the black market prices of saltpeter and sulfur in the city would rise slightly. Moreover, the purchases were very scattered, as if many people were buying small amounts at the same time."
She pushed another account book over.
"With Finn's help, I checked all the receipts related to these small purchases, and they all ended up going to one company, 'Albion Textiles.' This company was always losing money on paper, but every month a mysterious cash injection would come in, just enough to cover the cost of the raw materials it bought at high prices."
"That's right, sir! The captain of the 'Sea Serpent' is a gambling addict. He owes money to three underground casinos in the south of the city, more than ten years' salary. Coincidentally, the 43rd Infantry Regiment is responsible for escorting this batch of 'Brown Bess' muskets."
At this point, Finn grinned, revealing a set of teeth stained yellow by tobacco.
"What's even more interesting is that Captain Marcus, the quartermaster of the 43rd Regiment, was a regular at one of the casinos. He never played himself, but just watched from the sidelines while drinking."
All the clues, like streams flowing into a great river, point to the same person.
Li Wei's fingers tapped lightly on the table, making rhythmic sounds, as if he was processing the information in front of him.
A greedy officer abused his position to embezzle public funds.
On one hand, they prepared to resell the new weapons that were about to arrive in Hong Kong, and on the other hand, they used the deducted military pay to purchase raw materials on the black market, preparing to produce gunpowder themselves and sell it anonymously to those "sons of freedom," making a profit from both ends.
The gun that "Son of Liberty" asked Levi to steal and the gunpowder that the Governor's Office ordered Levi to investigate were both made by the same person.
Li Wei laughed; this situation was getting interesting.
He picked up a pen, wrote a few words on a fine gold-embossed notepad, then put it in an envelope and sealed it with sealing wax.
"Fiona, go to the wine cellar and fetch a case of the finest 'Jade Dew'."
He handed the envelope to Fiona. "Give this, along with the case of wine, to Lieutenant Andrew Gage."
"Just say that this is a small token of my appreciation to congratulate his cousin, Captain Marcus, who is in charge of weapons storage in the quartermaster department, on his work and to welcome him to Oak Bay Estate."
Fiona took the envelope and turned to leave.
In his study, Levi looked out the window toward Boston Harbor, where turbulent currents surged beneath the murky waters, mirroring the current situation in Boston.
Fiona and the others worked hard for three days to avoid having to answer any pre-set questions from either side.
He chose to throw a more dangerous answer directly onto the poker table.
As for whether or not to reveal the answer, he himself pushed the initiative back to the Governor's Office and the Sons of Liberty.
Next, it was my turn to set the questions.