Chapter 46: Chapter 44: I Want Them All

David guessed Lewis's thoughts and replied, "Understood, Chief Tax Officer, if there's really a need, I won't be shy!"

Lewis nodded, then opened the drawer below, took out three case files, and said, "These are the latest cases picked from the Intelligence Division, all of them 'hot cases'. Have a look and see which one you'd like to take on!"

So-called hot cases

refer to those that are easy to handle and offer a relatively high return.

Like the extortion case that David had just handled, that also could be called a hot case.

Because these people are not as vicious as the gangs or drug lords and the profit is also high.

Cases like these, as soon as the Intelligence Division's data is out, ten teams in the bureau would scramble for them.

And now Lewis actually got three cases all at once, this also demonstrated that after the outstanding performance in the last assessment period, his say in the bureau had significantly increased.

David picked up the first file, flipped through and read it, followed by the second and third...

After ten minutes, he had a general understanding of what the three cases were about.

The first case was a fencing case.

The second case dealt with counterfeit goods.

The third case was a hacker case.

Just as Lewis said, all three were essentially hot cases.

After pondering for a moment, David spoke up, "Chief Tax Officer, none of these three cases seems too difficult, why not assign them all to me?"

Lewis was initially startled, then hastily asked, "All three to you? Are you sure you can handle them in a short time?"

By 'a short time,' he naturally meant before the next assessment period.

Otherwise, if they were all handed to David and he didn't manage to solve them, they would suffer a great loss when the time came.

After all, other groups of inspectors would likely solve these cases as well, it's just a matter of how much tax revenue they would bring in.

David replied resolutely, "I'm confident."

"Alright, since you say so, I'll assign them all to you..."

Last assessment period, David took care of four cases in four days.

And those four cases were not all hot cases like these three.

With this 'precedent,' even though Lewis had his concerns, after thinking it over, he still agreed.

"Then, Chief Tax Officer, if there's nothing else, I shall..."

"Oh, right, there's one more thing!"

"Is this the real deal or a fake?"

The black vendor replied, "Nonsense, I never deal in fakes here; of course, it's real!"

"If this one is real, then what about the one in the Louvre?"

"That one is real too!"

"???"

Both Nisen and David wore puzzled expressions.

The black vendor continued, "The one there is male; this one is female, you know!"

Hearing this, the two were utterly speechless, but Nisen seemed really interested in the painting and continued to ask, "Alright, how much?"

"10,000 US dollars, not a cent less!"

"Let's go!"

Without any hesitation, Nisen signaled to David and firmly turned to leave.

But they hadn't gone far when the black vendor came chasing after them with the painting, blocking Nisen's path, and said, "Hey, brother, I see we have a connection, and you really like this painting, so you name your price!"

"Didn't you say 10,000 US dollars, not a cent less...?"

"I told you we have a connection, so name your price, brother!"

"50 bucks!"

"Sold! Take care, brother!"

Nisen was dumbfounded. He had just thrown out a price off the top of his head and was even prepared to be angrily scolded by the vendor, but to his surprise, the vendor agreed.

Having spoken, he had no choice but to take out 50 and give it to the vendor, thus completing the transaction.

"What do you need that thing for? That guy probably earned 49 in tears!"

David spoke somewhat incredulously.

"Didn't I recently move into a new house? I need some decorations, and I quite like this painting!"

David shook his head, "Let's go, let's meet that old man!"

About five minutes later, the two arrived at a shop with a sign that read 'Pharaoh Timepieces.'

As they pushed open the door, a musty clock scent hit them, conveying a deep sense of history.

The shop displayed various clocks and watches, from ancient mechanical clocks to delicate quartz watches, all quietly placed in glass cabinets, emitting a faint ticking sound.

At that moment, there were few customers in the shop, only one or two selecting timepieces, and an elderly, frail man sat in front of the counter.