Chapter 149: The Truth Behind the Case

Taking the paper Roan handed him, August saw that the table was filled with various figures.

Dizzy from the sight and unable to make sense of the numbers, August asked bluntly:

"What is this?"

"A miracle of a capitalist society."

Roan took the paper back, took a few bites of his burger, and explained with a smile:

"This company, called SDAM, executed a stock trade for a firm on Wall Street worth twenty million dollars. Then, the very next day, in a miraculous turn of events, SDAM sold those same stocks for forty-two million dollars."

"Whoa."

Hearing this, August’s eyes widened instantly, and he hurriedly asked:

"Did you find out who is behind SDAM?"

"No. SDAM is just a shell company."

Roan shook his head. Because his predecessor had studied accounting, he was able to quickly spot this irregular transaction among the many trades Brent Hughes had handled.

Roan continued:

"Not only that, but behind the SDAM shell company, there is yet another shell company. And that forty-two million dollars first went into a bank in Houston, then was quickly transferred to several offshore banks. After lingering in those offshore banks for just a few seconds, it was finally moved rapidly to..."

Before Roan could finish, August replied with a grim expression:

"The Cayman Islands, right?"

"Yeah."

Roan nodded. The confidentiality in the Cayman Islands is incredibly strict; companies registered there do not disclose director and shareholder information to the public, and copies of the registers are kept at the registry office and never released. As for taxes, beyond an annual licensing fee paid to the government each January, no other taxes are required. This has made the Cayman Islands a global tax haven, and trying to trace specific transaction details there is harder than ascending to heaven. After all, in the United States, the one thing you cannot afford to offend is the wealthy.

"Then the search warrant is useless."

Having received confirmation, August’s face darkened:

"That means we are dealing with a real pro, right?"

Roan nodded. The opponent's methods looked highly professional:

"The person who moved those funds is no amateur."

After a few seconds of silence, August tilted his head and asked:

"So, do you have any other leads to continue the investigation?"

***

Faced with such high-stakes capital crime, August felt a headache coming on.

"Of course I do!"

Hearing August’s question, Roan grinned and pulled another sheet of paper from the table.

August didn’t take it, instead waving his hand for Roan to explain.

"This paper lists the numbers dialed and received on Brent Hughes’s phone over the last few days."

Roan glanced at the strings of numbers on the page, sensing that August might have misunderstood something, and explained with a smile:

"One of these strings belongs to the Securities and Exchange Commission. I just called the number and found out that the person on the other end is a lawyer named Wells, who is the supervisor of the enforcement division at the SEC."

August’s eyes lit up immediately. It was clear that the reality of the case was that Brent Hughes had discovered SDAM’s illicit stock trading and contacted the SEC. Somehow, this information leaked, leading to Brent Hughes being silenced.

Hearing this, a smile appeared on August’s dark face. He nodded repeatedly and praised him loudly:

"Well done, Roan! I knew choosing you for this case was the right call!"

Roan chuckled, reached out, and grabbed another large burger from the box in front of August.

***

The next morning. A building in the Wall Street district.

In the elevator, after a long silence, Lacey tilted her head and asked:

"Roan, I remember the file said you worked on Wall Street before joining the FBI, right?"

"Yeah."

Roan nodded. Lacey grew even more curious, slowly moving closer to Roan and whispering:

"An honors graduate in accounting from the University of Massachusetts Boston—why would you leave all this to join the FBI?"

With Roan’s credentials, if he had stayed on Wall Street for a few decades, he would undoubtedly have lived an elite life that the average person would envy. The FBI's monthly salary was far less than the commission some people on Wall Street earned from a single trade.

Hearing this, Roan rolled his eyes internally: *How should I know?*

Roan had absorbed most of Roan Greenwood’s memories, but the reason why his predecessor had chosen to leave Wall Street to join the FBI remained a total mystery, no matter how hard he tried to recall it.

All he could clearly see were the days of training at the FBI Academy and the memory of graduating with honors and being transferred to the New York Field Office.

After exhausting every method and failing to make sense of that specific memory, Roan decided to set it aside for the time being. It didn't affect his current life, and one day, he would eventually figure it out. However, he did have some guesses, though he had yet to find any evidence.

*Ding—*

The elevator arrived at their destination. Roan selectively ignored Lacey’s expectant gaze and walked into a small investment firm.

That morning, Roan and Lacey had gone to the SEC to question lawyer Wells, and from him, they had learned the name of this firm. According to Wells, Brent Hughes had discovered that an employee at this company had executed all the buy and sell orders for SDAM.

The office was buzzing with noise—shouts of people on phones and the cheers and exclamations perfectly synchronized with the rising and falling stock prices on the computer screens.

Scanning the room, Roan walked over to a thin white man with Lacey, tapped him on the shoulder, and said expressionlessly:

"FBI. Hello, Kermit. We have some questions for you."

Seeing the gold badge Roan held up, the flush of excitement from the rising stock prices on Kermit’s face instantly turned pale.

In the firm's breakroom, Roan made himself and Lacey a cup of coffee with practiced ease, then pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Kermit, asking with a smile:

"Kermit, it seems you already know why we’re here, so I won't waste any time. Tell us, what’s the story behind this twenty-million-dollar trade?"

"This..."

Staring at the data on the paper, Kermit pondered for a moment. Finally, he exhaled, looking up at Roan with a grim expression:

"I swear, I really don't know. The entire process of this transaction was handled via bank accounts and phone calls."

Lacey frowned from the side:

"And who did you speak to on the phone?"

"I don't know."

Kermit shook his head repeatedly:

"All I know is that it was a woman on the other end."