Chapter 218: Chapter 218 - Speculations
"What's intriguing is that the girl our boy is currently involved with is also engaging in some brief rendezvous with Mr. He." Delmar said with dark smile as his words had some revelational meaning to them.
William understood the implication but failed to see how it connected to Adam.
For a women of such profession would sleep with many people and some of them could be connected in the most bizarre way possible and it would still be just a coincidence.
"A man could sleep with a prostitute, and that prostitute would be with several other men. It's a reality that's quite commonplace. A guy from one company and a guy from another rival company sleeping with the same woman… it could merely be a coincidence.
Unless there's irrefutable evidence, it's just a cycle of casual encounters." William said with his extent of knowledge on the matter.
"So what? I don't see anything particularly wrong with that. The girl could sleep with the CEO of Violet Boeli Bank, and it still wouldn't amount to anything more than a coincidence. Unless… you have something that directly contradicts that assumption." William said and looked at Delmar scrutinizingly.
"I don't have any concrete proof that explicitly suggests they're conspiring or anything of the sort." Delmar said with a dejected nod.
William's interest began to wane at those words, but Delmar pressed on.
"But there are a few other details you should be aware of."
"Like what?"
"First, Mr. He, the manager of Violet Boeli Bank, didn't start seeing the girl until a few months ago—a period when our boy had already been with her for some time."
"What's noteworthy here is that Mr. He usually doesn't stay with one woman for more than a few weeks, according to my sources. But it's been a few months, and he's still with this girl."
"Either her technique is extraordinary, or they're both unusually smitten with her. But the latter seems less likely.
Do you have a picture of her?" William asked as Delmar nodded, and the hologram changed.
This time, it displayed a girl who appeared to be in her early 20s, with long blonde hair cascading down to her chest, which was notably ample. Her face had an air of innocence that would evoke sympathy from anyone with a shred of compassion.
The face was similar to a beautiful but enraptured bird.
William instantly felt something, and after a moment of careful thought, he remarked, "It's her face, isn't it?"
Delmar remained silent as William continued, "She looks like a fragile bird trapped in a cage, unable to escape no matter how hard she tries. I'm fairly certain it's that, more than her technique… though that could also be a contributing factor."
"The man loses his parents, his wife, has no children or family, works in an environment where his closest friends, whom he once called brothers, are dying rapidly, and in the midst of all this remorse, desperation, and pain, he discovers this beautiful little bird who seems to be his only sanctuary."
William spoke with deliberation, before breaking free from his heavy thoughts, noticing Delmar looking at him with a dangerous smile. "Well, boss… you couldn't have said it better than I could."
"Sometimes I wonder whether you are who you appear to be, or if there's someone much older within you."
William didn't take the compliment to heart. "Yeah, yeah, later you're going to say that I'm a genius who shouldn't have been born in a lower realm like this and try to praise me to my grave."
"I wouldn't go that far."
"Who knows what you'll say in the future." William shrugged and subtly shifted the topic. "Still, these are merely speculations without any tangible evidence."
"As compelling as the story is, without solid proof, I can't, in good conscience, take any action against the guy."
"Good conscience?"
"Yeah, I have a good conscience. Anyone who knows me will tell you I have a good conscience."
"But that's from a distance. You're just hiding your true nature from them, and only those closest to you know what you're really like," Delmar said.
"But isn't that what good conscience is? Concealing your less attractive self from the world and only showing them the image they want to see— that, in my mind, is an act of good conscience."
Delmar gave a dark smile as he said, "Now those are words I can fully endorse. Seriously, boss, you should write a book or become a preacher. You might even be able to change a lot of minds."
"If I were to do that, who would spend the vast amount of money my forefathers worked so hard for?"
"True, but we're here too. You could always consider us. We'll help you spend your money and do our best to quickly bankrupt you."
William laughed and ended the small talk. "Alright, I'll think about that when the time comes, and I find my own fairy-tale princess."
"Now tell me, is there anything else, or is this all you've uncovered?"
"No, there's something else that makes me even more inclined to suspect the guy." Delmar pulled out an item and placed it in front of him.
William examined the small object and saw that it was a very old phone. For someone who had once lived in an earlier era, he recognized it as a touch-screen phone from his old world, though still more advanced than the ones he was accustomed to.
"Now, this is what you call a SAT Phone."
"SAT Phone?"
"Phones that use old satellites to make off-the-grid calls that won't be intercepted or traced by official forces or anyone else, for that matter."
"Are there even any old satellites still operational?"
"No, which is why they've modified the settings on these types of phones to use signals from Wi-Fi or other networks with multiple connected devices, using that as cover to call others and remain under the radar."
"But doing that also reduces the time they once had. If they ever talk longer than they should, every security system would lock onto them."
William took the phone and scrutinized it before saying, "This looks new, like it was purchased just a few weeks or days ago."
"Yeah, it is. The tech guys examined it and confirmed that the systems seem to have been active for a few months."
"So Carl isn't just involved with someone who could be a spy; he also has a SAT phone that might be used to communicate with someone undesirable to us… this is taking an unusual turn."
Delmar nodded. "Not only that, but where did he find something so rare, and who is he using it to call?"
"I'd wager it's the girl."
Delmar agreed. "Yeah, that's what I think too. But our guys also discovered something else." He placed a small chip next to the phone.
"Is this a tracker?"
"And a listening device too. Not only was Carl communicating with someone behind our backs, but he was also being eavesdropped on."
William sighed. "Now I'm not even sure what's happening. Who's the real culprit here, and what the hell is going on?"
"Don't worry about that, boss. I have a plan."