American Tax Officer

Maggie's expression changed slightly as she asked, "What if I pay it, what happens then?"

"Under the provisions of the Black Tax Law, if you become a taxpayer of our National Revenue Service, we are obligated to keep your identity confidential, unless, you are unearthed by the CIA themselves!"

"You know who I am. If you hand me over to the CIA, they'll certainly be very grateful to you!"

Maggie still did not fully believe David's words.

"Grateful?"

David scoffed and smiled, rubbing his thumb and forefinger together in front of her, replying, "What the National Revenue Service wants is money; what use is the CIA's gratitude to us?"

His words left Maggie momentarily speechless.

"Rest assured, our National Revenue Service operates with principles; once we've taken the money, we definitely won't trouble you, and your identity will absolutely not leak from us!"

After a moment of thought, Maggie responded, "Alright, since you've put it that way, I don't really have any other choice, do I?"

Given the current situation, she truly had no other option but to compromise.

David smiled and extended his right hand, "Thanks for cooperating!"

...

At one o'clock in the afternoon.

Maggie arrived at the office, bringing with her the required payment of 282,400 US dollars.

After David had counted and confirmed the amount, he issued her a tax receipt and completed the filing work, thus concluding the case.

As the filing work was completed, the tax performance leaderboard was updated once again.

Now, David's team had a total tax performance of 1,759,268 US dollars, climbing from 156th to 122nd in the national ranking!

They had taken a big step closer to breaking into the national top 100!

"What do we do next?"

Nisen was aware that they had no cases at hand, and with the national top 100 within such close reach, he was eager to make a push for it.

David flipped through the information just delivered by intelligence, glanced over it for a few minutes, and said, "Head to the Kegorin Avenue Community!"

The Kegorin Avenue Community, that's precisely where Ibrahim lived last time.

By the time David and Nisen arrived there, more than half an hour had passed.

After parking the car, the two walked to a house and rang the doorbell.

About two or three minutes later, the door was opened by a girl of about 13 or 14 years old, who asked the two men, "May I ask who you're looking for?"

"I'm looking for Mr. Atley!"

Atley was the accountant of the antique money launderer, Lynch.

Lynch was no ordinary man, and the National Revenue Service's name might not be enough to intimidate him, so David planned to first gather his criminal evidence.

When they would confront him, if this guy proved to be difficult, David was prepared to throw these pieces of evidence in his face, forcing him to comply.

"Daddy, someone is looking for you!"

After the girl shouted, a man who had been reading the newspaper in the living room got up and walked over, looking puzzled as he asked the two men, "Who are you?"

[Name: Atley Waldrey.]

[Occupation: Accountant.]

[Monthly Income: 11,000 US dollars, (Illegal Income: Sixty Thousand US dollars).]

[Income Details: On December 6, assisted Lynch Aldridge with altering the books, earning a profit of 3,000 US dollars; on December 12, helped Lynch falsify the books, earning a profit of 3,000 US dollars...]

[More Details: ...]

[Tax Payable: Fifteen Thousand US dollars.]

David showed his tax badge and said, "We are Inspectors from the National Revenue Service, and we would like to have a word with Mr. Atley!"

"National Revenue Service?"

Atley paused.

He was unlike most people.

As an accountant, he was extremely sensitive to tax matters, so he was very clear that his own taxes were in order.

If his own taxes were correct.

And Inspectors from the National Revenue Service came to him, could it be... the Black Tax Law recently passed by Congress?

In an instant, he surmised the reason, but to test the waters, he still feigned innocence and asked, "I'm not sure why the Inspectors are looking for me?"

"Mr. Atley, can't we come in and talk about that?"

"Of course!"

Atley paused for a moment, then quickly made a welcoming gesture.

After entering the house, David didn't hold back; he comfortably sat down on the sofa and said directly to Atley across from him, "Mr. Atley, as an accountant, I reckon you've heard that last month Congress passed a law called the Black Tax Law!"

"Yes, I've heard of this law. It stipulates that from now on, all forms of fraud, robbery, even zero-dollar purchases, must pay taxes to the National Revenue Service!"

Atley didn't dare to feign ignorance, as it would have been problematic for someone in his profession to not know about the Black Tax Law.

David nodded in approval and continued, "Since you're so aware of this law then you should clearly understand the reason for our visit today!"

Atley's heart sank; his suspicions were confirmed.

But he didn't know for certain if the other party truly had evidence of his crimes, so he didn't admit anything right away. Instead, he played the innocent role, "Inspector sir, I'm just the accountant for Lynch's auction house, a legitimate profession, with no illegal income!"

"Is that so?"

David looked him straight in the eye, "On the 6th of last month, didn't your auction house sell a European medieval dagger? You helped your boss create a fake ledger worth Three Million US dollars. Have you forgotten so quickly?"

At the mention of this, Atley's complexion changed dramatically.

But before he could gather his thoughts, David continued, "And on the 12th of last month, your auction house sold a painting, and you helped your boss make up a false account of five million dollars. You haven't forgotten that one either, have you?"

"And on the 25th..."

"You don't need me to remind you of each incident you were involved in, do you?"

At that moment, Atley was like a deflated balloon, unable to refute a single word.

Only after a silence of about two minutes did he finally say helplessly, "Alright, since you're so well-informed, I will pay whatever tax I owe!"

He knew the prowess of the National Revenue Service.

Moreover, they had investigated his falsification of books so thoroughly. If he dared to argue, it would only make things worse for him.

"That's more like it!"

David nodded in satisfaction, his tone changing as he said, "By the way, there's a favor I need to ask of you!"

"What's that?"

"I need a detailed ledger from you guys!"

Atley was taken aback at first, then objected, "That won't do. I will only pay my taxes. Other people's affairs do not concern me!"

Since he had already agreed to pay taxes, why did David still want the ledger?

Most likely, he intended to trace back and catch everyone involved, which might include his boss.

As just an accountant, how could he dare stab his boss in the back!