Chapter 15: Chapter 15: This Scene is Spectacular
National Tax Bureau Lake District Sub-Bureau.
When he returned there, the black people had not yet arrived.
As soon as he entered the tax hall, David called out to a receptionist at the service window, “Debbie, get anyone available to pause what they’re doing and help me prepare some forms.”
At the service window, the plump woman named Debbie was momentarily stunned, then hastily asked, “Inspector David, how many forms do you need?”
“Two or three hundred, they’ll be here soon, hurry up!”
After dropping that remark, David headed towards the third floor without looking back, leaving Debbie still in a daze.
Upon reaching the third floor, where the inspectors’ offices were located, the area was just as noisy and busy as ever; all the inspectors were preoccupied with their own cases.
David arrived at his work area and, while sorting tax tickets, he called out to a few people not far away, “Bucky, Sherwood… can you spare a hand?”
The system at the Tax Bureau was such that a Chief Tax Officer led a small team consisting of four groups, which meant eight inspectors.
And the few he had just called out were his squad members.
According to regulations, when faced with a case that required a substantial amount of work, it was permissible to ask for assistance from other members of the squad.
Today, the number of Zero Purchase Participants alone was two to three hundred.
Such a workload, if left to David and Nisen alone, would probably take three days and three nights to deal with, and they still might not get through it all.
Hence, David naturally needed their help.
“Sure, what’s up?”
“I don’t have a problem with that.”
“…”
The squad members were quite forthright, promptly setting aside their tasks, ready to comply with whatever was asked of them.
“Chief Tax Officer Liu assigned me that Zero Purchase case, remember? Nisen and I have already dealt with it, but there’s a bit of a crowd…”
Hearing this, Bucky and the others seemed somewhat surprised.
Zero Purchase cases may seem undemanding, and that group of black folks weren’t exactly the most vicious of criminals, but as inspectors, they knew that it was precisely these sort of scammers who hovered on the edge of the law that were the most troublesome.
Though these scammers would not dare to confront the National Tax Bureau head-on, once they heard they were being taxed, they were sure to wiggle out of it and kick up a fuss.
Without dragging them in and employing scare tactics like the tiger bench or chili water, one couldn’t expect them to comply willingly!
Yet there David was, having not even brought back a single person, apparently resolving the situation with just a short trip out?
And from David’s tone, it sounded like he had settled matters with more than just a few Zero Purchase Participants—how had he managed that?
“Is there a problem?”
Seeing that his colleagues were taking too long to respond, David stopped organizing the documents and turned to look at them.
“No… no problem…”
It took a moment for them to snap back to reality.
But then, as if they remembered something, a look of realization appeared on their faces.
The three hundred and ninety-six thousand US dollars from yesterday, although David hadn’t told them where it came from, the staggering amount soon became common knowledge through inquiries made afterward.
It was said to have been collected from the robbers who had hijacked the cash transport vehicle from Encar Casino!
Those robbers were highly intelligent; even the casino, the police department, and the FBI couldn’t track a single clue to them, yet they ended up falling into David’s hands.
Comparing these events, the fact that David efficiently took care of the Zero Purchase Participants didn’t seem all that surprising anymore.
However, considering this lad’s ‘remarkable exploits’ over the past couple of days, had he actually found some sort of knack?
In the midst of their myriad thoughts.
Having parted ways with David on the third floor, Nisen returned and announced, “Mary and her department are ready!”
David nodded and continued to organize tax invoices and other documents.
About half an hour later.
A commotion in the hallway drew the attention of the entire Inspector’s Hall, their expressions shifting from sideways glances and curiosity to shock, and finally, to silence so deep you could hear a pin drop.
Leading the way was Debbie, followed by a long line of black people, each holding a white form in their hands.
Even though they had reached the vicinity of David and the others, the queue showed no sign of ending—the entrance of the corridor seemed to harbor an uncountable number of people still.
“What… what’s going on?”
“Why are there so many people?”
“Who… who are these people?”
After a good while, the inspectors on-site finally snapped out of their astonishment, but their faces still registered utter disbelief.
Though they didn’t yet know the identities of these individuals, the forms in their hands confirmed they were all there to pay taxes!
What they found even more unbelievable was the fact that.
A rough count from the corridor to David’s office location already tallied dozens, who knows how many more were gathered beyond the unseen hallway!
Out of a desire to understand just how many people there were, several inspectors couldn’t care less about protocol; they put down their work and quickly headed toward the corridor’s entrance to see for themselves.
Seeing such a situation, Bucky and his colleagues were stunned for quite some time. Then, he immediately rushed to Debbie and asked hastily, “Debbie, how many more people are downstairs?”
Debbie glanced at David and said, with a lingering fear, “I’m not sure about the specifics, but there should be at least two or three hundred…”
“Two or three hundred people!”
Bucky and the others nearly lost their footing and fell to the ground.
Suddenly, they recalled David’s earlier remark.
‘There might be a slightly larger crowd’!
At the time, they thought at most there would be a few dozen people.
But now, it was two to three hundred people—how could this be considered ‘slightly larger’? It was as if he had brought back all the Zero Purchase Participants from the entire Lake District!
“Inspector David, here’s my nine hundred and ten US dollars,”
Osborne, standing at the front, handed over an envelope and said meekly, “Also… the brothers all need to support their families; could you perhaps process this a bit faster…”
“Of course.”
David turned around to look at Bucky and the others, who understood that addressing the matter at hand was the priority. They quickly suppressed their various emotions and called over some of the black people to their stations to proceed with the processing.
While David and his team were busily at work.
At the elevator entrance, the doors of the elevator descending from the fourth floor opened, and six or seven men stepped out in a hurry, among them was Lewis.
Lewis and his companions first glanced at David and the others, busy as they were, and then at the unending line of people in the corridor, their bewilderment deepening.
After a moment, a Mediterranean white man spoke up, “It seems the report from my subordinates was accurate; indeed, several hundred people have come.”
“Several hundred people…”
Next to Lewis on his right, a man with thick eyebrows in a suit pondered before saying, “Chief Tax Officer Liu Yi, where did you get so many people from?”
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