Barton Mansfield felt a headache as soon as he rembered, "It was him who did it."
Nora Scott was stunned for a second.
——Your old Hall Master really has a good grandson.
"Actually, although Biel Hall doesn’t have much savings, it’s not like we are completely broke. But we were in a period of restructuring, and the previous year, we had thrown all the money we could muster into it, so we were a bit tight on cash."
"Last year, there was a deal related to a batch of antiques. Our hall found a specialist to authenticate them, taking on a certain risk, but if the transaction was successful, we would receive a large sum of money, enough to keep Biel Security running smoothly."
"But this deal ran into problems."
"Actually, there was no issue with the authentication results. We hired well-known authentication experts from Biel Hall, even the renowned expert David Sutton got involved. We were certain that the batch of goods brought for authentication was completely legit."
"The problem arose during the delivery. The goods delivered by the seller were swapped after authentication, unbeknownst to both parties. It wasn’t until the transaction was concluded that the buyer discovered the goods had issues — since Biel Hall vouched for the authentication, all responsibility fell on us. We had to refund the buyer and double the compensation."
"We were caught off guard."
"Upon realizing we were scamd, we investigated and finally found out that — it was Alexander Vaughn who arranged for the goods to be swapped. He grew up in Biel Hall, knew the hall’s procedures, and could exploit the system the most."
Barton Mansfield explained the whole situation to Nora Scott in detail.
Nora Scott listened silently.
After a mont, she asked, "Is he trying to make money, or does he want to ruin Biel Hall?"
"Probably both." Barton Mansfield replied, "His parents devoted themselves to Biel Hall and died during a mission. He always held a grudge against Biel Hall. Once he reached adulthood, the old Hall Master wanted him to join Biel Hall, but he never did. Stealing the hall’s Token back then was his act of revenge."
Nora Scott refrained from comnting on this complicated family matter.
Suddenly, she rembered her own matter related to "antiques" and asked, "Has the source of that batch of forgeries been traced?"
"Nothing has been found. They appeared out of nowhere." Barton Mansfield said, "But there is this: since childhood, he’s been fond of antiques, has studied them, and he majored in this in college. The old Hall Master said he privately replicated antiques before, and he did quite well, he’s got experience."
No trace has been found.
Another flawless concealnt.
This way of doing things... really is damn familiar.
"Alright, my turn to explain."
Nora Scott narrowed her eyes slightly.
All three of them imdiately sat up straighter, attentive and cautious.
Nora Scott spoke simply, recounting the robbery of the antiques Henry Chapman got, the incident Miguel Smith encountered in Sandcastle City, the golden cup issue, and the events from a spring a year ago involving her and Matt Leung, all succinctly explained to the three.
And the three listened, dumbfounded.
Every single incident had its own shocking elents mixed in.
Of course, on the other hand —
Why do so many things tie back to Alexander Vaughn!
What exactly has Alexander Vaughn been up to all these years outside!
"The matters concerning the antique forgeries can probably be connected." Barton Mansfield said, "According to the Hall Master’s statent, if Alexander Vaughn has been mingling in the antiques circle for the past five years, the connections and experience he would have accumulated are unimaginable. Coupled with his personal abilities, replicating antiques shouldn’t be an issue for him."
Nora Scott nodded, "We can piece together this line of thinking."
"Five years ago, Alexander Vaughn learned through his intel network in Anchel about who had genuine antique items. He paid off so people to rob them and then either sold the items himself or used them to create forgeries, circulating them in the market."
"I lean towards the latter. Once he had a certain foundation, he assembled a team specifically for making forgeries and started scaling up operations."
"This gang... from what I know, the mass-produced goods surfaced around early last year. Before that, they were only doing so small-ti deals."
"Then ca the events with and Matt Leung and the swapped items authenticated by Biel Hall. Also this year... the swapping of Robert Durant’s golden cup."
"The swapping thods used for Biel Hall’s items and Robert Durant’s golden cup were essentially identical."
"It must be him, without a doubt."
...
Listening to Nora Scott’s analysis, Barton Mansfield, Amy Mansfield, and Rosie Sullivan all couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat.
——What exactly is Alexander Vaughn trying to do?!
One sche after another, is he simply trying to make money, or is there another goal?!
"You guys—"
Nora Scott was about to get them to sort the clues properly when her phone suddenly buzzed with an incoming call.
She was startled for a mont, then picked up the phone to see that it was Benjamin Durant calling.
So she answered it.
"Uncle! Uncle! There’s finally progress on the matter of throwing that kid into the river!"
Benjamin Durant eagerly said over the phone.
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