PHB 30
“Out of all the documents I copied, you didn’t find a single piece of data we need?”
Lucas rubbed his temples. He felt like his efforts had been in vain. He had gone to great lengths, sneaking around and even getting caught trying to access Deasy’s laptop, only to discover that none of the data he had copied contained any clues to solve the Daniel case he had been working on.
Felix and the audit team, who had been helping him all along, had spent the last two days frequently hanging out at Lucas’s residence, meticulously reviewing the copied data. Now, after hoping for more, it turned out they hadn’t found the desired results.
“We’ve checked multiple times, one by one, even the smallest details. But we still couldn’t find anything suspicious, Sir. So, it can be concluded that there is no suspicious data at all,” Felix explained in detail.
Lucas took a deep breath, trying to calm himself in the face of disappointment. He had hoped for at least one piece of evidence to incriminate Daniel in the alleged embezzlement of funds that had been going on at Quantum Tech for years. However, after hearing Felix’s explanation and that of his two colleagues, Lucas had lost hope of immediately implicating Daniel as the main suspect.
“So, according to all of you, up to this moment, there’s no evidence to suggest that Daniel is guilty?” Felix nodded.
“That’s correct, Sir. There’s no data or evidence pointing to Mr. Daniel, as you’ve suspected all along. Besides that, from the thorough examination, Ms. Deasy is also clear. There’s no indication that she received funds from Daniel.”
Lucas sighed deeply. His once-high hopes had been dashed. Now, he wondered about the future of the case he was handling.
“Oh God, is it possible that only the cases of Daniel and Argantara have been successfully uncovered? But what they did wasn’t that significant. And where did the rest of the losses we managed to calculate disappear to?”
Lucas looked visibly frustrated, trying to think of any possibilities.
“I don’t know why…” Lucas continued the conversation. “I still feel like something is bothering me. I’m sure there’s something significant that hasn’t been revealed yet.”
Felix fell silent for a moment. He, too, shared the unease that Lucas was feeling. Nearly a year of trying to uncover and being certain about who was behind the chaos, yet still lacking evidence to bring the suspect who had caused so much harm to the company to justice.
That’s why Felix tried to consider all possibilities. Eventually, he spoke again as if he had found a clue that might help them complete the task they were currently working on.
“Sir, I think I’ve got something.”
Lucas was startled, his gaze fixed on Felix, hoping his assistant had found a breakthrough to help solve the problem.
“This is just my perspective, but it could serve as a guideline and be worth a try.”
“What is it?”
Felix leaned in, narrowing the distance between himself and his boss.Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.
“If I may ask, has Mr. Lucas been storing all the important data in your laptop?”
Lucas shook his head.
“No, Felix. I’ve always been accustomed to keeping everything on an external hard drive. And, in fact, I make backups just to be safe, afraid that the primary data I’ve saved might get corrupted or become inaccessible.”
“Exactly!”
Felix snapped his fingers. At that moment, Lucas seemed to understand what his assistant was talking about.
“Oh my, Felix, you’re right. It’s possible that Daniel has stored all the important and confidential company data on an external hard drive.”
“That’s correct, Sir. He might have kept everything in one secure place.”
Lucas nodded, then fell silent for a moment. He remembered something that he believed could hinder his work.
“But… when it comes to Daniel, I can’t possibly take his external hard drive. In the near future, Lucas Orion has to leave Quantum Tech because of resignation. As for Lucas Morales, how could he possibly do something like this? His actions would surely attract the attention of other staff, right?”
“Let us handle it, Sir,” one of the audit team members named Dony interjected. “Since I often deal with Mr. Daniel, and our offices are even next to each other, it seems like I can find a moment to sneak in or borrow his hard drive for us to make a copy.”
“Alright…” Lucas nodded. “In that case, I leave Daniel’s matters to you. I hope we can get an answer at the latest by next week.”
“But, Sir…” Felix interrupted Lucas’s statement. “I still think Mr. Lucas should investigate Ms. Deasy. There’s a possibility that Mr. Daniel’s personal data is indeed stored on her hard drive. There’s always that possibility, isn’t there?”
Lucas agreed with Felix’s suggestion. If he wanted to be thorough, he had to investigate everything without exceptions.
“Alright… for Deasy, maybe I can slowly search for information when I visit her house. As soon as I get the chance, I’ll execute it as quickly as possible. Hopefully, there will be some clarity after this.”
***