Shadow Empire

Chapter 423 Funeral and Awkward Questions
"Joe, this is your..."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you Mr. Lance..."

A policeman had a wide smile on his face. He took the envelopes from the young people and walked aside.

Under the gaze of some people, he opened the envelope and took out nine five-dollar bills from it.

The smile on his face suddenly became even warmer!

This also made the other police officers look expectant. They had never openly expected extra income like this before.

My income used to be unstable, sometimes it was more, sometimes it was less, and there was also the problem of hiding money.

Some police officers received the money but did not take it out and hid part of it, so naturally everyone would have less money.

Just like John, he collected money for six consecutive months, which made many things difficult to do and caused the income of the entire branch to drop to a certain level.

But now, all this will become a thing of the past.

People lined up to receive money with smiles on their faces as if it was New Year's Day, and everyone thanked Lance because the money was given to them by Lance.

The last one to be sent was Chief Bruce. He thought he didn't have one, but he didn't expect that Lance also prepared one for him.

Looking at the envelope that was obviously thicker than the others, someone said, "Why don't you open it and let us see."

Chief Blue was feeling a little nervous at the moment, but looking at the looks from other people, he knew that there would be no problem if he didn't tear it down.

But it is inevitable that everyone will be disappointed, or even have other ideas.

What people hate the most is not that they are poor because they have no ability, but that everyone has no ability, so why am I the only one who is poor?

Although this may not be the correct way to put it, it is the most appropriate way to do it.

Chief Blue finally opened the envelope. He believed that Lance would not make things difficult for him.

This was indeed the case. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the thirty ten-dollar bills stacked together.

Grassroots police officers make forty-five, front-line police officers make sixty, district heads make one hundred, deputy sheriffs make two hundred, and he makes three hundred, which is a very suitable number.

It does not separate him from the "masses" and also demonstrates his uniqueness.

"Two donuts each, on me!" He raised his hand high, and the police officers in the precinct immediately began to cheer.

In fact, this money is just "regular money". Everyone knows that he must have other income from Lans.

But even though they knew it, as long as Lance was fair in this matter, no one felt dissatisfied.

You can't, as a low-level civilian, demand that you earn the same amount as the director. The current gap has not caused anyone to be dissatisfied.

If anyone thinks they can get some extra income from Lance, they can try their luck.

This is just the share of the police force, including those on night shift and those on vacation. The entire structure will last two to three days.

Chief Blue and Chief Duke had no objection to this, even though it seemed that Lance was increasing his influence in the police system and might even surpass them.

But Lance didn’t give them no “sweetness” at all!
They also have very important power in the profit-sharing system, which is the power to draw up lists.

They have the final say on who can receive the money and who cannot, so this is why both of them did not object even though they knew that Lance wanted his people to pay.

He gave them some respect.

The police are a very closed group, and this incident quickly began to spread throughout the police system of Jingang City.

Not every police station can give out so much money, and not every police officer is eligible to receive this benefit.

But now, the appearance of Lance has solved this problem.

Although the profit-sharing system will certainly affect the interests of some police officers, in the eyes of the vast majority of police officers, the interests of these few people are not that important.

A true conspiracy is like this. Even if you know it is a trick, a purposeful plan, you still can't stop it.

Some branch chiefs have begun contacting Chief Blue, wanting to talk to him about the issue of profit sharing and the issue of Lance.

This is a trend.

Lance took time out on the weekend morning to attend Mr. Jobaf's funeral.

He was placed in a very cheap, ordinary coffin. The ordinary wood gave off a sense of decay, and the uneven paint marks showed the carelessness of the painter when he was painting.

Mr. Jobaf, who had been simply renovated, was lying in the middle of it, his hands on his chest, and there was so much putty on his face that it looked like he was looking at a freshly plastered wall.

But if the ash is not thick enough, it will not cover his purple face. He should be peaceful, not disturbing, and God would not like that.

He was surrounded by some cheap flowers and there were no other embellishments. The clothes he was wearing also had a cheap feel and did not look expensive at all.

In fact, he had several sets of expensive clothes, but no one knew where they went. Maybe someone had put them away.

He didn't have anything of value on him, except a photo of him and his wife when they were young, which was the only thing he took with him when he left this world.

Perhaps he himself had never thought that he would leave this world in such a miserable way.

The pastor perfunctorily prayed for him his last time in this world. No one wanted to speak, and no one wanted to summarize his life for him.

When people judge a person's success or failure, they don't actually consider so many specific factors. They just look at whether he was rich, powerful, or poor when he died.

No matter how wonderful the scenery in his life journey is.

After the pastor read the eulogies, he announced that the memorial service was over and he could be buried.

There were still some people coming today, about forty or fifty people, most of whom were old employees of Jinda Bank.

They had been under Mr. Jobaf's care for the longest time and had spent the longest time together with him.

When people get along with each other for a long time, they will develop feelings. People who raise cats and dogs will treat the animals as their own children after a long time. Of course, there are also people who treat cats and dogs as their own parents.

What's more, this is a real living person. They have experienced the best times together and enjoyed everything that comes with working for Mr. Jobaf.

Several elderly ladies even cried out loud. On the one hand, they were really reluctant to let Mr. Jobaf die. How could such a friendly person die like this?
On the other hand, I am still crying because I am worried about the uncertain future.

Without Mr. Jobaf hiring them out of friendship, they didn't know what kind of jobs they could find in this terrible time so that they could continue to carry the heavy burden of life forward.

The crying added a sense of solemnity and sadness to the funeral. When his cheap coffin was placed in the grave, people began to offer their last flowers.

This was also Mr. Jobaf's last interaction with living people.

Lance also walked to the grave and presented a bouquet of flowers he had brought with him. It was thrown into the grave together with Mr. Jobaf's coffin.

He didn't have much negative to say about the man. He was just a speculator in the political struggle, and a failed speculator at that.

There is no right or wrong in political struggles, only wins and losses.

He lost this time, so people think he is bad now, but what if he won?
Will people pity the fate of his opponents?

Lance shook his head, sincerely wished Mr. Jobaf could go to heaven, and then moved aside.

At the end of the process, the workers backfilled the sand and sprinkled a handful of grass seeds on the grave soil.

If it is a higher-end funeral, they will directly transplant high-quality turf, or even make a protruding coffin lid made of marble or other precious stones.

But this is a cheap funeral, not worth the money for transplanting turf, not worth the money for marble.

The sad or peaceful people began to leave, and he lay there, truly dead in the next few years.

No one will remember him anymore, including his employees, who will forget him in their new jobs or have their memories of the past erased by life.

"When can his houses be transferred to my name?"

Lance did not leave immediately, but walked to the sunny side of the cemetery. There were densely packed tombstones standing on the gentle hillside. They were hidden among the green grass in the sun, and there was a sense of quiet and sacredness!

It is solemn and dignified, but not scary. This is where life ends, but looking at the plants growing out of the soil, this is also where life begins to sprout.

Lawyer Robben followed him and said, "It may take some time. First, we need to make sure that his properties have not been mortgaged elsewhere."

“Secondly, we may have to face some litigation regarding the residual value.”

Lance turned to look at him and he explained.

"If I give you something worth a hundred dollars for one dollar, and I can't redeem it, then logically, the thing belongs to you."

“But if there are a lot of…” He made some small body movements to show that he was confused, “…debts that need to be settled, then the court may consider the issue of how to realize the residual value of this thing.”

"For example, if the court finds those people to be 'victims', then they may consider auctioning the house and giving you the money he owes you, and the rest of the money to compensate the victims."

Lance frowned. "Is there a precedent for this?"

Lawyer Robben nodded and said, "Yes, but not much, so we may get into trouble, but it's not certain."

"It depends on how the judge characterizes those depositors."

"But I think it is highly unlikely that they will identify the depositors who suffered losses as 'victims'. If they did so, the judge would certainly offend all the banks at the same time."

"After all, Mr. Jobaf still has a lot of artworks and antiques mortgaged in those banks."

"But we can't completely... ignore it. If this case alerts the state prosecutor's office or the state court, it may cause some unnecessary trouble."

The prices of those houses are actually not that expensive, so even if there is competition, Lance is not afraid, it's just a little troublesome to do so.

In fact, there are many things behind this matter. Mr. Jobaf has invested in more than just a few industries, including more than one million worth of urban infrastructure.

If the wealthy people in the Bay Area were asked to invest in these things themselves, they would definitely not do it.

But if they were asked to take over this part at a very low cost, they would definitely not hesitate at all.

With the help of the Bay Area, those depositors can basically only consider themselves unlucky.

The bank went bankrupt and the owner committed suicide without leaving any inheritance. Unless this case has some special political significance, it is difficult to change it.

The main target audience of Jinda Bank is the imperial immigrants...

Seeing that Lance didn't ask about this matter anymore, he talked about another matter, "The companies you asked me to register have all been registered, and now they can be used anytime, anywhere."

“This is the material…”

He gave Lance a thick file bag in his briefcase. Lance had asked lawyer Vito Robben to register some domestic and foreign companies some time ago. It was unknown when these shell companies might come in handy.

The most recent one is used to discuss cooperation with Liji Group.

Lance took the file bag, took out a check and handed it over. "Please help me keep an eye on the property transfer. I may not have much time recently..."

Lawyer Robben agreed immediately. Lance was now his important client, and he must make Lance satisfied.

The weather in mid-to-late September is not so hot anymore. Although the temperature change may only be two or three degrees, it is precisely these two or three degrees that make a huge difference in people's physical sensations.

On the streets of the Empire District, posters of William with a mouthful of white teeth frequently appeared on those billboards.

What’s interesting is that the poster was taken by a professional photographer, who used some other methods to make William’s teeth look glowingly white!
According to his explanation, people are more willing to believe an adult federal light-skinned male with healthy teeth. They always associate teeth with social status and ability. Lance can't understand their way of thinking.

Voting begins on September 25th and ends on September 28th, with the results announced on the 29th and 30th.

On October 15, the old and new legislators completed the handover of work, and the new legislators officially assumed their duties.

In other words, William only has more than three weeks left to become "Member of Lawrence".

"Lance, are you free?"

"There's something I want to talk to you about."

In the morning, Chief of the Blue Branch suddenly called. Lance asked him to come directly, and he saw him in the office ten minutes later.

“Would you like to see tea?”

Lance called out twice, and it turned out that a new receptionist girl pushed the door open and asked, "Where's Corinda?"

The new girl was a little restrained and a little scared. After all... although everyone said that Lance was a good man and the Lance family were all good people, this was still a gang after all.

She is a third-generation immigrant from the Imperial District and got this job because she had received some training, mainly in clerical work.

Seeing that Lance offered high salary and was under great pressure in life, she came to give it a try. With good luck, she became a new employee.

"Ms. Kolinda is out on a date..."

Lance had already guessed who it was with a high probability. It was Arthur without a doubt.

He looked at Chief Blue, who immediately said, "Coffee."

Lance glanced at the new secretary once more, who hurried to get ready.

The door closed again, and Chief Blue directly stated the purpose of his visit to Lance.

"Charlie called me. He wants to meet with you alone. Just you and him, no one else. You decide the location."

Lance nodded without comment and continued to look at him. He then talked about the second thing, "Um... there was a problem with Mr. White."

Mr. White, referring to Lance's nominal father, frowned slightly, "What happened to him?"

Before, his wife said that she fell and was hospitalized, and there was not enough money, so Lance asked Erwin to send some money over. At the same time, he kept an eye on them for a while, but did not find anything unusual.

Now that this matter was suddenly mentioned, Lance realized that it might be related to him, otherwise Director Blue would not have come to talk to him specifically about this matter.

Director Blue was sitting on the sofa, he clasped his hands together, then opened them. Just as he was about to speak, his secretary pushed the door open with a cup of coffee.

He said "thank you" and took a sip of the coffee.

The secretary left quickly, and he continued, "A new family moved in next door, and they called the police saying they often heard screams in the middle of the night, and then the police arranged for someone to come out."

"A few rookies didn't know about your relationship with the White family. They searched the White residence and found that the basement of the White family looked like a torture chamber."

"He tortured his wife to death, as well as his daughter."

"His daughter is pregnant."

Lance had realized something, "Don't tell me about his."

Chief Blue forced a smile and said, "You guessed it right."

"What's even more troubling is that his wife said that their two children were actually killed by Mr. White."

Lance took over the identity of one of the White family's lost children. If it is now confirmed that the two missing children are dead, then Lance's identity would be a bit embarrassing.

In fact, no one would feel that they cannot contact Lance just because he is not a real federal. Maybe they care about the identity issue at the beginning.

But in this situation, what they care more about is interests!

The awkward part is that Lance now uses the White family's last name in his official identity. If it is confirmed that he is not a member of White's family, he may have to change his name.

After all, people will think that you are not a child of the White family. Wouldn't it be inappropriate for you to use this last name?

This is the embarrassing part. Not only do many signatures need to be re-signed, but people will also feel like this is a farce!
"Is the case still in your hands?"

Chief Blue nodded and said, "Yes, but because someone died, this case must be reported."

The branch does not have a criminal case office, only the headquarters has one, so it has to be reported to that authority.

Once reported, it will fall into Hunter's hands and some changes may occur.

(End of this chapter)