Chapter 362: A Strange Fate
"That physique looks impressive. Even if he doesn't launder money for those drug dealers, he could easily play a superhero, like Batman."
Ron looked at the man in the photo, whose build was almost identical to his own, and couldn't help but feel a sense of kinship. "What's his name? Is it mentioned in the intel?"
"Lucaro, but it's useless—it's an alias," Andy replied, glancing at the file. "The photo in Hong Kong was taken five years ago. Back then, he went by Karl Gauss. People in Tokyo, Tel Aviv, Naples, and Tehran have all encountered him.
Everyone describes him the same way: an excellent accountant, a trustworthy professional, etc. I'd guess he's at least at the CPA level, but we have no idea where to find him—zero leads."
"Not necessarily," Ron's lips curled into a knowing smile. "You just mentioned something important."
"Did I mention any leads? I haven't found any," Andy asked, puzzled. He was a true genius when it came to accounting and finance; otherwise, he wouldn't have become a renowned Wall Street financier before going to prison.
But that expertise was limited to finance and accounting—he wasn't good at deductive reasoning or investigation, which was Ron's wheelhouse.
Ron didn't rush to answer, but wrote the name Andy had just mentioned on a piece of paper: "Lou Carroll. Most people might find this name unfamiliar, but if I write it as Lewis Carroll, does it look more familiar?"
Western names are generally longer and often use abbreviations, and Lewis Carroll's abbreviation is Lou Carroll.
"Isn't that the guy who wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland? But I still don't understand what this proves."
"You might not know, but this Mr. Lewis, besides being a novelist, was also a very famous mathematician. Similarly, you know Gauss without me saying—the mathematical prodigy who discovered the prime number distribution theorem.
Although I haven't seen your other materials, I'd bet there are names like Leibniz, Lagrange, Euler, and Laplace among those aliases, right?"
Ron leaned back and steepled his fingers. "Although I'm not a mathematician, I happen to have a younger brother who's a theoretical physicist with serious math chops, so I know these names."
He'd heard Sheldon rattle them off more than once. In his previous life, Ron had been one of the victims of these masters, flunking calculus along with everyone else.
"You're right!" Andy flipped through the materials, unable to hide his surprise, because Ron had nailed every single one.
"Hank, come here for a second." Ron pressed the intercom on his desk. Five minutes later, Hank arrived at his office.
"Boss, you wanted to see me?"
"Yeah," Ron handed Hank the files Andy had prepared. "I need you to help me locate this person. In these photos, there's a profile of this guy. Use facial recognition software and big data algorithms to track his recent activity."
"Yes, Boss."
"Also," Ron wrote all the names on a piece of paper and handed it to Andy, "use our IRS database to search nationwide for taxpayers filing under these names. Look for reported income around one million dollars or higher.
Providing accounting services to this many drug dealers, there's no way his annual income should be lower than that.
Also, pay special attention to anyone running accounting firms and those who do cash-only transactions. He might be hiding behind these fronts."
Ron's interest in this mysterious accountant was growing stronger by the minute.
Drug dealers and arms dealers are always among the most volatile groups. Double-crossing is standard operating procedure in that world; in fact, it would be shocking if they didn't engage in such practices.
Therefore, they shouldn't have any reason to honor contracts and pay the accountant his due. But judging from the evidence, they did pay. Ron didn't think they'd suddenly developed integrity.
The only plausible explanation was that the mysterious accountant had some leverage that forced these violent criminals to pay up, and as far as Ron knew, the most effective method against violent individuals was counter-violence.
However, Andy's manpower issue was also a serious problem. His team was indeed understaffed in this area. Thinking about this, Ron's hand unconsciously opened his contacts and dialed a number he hadn't called in ages.
"Beca, long time no see. I heard from Aubrey that you're also working in LA and struggling with rent lately. I was wondering if we should meet up? Maybe I can offer you a decent part-time gig so you can make some extra cash. What do you say?"
Beca was one of Ron's close friends from his college days. They met when Ron filled in for a sick friend in a collegiate a cappella competition because of his musical talent.
Her group was one of the competing teams, and the most eye-catching one at that—even more so than Ron, who had written several viral songs.
They were the only all-female team among all the contestants. As everyone knows, college guys are often hormone-driven and led by their lower anatomy, and Ron was no exception, especially given his natural good looks. He couldn't resist the appeal of an all-female singing group.
They weren't just beautiful; their voices were incredible too!
Those who know, know.
Beca and Aubrey were his friends from that time.
"Ron, I'll say it again, I don't go by Beca anymore, it's Dana now!" Beca's soft, adorable voice came through the receiver. "But thanks for thinking of me, I appreciate it. My new job is pretty solid, enough to cover rent."
"Changed jobs again? Which one this time?"
"Life Robotics, a company that uses technology to help disabled people regain mobility, but it's keeping me pretty busy. If you're free on Friday, Aubrey is in LA on business—we could all get together."
"Sounds good, I'm in."
Ron readily agreed and hung up. Immediately after, he came to a conclusion: this girl definitely has a new man in her life!
Otherwise, she wouldn't have turned down his invitation.
Unfortunately, Ron didn't have the bandwidth to investigate Beca's new love interest, otherwise he would have discovered that the man who had just piqued his interest was actually Beca's new colleague.
Just as he ended the call, Howard had sent a text message with only one sentence: Halloween is ready, come grab your popcorn.
That's right, Halloween had rolled around again, which meant it was the perfect time to prank Sheldon. Every year at this time, it was the golden opportunity to mess with Sheldon.
As a loving older brother who deeply cared for his sibling, how could Ron possibly miss such a prime opportunity to watch Sheldon embarrass himself?
"Hey, how's the setup going? Where's Leonard?" As soon as Ron arrived at Caltech, Howard dragged him to the monitoring room, but Ron's professional instincts made him notice someone was missing.
"Leonard's setting up the second 'surprise.' Sheldon's been getting harder to scare these past few years, so we had to come up with something creative."
"Alright, so what's the wager this time?"
Americans love to bet on everything—like "I bet your diamond is fake" or "I bet your car gets a flat the second you leave," that kind of thing. Ron had been here long enough to pick up this particular bad habit.
"You can bet on whether Sheldon faints or wets himself. Ten bucks max per bet. Which one you want?" Rajesh excitedly produced a box, inside which was the clinking of loose change from other scientists' bets.
This showed just how unpopular Sheldon was, which made Ron feel a surge of superiority about his own social standing.
Fortunately, Hobbs didn't know about this thought, otherwise he would have complained: Is that really just about popularity? People who want to punch you could form a line from Los Angeles to Mumbai!!!
"I'm betting he faints, deal?" Ron pulled out ten bucks and handed it to Rajesh.
Howard adjusted the school's security cameras for a campus-wide live feed and finally caught Sheldon's movements as he headed back to his office from the cafeteria.
"Sheldon... Sheldon..." A shrill female voice echoed through the corridor, calling Sheldon's name. Sheldon poked his head out, and the overhead light suddenly flickered several times before going dark. The entire hallway was illuminated only by the backup emergency lighting, giving it an eerie atmosphere.
"Oh my God, is this all you've got?" Ron started to regret his bet. "It'd be a miracle if this scared him. I've been using this trick on him since he was ten—it doesn't work anymore."
Sure enough, Sheldon didn't seem scared at all. "Okay, just another tired Halloween prank, nothing more than costumes and props."
"Don't rush, buddy, just wait and see—this is only step one." With that, Howard pressed a button, and a series of shrill laughs and other horrifying sound effects echoed down the corridor, making Sheldon's scalp tingle.
Ron nodded in satisfaction. "That's more like it. What's next?"
"You'll see."
"Pfft, just creepy wailing, rattling chains, witchy cackles—the classic haunted house trinity. Other people might scream, but I'm just bored and want a nap."
Sheldon spoke loudly to bolster his courage. He knew many people were watching, and he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of them.
"Sheldon..." Another piercing cry rang out, and suddenly, red letters appeared on the wall beside Sheldon—his name. The red liquid continued dripping down the wall, as if someone had written it in blood.
"Blood writing on the wall—it looks so fake, probably just sodium carbonate solution dropped into phenolphthalein," Sheldon read the message aloud: "See you in hell, Sheldon."
"The scariest part is that they forgot the comma." Sheldon's sarcastic comment had barely left his mouth when a phosphorescent skull suddenly lunged at him.
"Ah!" Sheldon let out his first scream.
"Yes!" In the monitoring room, his brother Ron and his two troublemaker friends high-fived each other.
"As expected, watching Sheldon get scared is always pure entertainment," Ron replayed the moment in his mind and said with mock disappointment, "Too bad it ends here. I lost the bet."
On the monitor, Sheldon was indeed startled, but that was it. He didn't faint or wet himself, and he spoke loudly while clutching his chest.
"Not necessarily," Howard smiled mysteriously. "Ron, aren't you curious where that Halloween costume I borrowed from you went? The answer is in Sheldon's office. Want to come see for yourself?"
"Absolutely."
The three of them left the monitoring room and weren't far from Sheldon.
"My dear brother, you really should see your expression just now—it was priceless," Ron showed him the photo he'd just captured of Sheldon's startled face. "I'm sure little Georgie and Missy would love this for a Christmas card, don't you think?"
"Ha ha ha, not just your family—if you made cards with this photo and sold them at school, I guarantee they'd be sold out in an hour." Howard was equally delighted; the photo Ron had taken was absolutely perfect.
"What's the big deal? It was just a little scare, my pupils dilated slightly." Sheldon remained stubborn as he walked toward his office.
"Just admit it, Sheldon, we totally got you."
"Startled is startled, but ultimately, with my superior cognitive abilities, your three pathetic tricks were just child's play. You think you can scare me? Not happening!"
Sheldon continued defending his courage, casually opening his office door, completely unaware that behind him, a figure wearing a Freddy Krueger mask, dressed in tattered denim, and wielding a chainsaw was emerging from behind Sheldon's curtains.
Ron finally understood where his Halloween costume had gone.
"You know what? I also think their methods were a bit juvenile, Sheldon. These things definitely won't scare you," Ron said regretfully, barely suppressing his laughter. "Maybe Meemaw was right—you're a true Texas man."
"Isn't that obvious?" Sheldon shrugged smugly. Just as he turned around, a scarred face appeared before him, holding the chainsaw he feared most, and yanked the starter cord hard.
The chainsaw roared to life.
"AHHHHH!!!" Sheldon screamed and collapsed to the floor.
"Ha ha ha ha..." Ron laughed so hard he doubled over: "Who bet on him fainting? You won... ha ha ha, but it was worth losing!"
"Wait, Ron, you didn't lose either—Sheldon wet himself! Quick, get a picture!" Rajesh spotted something new from the wet stain spreading across Sheldon's pants: "This photo would make an even better Christmas card than the last one!"
(End of Chapter)