The Shadow of Great Britain-Chapter 573 - 292: The Secret of the Port Authority_3

So, since we’re all frogs in the same well, Arthur had no intention of making things difficult for him over the port project.

Moreover, that issue would have to be discussed in detail later; a little appetizer to start with would do for now.

However, although Arthur wanted to serve an appetizer, he had never had such a preliminary level of leverage in his hands.

But fortunately, thanks to the meticulous work of apprentices like Mil and Price, Arthur found a problem of moderate seriousness in the annual expenditure bill of the Port Authority just before attending the ball.

This issue did not concern anyone else, but it was able to knock out Mr. Hearst, the Port Director, in one fell swoop.

Arthur lifted his hand slightly and called out, "Louis."

Upon hearing this, Louis pulled out an account statement from his document bag and placed it in front of Mr. Hearst.

"Mr. Hearst, our audit team has noticed that, starting from five years ago when you took office as Port Director, almost every year’s bill contains a peculiar expense labeled ’medical healthcare.’ Its exact amount also varies, sometimes as little as a few British Pounds and other times as much as hundreds. After we conducted individual interviews with some of the Port Authority staff, we found that the Port Authority never covered their medical expenses from beginning to end. So, could you please explain what this money was actually used for?"

"This..." Mr. Hearst, upon hearing this, immediately became uncertain, his tone no longer casual, "The medical healthcare indeed did not cover all of the Port Authority staff; we just started with the management on a trial basis. If it turns out to be effective, we will consider extending it."

"Oh... special benefits for the management?"

Arthur, with a raised eyebrow, laughed and said, "Alright, I can understand that. After all, you and the other leaders of the Port Authority have a heavy burden and deserve some special restorative care. However, I would like to know, why does the amount of this expense fluctuate? And the healthcare projects and the hospitals responsible for them, could you disclose them to us?"

"The hospital..." Hearst’s confidence waned, "that is, it’s not fixed."

Hearing this, Arthur simply smiled and asked, "Is that so? Mr. Hearst, you’d better think again. Today, my subordinate Chief Inspector Charles Field just happens to have contacted a doctor who has provided services to the Port Authority! According to her, the designated medical facility for the Port Authority is actually quite fixed."

At these words, Hearst nearly had the soul scared out of him. Because this item in the accounts was so minor, the staff below him were not clear about its purpose, so it was overlooked. And when Mr. Hearst himself submitted the bills to Arthur, he hadn’t even noticed it. But who could have thought that such a trivial slip would be caught?

In fact, this kind of falsified accounting and engaging in unclean activities had happened a few years ago in Britain, and it was none other than Viscount Godric, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was involved. At the time, Viscount Godric nearly resigned over this case.

Although he eventually kept his position, his political reputation was never the same. If that was the case for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, then a Port Director was even less to speak of.

Hearst’s grip tightened more and more, he struggled for a long time, and then suddenly squeezed out a smile and asked, "Mr. Hastings, this is a trivial matter, why don’t we talk about the smuggling instead, now that’s a serious matter."