Chapter 134 - 135 Arrest Them All
Maxwell kept twitching his eyes at Franklin like he was sending a Morse code signal.
Franklin finally spoke up, stiff as a broomstick. ‘Yes... it was just business talk. Regular discussion. Nothing else. Mr Maxwell was asking about our compliance structure. He said he was impressed. Wanted to examine it more closely...’
Preston jumped in. ‘Mira probably misunderstood. She doesn’t work at the company. She doesn’t understand the industry lingo.’
Ashton turned to me.
I lifted my phone. ‘I recorded everything. The entire conversation. I don’t understand industry lingo? Fine, we’ll get someone who does understand. Maybe an in-house lawyer from Ethics & Compliance.’
Maxwell refused to admit defeat. ‘Audio can be doctored. Everyone knows that.’
I stared at him. ‘Let’s play it now. We’ll see how doctored it sounds.’
‘Wait!’ Maxwell tried to stand up, failed, slumped back. ‘Mr Laurent, sir, I’ve worked for the company for more than a decade. You’ve got to believe me! She—Mrs Laurent, your wife, she’s not a businesswoman. Perhaps there’s some slight misunderstanding earlier. I apologise for my behaviour if it offended her. But I swear I didn’t ask for bribes. She’s twisting my words—’
‘Jesus, you’re unbelievable.’ I lifted my thumb to hit play. ‘Let’s hear your own words.’
Ashton sidestepped Maxwell’s bulk and came up to me. ‘That’s not necessary. I believe you.’
‘Mr Laurent!’
Ashton cut him off. ‘You’re done. She doesn’t need to play it. If you think I’m just taking her word for it, we’ll send the file straight to Digital Forensics.’