Chapter 43: Not His Daughter
The next morning, after having breakfast with Isabella and Freya, Eleanor went to her study to hear the reports from her shadow team. They were already there, standing in silence, waiting for her arrival.
As Eleanor settled into her chair, Sebastian began without prelude. "Yesterday, I checked in on Mayor Grant and her secretary. I couldn’t find anything suspicious about the Mayor herself. However, when the IT team intervened, they found several unusual transactions in the secretary’s bank accounts. Although those accounts weren’t publicly registered under her name, her phone contained apps linked to the accounts, along with transaction records."
He paused, then added, "The IT team said a detailed report will be waiting on your desk by the time you get to the office. Aside from that, we discovered audio recordings of the Mayor’s secret meetings with various politicians and businessmen on the secretary’s devices. There were also... compromising photos of the Mayor stored on her laptop. All the data will be delivered to your office securely."
Eleanor nodded calmly, her fingers tapping the armrest thoughtfully.
Ophelia was next to speak. "Raphael and I investigated the MP’s mansion. He’s careful. We swept the entire property, and the IT team hacked all devices within his residence, but nothing surfaced. Just as we were leaving, Raphael noticed some irregularities in the garage."
"We conducted a thorough search and discovered a concealed tunnel entrance in the garage. It led to a secret room buried under the garden. It was like a secure vault. Inside, we found several rare paintings, antiques, gold bars, and a substantial amount of cash. Hidden in a steel box were the photographs we were searching for."
Eleanor raised an eyebrow. "Were you able to copy them?"
Ophelia nodded. "I took pictures of the photos using my mobile, but we didn’t disturb anything else in the vault. The room was under camera surveillance, but the IT team replaced the footage with a fabricated feed. The steel box also contained several portable hard drives and DVDs, but we didn’t touch those. I haven’t had time to print the photos yet. Would you prefer the soft copies or hard copies?"
"Keep them for now," Eleanor replied smoothly. "I plan to gift them to Mayor Grant during our next meeting."
"How much cash was there?" she asked, leaning forward slightly.
Ophelia tilted her head thoughtfully. "I’m no expert, but I’d estimate several million... Euros, Dollars, and Pounds combined."