Chapter 488 Tax Case

An imperial viscount and division commander was assassinated in the street, which was a precedent in the empire.

When the local governor heard the news, his eyes went dark and he fainted.

The Eighth Investigation Department was urgently dispatched to investigate everywhere.

When the news was transmitted to the imperial capital by telegram, the military first issued an order for the 101st Division to enter the city urgently and block the entire city.

Then it was His Majesty the Emperor. After Derek learned about this, he put down his pen and said angrily: "Call Peter over, is the Eighth Investigation Department here to eat dry food? Didn't they notice this kind of thing in advance?"

A group of important officials were summoned, and soon the palace was bustling.

Derek was rarely angry, and Peter, who had always done a good job, trembled and dared not raise his head.

"Investigate, Peter, you lead the team over there, I want to know who did it.

Virut, you dispatch three more divisions to clean up the surroundings.

Send the best doctor to save Viscount Barin's life.

Tell me, who could have done it?"

Everyone knows the emperor's anger.

To be honest, this assassination method touched the sensitive nerves of everyone present.

As the ruling class, they naturally dislike assassination methods.

After all, everyone is a vested interest. Even if the struggle fails, it is nothing more than a little frustration, and they should enjoy what they deserve.

We are all wearing shoes, of course we don't want to die.

So, this time the emperor used cruel means, no one had any objections, but supported killing him.

Peter was the most scolded. Even if this kind of thing is hard to prevent, the responsibility of the Eighth Investigation Department is to supervise the empire, and if something happens, they can't run away.

He was eager to make meritorious deeds to atone for his sins, so the first analysis was: "The assassination of Viscount Barin was nothing more than a personal grudge, a conflict in official affairs, or a conflict in property.

I checked the files. Viscount Barin and his elder brother Sir Collison have always been at odds, and there have been property disputes recently, so Sir Collison should be investigated.

In addition, when the Holy Cross Kingdom was destroyed, Viscount Barin killed a lot of people, and perhaps the remnants took revenge.

As for the commercial competition, it also needs to be carefully investigated."

After hearing this, Derek wanted to scold him again, but he still held back: "You go and check it carefully and find it out."

As for other people, they also analyzed it for a while, but they had no clues.

After all, Viscount Barin was so low-key, and some of his enemies were not to the extent of taking lives, so it was strange no matter how you looked at it.

...

Peter left the palace, and he was full of anger.

He was safely serving as his own spy chief, but someone wanted to make trouble for him.

Whoever made him unhappy, he would make his whole family unhappy.

He directly transferred the capable personnel of the Eighth Investigation Department to the west.

When he got off the train, he first received a good news that Viscount Barin was not dead.

When the assassin attacked, Viscount Barin reacted quickly, and another guard lay on him to block some of the bullets.

At that time, the guards bled more.

Although Viscount Barin was also shot three times, he finally saved his life.

Peter breathed a sigh of relief, and then led people to investigate the scene and check the files.

The assassin came strangely, but there must be someone behind the scenes supporting him.

Otherwise, the personnel, identification, and firearms are not something that ordinary people can prepare.

The more clues there are, the clearer the clues left.

Many people think that if they handle the beginning and the end cleanly, there will be no handle left.

But they probably forgot that the Eighth Investigation Department does not need any evidence.

Peter quickly locked Sir Collison from the cumbersome files.

Although on the surface, this person is the least likely to take action.

After all, the dispute between the two was nothing new, and Viscount Barin could not go back to inherit the family business.

The biggest contradiction between the two had actually disappeared long ago, and what remained was resentment. Even if the ship sank recently, it was not a big deal.

The loss of a few tens of thousands of gold coins was not as valuable as their own face for the two.

But Peter still found something unusual in it.

"The Imperial Navy did not find the pirates?

This ship did not report that it was going to the Never-Sleeping Port, and it was carrying these things?

The time was not right, and the round trip time was too short."

Even if the customs declaration forms on both sides were adjusted, there were still problems.

Because it was not profitable.

If it was not profitable, why did Sir Collison toss about?

And the customs records of previous years were adjusted, which was a big problem.

Peter calmly sent someone to invite Sir Collison to come over, and he quietly went to the customs and visited Commissioner Andrew.

The latter had also heard about the recent assassination case, but was very surprised that Peter came to him. Could it be that he was implicated?

He was not afraid of being framed. After all, he was the second uncle of the emperor. Who could do anything to him if he did not commit treason?

After explaining, Peter asked: "Commissioner Andrew, please look at this record. These ships travel back and forth between the two places all year round, but they do not make money. I think there is a problem."

Andrew checked carefully. He did not pay attention to the prices, but he found something strange.

"There is a problem here. At the end of last year, a typhoon passed through this route and all ships stopped sailing. How could they still travel back and forth on schedule?"

As long as one place of fraud is found, the entire record will be unreliable.

Without Peter asking, Andrew took the initiative to say: "The trick here... I am afraid I have guessed it. This is tax evasion."

"I would like to hear more about it."

"Tax evasion has long existed. For example, a roll of cloth is reported, but it turns out to be three rolls when it is unpacked. These are all small tricks, mainly relying on collusion with tax officials. I have been cracking down on this aspect, so it has been rare in the past two years.

But I heard that they have a new trick. After you reminded me of this, I roughly understood it. You saw that the destination of the cargo was reported as the Never-Sleeping Port, but it could take other routes and use another ship to declare customs once. As long as it is changed once at sea, a lot of taxes can be missed.

This matter is definitely involved by internal personnel of the customs, but the means are more sophisticated. There will be no problems when entering and leaving, and naturally it will not be exposed."

The two looked at each other. Everyone knew the huge profits of maritime trade.

The Empire's annual tariffs of tens of millions, how much wealth is this?

Coincidentally, this Viscount Bahrain is a die-hard royal party. He has always been at odds with these local factions. It can even be said that he was the pioneer in suppressing the local factions.

This time, because the ship had an accident, Viscount Bahrain may not have realized it, but he asked the Imperial Navy to investigate it to the end, which made the people behind the scenes desperate.

Money can make people's hearts move, so it's not surprising that they took the risk to assassinate the Viscount.

Sir Collison is definitely one of the participants, no matter what role he plays, he can't escape.

Commissioner Andrew suggested to Peter: "To arrest people and get dirty, why not set a trap for them first?"

"The Eighth Investigation Department does things without evidence.

Arresting people and setting a trap can be done at the same time, and when the results come out, we can catch them all directly." Peter sneered.