The Marvelous Elijah's Return

The Marvelous Elijah’s Return by Rever Chapter 10 The fear of the unknown

The silence in Mr. Bamford’s office was ruined when his door cracked open, making the chief constable

raise his gaze to see Elijah and Ryan, and he immediately dropped his pen, resting back in his seat with

a small smile tugged on his lips.

“Good morning. Mr. Darius and Mr. Katz.” Mr. Bamford let out as he watched them approach him.

“Please take a seat,”

At first, Ryan seemed shocked that Mr. Bamford knew his last name, and then he remembered that he

gave the chief his bar card.

After Elijah and he sat down, Mr. Bamford studied Ryan‘s face with this suspicious glint in his eyes, and

then he turned to Elijah, saying in a dead–serious tone, “You are not the man you claim to be.”

The silence in the room after that statement was deafening. It was like someone had turned up the

volume and it took them a moment to realise that there was no sound other than that of their own

breathing

The calmness in Elijah‘s eyes didn‘t fade as Mr. Bamford held his gaze on him, waiting for him to say

something, anything.

“I don‘t follow,” Elijah finally said, raising an eyebrow at the older man.

A muffled laugh erupted from Mr. Bamford before he looked away and shook his head, turning back to

Ryan.

“I am just wondering how you can afford a lawyer like Ryan Katz and have him at your fingertip every second, so easily...” Mr. Bamford began, leaning forward in his chair. “The thing is, I got curious about

you, Elijah, and did some snooping around, but everything about you before you became Melina‘s

husband is gone…like you never existed before you met her. We can all agree that that‘s strange.”

Raising a brow, Elijah said nothing, wondering why his thought to meet the chief about the accounting

fraud had suddenly become an interrogation moment.

“The only people who have the power to completely wipe out a part of their existence are those that

control great power and influence... And so, I decided to dig around on Ryan, and although there was not

much to get, a couple of lawyers from Bordoria were happy to let me know that he‘s the highest paid

lawyer in his firm and only works for top notch people...” Mr. Bamford trailed off. “So, tell me, who are

you?”

“I am just a man, who needs your advice on handling an accounting fraud case,” Elijah responded

calmly, trying to avoid letting his guard down too much.

Silence filled the room once again before Mr. Bamford let out a long sigh, mumbling, ‘You know that you

dodging my questions only makes me feel like I am right...”

“I never claimed that you were wrong.” Elijah said quietly, watching the chief‘s eyes widen like he had

cracked years of cold cases.

For a moment, he was taken aback by the fact that Elijah wasn’t denying or fully confirming what he said,

but he saw the look of impatience in his eyes and decided to not push the topic further.

“That‘s the issue?” Mr. Bamford asked, raising an eyebrow and shifting in his seat.

“As I said before, I need advice on how to handle an accounting fraud case...” Elijah replied, leaning

back in his chair.

For a while, Mr. Bamford stared at Elijah, taking a deep breath before nodding his head slowly, as if

processing what he had heard, and then he said, “The Securities and Exchange Commission are the

ones responsible to take care of such a issue, and SEC investigations are civil and not criminal, but if, in

the course of its inquiries, the agency discovers possible criminal misconduct, it will refer the matter to

the appropriate law enforcement authority… Why do you ask?”

“I need them to oversee a case for me.” Elijah said, his expression remaining unreadable.

Calmly. Mr. Bamford leaned back even more in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, tilting his

head slightly as if he were trying to figure him out.

“Well, I don‘t have nothing important to do right now, so I can take you to their office, under one,

condition … Tell me this, ‘Why put on a mask?” Mr. Bamford asked, his voice low.

Holding back his words, Ryan eyed Elijah, and then at the chief, saying, “Respectfully, sir... We don‘t

have time for Q&A. Can you help us or not?”

It took Mr. Bamford a few seconds, before shaking his head and letting out another sigh. “Very well then.

Let‘s go.”

At nine o‘clock, Elijah, Ryan, and Mr. Bamford entered the SEC building, and the moment they saw Mr.

Bamford, the room became silent.

“Chief, you are here.” The lady behind the desk asked, looking at him in confusion “How could I help

you?”

“Where is Ben?” Mr. Bamford asked, his voice calm, but serious.

A short silence followed before the woman answered. “He is in the office,”

“Can you take us to him?” Mr. Bamford asked, his eyes fixed firmly on her.

Gently, she nodded, walking from behind the desk, and she eyed Elijah, then looking over at Ryan,

saying,” Please follow me.”

For a while, they walked down a silent hallway with only the sounds of their footsteps echoing in the

hallway.

When they got to a big door, which led into the office, the lady stopped and pushed it open, before

stepping aside to let them walk in.

“Sir?” The lady called out, following them in. “Mr. Bamford is here to see you.”

A blonde haired man wearing glasses, raised his head to see Mr. Bamford standing beside Elijah, and

Elijah.

“Chief? I was not expecting to see you here.” Ben said, sitting straighter in his chair.

“Well, my buddy here needs your help...” Mr. Bamford said with an amused tone, his eyes locked on

Elijah as he continued speaking. “You are gonna be doing his case for him...”

Darting his gaze towards Elijah, Ben brows pulled together a little, studying his face, and said, “Buddy...?

Ain’t you the Hayes new son–in–law–”

“Yes, I am… Are you acquainted with my grandmother–in–law and my uncle–in–laws?” Elijah asked in a

pleasant tone with a smile.

A raw look of disbelief crossed Ryan’s face to see his boss suddenly shift in emotion and tone, especially

when his tone was full of respect for the Hayes.

“Umm… not really. I don’t have any closeness with that family or know much about them... It‘s just that

your name… Hmmm, it has been popular lately in the atmosphere.” Ben replied slowly with a sheepish

smile.

Silently, Elijah studied his eyes, looking for any sign of deception, saying, “Really... My grandmother–in–

law is a very famous person, it’s strange and a little bit dishonest that you haven’t had an encounter with

her… I mean, she’s a Hayes, and we Hayes has our influences printed on everyone…”

Alaugh broke loose from Ben as he shook his head, amazed at Elijah’s arrogance, and then said,

“Almost everyone... Well, Sorry to pop your bubble, but you will be surprised how many more famous

people than the so-called Hayes that I don‘t care much about... So, if that offends you, but yeah, I really

don‘t care about some of the rich…”

“Well, that‘s good then because I have ten briefcases with incriminating documents of Elmer Hayes and

the board of directors, and I need you to take a look and confirm with the authorities that they have

incriminated peices of informations for them to get arrested.” Elijah said, his tone shifting into a more

serious one as he stared at Ben, who blinked several times after hearing Elijah’s sentence.

“What?” Ben said, his brows furrowed together as he tried to comprehend Elijah‘s request.

“I have ten briefcases.”

“I understand what you said. But, sometimes it take years to investigate these things–”

“But that is not needed because I am dropping all the evidence on your table, and all you and your team

need to do is confirm that they are indeed the same as I claim...”

When Ben looked over at Mr. Bamford, the old man shrugged, and Ben turned his attention back on

Elijah, “Alrighty then... If that‘s the case, I can summon my team to take a look at these files... Where are

they?”

Pulling out his phone and dialing Matt‘s number, Elijah waited patiently, and after three rings, he

answered the call.

“Hi, Matt... You, Jerome, and Larry can bring in the briefcases.” Elijah stated plainly.

A look of confusion crossed Mr. Bamford‘s face as he watched Elijah, and when he ended the call, the

Chief let out, “Who are those guys you just named?”

Immediately, Ben raised a brow at those words, and Elijah noticed both men wearing the same

expression, and he shoved his phone back in his pocket, saying, “Close friends of mine.”

“I thought it was just you two,” Mr. Bamford said, scratching the back of his neck.

“It was… the three are in another car-”

“And they have been following us?”

When Elijah nodded, Mr. Bamford felt speechless just standing there, looking at Elijah, suspicious of him,

and yet, feeling pressure to take his side because the fear of the unknown was real for him, and Elijah

was a man he didn’t know, and just how much power this guy holds.

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