Chapter 8: The Empty Box Mystery

“There’s nothing here...”

The other special agent had no idea what had just happened on this side. He had thrown out all the old clothes from both boxes, including the wooden crates that held them, which he had broken apart into several pieces.

There were no coins or change here at all. Forget the hundreds or thousands of dollars in loose change mentioned in the tip. There was not even a single coin.

The special agent locked in that subtle standoff had an immediate first reaction after hearing this: impossible. They had already investigated the matter almost thoroughly. This kid named William had been exchanging change on a large scale, in ways ordinary people could hardly imagine.

Before William appeared, no one had ever exchanged change at such a loss. He had set the precedent. Behind his almost limitless exchange of loose change, the special agents of the Sabine City IRS believed the money was being used for Fox.

During this period, William had only been in contact with Fox. He had not contacted anyone else. On top of that, over the past few days, the tax credit line of the laundromats under Fox’s name had shown an extremely obvious increase. Sabine City IRS believed William was “the key man.”

In fact, they had already begun watching him the day before yesterday. According to his pattern of movement, he should now be taking the coins he had collected to the laundromat. On the surface, he was going there to wash clothes. In reality, he was conducting an illegal transaction.

After that, he would continue exchanging change until the next time he accumulated a certain amount.

As long as they caught the change in his possession, marked it, then let William deliver the coins to the laundromat, the entire chain of evidence would be complete.

Once Fox began filing his tax information, they would immediately arrange for a commissioner to come inspect the documents he submitted, catch him in the act, and send him to prison.

Everything had been calculated perfectly, yet the problem had appeared here of all places. Aside from a pile of old clothes, there was not a single coin on the cart. Where had the money gone?

In the span of just eight seconds, the special agent’s eyes briefly lost focus. Then he turned back toward William, pointed at him, and said, “Watch yourself...”