The Magnificent James Lawrence

Chapter 6 - Processing Inteligence Data

Evening.

There was a soft knock on the door of James' study; a waitress stood waiting with both hands, holding a tray of snacks for James. The woman was still standing and reluctant to come in until instructed to do so by James.

From the other direction, the lift doors opened, and Amelia arrived in her blazer suit. She looked ahead and saw the maid standing at attention before James' study, continuing to say that she had brought the food just as he had ordered.

Amelia had a smile on her beautiful white face. She approached the woman, which immediately caught the maid’s attention.

"Is that for James?" asked Amelia.

The woman instantly turned her head, looking at Amelia's face, which was still shiny even though she had worked all day in the office, "That's right, Miss Amelia. Mr. James ordered me to bring him some snacks."

Amelia took the tray, telling the maid to return downstairs, "Let me bring it to you."

"But Miss, I can't–"

"You don't have to worry. Go below and prepare dinner," Amelia ordered.

In the end, the maid nodded obediently. She followed Amelia's orders and took the lift to the first floor since it was dinner time.

She opened the door to James' study without knocking; she was sure her brother wouldn't mind.

The door opened, and the light in James' study was pretty dim, as if James had purposely switched off the lights. Amelia's attention was distracted when James stood leaning against the side of the desk, facing a large board with photos, articles, and newspapers displayed on it.

"It's good to see you back at work," Amelia said, feeling pleased.

James looked back; his left hand held a small glass of red wine.

"Since when do I let you into my study?" asked James.

"Since 18 years ago, you used to invite me here," Amelia replied.

The woman walked gracefully over to the table before the sofa, placing a tray of snacks James wanted.

Amelia saw her brother sipping red wine, something she had rarely, if ever, seen in the past two years.

James sighed at Amelia's words, "It's up to you."

The man placed his wine glass on the work table, watching Amelia, who seemed to be picking up the bottles of wine and empty glasses available on the sofa table.

"When did you start drinking?" asked James.

"The job as CEO is tiring; I need something to ease the stress in my mind," Amelia explained, pouring the wine into her glass.

Not only was the large board full of ropes, nails, photos, and some articles or newspapers, but the man's desk also looked messy, with papers scattered everywhere.

Amelia walked closer to the whiteboard, looking at the photos and documents James had deliberately pasted to make it easier for him to investigate, "Quite many documents and photos. Is this mission so difficult and prominent?"

"You could say that again. They are still in the suspect stage; I can't investigate further," James explained.

He was still busy connecting the dots between what was on the wall and the files on the desk. Amelia couldn't help James, as she didn't know her brother's problems.

"If you're here, what about your wife over there?" asked Amelia.

James stopped what he was doing when he thought about Caroline. Since she betrayed him, James surmised she was not worried about his absence.

"I'll tell her I'm staying at my colleague's house," James replied.

"Clichéd reason. Will she believe it?" asked Amelia.

"I hope so since she doesn't know who I truly am yet."

Amelia nodded. She was sure James had other plans about it. The woman kept looking at the photos on the wall; several men with old and annoying faces had once dealt with Amelia.

"I know some of the men in these photos. They once offered to collaborate with Lawrence Company," Amelia explained.

"Really?" asked James.

"Course, I know these seven men; three work for a telecommunications company, and the other four work in real estate," Amelia replied, pointing to the seven men who had their pictures on the wall.

James squinted, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked intently at the whiteboard, "So how did it go?"

"We accepted collaboration requests from four people; one from telecommunications and three from real estate," Amelia said.

"Hmm ... from the documents I've learnt, they have some relation to the Rosewood company, either as investors or just accomplices," James replied.

"I don't know about that. Rosewood has been rising recently; their business is somehow successful despite selling inferior goods," Amelia explained.

"Compared to the products Lawrence sells, they are already outclassed regarding quality and quantity. However, it's strange that they still manage to survive," said Amelia.

James widened his eyes, looking at the three Rosewood family members with pictures displayed on the board: Margaery, Zachary, and Martin. Caroline seemed to have nothing to do with this case.

"This data was obtained a year ago. I need to confirm whether they are still working with each other or not," James explained.

"Why aren't you investigating the three Rosewood people?" asked Amelia.

The man picked up his wine glass again, sipping slowly as his eyes remained fixed on the whiteboard before him, "That would make them suspicious of me. I have to investigate slowly and surely, starting with those seven people."

"But I can't ignore the information from these small gangs; they're the ones in charge of distributing the thing to people," James replied.

The three small groups that still remain unknown are Gargoyles, Void, and Hive. They were led by someone James didn't know yet.

"I can't help you with those groups, but I can help bring you in contact with those four men," Amelia explained.

James turned his head, nodding with a smile on his face, "I'll let you know when the time comes."

One glass was enough for Amelia. She said goodbye to James as the wine was already showing its effects. She could only hope and wish James would be able to complete the mission he had taken on.

"Good luck with your mission," Amelia said, leaving James' study with a wave.

The door to James' study opened, Amelia stepped out, leaving James alone in his room.

"Prime," James called out to activate the system on his glasses lens with his voice recognition.

[Prime Activated]

[Is there anything you need from me?]

A notification screen appeared on James' glasses lenses that he was still wearing, "Are you able to locate the whereabouts of the Gargoyle Organisation?"

[I cannot, Mr Lawrence. There is too little information I can gather about them].

"Then, can you show me the case records related to them? Show me the progress," James ordered.

[Alright. I will try to break into the city's police system]

[Entering the city's main network]

[IP Address Adjustment Process with the city's main network]

[Penetration process into the city police system firewall]

[1%]

To break into the city police firewall defence system, Prime took about 15-20 minutes to do so. The man rearranged the messy files on his desk while the AI system was working according to James' orders.

His right hand pulled open the desk drawer and found a familiar picture that reminded him of the first woman James had a crush on.

His hand reached in, pulling out the picture, which showed a woman with shoulder-length black hair smiling broadly as she took a selfie with James.

"After two years, I didn't hear anything from you again. You must have been heartbroken to hear I was married to someone else," James lamented, staring at the photo.

"I need to know how she's doing now," James replies.

Shortly after staring at the photo, a notification popped up from James' left lens. The notification, which came from Prime, showed that he had successfully breached the city police system using the network's local IP.

[Penetration successful]

[Entered the city police system]

[Initiate Data Search Process, Keyword: Gargoyle]

[1 file found]

[17 files found]

[Data Search Complete]

James put the photo in his trouser pocket, focusing on the information Prime managed to get from the city police, "Show me the case files one by one."