The Hate Game

Chapter 22

Melo waited for Erdem to meet in the small, private cafe before the work. They knew Efe Akman had visited Alptekin Bolat the day earlier again, and hoped that the bug installed in the office caught their conversation.

"Did you have it?" She asked, seeing the man approaching her and sitting by the table in front of her. "They didn't find it when they did the bug sweep last week?"

"Yes, I have." Erdem responded, taking out his laptop and set of earphones. "But this bug is not sensitive. It doesn't work too well."

"Play it."

They put on the earphones and listened to the recording. The sound wasn't of the best quality. Most parts were unintelligible with a lot of noise, and the recording was lagging. But they could hear two voices talking in the office.

"I see my package isn't here yet, and I hope you have an idea where it is, Alptekin bey, or my remodeling of your house won't happen even if I already started tearing down old walls."

"It's just a little obstacle..."

"I think I will have to do it on my own and collect my payment."

"You will probably have to elim..."

"As an architect I.."

The voices moved from the place where the bug was hidden, and only noise followed. Erdem stopped the recording and closed his laptop. Melo looked at him with disappointment. She could feel there was more to this conversation, and she didn't like what was happening but couldn't grasp to anything.

"Why was the quality so bad? Couldn't you use a better bug?"

"They are doing bug sweeps all the time in Alptekin's office. This is the only one that can not be detected, but it has its limitations. I'm not a miracle maker."

"Where did you put it?"

"In one of the family pictures."

Melo's face changed in anger. "This man disgusts me keeping his sons' picture on his desk after what he did to them."

"It's all about keeping with appearance." Erdem shrugged with a grim face. They both learned a lot about that man through the years and grew to hate him wholeheartedly. Now, they were doing their job not only because of a fat paycheck but also to finally see Alptekin Bolat in jail. "Did you find out anything interesting about Akman?"

"Yes." Melo took out her file. "At the first look, it's nothing suspicious about him. He's an architect with his architectural company. He invests a lot in different businesses. I counted around fifteen, and what is interesting, among them is the Yildirim Press Group. But it can mean nothing and be a coincidence."

"Aren't that you the one who always says there are no coincidences?" Erdem cocked his brows and looked at Efe Akman's financial report, which Melo just pulled off the folder.

"Yes, but until I have any clue, I can't tell anything. I couldn't find the source of his money from the time he set up his firm. After that, his financial reports seem to be ok."

"Architecture really pays as much?" Erdem asked, going through the numbers.

"Probably." Melo shrugged. "After all Serkan bey's investment in Antalya is huge and will give him millions every year."

"Yes, but these jobs are not huge projects like Antalya. They are for singular clients. We better look into it. It could be money laundering."

"Yes, it could. But even if, how is that concerning Serkan bey?" Melo said, taking her papers from Erdem and packing them into her purse.