The Tyrant Billionaire

Hardy took the call, Henry excitedly said, "Boss, I have good news. We've found DeBrand Hill and learned the location of the Nazi treasures."

Hardy arrived at the security company, and Henry excitedly recounted the events to him.

Gray had taken Victor to the Gironde department. Debrand Hill was originally the curator of a small town museum in Saint Palais, and his family was also from Saint Palais. Thus, the group arrived there.

A direct investigation would surely arouse suspicion, so they forged a few documents, claiming to be from an investigation committee, and asked people for information, instructing them to keep everything confidential and not to mention to anyone that they were being questioned.

In two days, they gathered a lot of information.

Debrand Hill was indeed infamous locally, especially for helping the Germans collect art, which made everyone despise him. When Victor inquired, many people cursed Hill vehemently.

"He went door to door with the Germans, like a rabid dog they kept. Not just in nearby towns, but also in Bordeaux, many wineries suffered under his hands. He looted all the art from those families."

One Frenchman, whose property had been plundered, said through gritted teeth. "You must catch him and hang or shoot him."

After the liberation of France, there was a widespread hunt, trial, and execution of collaborators. Many were directly shot. Even though it was now 1947, this effort was still ongoing, and France's handling of collaborators was far more severe than in other countries.

"Does Hill have any family left?" Victor asked.

"Hill had no children. He was a philanderer with countless women but never married. However, he had a nephew, who was ostracized because of his uncle's actions and had left Saint Palais for Bordeaux, where he reportedly worked at a winery."

They went to Bordeaux to investigate Hill's nephew, Louie, who was now a winemaker at a winery. They found that in recent years, Louie had no communication or financial dealings with the outside world.

Louie worked at Red Leaf Winery, a relatively unknown winery in Bordeaux, producing a few tens of thousands of bottles of red wine and champagne annually, far from being one of the famous wineries.

Nothing significant was discovered about Hill's nephew. Just when Victor thought the investigation might reach a dead end, Gray discovered that Red Leaf Winery was now owned by Americans.

Continuing their investigation, they found that during the war, all the wineries in the Bordeaux region were occupied by Germans, with the wines shipped to the front lines for officers and soldiers. The original owner of Red Leaf Winery, a Jewish family, had been killed.

Post war, many wineries became overgrown and their cellars empty. After the war, the French government audited these wineries, returning those with owners and auctioning those without, using the proceeds for national reconstruction and production recovery.

At the auction, an American lawyer purchased Red Leaf Winery, outbidding others with determination. He claimed to represent a company from Napa Valley, California, and registered the winery under its name.

So far, everything seems normal.

However, when hiring management and workers for Red Leaf Winery, the lawyer specifically contacted Hill's nephew Louie, offering him a high salary to work as a winemaker, which seemed unusual given Louie's moderate skills.

Louie then worked normally without contacting anyone in America, which aroused Gray and Victor's suspicion due to his relationship with Hill.

Gray reported this to Henry, who immediately sent people to investigate the Napa Valley winery.

The winery's owner was Jack Goodwin, and it mainly produced champagne. Interestingly, Goodwin had arrived in the U.S. in 1944, claimed to be a French refugee, obtained American citizenship, and within months purchased a winery in Napa Valley, renaming it Ace of Spades Winery.

A year later, during the French asset liquidation auction, this man sent a lawyer to purchase Red Leaf Winery with clear intent, despite its dilapidated state and empty cellars.

Henry found this very suspicious and drove overnight to Napa Valley, posing as wine merchants. Claiming to need a large quantity of wine, they requested to meet the owner, Jack Goodwin.

Upon seeing Goodwin, Henry immediately recognized him as Debrand Hill from a photograph Victor had taken. Despite the seven or eight years since the photo was taken, it was clear.

"Where is Hill?" Hardy asked.

"Still at his winery. We didn't touch him. I sent people to watch him and came back to ask you what to do next," Henry replied.

Hardy thought for a moment and whispered some instructions to Henry, who nodded repeatedly.

The next afternoon, Jack Goodwin left his winery to meet some people for bridge. On the road, his car was stopped, and he was kidnapped. At around sixty years old, he couldn't resist and was taken with a hood over his head to a dark room.

Click! A bright light shone on Goodwin's face, making him squint.

"What's your name?" asked a masked man.

"I'm Jack Goodwin," the old man stammered.

"Haha, that's not your real name, is it, Mr. Debrand Hill?" The masked man sneered.

Hill shuddered, fear flashing in his eyes. "No, no, I'm not Hill. I'm Jack Goodwin," he denied loudly.

The masked man showed Hill a photograph, a simple four inch black and white picture, but it shocked Hill to his core. He recognized it as a photo of himself as a museum curator.

"Does this photo look familiar?" the masked man asked.

Hill, sweating profusely, denied knowing the person in the photo. "No, I don't know this person."

"Haha, still denying it. I know what you're afraid of. You've seen the news about France hunting down collaborators. During the German occupation, you helped them plunder art. You're a top fugitive. What do you think the French government would do if they got you?"

Hill's chest heaved. He knew his fate in France would be torture, with hanging or shooting being merciful.

"No, no, I'm not Hill," he still struggled.

The masked man leaned closer, smiling. "Do you know who we are?"

"Who?"

"We're not from the French government. Their business has nothing to do with us. We're robbers. We want money. How much are you worth?"