Chapter 417 - Handwriting Expert
The next day at eleven o'clock in the morning, Lilia and Jean went to the Minerva hospital and headed to the file room located on the lower floor. In the long and empty corridor, only the sound of their footsteps resounded.
As they stepped through the double metal doors of the file room, a few rows of safes welcomed them. All of the cabinets were crammed with files and related materials.
Perhaps, after hearing the sound of their footsteps, a staff came out from behind the row of safes. The clerk, Jerry, was a senior archivist and was over fifty years old.
When Jerry saw Jean, he enthusiastically stepped forward and said, "Young Master Jean, you are here! Please come in!"
Jean nodded slightly, then pulled Lilia to follow him. He looked around with cold eyes. "Thank you. Sorry for bothering you today." He said briefly.
Officer Jerry smiled and waved his hand. He led them into the file room, his wrinkled cheeks filled with a big grin. "No, no, you're not a bother at all. These are all trifles with your influence, so you don't have to be too formal with an old man like me."
Jean Widjaya was the honored guest of the mayor Bambang. The mayor even specifically advised Minerva Hospital to treat him well. Besides, what Jean asked for was nothing to be bothered with. At best, they were wasting their time figuring out the records of certain years.
When Officer Jerry took them further afield, Lilia realized that the entire file room was surprisingly large. It was much bigger than she had previously imagined. When viewed from afar, there were countless tin cabinets.
"Mr David for handwriting verification has arrived. He's waiting right up front," Officer Jerry explained, pointing to an area in the middle of the file room.
The area was clear of safes, but filled with rows of long tables. It seemed that it served as a reading space for examining the files stored here.
Right now, there was someone sitting at the table. The man was wearing white gloves and holding a magnifying glass while observing the handwriting on the document notes. He also had several identification tools on the side.
The man pored over the documents with a serious face, until he heard footsteps behind him approaching. He then turned his head and saw Jean and Lilia. Surprise colored his face, then he immediately stood up and greeted them.
The man stretched out his hand and greeted with a broad smile, "President Jean, we haven't seen each other in a long time!"
When Jean stepped forward to shake his hand, he smiled faintly and said, "Mr. David, I'm afraid I called you on business this time. Maybe we can have a chat over lunch together next time."
At the end of the conversation, Jean turned to Lilia who was beside him and said, "Lilia, this is Mr. David Weber, a famous handwriting expert in Indonesia."
Lilia stepped forward and smiled softly at the middle aged man. "Hello, Mr. David. I've long admired you as a handwriting expert. I'm Jean's wife, Lilia."
She deliberately introduced herself briefly. She could have mentioned her family name, but she wasn't really comfortable using the name Widjaya. This was the first time Lilia had publicly introduced herself as Jean's wife.
David let go of his handshake with Jean and turned towards Lilia. He said with a polite smile, "Of course, I've heard about you. I was relieved to see that a polite and elegant young woman like you became the wife of the fourth son of the Widjaya family."
David's tone was playful enough, but it made the atmosphere between them less formal and more casual. As Indonesia's most well-known handwriting expert, there were already many stories about David in the news.
It was said that he could help police organizations solve many difficult cases using the trail of his questioner. Even though he was no longer young, his eyes remained as sharp as an eagle. No one dared to argue with the content he had verified.
At this time, after exchanging greetings, David picked up two documents from the table. He pointed to one of them and said, "Young Master Jean, let's start talking about work. I was just comparing these documents you gave me. The handwriting is different from the handwriting of the other files."
Jean's gaze turned sharp when he heard that conclusion.
"At the same time, I also looked at the archival records for the three years before and after this record. There are indeed two different handwritings, so I checked the files of Minerva Hospital employees that year," David continued smoothly. "It is known that during the three years before and after, two different archivists did participate in handwriting recording."
"Two peopleā¦" Jean muttered. "Then who is responsible for writing this specific document?"
"Since the two female officers took maternity leave for one and a half years that year, there was a temporary worker responsible for filling in all records during this period."
After David spoke of his appraisal process, he looked at the notes in his hand to confirm one more time. Then he handed the document over to Jean concluding, "Judging by the handwritten content and the freshness of the paper, this note could not have been archived twenty-four years ago."
Jean's eyebrows rose when he heard that. "What do you mean?"
"Even though this note sheet uses typical hospital paper, I've used a tool to identify the oxidation state of this handwritten paper. This note wasn't created at least eight or nine years later than the time on which it was recorded,"
Officer Jerry didn't seem to understand their conversation at first. But his expression slowly changed as he realized the fact that someone had faked the birth certificate and put it in the archives. The clerk looked at David with his mouth open. Was it really true?
After David finished speaking, Lilia looked at the note sheet in her hand. This was the first time she had seen her birth record.
The administrator's handwriting listed the delivery room in which she was born and the associated doctors and nurses. Such authentic words were only deliberately faked by those who had a specific purpose.
It turned out that Lilia wasn't actually born in Minerva Hospital.
"Thank you, Mr. David!" Lilia returned the document with a polite smile.
Whether this matter should be reported to the hospital or not, Officer Jerry thought to himself, it still depended on Mayor Bambang.
After all, this had happened more than ten years ago. It's hard to investigate even if they tried to open a case now.
When they left the file room, Lilia's eyes became unfocused. Jean and David walked beside Lilia. They exchanged a few words from time to time, but Lilia didn't listen to a word. She was constantly lost in thought.
As they walked out of the hospital's building, David said he had other work to do. The middle-aged man turned down Jean's offer to have lunch.
After saying goodbye to the two of them, David went to the parking lot first.