January 1, 1938, 2:58 a.m., Detroit. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

John, who was asleep, was awakened by the rapid ringing of the phone. The call came from Walter, who told John that a fierce shootout had just taken place at the company's warehouse center in Chicago.

"Shootout? Who and whom? John was taken aback.

"I don't know, the storekeeper on duty was so frightened that he couldn't ask anything on the phone." Walter paused, "I'll leave for Chicago now, you wait for my news." ”

"Wait for me later, I'll go with you." John was a little uneasy, Chicago was known as the capital of sin in the thirties and forties. The stories of the notorious gangster Al Capone, the legendary bank thief "American Robin Hood" Dillinger, and the murderous armed gangster "Babyface" Nelson have become favorite fodder in Hollywood movies even in later generations.

"No, I'll go check the situation first and wait for my call." Walter refused without hesitation.

"Remember to bring a few more people and bring guns." After being a partner for so many years, John knew his deputy's temperament very well, and knew that it was useless to persuade him, so he could only give another sentence before he hung up the phone.

On the first day of the new year, such a bad thing happened, John's mood can be imagined. In the afternoon, Walter's call came. "If there's a chance that things will go bad, no matter how small that likelihood, it will happen." Once again, the great Murphy's Law has been verified. On the phone, Walter told John that the F.B.I. was temporarily closing FedEx's Chicago warehouse because it was involved in an armed robbery.

By the time John arrived at the Chicago storage center, Walter was talking to an FBI agent. The trench coat and top hat agent is the head of the Chicago branch of the FBI, the famous Melvin Pavis. Melvin was the big hero of the FBI's early days. Around 1934, he had a series of brilliant confrontations with bank thief John Dillinger, which indirectly led to the creation of the first national police unit in the United States (the Federal Bureau of Investigation) and the first interstate crime law. This story was made into a classic Hollywood movie "Enemy of the Nation" in 1998. John had a strong influence on Melvin Pavez, played by "Batman" Kristen Bale. Seeing me now gives him a sense of time and space.

Melvin told John that while tracking down a jewelry store robbery, they discovered that someone was using a FedEx warehouse to hide stolen goods. Yesterday at midnight, they conducted a surprise inspection of the warehouse, and there was a shootout with robbers who were transferring stolen goods. The robbers killed two people on the spot, and the FBI killed one and wounded three. There is evidence that at least two warehouse employees were involved in the shooting, one of whom was killed and one is at large. Melvin suspects that this is not the first time that the robbers have used this channel to hide and transfer stolen goods, and the warehouse needs to be sealed and all the goods will be inventoried.

John knew that this would seriously affect the normal operation of FedEx, but in the face of this well-dressed legendary agent and criminal buster in front of him, he couldn't find a reason to obstruct it for a while, so he could only ask them to complete the investigation as soon as possible.

At this time, the FBI had just been established, and although it had solved a number of major and important cases in the past two years and made a name for itself in the United States, it was still far from having the influence and deterrence of later generations. John could have used the power of the Vanderbilt family to put pressure on the FBI, but thinking of the big man behind Melvin, John decided to err on the side of caution.

The man behind Melvin was the first director of the FBI, Edgar Hoover. Later, Hoover served as FBI director for 48 years, and in the United States his power was beyond the reach of even the president. As the head of the largest law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the United States, and the guardian of America's top secrets, Hoover's prestige is known to everyone. During his tenure, the United States changed 8 presidents and 16 prosecutors general, but none of them dared to fire him. Because no president knows exactly what Hoover knew, that's the biggest intimidation to the president. Immediately after Hoover's death in office in 1972, the U.S. Congress enacted regulations limiting the maximum tenure of FBI directors to 10 years.

John didn't want to offend Hoover for such a trivial matter, and who knows if this big man, who was known for his cautious eye, would have his eyes on him because of this. Martin Luther King, Jr., a black leader, was once hated for refusing to answer Hoover's phone calls, and was wiretapped and tracked by the FBI until his death.

Moreover, in his opinion, this seizure is only a minor problem, and the losses brought are also within the scope of bearing. What really worries him is another problem that has come to light from this incident. Since the second half of 1937, FedEx has expanded too rapidly, and the number of employees has rapidly swelled to 8,000 within half a year, and there have been obvious loopholes in the company's management. Otherwise, how could the members of the criminal gang break into the company so smoothly.

The next day, Dvořák, the head of human resources, rushed to Chicago with a group of subordinates and began to conduct an inventory of all the company's employees at John's request. With their assistance, the FBI quickly found out the details of the two employees involved in the case. The one who died, Big Jim, had been imprisoned twice for selling bootlegged liquor and armed robbery of a shop, and his whereabouts have been unknown since he successfully escaped from prison last year. The identity of the one who ran away is even more amazing, he is the younger brother of the legendary thief "Pretty Boy" Floyd, who has been involved in several bank robberies. "Pretty Boy" disappeared after being shot dead by the police in 1934. Both men were recommended to the company by bribing local union leaders. The unlucky guy who took them $200 was quickly taken away by the FBI.

Dvořák and the others found that the problem was far more than this, and a group of silverfish who used the company to carry prohibited items and steal and resell goods were also found out one by one. Even the administrator who called Walter to report the shootout was found to have made false accounts and resold warehouse goods in the name of reporting losses. That's when John realized that his company was a leaky sieve. In the era when there was no Internet and a perfect information collection system, it was difficult for John to find out the details of the company's employees one by one. In order to prevent the recurrence of such incidents, the company must establish a more stringent management system to ensure that these problems are identified and solved in the first place.

John had long been disgusted with Ford's Bennett's management model, and FedEx had never established a so-called "service department" (another name for the company's internal police and spies). It now seems that the existence of such a department was justified in an era when the judicial system was not yet perfect.

John summoned the company's management and told them about his concerns. Dvořák admits that because the company is expanding so fast, many times they have to buy small local companies to complete the layout in the states. Not only grassroots employees, but also the middle-level employees of many companies are not very clear. Especially in some Midwestern states, where law enforcement is weak, gangs are rife, and law and order is very poor. Some time ago, the company had a situation where a transport convoy was robbed at gunpoint, and now it seems that the possibility of internal and external collusion cannot be ruled out.

Fred, who comes from a military family, made a proposal to recruit a group of veterans to form the company's own security team. On the one hand, it can strengthen the internal management of the company, and on the other hand, it can also carry out armed escort on routes with poor public security conditions to ensure the safety of the company's personnel and goods.

John was intrigued by Fred's suggestion, and he now had a suitable person for the head of the company's security department - John's cousin Reilly. When this arms dealer is in China, he can also rely on the power of the 15th Infantry Regiment of the Army to make some money. Now that he has returned to China, the US arms market is not something that can be mixed with a small shrimp like him. He's been idle lately anyway, so let him try. If done well, in the future, we can also consider separating this department and setting up a separate security company. Didn't the founder of the famous Blackwater company later change his career to logistics. It seems that his Hong Kong-listed logistics company has a very pleasant cooperation with many large Chinese companies in Africa.

John himself still has a little ninety-nine in his heart, that is, the "American Volunteer Air Force to Aid China" that he has been thinking about these days. It's a good time to take this opportunity to recruit a group of retired pilots and put up the shelves of this air force first, isn't it?

However, there are a lot of issues that need to be considered in advance in order to build such a "paramilitary force". Congress, state legislatures, the Department of Justice, and the Department of the War all need to be taken care of.

On the military's side, Fred said he could help. His father was now the principal of the Fort Benning Infantry School, and appeared to be a colleague of Marshall, the future Chief of Staff of the Army (Marshall would not be appointed Deputy Secretary of War until the summer of 1938). ), and a lot of military bigwigs can talk.

On the side of Congress, William's federal senator for so many years has not been in vain, and he still has a little influence.

The state legislature is more troublesome, and it has to be negotiated state by state. However, now that the economic situation is not good, and the unemployment rate in the states remains high, it should not be difficult to pass this kind of thing that can increase the local employment rate.

The key is the Department of Justice, and John really can't find a way. Donovan, the company's legal counsel, had been an assistant attorney general, but he was now in Europe. And he and FBI Director Hoover are on the same page, and asking him to come forward may be counterproductive.

Have a problem looking for Harold. John habitually grabbed the phone again, trying to ask his cousin for an idea.