The woman's name is Hester? Crawley.

The next night, François and Hester? Crowley rides the train together.

On the third night, François did not return home all night, and did not appear until after ten o'clock in the morning, with a faint fragrance on his body.

Like a dog, Zvi sniffed with his nose on François, his eyes envious of Varan.

Ernier Jr. had already arrived, and with Ernier Jr. looking at the newsstand, François took Zvi to the New York Times office on Forty-second Street.

The building was very high, and when they entered, they took the elevator to the floor where the newspaper manager's office was located.

"You're waiting for me here," François said to Zvivi as he stepped out of the elevator.

"I can't leave the stall to little Ernnie. I'm not worried about what if those three bitches raise them again

Do? ……”

"They won't come again."

Zvi sat down, feeling uncomfortable in the midst of the well-dressed female secretaries, and he watched François beat them by, most of them looking up, attracted by the extremely slow, regal gait of the big man, and by his eyes.

Hester? That's where Crowley works, sitting in her office by a padded door behind which is sacred.

François began to speak to her, shaking her head firmly at first, and for a few minutes she did not answer, while the people and ringing telephones that she was responsible for interrupted their conversation from time to time.

After each such disturbance, she continued to deal with François, who was always smiling and charming, as charming as a goblin, presumably repeating his reasons.

When it was over, she gave in, and as she had done not so long ago, she and François looked at each other and smiled, and Hester shook her head in disbelief, as if to say, "You can tell me to do anything......

François came back and sat down beside Zvi and said to him in Polish: "Yes, she promised to stuff us in between the two meetings agreed with others, but we will have to wait a while." ”

"Where are you going to put us in?"

"Go meet the big guys."

"What? François, for God's sake, tell me," Zvi asked, bewildered.

"I've already explained it to you."

"You explained, but I didn't understand."

François laughed and said, "You just let me talk alone, can you trust me, Zvi?" ”

"Of course I can trust it." Zvi said very sincerely: "Of course I can trust you. ”

They waited for almost two hours, during which many men and women came and went in front of them, and a few of them could not help but look at them in amazement when they saw these two men in blue labor shirts sitting in the waiting room of one of the most powerful press magnates in the world.

Finally, Hester? Crowley gestured to them, and they stood up and walked over.

At the door, Hester? Crowley whispered one last time, "I'm really crazy, you bad thing, how can you let me do such a thing?" ”

Hester? Crowley said it with a sweet smile, and she even found an opportunity to gently touch François's hand.

The big man is really a big man, the area of the office alone is more than 200 square meters, the desk is five meters long, and the big man sitting behind the desk is not much smaller than François.

Looking at the two working people standing in front of him, a smile appeared in the eyes of the big man, and he thought it was very interesting.

Looking at the big man opposite, François calmly said: "I know that your time is very valuable. I'm here to share one of my ideas that would save you five percent on the cost of your newspapers, increase the speed at which they are delivered, and increase sales by eighteen to twenty percent at all three hundred and twelve outlets in South Manhattan, and that's just for now. My ideas can be used in your other areas as well, that's what I'm here for, and now you can get me out if you want to do that. ”

At this moment, François's eyes lit up and he completely submerged his labor shirt.

The big man didn't throw them out and asked, "Tell me about your plan, young man." ”

François told the big man about the plan, and the big man listened quietly.

After François finished speaking, the big man looked at François and asked, "Who are you?" ”

François said: "My name is Anton Baker. ”

"Germans?"

"Swiss."

After thinking about it, the big man said, "If I agree to do this, will I deal with you?" ”

"Not with me, but with the company that Mr. Tsibulsky represents, for which he was the first general manager."

Then François immediately said in Polish: "Zvi, please don't speak. If my right hand signals, you say 'yes', and if my left hand signs, you say 'no'. ”

The big man looked at Zvi and asked, "Mr. Tsibulsky, your company has united three hundred and twelve newspaper vendors in the southern part of Manhattan Island?" ”

"Yes," Zvi said, reminding himself repeatedly and mentally that he was to say yes with his right hand and "no" with his left. The right hand is "yes", the left hand is "no", the right hand is "yes", and the left hand is "no......

"Do the newssellers really listen to you?"

"Yes."

"Right now, our newspaper is being delivered to newspaper vendors by a service agency we set up, and the head of this service agency is named Finnegan, do you know Finnegan?"

"Yes."

"Mr. Tsibulsky, do you really believe that your company can be more effective and reliable than Finnegan's?"

"Yes." At this moment, Zvi was completely in a frenzy, barely understanding what people were asking him.

"I know there are enough exceptions to get out of the agreement between us and Finnegan, but he's not the kind of guy who would obediently let his business be robbed, and the same goes for his gang of Irishmen. If Finnegan is going to get into some trouble with this, do you think you can solve it without my intervention? ”

"Yes."

"When do you think your company will be able to start operating?"

"In nine days, it will open before dawn on the first day of August." François replied.

――――

After stepping out of the hall where a giant globe was kept, Zvifon dared to speak, and he lowered his voice and asked in Polish: "Who is that Finnegan that he asked me about just now?" ”

"The guy who wants you to pay one dollar and fifty cents a day for newspaper delivery. Actually, it's his job, because he's already paid by the newspaper. Three hundred and 12 newspaper sellers receive four hundred and sixty-eight dollars a day by one dollar and fifty cents, or more than 170,000 a year. Compared to him, those three guys who played with knives were just hairy children. ”

François laughed, then added, "Finnegan is also a man who will find ways to break our ribs, you and mine." Probably with iron bars, that's his usual style. ”

"Can he do it?"

"I don't think it can be done," François said solemnly, "otherwise I would have been really surprised." ”

Zvi, Simon? When Gozcinyak and others sent out the invitation, only 278 of the 312 newspaper sellers responded. They were the future shareholders of the first company founded by François, and the first general meeting was held in a house not far from the World Trade Center on the evening of the 22nd of the same day.

François under the pseudonym Anton? Baker began to speak, explaining to the participants the full benefits of one of the actions he had proposed. They will form a company, and both they and he will be fundamental shareholders. He had to make it clear that he was the basic shareholder, but not the only shareholder. The company will purchase trucks and motorcycles to guarantee the delivery of all newspapers and other publications they underwrite. The company did so on the basis of contracts signed by three major New York newspapers, which agreed to entrust them with the distribution of their publications in the southern part of Manhattan. He recommended Zvenev? Tsibulsky assumes the position of general manager, and Tsibulsky has reached a deal with the newspaper magnate on Forty-Second Street today. The necessary funds will come from bank loans, and Zvi and he will be responsible for convincing the bank, and will also be responsible for finding suitable trucks and drivers. By the night of July 31, all would be ready.

It was immediately suggested that Finnegan's gang of Irishmen would not be relentless if they had been robbed of their business, or at least a vicious fight.

To this question, François replied that Zvi and he would be responsible for dealing with the Irishmen and the Finnigans, and that all the newspaper sellers would have to let the Irish come to him Anton? Baker is it.

François then explained to the participants how the company in which they would hold 30 percent of the shares would work.

If they wanted to become shareholders, they would have to stop paying Finnegan's men one dollar and fifty cents a day starting August 1, but they would have to pay that money to Zvi. Don't worry, it's not a Finnegan blackmail being replaced by another kind of extortion, because this fifty cents is no longer an expense that they have to pay back, no, this money will make them shareholders and will quickly bring them profits.

François told the prospective shareholders how he and Zvi would grow the company so that the $50 they put in their regular investment would soon be paid back little by little in the form of profits, perhaps within two months. He didn't even think that in three months, they might be making more than the dollar and fifty cents they spent.

François paced slowly among the shareholders, speaking eloquently with extraordinary persuasiveness in his slow, soft, calm and reassuring tone, leading them by the nose step by step.

Looking at François, Zvi developed an immeasurable sense of pride because he was a friend and close friend of this man,

As soon as François finished speaking, Zvi took over the banner with infinite passion, and he asked the shareholders what risks they would have to take if they agreed. They had been paying the Irishmen a dollar and fifty cents a day for years, and he didn't want them to pay more. And, if Finnegan's thunderbolt were to fall on them, could they take Anton? Baker simply used it as a lightning rod.

――――

François did not have any psychological barriers to the use of the power of the organization, everything he did was given by the organization, including freedom.

François did not have any worries about whether the use of the power of the organization would leave a handle, and his personal experience over the years let him know how meticulous the organization planned every action, and he never singled out a loophole.

In the organization, from top to bottom, there is always a creed: in every link, even the slightest negligence may cause casualties to comrades, and this must not be allowed.

Bureaucratic habits are currently rare in this huge kingdom.

This time with the power of the organization, François felt that the level of the task concerning him was a three-A, the highest level, and even with the most rigorous vision, he could not find a single omission.

――――

"Say it again, what's your last name?"

"Baker, or François, whichever you like."

The guy opposite François is named Abby? Levine, who is the leader of the apparel industry's trade union organization and the transport federation related to the garment industry.

Abby? Levin's gaze shifted from François to Zvi.

"What does this have to do with him?"

"He's the nominal head of this company."

"But you're actually behind it?"

François nodded.

"How many shares?"

"Sixty percent."

"Exercising authority through a proxy agreement, with this one acting as your trustee?"

"Yes."

"How much money do I have to come up with?"

"No, I don't." François said: "I pay for the driver's payment, including any possible expenses, and you don't have to pay a penny if the Irish do anything." ”

"Nominally, let the outside world know that I interfered in this matter, and the price is 10% of the shares, isn't that so? Do you think Finnegan will die down as soon as he hears about what kind of people you have to support you? ”

"Exactly." François nodded.

Levin smiled in return, he looked at François and asked, "Where are you from, lad?" ”

"Tangier." François said: "At that time, Saul? Mankusa and the others were there with me, and they could vouch for me. ”

François's reference to "Saul? Mankusa and the others "are adventurers, specifically smuggling all over the world, and are quite famous in the underground world."

There was silence, and then Levin said, "Forty percent to you, thirty to me, and thirty to your people." ”

"Twelve percent for you." François said: "You don't bet a penny, but in two or three months you can make a profit of 15 to 2,000 dollars, and you can get it every month." What I'm telling you is only part of my plan, I have other ideas that I'll be talking to you about in the next few days. ”

"Finnegan may not be so easy to convince. No one knows for sure what the Irishman will do. Give me twenty-five percent. ”

"Fifteen,"

They looked at each other and smiled.

Abby? Levine started driving a taxi in the twenties, later worked as a bodyguard, and finally entered the Louis ? Buchart and Jacob? The inner layer of the gang led by Shapiro. In 1943, he spent a year in a New York City prison for racketeering, but his time in prison was the most comfortable, and he could even go home whenever he wanted.

"If we give 20 percent, we can make a decision."

"Nineteen, this is the last line."

"So you have fifty-one percent of the shares. You'll need to take care of your cars. ”

"That's already arranged, Arco."

Levin nodded in approval.

Alcor is the name of an insurance company that is run by Lewis and Pizzo. Pizzo is the mayor of New York, Vincent? A close political associate of Moperi Telly, he also controls Yonkers' racetrack. In fact, Alcor is just one of a large number of insurance companies under the United Trust Group, and the person who runs this trust is none other than James? R. Hoffa – Vice-President of the International Truckers Union.

"Double protection, huh?" "There's my friends and myself on the one hand, and Jimmy and the truckers union on the other. If Finnegan was sensible, he should have moved to Alaska. ”

"Be prepared."

François gestured to Thor, the lawyer next to him, to take out the contract he had prepared in advance and hand it to Levin.

The ratio they just negotiated has long been written on it!

After signing, François said to Levin: "There is one more thing to ask for, suppose that my friend Zvi and I, or another friend and I, are going to do the same business in a city other than New York......"

"What other cities?"

"Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Boston, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Montreal. Of course, just as a beginning. François laughed: "It could be somewhere else, but not right away." ”

"Same conditions?"

"Same conditions."

"It should be fine."

――――

After the meeting with Levine, in the afternoon, a lawyer named Belkovich and Abby Brown. Accompanied by Levin's representatives, Zvi walked into a bank in Newark, New Jersey.

Banks are always welcome to take out loans, but there is a premise that banks will always lend only to those they think can afford to repay.

The loan went well, and Berkovich slapped the agreement with the newspaper magnate on 42nd Street in front of the president. Levin's relationship, the Governor immediately agreed to give them a loan with a smile.

Zvi signed again, this time for a $30,000 loan contract.

Immediately after they left the bank, Berkovic returned to New York, and Simon? Gozchiniak and others went to visit the various newspaper vendors and made as many people as possible shareholders of the company.

In the end, only nine of the three hundred and twelve refused.

(To be continued)