On September 16, 1920, just before noon, hundreds of white-collar workers on Wall Street began to put down their work and pour out of their buildings for lunch. At this time, a mediocre-looking man drove an old-fashioned carriage and slowly came to the door of the **** bank. It is the most powerful banking institution in the world. The man silently braked the carriage, then got out of it and quickly disappeared into the crowd.

A few minutes later, there was a sudden loud bang in the unattended carriage, and both the cart and the horse pulling it were blown to pieces. As a result of the explosion, 30 people in the vicinity were killed instantly, and about 300 people were injured, including 8 who died after the incident due to their injuries. The explosion was so powerful that it could be heard throughout Lower Manhattan and even across the East River from Brooklyn. (In some corners of Wall Street, you can still feel the dents left by the big explosion, but of course this was deliberately not repaired, just to keep it as a memento.) ）

After the explosion, the relevant authorities rushed to the scene very quickly. These include the New York City Police Department, the Fire Department, and the Bureau of Investigation (the predecessor of the FBI). Even the U.S. Secret Service heard the news and went out. They interviewed hundreds of people who had been to the area before, during, and after the attack, but did not gain much valuable information. The few memories of the carriage and the coachman are vague and almost useless.

It is strange that the government and the media have handled such a major case of a heinous nature in such a low-key manner, and it is rarely mentioned even in today's American history textbooks.

So a few days later, when Monet was chatting with Sheriff Klein, he asked curiously: "Did you catch the murderer in the Wall Street bombing a few days ago?" ”

Sheriff Klein shook his head and replied, "The above didn't let me investigate this case, so I don't know the details, but I think I didn't catch it, otherwise how could such a big matter not be reported?" ”

Then he kindly reminded: "By the way, in the future, we will not discuss this matter in public, the above has notified us, let us deal with it in a low-key manner, haven't you noticed that no newspaper has continued to report this matter since the day before yesterday?" ”

"Oh, I'll just say, why are Russell guys suddenly not interested in such a big deal!" Monet suddenly realized.

Although Monet was just reminded, it is obvious that Sheriff Klein is very interested in this matter, in fact, this is also normal, after all, as a police officer, how could he not be interested in such a big case?

So I saw him whisper to Monet: "Tony, do you know that the carriage was loaded with 45 kilograms of high explosives. There is also a 230-kilogram piece of cast iron. It was blown to pieces in the explosion and scattered in all directions, like a bullet fired, which is why it caused such a wide area and such severe damage. Although we have heard that we have been able to rebuild explosives and fuse devices, no breakthrough has been made. ”

"Is there any suspicion now?" Monet asked.

"Because the carriage was parked at the door of the **** bank, we suspected the murder of Mr. Morgan at first, but later the investigation found that he was still in Europe at that time; Then it was suspected that it was probably to rob the Treasury building next door, because there were nine billion dollars in gold bars inside, but no evidence was found to support this speculation!

Four shoddy leaflets were later found in the vicinity, from a group calling themselves "American Anarchist Fighters," demanding the release of the prisoners in question. You may not know that this time last year, Italian anarchists instigated two bombings.

Postal agents in New York and Washington intercepted more than 30 suspicious packages with unpaid postage, all of which planted bombs and sent them to the homes of government officials, financial practitioners and federal agents in the two cities. Among the lucky ones in this round of attacks is the 51st U.S. Attorney General, Alexander Palmer. One night in 1919, Palmer exploded on his doorstep in Washington, D.C., and the attacker who tried to plant the bomb, Vantinocchi, the editor-in-chief of an anarchist publication, was blown to pieces. Fortunately, Palmer was not injured.

These four leaflets are very similar to the ones used in those years. We traced the printed source of these leaflets, but without success.

Subsequently, based on an analysis of the bomb attacks of the past 10 years, we may have been responsible for the bombing by followers of the Italian anarchist Ruchigarini. But this is also unproven, and Ruchigarini has already fled to Italy. ”

"The Point Guard Is Here"

Speaking of this, Sheriff Klein's expression was a little embarrassed: "We were also deceived once, a guy named William had predicted the explosion a few months ago, but no one believed him at the time. After the incident, we immediately found him and gave him 3,000 dollars to help us find the murderer, but we didn't expect this guy to run away with the money, and he didn't even take his wife and daughter with him, what an irresponsible guy! ”

After listening to Sheriff Klein's description, Monet pondered for a long time, then nodded and agreed: "Well, I also tend to be that those anarchists did it, otherwise there is no reason for normal people to do this, after all, this will not get any benefit, all bombs are the most able to threaten people and profit from them when they are not exploded!" ”

"Yes, so this is a political case and not a criminal case, so it makes sense that it is not allowed to talk about it publicly!" Sheriff Klein added.

"Well, it makes sense, then don't think about it, I originally wanted to write an article with this, but fortunately, I asked you in advance!"

Hearing Monet say this, Sheriff Klein said with palpitations: "Fortunately, you asked me first, Tony, I can remind you that in the future, write less about this kind of social incident, otherwise it will be easy to have an accident!" ”

"Got it, got it, come on, let's drink!" Monet raised his glass.

After two glasses of wine, Sheriff Klein said: "Actually, in my opinion, the most important thing to be wary of now is not these so-called anarchists who are engaged in the explosion, but those Ku Klux Klans who have revived!" ”

"Didn't I remember that the Ku Klux Klux Klan was forcibly disbanded by the government in 1872?" Monet asked puzzled.

"That's why I'm talking about a resurgence, and this time they used a very imaginative method, which led to an extremely rapid expansion of membership, and it is said that there are already millions of members in several states such as Georgia!"

PS: Today's chapter is inspired by the gas explosion in Shiyan, and I wish all the injured a speedy recovery!