Chapter 6 Gangster

The moment Hardy stabbed the old man with a knife, he didn't think much at all.However, after seeing the old man lying in a pool of blood, Hardy began to feel a wave of fear. Hardy was a sailor, but he hadn't been at sea for three months, and he was in desperate need of money.Not only was he in urgent need of money, but Manna, who was waiting in the small hotel, needed money even more.So he took a sharp knife in his pocket and walked out of the hotel in the dark, intending to get some money. Hardy met the old man in the alley of the Sailors' Club.As soon as he saw the old man, he followed him.The old man looked very old. He was wearing expensive clothes, and he looked like the kind of master who had no resistance and was lucrative.

Hardy approached him from behind, with one arm around his neck, and with the other he drew a sharp knife.In fact, Hardy originally wanted to scare him and make him hand over the money obediently.Unexpectedly, the old man resisted desperately, and Hardy's blood rushed to his head, and he stabbed the sharp knife in his hand... This is the wharf area, it was already late at night, Hardy the murderer had nowhere to go, and he was penniless, so he had to flee back to the small hotel where he and Manna rented.Manna is a whore.Three months ago, Hardy had just returned from the sea, and he had some money, so he met Manna and lived with her.Now, the money was gone, and a new job couldn't be found, but Manna lived with him anyway, and maybe she had fallen in love with him.

As soon as he came in, Manna asked, "How's it going? Got the money?" She didn't sleep, she sat by the window, smoking one cigarette after another, while watching the neon lights flashing on and off the street. "No," said Hardy, wiping the sweat from his brow. "What's worse, I killed someone." Manna stood up slowly.The neon lights came in through the curtains, and it could be seen that her face was pale. "Tell me, what happened?" Hardy told Manna the whole story without any concealment, and Manna listened quietly.After Hardy finished speaking, Manna turned her face away, not comforting him as he imagined.

"I've got to get out of the limelight," he said, "I've got to go to sea until this thing's over. The police are going to make sailors who don't have a job a priority, and, unfortunately, I left the knife in the Once they get to the scene, they will definitely follow the knife to track down." "You can't go out," Manna said calmly. "In the past few months, you have been looking for an opportunity to go to sea, but you have never found it." "Who can help me? This is your hometown, Manna, do you know anyone who can help me?"

She thought for a while, and then said: "The gangster boss in this area is Mark. But you can't see Mark. He only hangs out with the captains. He doesn't even bother to see a nobody like you." "You know him?" She mused: "I've only met him once, too, I spent the night with him. He's a real gentleman and he's formidable." "Tell me, will he still remember you?" "Maybe I still remember." She lit another cigarette and thought for a while, "But I don't know where to find him. He is very vigilant and doesn't trust anyone."

"I'm going to find him!" Hardy said as he walked towards the door. "I have to find him. I have to tell him that I need his help. Manna needs help!" "Hardy..." "What's the matter?" He stopped at the door and looked back at Manna. "……good luck." The waiter at the Bell Bar frowned and said to Hardy: "Mark? You want him? He doesn't come to this kind of place. What do you want him for?" Hardy licked his chapped lips and said, "I have something urgent to do. I want to go to sea immediately. No matter what I am asked to do, as long as I can go to sea."

"Well, only Mark can do this kind of thing. However, I doubt you can find him. You know, is it so easy to see the face of the gang boss?" "I understand." Hardy walked out of the bar quickly. He bypassed the Sailor's Club and went to another bar.Halfway there, he heard the siren of a police car approaching from a distance.He thought to himself: the old man's body must have been found. He quickened his pace. At the second bar, he asked the waiter the same thing: "Where can I find Mark?" The bartender didn't look at him, but was immersed in adjusting the color TV: "No one is looking for Mark, it's Mark looking for someone else."

"Seriously! I have an urgent matter with Mark. I'm Manna's friend." "I don't know Manna," said the waiter.Just when Hardy felt disheartened, the waiter said again: "By the way, Ruby is Mark's confidant. Only he can tell you where Mark is." "Okay, how can I find Ruby?" There was a glimmer of hope rekindled in Hardy's eyes. "He runs a club, right in the city center, which provides entertainment services for the upper class. But at this time, he should be in his apartment." After speaking, the waiter wrote down the address of the apartment on a piece of paper : "Ah, friend, I kindly remind you that if you want to enter that high-end apartment, you'd better change your clothes first."

Hardy took the subway to the city center, and according to the address written down by the waiter, he came downstairs to a luxurious apartment building.There are colorful flowers and plants planted in front of the building, and a burly guard stands at the door. "I'm here for Ruby," Hardy said to the doorman. The doorman looked Hardy's dirty sweater and coarse trousers up and down, and said coldly: "It's past the delivery time." "No...I'm not delivering the goods, I'm here to talk about business." The doorman picked up the phone and dialed a number.Then he asked Hardy, "What's your name?"

"He doesn't know me, you tell him I'm here for Mark's business." The doorman recounted Hardy's words on the phone, then hung up the phone and led Hardy into the elevator. "I'll search you first, and if there is no problem, you can go up." The guard said. After finishing speaking, he searched Hardy carefully, and even checked his belt carefully.After searching, he snorted and walked out of the elevator.He warned Hardy, "Don't play tricks on me," and closed the elevator doors. The elevator reached the top floor of the apartment and the door reopened.Hardy stepped out of the elevator, and in front of him was an extremely ornately decorated corridor.In the hallway stood a dark-haired man with a gun in his hand.The man said calmly: "What are you doing here? You mentioned Mark just now, and you have news about him?"

"You can put your gun away." Hardy assured him he meant no harm.From the open door, he saw a gaming table in the spacious living room, around which a dozen men were gambling. "In order to prevent being robbed, we always keep our guns in our hands." The man said. "You're Ruby?" The dark-haired man nodded.He was wearing a striped suit, the same outfit as the gangsters in the movie. "I'm Ruby, who are you? A sailor under Mark?" "I'm a sailor. I have to leave here. I'm going to sea. I heard that Mark can help me?" Ruby laughed. "He'll help if you have the money!" "Money...no." "No money?" "By the way, I'm Manna's friend, and she said Mark owed her a favor." "Mark owes nothing to anyone!" At this moment, someone at the gaming table called him, and he replied inside, "Come in a while!" "I just want to know where to find Mark." "It's too late now, he may have fallen asleep, you can look for it tomorrow morning." "It's too late tomorrow morning," Hardy licked his lips. "The police are after me, help me, I have to see him now!" "I can't help you, no one dares to disturb him when he's sleeping," he put away his gun, pouted towards the elevator, "Get lost!" Hardy had just stepped into the elevator, when an old man in evening dress came out of the living room, and he also hurried towards the elevator.He said to Ruby as he walked, "You've won me all this time. Are you satisfied?" "Good luck next time, Mr. Brown." Ruby stood at the elevator door, watching them until the elevator closed. In the elevator, Brown kept sighing: "I have no evidence to prove that they tampered with the gambling equipment, but my luck has never been so bad." After speaking, he seemed to suddenly notice the existence of Hardy, Looking him up and down, he asked, "Young man, what do you want to do to find that gunman?" "I'm looking for Mark, the boss of the gang." Mr. Brown smiled slightly: "Yes, Mark is the boss of the gang." "You know him?" "Everybody here knows Mark." "I have to go abroad, I need a boat." "Mark will help you. He especially likes to help young people your age. Not only will he find you a boat, but if he's in a good mood, he may give you a hundred dollars." "real?" "Of course!" "But, how can I find him? I've been looking for him most of the night!" "It can't be said for sure, his whereabouts are uncertain." "I have to find him, or I'm dead." "Perhaps with his mistress." "Who is she?" "Her name is Mary and she lives in a luxurious apartment." "You said just now that he likes young people?" Mr. Brown chuckled: "Mark likes everybody, that's why he's the boss of the gang." The luxury apartment was on the other side of the city, and Hardy rushed there non-stop.Fortunately, there is no guard with a gun at the door of the luxury apartment. "Do you know what time it is? It's three in the morning!" A beautiful blonde opened the door and yelled, "Who the hell are you?" "Is Mark here?" "He's not here! Go away!" "Are you Miss Mary?" "Yes, I repeat, Mark is not here." "It's important, I have to find him." "I said, get out, or I'll call the police. I'm not scaring you!" "I'm not here to cause trouble, I just want to find Mark, I need his help." "Yes, many people who came to ask for help said so, but..." She calmed down for a while, maybe Hardy, the uninvited guest's persistence, touched her. "Mark was here, but he's gone now, before midnight." "Where has he gone?" Mary shrugged and opened the door wider: "Maybe he's home, but he doesn't go back once in ten days and half a month." "Where is his home?" "With his wife, she's a fat old pig." "I mean the address of his home." "He doesn't want people to find him, and he lives there under a pseudonym." Hardy had an idea and asked, "Is he aliased as Brown?" "No," she laughed, "not Brown. He sent you here to find him?" "yes." She sighed: "Well, let me tell you, Mark and his wife's home is by the river, opposite Pier 16, it's a brown stone house, you can find it as soon as you look there. He Named Robin." "Thank you." "Don't let him know that I told you his address!" Hardy walked toward Pier Sixteen.He thought to himself: After working hard all night, there is finally a result.There is no sign of a police car here.He knew the police were looking for him everywhere, but Hardy didn't worry anymore because Mark would help him. Mark will definitely help him, and arrange for him to board the boat before dawn to escape the pursuit of those policemen. In the distance, Hardy could already see the brown house.It was just daybreak, and the house was still brightly lit, Hardy thought: Mark must not be asleep, he was waiting for someone like himself. At the brown gate, there is a bodyguard with a gun.He opened the door, frowning at Hardy. Hardy asked, "Is this Mr. Mark's house?" "Are you looking for him?" the guard asked. "I have something important to look for him, and I have been looking for him most of the night." The guard made a gesture: "At the end of the corridor." Hardy walked into a dark hallway. At the end of the hallway was an open door. Lights shone through beaded curtains, and there were whispers.Hardy walked slowly by the light, opened the bead curtain, and walked into the room.I saw a fat old woman sitting at the table, and there were two dignified men standing beside her.They looked up as Hardy entered, waiting for him to speak. "I found it here," Hardy said. "I need Mr. Mark's help. Are you Mrs. Mark?" The old woman nodded: "Yes, I am." "I want to ask your husband, Mr. Mark, to help me. A friend asked me to come to him. Only he can help me because he is the leader of the gang." He looked at the two men next to him, but their faces were still serious. "Are you looking for Mark?" the old woman asked again. "Yes." His mouth was dry and his legs were weak. "Unfortunately, you are late," the old woman said to him. "Mark is dead. He was found lying in the alley next to the Sailors' Club a few hours ago. Someone killed him with a knife."