Chapter 68 Gangster

Hardy didn't mean to kill the old man in the alley of the Seamen's Club. Hardy hadn't been at sea for three months, and he needed money.Not only did he need money, but Manna who was waiting in the hotel needed money. So, when he saw the old man, he was moved. The man was very old, and the clothes on his body were very expensive, and he seemed to be easy to get off.Hardy rushed behind him, grabbed his throat with one arm, and showed a knife with the other hand, but the man wanted to resist, and Hardy stabbed him in a hurry. In the docklands, with nowhere to go late at night, and with no money left, he fled back to the inn where Manna was waiting.Manna was a prostitute he had found three months earlier, when he had just returned from a sea voyage with a lot of money.Now, the money is running out and a new job can't be found, but Manna is still with him, maybe she has fallen in love with him.

As soon as he came in, she asked, "What's the matter? Did you get the money?" She didn't sleep, she sat by a window, smoking a cigarette, and watching the neon lights flashing on the street. "No money," Hardy said, wiping sweat from his brow. "Oh, Manna, I killed a man." She stood up slowly.Although the neon lights came in from the curtains, her face was still pale. "What happened?" He told her what had happened, very quickly, without hiding anything.After he finished speaking, she turned her face away and didn't comfort him as much as he imagined.

"I've got to get out of here," he said, "I've got to go to sea until things calm down and the police will look into all the sailors who are out of work and maybe they can run after that knife." "You can't go out," she said calmly. "In the past few months, you have been looking for opportunities to go to sea." "Do you know who can help me? This is your hometown, Manna, you must know someone who can help!" She thought for a while, and then said: "Mark is the one who takes the top spot, but no one has ever seen Mark. He only deals with captains, and he won't meet nobody like you."

"do you know him?" She mused: "I've only met him once, we spent the night together. He's a real gentleman, but formidable." "Will he remember your name?" "Maybe I remember." She lit another cigarette and thought for a while, "But, I don't know how to find him. He is a weird person and he doesn't trust anyone." "I'm going to find him," Hardy said. "I have to find him. I'm going to tell him that I need his help. Manna needs help." "Hardy—" "What's the matter?" He stopped at the door.

"good luck." The bell bartender frowned and said, "Mark! You really want him? He never comes here. What do you want him for?" Ha licked his lips and said, "There is something urgent, I need to go to sea immediately, no matter what job I do, as long as I can go to sea." "That's the kind of thing you should go to Mark for, but I doubt you'll ever find him. He's the head of the gang." "I know," Hardy said, leaving the bar and walking around the Seamen's Club to another bar.Halfway through the walk, I heard sirens in the distance, and immediately understood in my heart that someone had found the body in the alley.

He quickened his pace. At the second bar, he asked the same thing again: "Where can I find Mark?" The bartender went over to fiddle with the color TV. "No one was looking for Mark, he was looking for them." "No kidding, I'm in a hurry. I'm Manna's friend." "I don't know Manna," said the waiter, but he didn't move away.After a while he said, "Mark's henchman is Ruby, and he's the only one who can tell you where Mark is." "Okay, how do I find Ruby?" "He has a club in the city centre, but at this time of night he's usually in his apartment.

He provides midnight entertainment for the upper class. "He wrote the address on a piece of paper." Ah, friend, but I tell you, you can't get in in your attire. " Hardy took the subway downtown to the address the waiter had given him.It was a luxurious apartment building, with all kinds of flowers planted in front of the door, and a burly doorman. "I'm here for Ruby," Hardy said to the doorman. The doorman looked Hardy's dirty sweater and coarse trousers up and down: "The delivery is too late." "It's not delivery, it's business."

The doorman picked up the indoor phone and dialed a number.He asked Hardy, "What's your name?" "He doesn't know me, tell him it's about Mark." The doorman repeated Hardy's words, then hung up the phone and led Hardy into the elevator. "After I've searched, you can go up," he said. After finishing speaking, he quickly searched Hardy's whole body with both hands, searching very carefully, without missing any place. After searching, he snorted and walked out of the elevator. "No tricks," he warned, closing the elevator doors.

At the top floor, the door reopened.Hardy stepped out of the elevator and into a gorgeous hallway where a man with a pistol was waiting.The man said calmly: "Tell me why you came, you mentioned Mark, do you have any news about him?" "You can put your gun away," Hardy assured him, seeing a dozen or so men standing around a gaming table in a living room. "We always carry a gun in case we get mugged." "You're Ruby?" The dark-haired man nodded.He wore a striped suit, much like those gangster characters in the movies. "I'm Ruby, who are you? A sailor under Mark?"

"I'm a sailor and I have to get out of here, and I hear Mark can help me." Ruby laughed. "He'll help. Do you have any money?" "I don't." "No money?" "I'm Manna's friend and she says Mark owes her something." "Mark owes nothing to anyone," someone called him at the gaming table, and he replied, "I'll be here soon!" "Just tell me where to find Mark." "Mark is probably in bed by now, let's talk tomorrow morning." "I can't wait until tomorrow morning," Hardy licked his lips, "the police are after me, I have to see him now!"

"There's nothing I can do, no one dares to disturb Mark in the middle of the night," he put away his gun and nodded towards the elevator. "Let's go! Go away!" An old man in evening dress left the gaming table and hurried into the elevator.He said, "Ruby, you've won me all, and I think you're satisfied now." "Win it next time, Mr. Brown," Ruby stood there, watching Hardy until the elevator closed. In the elevator, Brown kept muttering to himself, "I don't want to say he's tampered with the game, but I've never had such bad luck." His eyes fell on Hardy, as if suddenly remembered. of his existence. "Boy, what's the matter with you and that shooter?" "I'm here to see Mark, the boss of that gang." Mr. Brown chuckled: "Yes, Mark is the boss of the gang." "do you know him?" "Everyone knows Mark." "I need to go abroad, I need a boat." "Mark will get you out. He's very fond of young men your age. He'll find you a boat, and maybe give you a hundred dollars, too." "Really?" "of course it's true." "But where is he? I've been looking for hours!" "Who knows? He never said where he lived." "I have to find him." "Perhaps with his mistress." "Who is she?" "Lives in a luxurious apartment, named Mary." "You mean he likes young people." Mr. Brown chuckled: "Mark likes everybody, that's why he's the boss of the gang." Luxury condominiums don't have doormen with guns.It was on the other side of town, so Hardy headed that way again. "It's three o'clock in the morning!" the blonde opened the door and yelled, "Who the hell are you?" "I'm coming to see Mark." "He's not here! Go away!" "Are you Miss Mary?" "Yes, but he's not here." "It's important, I have to find him." "I said, get out of here, or I'll call the police. I'm not trying to scare you!" "I'm not going to hurt you. I just have to find Mark, I need his help." "Of course, everyone needs help." But she calmed down a bit, maybe she'd seen visitors like him before. "He was here before, but he's gone now, before midnight." "Where is he going?" She shrugged and opened the door wider. "Maybe home, he goes back once in a while." "Where is his home?" "With his wife, she's a fat old pig." "I mean the address." "He doesn't like people looking for him. He lives there under a pseudonym." Hardy had an idea and asked, "Is he using the pseudonym Brown?" "No," she laughed. "Not Brown. Did he send you?" "yes." She sighed. "Well, I'll tell you. Mark and his wife have a house by the river, the brown stone one across from Pier Sixteen, you can't be mistaken. His name is Robin." "thanks." "Don't tell him I told you." He walked towards Pier 16, thinking, finally found it.There are no police cars patrolling here.He knew they were searching for him, but he was no longer afraid.Mark will listen to him. Mark would promise to help him, get him on board by daylight, away from the patrolling police. Across the street, he saw the house, because it was early morning and the house was brightly lit, and Mark was still up, waiting for someone like Hardy. At the brown gate, there is a guard with a gun.He opened the door, frowning at Hardy. Hardy said, "Is it Mr. Mark's?" "Are you looking for him?" the guard asked. "It's very important. I've been looking for him most of the night." The doorman made a gesture: "The end of the aisle." Hardy stepped into the dark passage, and he saw lights ahead, and whispers.The light shines from the bead curtain, not very bright, but it allows people to see the road clearly.He walked over slowly, opened the bead curtain, and walked into the room.A fat old woman sat at a table with two men standing beside her.They looked up as he entered, waiting for him to speak. "I've come a long way," said Hardy, "and I need help. Are you Mrs. Mark?" The old woman nodded. "I'm Mrs. Mark." "I need help from your husband, Mr. Mark. I was sent to him because he is the leader of the gang." He looked at the two men next to him, but their faces were still expressionless. "Are you looking for Mark?" the old woman asked again. "Yes," he said with a dry mouth and weak legs. "But you are late," said the old woman to him. "Mark is dead. Someone killed him with a knife this evening in the alley next to the Sailors' Club."