The Tyrant Billionaire

"What do you think?" Hardy asked, taking a puff of his cigar.

Bill shrugged, "I don't really care. The slot machine business makes over $2 million a year, and our other businesses are doing well. If the Irish want to sell drugs here, we might make at most $200,000 to $300,000 a year in turf fees. I don't care about that."

Hardy nodded, "Maintaining local order is more important. If order is good, more tourists will come, and more people will visit bars and play our slot machines, making us more money than turf fees."

"What about the Austrian gang?" Hardy asked.

"The Austrian gang's turf is now managed by second in command Alan Payne. I heard he allowed the Irish to sell drugs there," Bill said.

Hardy frowned.

The Austrian and Irish gangs had always been at odds. It was surprising that they were now collaborating.

Was it Sigel's or Fred's order, or did Alan Payne act on his own?

Hardy pondered for a moment and said to Bill, "Regardless of others, don't let the Irish openly sell drugs on our turf. We can't control customers going to their turf."

"Also, find a way to infiltrate the Austrian gang, monitor them, and possibly win over some members."

Bill was surprised, "Boss, do you think there might be trouble with the Austrian gang?"

"Who can say for sure?"

Bill nodded, "I know some leaders in the Austrian gang. I can try to contact them."

After parting ways with Bill, Hardy returned to HD Security, where he was informed that Miss Elena from the auction company had called urgently.

Hardy called Elena back, and she anxiously explained, "Mr. Hardy, I think we've been scammed. Someone took off with a $100,000 check."

Hardy frowned slightly, "Don't worry, I'm coming over."

He drove quickly to the auction company and found Elena and Irina looking dejected. Several department heads and appraisers were also present, all looking distressed.

Hardy approached Elena, "What happened? Tell me."

Elena pursed her lips and began recounting the story.

A few months ago, a middle aged customer came in and sold an 18th century oil painting for $2,300. After the transaction, he left.

Two days later, the middle aged man returned, not to sell but to discuss a business deal with the owner.

Elena and Irina met with him together.

The man, claiming to be a French Jew named Leo, insisted on confidentiality before revealing his business proposal, stating it was somewhat illegal.

This piqued the women's curiosity, and they assured him of their discretion. Only then did he begin.

"Lovely ladies, I require secrecy because this matter is slightly illicit. A friend of mine, Louis, whose family once owned a renowned gallery, collected and sold famous paintings, including works by Monet and Picasso. Unfortunately, his family perished during the war, leaving their assets scattered..."

Hearing this, Hardy had several thoughts in his mind.

Could this be the 20th century famous Nigerian scam where someone asks for money to unfreeze assets?

I'm the descendant of Louis XIII, with assets frozen by the bank. You send money, we lift the freeze and so on ....

Elena continued to narrate the story.

"Leo said that Louis was serving in the military at the time and was unaware of what was happening at home. Later, when the war fully broke out, Louis was constantly fighting against the Germans. After World War II ended, Louis returned to his hometown and found out about everything that had happened. He was the only one left in his family."

"The Art Management Committee was responsible for returning artworks. As long as evidence was provided, the artworks could be returned to family members."

"Louis found the records from that time, and after the government verified them, the paintings from the gallery were returned to him."

At that time Leo shrugged and said.

"My friend now has a total of 227 paintings, including paintings by famous artists and works by modern artists. This is only a part of all the paintings in the gallery at that time."

"You know, right after the war ended, life in France was very tough. My friend Louis, despite having a large collection of oil paintings, had no source of income."

"Couldn't he sell them?" Irina asked.

Irina, being of French descent, had also fled to the United States with her parents during that time. She had heard from relatives in France about the Germans looting French artworks, especially those of French Jews, who were almost entirely plundered and exterminated.

"Life in France is very hard now. People don't value artworks as much as before the war, and prices are very low. For instance, the painting I sold to you was one of Louis's paintings. French art dealers only offered $400 for it, but Louis asked me to try in the United States. Here, I found several auction houses and galleries, with offers ranging from $1500 to $2000.

You offered the highest price, $2300, which is four to five times what was offered in France."

"When i came here, Louis told me that if i could find a good buyer, he would be willing to sell all these artworks to the other party. However, the government now prohibits the shipment of some famous works of art out of the country, so this business is more or less illegal."

"After the sales, he plans to use the money to immigrate. He has read reports about the United States and knows that life here is way better so he plans to buy a farm and live in the United States."

Hardy remembered that a few months ago, Elena had told him that they had met a big seller who had a batch of high end artworks, including famous paintings by Monet, Cézanne, and Picasso.

He remembered warning Elena to be careful when dealing with such people, but he didn't expect that she was still deceived.

"What happened next?" Hardy asked.

Elena took a deep breath and continued "We expressed our willingness to purchase these paintings and said we would figure out the transportation. I thought if the deal succeeded, I'd have you help transport them since I knew you could."

Hardy found it amusing.

This girl had a lot of confidence in him.

Elena continued, "He first said he would help us contact his friend Louis again. A few days later, he came back with bad news. His friend Louis had borrowed $100,000 from a bank for immigration purposes, using the oil paintings as collateral."

"I had a feeling it was a trick to free up assets."

"I was cautious and wrote a $100,000 cash check. I sent Musk, along with an assistant to go to France with this man named Leo to meet Louis. If the deal went through, they would pay off the bank and retrieve the pledged oil paintings."

Elena finished and looked at Musk standing among the crowd.

Musk, in his thirties, had previously worked for another auction company and had extensive experience in acquiring artworks and paintings. Elena had hired him as the head of the art department's acquisitions.

Hardy turned to look at Musk. Seeing Hardy's gaze, Musk looked somewhat remorseful and said, 'Boss, it wasn't my negligence. I suspect that man was a professional con artist. I just showed him the check, and he swapped it for a fake one without me noticing. It's hard to tell the fake from the real one at a glance.'

'Tell me the whole story,' Hardy said.

Musk quickly recounted the events.

'This morning, I received the check from Miss Irina. I took John and Leo to Los Angeles Airport, planning to fly to New York and then take a ship to France.

While waiting for the plane, we chatted about what to expect in France. Leo suddenly said, "Check if your check is an international check usable in Europe, otherwise it's a wasted trip."

"I took out the check and verified it was fine. Leo asked to take a look too. Thinking we were right there and he couldn't pull any tricks, I handed it to him. Leo examined it and handed it back with a smile, I put the check back in my wallet, and then Leo said he needed to use the restroom and left without taking his luggage."

"John felt something was wrong and searched for Leo but couldn't find him. We then checked Leo's luggage and found it filled with newspapers. We realized something was wrong and checked the check, discovering it was a fake."

Musk lowered his head, "That's when we knew we'd been tricked. We hurried back to report, and I'm sorry, boss. This was my mistake.'"

He glanced apologetically at Elena.

Hardy nodded, scanning the company managers and appraisers around, and gave a faint smile

'"Alright, I understand. From now on, leave this matter to me. There are many things to handle in the company, so get back to your posts."