America 1881: Legend of the West

Mitchell Walker is very familiar with the architectural pattern of downtown.

The dirty alleys are piled with all kinds of debris, the passages are cluttered, and sewage flows across them;

Clotheslines connect the not-so-high buildings on both sides of the alley. The sheets and clothes hanging on them deprive the place of the little sunshine;
Someone was repairing his roof, which had collapsed due to snow, and the police chief gave him a numb look as he passed by.

Because of the cold and hunger, these people seemed to have no energy, and their attitude was naturally not very friendly.

Although this is Walker's jurisdiction, he is rarely willing to come here. Generally, the Sheriff will only appear here in uniform when "tax collection" is taking place.

Walker walked along the alley and turned into a small courtyard.

The yard is in the shade and very dark.

"Tuk, Tuk, Tuk"

A bearded man in a leather apron, holding a bone-chopping knife in his hand, was squatting in the corner of the yard, cutting into a pile of carcasses of an unknown animal on the ground.

Yes, the skin has been peeled off, and it has also been cut into pieces, which is completely invisible.

The weather was cold, but the strong man didn't seem to have many clothes on him. Except for the leather apron, the wrinkled cloth he was lining was also stained with blood, red and black.

Walker's breath was hot, but his back felt cold.

Noticing the police chief entering the yard, the big man stood up, the knife in his hand hanging by his side, still stained with minced meat.

He said to Walker deadpan;
"Chief, if I remember correctly, you took the payment for this month at the beginning of the month, right?"

Walker subconsciously touched his waist, and after confirming that the revolver was there, his expression relaxed slightly.

He took a deep breath: "I'm looking for Torrio, is he here? I have something very important to look for him."

After hearing this, the strong man squatted down again and continued to chop his flesh with one knife.

"It's in the house, go in." He didn't even look at the sergeant.

Walker walked slowly past him, inadvertently, as if he had kicked something in the shadows.

The thing "Gululu" rolled into the corner.

"Hey! Sheriff, can you be careful?"

Behind him, the strong man stopped the knife in his hand, wiped his nose, and said without emotion.

Walker held back and said nothing.

He disliked coming to this place very much.

If it weren't for the somewhat shady purpose of coming here, otherwise he wouldn't have appeared here alone.

These bastards from the Five Points Gang are different from other gangs in the lower city.

Although the leader was Italian, the gang was not family-based like the later Italian gangs.

Their members are a bunch of lunatics and lunatics.

These people are not afraid of the police at all and are happy to jump repeatedly on the edge of their own bottom line.

Walker ignored the strong man and walked straight into the house.

The room was darker and colder than the courtyard outside.

A group of young men in dirty gray smocks were gathered around a table by the window, playing an extremely boring game.

They each drew a card from the playing cards and simply compared the cards.

Even the most addicted gamblers are rarely willing to play this unskilled game, but these people enjoy it endlessly and make strange laughter from time to time.

"Where's Torrio? Where did he go?" Walker said loudly, holding his pocket with one hand.

It was not the card players who reacted to the Sheriff's words.

"Woof! Woof! Roar~~"

A large black dog burst out of the shadows.

This is a ferocious Neapolitan dog. It has a huge head, a muscular body that is almost right-angled, and a face full of wrinkles that extends to the chin.

It intended to pounce on the Sheriff, but the collar around its neck restricted its ability to do so.

The dog could only growl and grin at Walker.

Walker instinctively took two steps back and reached for the gun at his waist.

"Robert, Chief Walker will not be happy if you treat him like this." A not-so-tall figure came out of the corner.

This man looks to be in his thirties.

He wore a woolen bowler hat, a woolen coat, and leather gloves on his hands. His elegant clothes were in sharp contrast to the messy and dirty environment around him.

"Torrio, damn, what are you doing?" Walker adjusted his clothes to hide his embarrassment.

"Quickly, apologize to the Sheriff."

Torrio touched the head of the Neapolitan named "Robert", but there was no apology in his tone.

The Italian's cheeks trembled nervously, and his smile was very strange.

Walker sounded very uncomfortable.

He frowned and winked at Torrio: "I have something important to tell you!"

"Didn't you hear? Mr. Sheriff said he had something to talk to me about. What are you doing here?" The Italian glanced at the people by the window.

Several of his men stood up lazily.

They dropped their cards on the table and left the room away from Walker.

Walker was very unhappy.

People in this room were afraid of him, and naturally no one respected him, including the dog.

This is unimaginable in other neighborhoods.

He also walked to the window and sat down at the table where the people were playing cards.

After all, the light is slightly better there.

Torrio walked to the liquor cabinet and took out a bottle of whiskey and two glasses.

He poured a drink for Walker and himself, then sat across from Walker, picked up the pile of playing cards that his younger brothers had just thrown away, and started playing by himself.

It's cold in New York, but it's not cold enough for whiskey to freeze.

Walker hesitated and finally took a sip.

"Torrio, you went too far this time. Where did you have the courage to attack the police?!"

After taking a sip of wine, a warm current surged into his body, and Walker questioned the Italian in front of him.

But the Italian looked disapproving:

"That policeman wants to kill them all, but I can't do anything. He blocks my way to make money. If he blocks my way to make money, he blocks your way to make money, and he blocks your way to make money."

"But you killed him!" Walker frowned, "Do you know how much trouble this will bring us?"

He suppressed his anger, fearing that he could not help but take out his gun and kill the audacious guy in front of him!
However, the Italian played with the playing cards in his hand and just glanced at him with a smile on his lips.

"But didn't you still make a false report? Because you know, we are on the same boat, and your boss will not let the boat sink. Otherwise, he would not have given you the permission to do that."

"Your boss is much smarter than you at this point."

"Snapped!"

Walker slammed the table;
"Torio! Don't think too highly of yourself. I'm here to warn you. I hope you can be more restrained. If you continue like this, the boss will re-evaluate your role."

He said with a livid face.

"Oh?"

Torrio narrowed his eyes.

A "King" and a "Three of Spades" fell out of the playing cards in his hand.

Torrio took a sip of whiskey and slowly tore the two cards into pieces.

Walker stood up in an instant.

A revolver was pressed against Torrio's head.

"Do you really think I dare not kill you?" the sheriff said angrily, "Who are you? Who do you think you are?"

The anger that had been accumulating from just now until now suddenly burst out.

The sheriff's hand was on the trigger.

Torrio did not change his expression, but laughed wildly. "Mr. Policeman, do you want me to pull the trigger for you? I know you better than you know yourself. You always only have one spare bullet in your gun. Do you want to try your luck?"

Before Walker could react, his pistol was in Torrio's hand.

The Italian then did something crazy.

He turned the cylinder and then put the muzzle of the gun to his head.

The Italian pulled the trigger.

There was no change in his expression, not even a blink.

The revolver gave a sharp click.

Torrio was unharmed.

He handed the revolver back to Walker with a nervous smile on his face:

"It's your turn, Sheriff!"

Walker's expression froze.

"You're a fucking lunatic!" He picked up the gun and turned to leave.

But suddenly, the hand holding the gun couldn't move at all.

Torrio's hand was clasped around his like an iron clamp.

"What are you doing?!" Walker was shocked and angry.

The smile on Torrio's face remained, but it was chilling, just like the temperature in the room, which made Walker feel cold to the bone.

"Now that the game has started, there is no reason to quit. You have to play until the end!" said the Italian. "We each have one gun."

"I don't have time for your fucking madness!" Walker yelled.

He struggled to break free, but Torrio's hand had incredible strength, and he controlled his hand to turn the muzzle of the gun towards his head.

Walker's pupils dilated instantly.

His heart also stopped.

Because he could clearly see from the front of the cylinder that the cylinder, which was empty just now, had been filled up at some point.

"No, wait, you"

Before the sheriff could finish his words, a gunshot was heard.

Walker's head was blown apart by the bullet from his own revolver.

Torrio loosened his grip.

Walker's body fell to the ground like a soft cloth bag.

The Italian pulled a crimson handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the blood that had splattered on his face and hands.

He looked at the body on the ground and shook his head: "It seems that your luck is not very good, Mr. Sheriff."

The Neapolitan Mastiff named "Robert" in the house smelled the blood and immediately became excited.

The big dog struggled to get closer to the corpse, and the door frame that was tied to the dog's leash was shaking.

The big man chopping meat outside the door heard the gunshot and walked in with a knife.

He glanced at the body lying on the ground:

"Chop it up and use it as dog food?"

Torrio raised an eyebrow: "Where's the guy who owed me money?"

"It's been chopped off and is piled in the yard. The head hasn't been dealt with yet. It was kicked by this guy and I don't know where it went. I'll go look for it later." The big man scratched his hair.

"Eat that first. Throw this and the gun into the river so the police can find it easily."

The Italian patted "Robert's" head and said.

Following Chen Jianqiu's instructions, Holiday took Li Sifu to Walker's home, hoping to find the sheriff to find out more about the situation.

However, it was Walker's wife, an Irish woman with messy hair, who opened the door.

"Who knows where he is dead? This bastard may not come back after get off work. Who knows which wild woman's belly he is lying on."

Walker's wife said unhappily.

She left the door half open, with no intention of letting the two in.

After being turned away, Holiday and Li Sifu went to the police station again.

The police station was off duty at this time.

The police officer on duty also said that he had not seen Walker all day.

Holiday returned to the detective agency, retrieved relevant information about Walker, and then set out again, searching all the places where the sheriff might appear at night, including New York's famous red-light district and the home of one of his mistresses.

However, they still didn't find Walker in these places.

Both Holiday and Li Sifu felt that something was wrong.

The next morning, Walker's body was found on the bank of the Hudson River by an early rising boatman.

The police arrived at the scene as soon as possible.

Cause of death: shot through the head by his own gun, and the latest fingerprint on the gun was Walker's own.

So, Walker committed suicide.

After hearing the news, Holiday quickly rushed to the scene.

Because Roosevelt had given the green light, he was allowed to enter the scene.

However, the conclusion he came to was completely different from that of the New York police.

First of all, from the bloodstains and other traces at the scene, it can be seen that this is not the first crime scene.

The person who dumped the body was very sloppy and didn't even try to cover it up.

Secondly, the bullet entered from the forehead, and this suicide posture is too twisted.

Walker was killed somewhere else and brought to the river.

This conclusion is actually not difficult to draw.

But none of the police officers investigating on the scene said anything.

It was obvious that these cowards were scared out of their wits.

First, the sheriff who closed down the bar was electrocuted at home; then Sheriff Walker, who was involved in the case, also died.

These people tried to avoid the case as much as possible, fearing that they would be involved in it.

"It's ridiculous that the police are afraid of gangsters," Li Sifu sighed.

Although the underworld was rampant and crime was common in the eastern United States at that time, and the West was even wilder and more lawless, gangs generally avoided head-on confrontations with the police, let alone murdering sheriffs or police officers.

"I'm afraid this matter is not that simple. They may not only be afraid of those gangs." Holiday said, "Let's explain this situation to Chen first."

On the night when Holiday, Li Sifu and others were searching for Walker's whereabouts, Chen Jianqiu was also very busy.

He, Camilla and his son were invited to attend a charity dinner in New York City.

The convener of the charity dinner was naturally Astor's social queen mother.

After Astor IV's father died of illness, his mother did not give up her hobby, but became more and more intense.

Otherwise, young Astor would not have built the Altria Hotel just to prove himself.

He had to prepare a grand enough home stage for his mother; he couldn't let his cousin steal the limelight.

Although the hotel has not been built yet, the party cannot be delayed.

This charity dinner was held in the banquet hall of another luxury hotel.

Those who attended the dinner were all prominent figures in New York City, including those tycoons from Wall Street.

The theme of the dinner was said to be to raise funds for some New York civilians who were starving due to the heavy snow.

This topic actually sounds a bit ironic. First, this should be the business of the city government. Second, most of the people attending the dinner don’t even know what the downtown area looks like. They donate money purely to comfort their conscience.

Because of little Astor's relationship, Chen Jianqiu's family was naturally also invited.

In fact, the reason why Chen Jianqiu agreed to attend the dinner was because the core figure of the legendary Tammany Hall, New York City Councilman Mr. Bis Cartman, would also attend the dinner.

He really wanted to see what kind of person this legendary city boss who controlled New York City was.