I bought a prison in the United States.

Craig frowned; he felt this Asian man was pushing his luck.

"I've already fixed your machine for free, what more do you want in return?"

Lin Ge smiled slightly:

"Once it's fixed, you'll have to teach the other prisoners how to operate the machine. Until then, you'll be in charge of the stamping press."

"In addition, you need to report to me its production capacity, power consumption, and maintenance cycle, the more detailed the better."

Craig nodded.

"it is good."

He stood up, walked to the door, and just as he opened it, he turned back and said:

"Mr. Chen, there's something you should know."

"What?" Lin Ge asked.

"The fabric in the factory isn't for making work clothes."

Lin Ge frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"

Craig turned around and said seriously:

"I've seen it, and the fiber density of those fabrics is different from the standards for state government uniforms."

"Those fabrics are thinner and cheaper, so I think someone probably used inferior goods to impersonate genuine ones and then pocketed the difference."

Lin Ge immediately remembered it. "Do you know who it is?"

Craig said:

"I don't know, but I can tell you one thing: that batch of fabric arrived three months ago, which is exactly the time the former warden resigned."

……

At 2 p.m., Ringo appeared at the door of Ray Carson's office.

Lei was on the phone when he saw him come in and gestured for him to sit down on the sofa.

The voice on the other end of the phone sounded anxious, and Lei's expression was very impatient.

"I already said, the money will arrive before the end of the month..."

"I know... but it's not something I can control..."

"Okay, okay, I'll wait for your news."

He hung up the phone and turned to Ringo:

"What are you doing here? Has the prison not burned down yet?"

Lin Ge sat down on the sofa.

"I don't have any right now, but I'd like to borrow some more money from you. Also, I need you to help me investigate someone."

"Who?"

Ray's interest was piqued.

"The former warden of McLean County Correctional Center, his name was... wait a minute."

Lin Ge pulled out his old belongings, including an old Motorola flip phone, and glanced at the memo.

"Dennis Crawford."

Ray leaned back in his chair and lit a cigar.

"Why are you investigating him?"

"Before he resigned, he signed a fabric purchase contract for $62,000."

Lin Ge looked serious:

"But I suspect he bought a defective product, but quoted the price of a genuine product, and the difference went into his pocket."

Lei slowly exhaled a puff of smoke.

"Do you know what you're saying? You're accusing a former county government official of corruption."

Lin Ge sneered:

"He's after my money now, so of course I'm going to pursue this matter."

"If he's rigging the procurement process, he's probably rigging it elsewhere as well."

"If we don't investigate, how many more holes will I have to plug in the prison's financial situation?"

Ray chuckled, then placed his cigar on the ashtray, took a black leather notebook from the drawer, and flipped through a few pages.

Then he read aloud:

"Dennis Crawford, 53, has worked in McLean County for eleven years."

"After resigning, I moved to Austin, Texas, and started a small building materials company."

His wife works at the county tax office, and his daughter studies at the University of Tulsa.

How do you know all this?

Lin Ge felt a chill run down his spine. He had only just mentioned a name when the other party pulled up his detailed information.

This means that these lists were already in Ray's drawer.

Lei closed the notebook, a slight smile playing on his lips:

"I told you, this is my line of work. In Tulsa, there's no information I can buy without spending money."

"Can you help me find evidence? About that batch of fabric."

Lin Ge pressed for an answer.

Ray's smile vanished:

"Chen, I'm not a private investigator, I'm a loan shark."

"You owe me over $50,000, at an annual interest rate of 25%, and now you're asking me for money again?"

"It's free for me to investigate people, but finding evidence for you will cost extra."

"How much?"

Lin Ge asked directly.

"That depends on the value of the evidence."

Ray picked up his cigar again:

"If you can prove that Crawford embezzled funds, you can get a portion of the purchase money back, or sue the county government for compensation."

"This sum of money is at least tens of thousands, and I want 30% of it."

Lin Ge quickly did some mental calculations.

A purchase contract worth $62,000 could result in a price difference of 40% to 50% if the goods are substandard.

$24800 to $31000, and 30% is about $8300, equivalent to the monthly wages of five workers, which was paid to Ray as a survey fee.

"make a deal."

Ray nodded, reached for his cigar, and pointed at Ringo:

"I'll get a friend to help you tomorrow. His name is Leonard Parker. He used to be a detective with the Tulsa Police Department, but now he works for himself."

"He's very reliable, but he has a bad temper, so don't mess with him."

Thank you.

Ringo stood up. "But I have one more thing to say."

"Your fart is really long, hurry up and tell me."

"I can't keep borrowing money from you. I need a client, a client who needs a lot of cheap labor. Do you know anyone like that?"

Lei thought for a moment and said:

"Do you know there's a factory in Tulsa called TMW?"

"I've heard of it."

When Lin Ge was looking for business opportunities, he had considered this factory and even did some background research.

Ray told him:

"Their boss is called Danforth, and he's an old bastard."

"But his factory recently received a large order that requires a large number of stamped parts, and he is looking for an outsourcing supplier."

"You can go and talk to him."

Ray stubbed out his cigar on the table, cut off a new one, and then continued:

"Don't go and say I introduced him; I have a grudge against him."

"What kind of holiday?" Lin Ge asked.

"He owed me money and didn't pay it back, so I took several machines from his factory to pay off the debt. That's why he outsourced the work."

"From then on, he hated me to the core."

Ringo remembered another name: Harvey Danforth.

A potential client needs this person.

……

At 8 p.m., Lingo returned to the Bluebird Motel.

Betty is still at the front desk.

The television in front of her was playing an evening news program, with the anchor reporting on Reagan's preparations to participate in a televised election debate.

On the screen, Reagan's smile was as radiant as ever, and his hair was as black as ever. Ringo knew it was dyed, but people of this era didn't.

"You look like you've been hit by a car."

Betty teased him when she saw him.

"Almost there. Is the door to room number two still creaking?"

Ringo took the keys from Betty.

"Someone will fix it, but not me, you will, you promised me."

Lin Ge gave a wry smile and said somewhat awkwardly:

"I'll fix it tomorrow, I'll fix it tomorrow."

He went into the room, closed the door, and didn't turn on the lights to save Betty some electricity.