Opportunity

Martin found a fur dealer named Pidul who bought the pelts of animals with hair all over their bodies. He had no interest in leather goods from animals with mostly exposed skin, which disappointed many United States fur dealers. Although Pidul was picky, he was always generous with his money.

Martin found Pidul, showed him the letter, and then explained his purpose directly.

"Oh dear, this is a difficult matter," said Pidul. "How can I, a legitimate fur trader,..."

"Legitimate businessmen? Give me a break. Not a single fur trader is actually doing legitimate business," Martin said.

"Even so," Pidul said, "But I'm a businessman; I only care about money, not lives."

"Dyson said you've taken a lot of lives."

"That was collateral damage during the process of making money. My goal was not to kill them; they just happened to be in my way. I didn't intentionally try to kill them, so I was indeed only after money, not to take lives," Pidul answered frankly.

"Okay, but I'm the one who caused the death, it has nothing to do with you. I just need your help, which will also benefit our future business, won't it?"

Pidul thought for a moment and replied, "I can't interfere in anything directly related to this matter. I can offer you some help, after all, Dyson is my friend. But I don't know what you're here for. You just asked me some business questions, and I told you as a friend. Besides, you're trying to get involved with an influential person. If things get exposed and implicate me, I'll be in serious trouble. Well, Dyson will have to compensate me more next time."

After saying that, he continued, "About Fafnir and Gred, they are both professors at Harvard. They are very influential. There aren't many people here who don't know them. Hmm, tell me your general plans first."

Martin's plan was simple: he would first figure out Fafnir or Gred's routine, then wait for them on the roads they frequented, and after confirming his target, fire two revolvers at them before riding off on horseback.

"Your plan is too crude," Pidul shook his head. "Putting everything else aside, how are you going to escape afterward? How can you be so careless about something so important? Young man, you don't know the value of life. You're so unfamiliar with this place, and your accent is different from here. How can you expect to escape so easily? When doing something like this, you must first consider your escape route. You must consider how to retreat after success or failure. Think about it, if you get caught in Massachusetts, what kind of sentence will the Massachusetts court give you? They'll just hang you up and let you dry in the wind."

"Young man, you still have family, right? Would they want to see news of you being hung up and dried out in the newspapers? So, the most important thing is to devise an evacuation plan. Well, these next few days, don't do anything else but be my salesman. This job requires you to go door-to-door, so you can familiarize yourself with the terrain of Boston —especially the area from Harvard to the harbor. As for those two's movements, I'll find out for you."

Thus ended their first conversation. Early the next morning, Pidul gave Martin a small box to hang around his neck, filled with France cigarettes and various women's trinkets, and asked him to go out and sell these things.

"This box is too heavy," Martin said. "Couldn't you have gotten a lighter one? I'm just familiarizing myself with the terrain, not really..."

"Of course you're serious. Keep up the good work, and I'll pay you." Pidul patted him on the shoulder and said.

In the days that followed, Martin spent his days wandering the streets and alleys of the area where the operation might take place, and returned at night to exchange information with Pidul and discuss the methods of the assassination.

"Your original plan won't work. You can't kill them both at the same time. Although they're at the same university, they're not in the same college. So the chances of them appearing in the same place together are very small. Therefore, you can only choose one of them as your target. And recently, because of the anger in the Southern states over their remarks, and because many people have publicly declared that they want to kill them, they're being even more cautious. These days, they almost never go out in public except when they're in class, so assassinating them won't be easy."

"What can we do then? Can you find out where they live?" Martin asked.

"What, you still want to break in and commit murder? That won't be easy. They're both very rich, so they live in upscale areas. Hmm, they live in the Newton District, a place you should have been to these days. What do you think?"

"There were so many police officers. You could see at least one or two officers anywhere you looked. I was selling cigarettes there and was questioned by several officers," Martin said.

"There will be even more police there at night. Besides, you can't go into someone's house beforehand to prepare, but your target might already be prepared. He knows the terrain much better than you do, and he's prepared. With just a shotgun and a dog, let alone you, even two or three people wouldn't be able to break in quickly. Plus, any slight movement will bring a large number of police officers. So, if you're planning to break into a house, I suggest you just go to the market, buy a rope, and hang yourself. That way, everyone will save themselves trouble." Pidul was clearly not in favor of the home invasion plan.

Martin was also disappointed, but he knew that Pidul was right. There was a reason why Newton District was recognized as the safest area in Boston.

"So what do we do?" Martin asked.

"For now, we can only wait and see if other opportunities arise. This might take quite a while. Hmm, now you know why I wanted you to be a salesman, right? Otherwise, the money you brought might not be enough."

Martin had no choice but to continue working as a salesman to earn a salary; otherwise, just as Pidul had said, the little money he brought in wouldn't be enough.

But things took a turn for the better quickly. That afternoon, Martin had just returned when he saw Pidul waving a newspaper at him. "Martin, come here, take a look at this news."

"What happened?" Martin asked.

"Your opportunity has arrived," Pidul said. "Look, Professor Boblon, a literature professor at the University of Paris, has been invited to visit Harvard University. Do you know what that means?"

"I know," Martin said. "Harvard University will definitely hold a welcoming ceremony for scholars like him who come to lecture. Harvard's auditorium isn't big enough, and considering the sunny weather these days, the welcoming ceremony will most likely be held outdoors."