"Speak. What happened?" After dropping Margot off at her home, Josh got back in the car, motioned for the driver to start driving, and asked Dix, "Was it the cigarettes or the sugar?"
The "sugar" Josh referred to wasn't corn syrup.
Corn syrup, as a new product, had a government contract — the entire supply was allocated to the military.
However, aside from producing syrup, Josh's sugar factory was also producing refined white sugar.
As for the raw materials, those were undoubtedly sourced through his deal with Daenerys.
Crude black sugar or raw sugarcane was imported from Westeros at low cost, then processed in his factories into pure white sugar. Part of it was sold back to Daenerys at a high price, while the rest flowed into the Chicago black market, raking in massive profits.
Combined with tobacco, these two black-market businesses brought Josh far more profit than the military contracts.
Of course, being illegal operations, they were naturally targets of envy and attack.
So Josh wasn't exactly surprised this day had arrived.
"Both. Ten thousand cartons of cigarettes and a ton of sugar — all headed for New York — were hijacked at the docks. Five of our men were killed, two seriously injured. Only one escaped and called me." Dix replied heavily — those who died were his men, after all.
Josh narrowed his eyes upon hearing this. Damn — at a minimum of $10 per carton of cigarettes and $20 per kilo of sugar, that was $120,000 worth of goods gone.
"Any idea who did it?" Josh asked.
"Not yet. They were efficient. By the time we got there, the goods were gone." Dix shook his head. "But I've already notified Mr. Schneider and Mr. Dietrich. Don't know if they've dug up anything useful."
Josh nodded and fell silent, deep in thought.
About half an hour later, Josh's convoy of three vehicles arrived at Anna's restaurant — the widow of Louis, who had died of his injuries after being shot in that jewelry heist.
Originally, Dix had just wanted to help her and her child out of friendship. But to be fair, Anna, though just a working-class widow, had remarkable looks and a stunning figure. While not quite as beautiful as Margot, she was at least on par with the socialites Josh had met — and even rivaled the so-called stars from the United Service Organizations.
Because of that, Dix's "help" turned into "your wife, I'll raise her," and now he was even planning to marry her.
Due to this connection, the restaurant gradually became a regular meeting place for Josh and his men.
As for the three-car convoy, they were all Josh's bodyguards.
While Josh still had a ways to go before reaching the level of Chicago's top moguls, he was now a man of wealth, power, and growing fame — it was impossible to move around like he used to, alone.
So he had recruited over twenty men to serve as his personal guards.
These men were all recruited from the port refugee camp.
Chicago, though a Midwestern city, was America's third-largest and a major draw for immigrants. Thanks to Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes shipping route, it had direct access to Europe, which meant many European refugees ended up there.
Those with money or connections could enter Chicago directly.
But the 30,000+ poor, connectionless refugees were stuck at the port's refugee camp, living off rotten, spoiled food distributed by the government and waiting for immigration processing.
They wouldn't starve to death, but many still died from illness, cold, and other causes.
Conditions were only marginally better than concentration camps so recruiting people was no problem for Josh.
He chose those with families — people who cared about their children and spouses — most of whom were ex-soldiers, mainly of German or Austrian descent, with a few from Northern Europe. As for why he didn't recruit Asians — come on, the refugees from Europe didn't include any Asians. Asian refugees were all in Los Angeles, halfway across the continent.
These family-oriented refugees valued stability.
With generous relocation money and centralized housing for their families, Josh easily secured their loyalty.
Since it was already late, the restaurant had closed.
Inside were only Lyndon Schneider and Dietrich, who had been waiting.
"Any leads?" Josh asked as he plopped himself down on the couch.
"The Sheriff has some clues." Clearly, the two had discussed things before Josh arrived, and Schneider pushed Dietrich forward.
Not surprising — among Josh's men, only Dietrich was a true local player in Chicago.
Josh turned to Dietrich.
"I've got informants in every district. As soon as Dix called me, I started asking around. Tonight, five gangs had major activity. One was the Italian Moretti family and another the Irish Fat Man crew. But those two are unlikely suspects — they were busy fighting each other. Moretti's hitmen were wiped out by the Fat Man's men. The other three: the Italian Falcone family, a Spanish gang called Wild Dogs, and a Jewish group. I personally think the Falcones are unlikely. Their boss, Salieri, was jailed five years ago, and they've been in decline ever since," Dietrich explained.
"So the prime suspects are the Spaniards and the Jews?" Josh tapped the table.
"Yes, but it's still just my speculation. Their movements tonight make them most suspicious. To be certain, we'll need to track down the missing shipment. Who knows, maybe it was some reckless newcomers trying to make a name." Dietrich shrugged.
That's the nature of Chicago — America's third-largest city, with extremely complex ethnic factions. There were over a dozen major gangs and countless smaller ones.
New ones popped up or disappeared practically every day.
Josh nodded. Even in the underworld, where you didn't need evidence like the police, when multiple suspects were involved, you had to investigate thoroughly.
Accusing the wrong party was a minor problem — being used as someone else's pawn was deadly.
"Alright, keep digging. All of you stay on this. Let me know the moment there's any news. We might not be a formal gang, but we're not some sewer rats to be trifled with. Also, Schneider — pay Dix from the shipment fund: ten grand for each man killed, five grand for the seriously injured. Tell everyone — if they're willing to shed blood for me, I won't let them down," Josh ordered.
The compensation Josh quoted moved everyone present.
In this era, most gang members who died got maybe a thousand or two — if their boss was feeling generous.
More often than not, they got nothing.
That's why many young men preferred joining the military.
Besides the higher salary, the $6,000 death benefit was a big reason.
Even into the 21st century, the U.S. military's death benefit remained $6,000. But after WWII, compensation came mostly through insurance — the six grand became symbolic.
So Josh's ten-grand payout was extremely generous by this era's standards.
Everyone knew he was buying loyalty — but so what? Who doesn't like a boss willing to spend money?
And for Josh, money wasn't a problem. He still wasn't one of the true top-tier moguls, but spending a few tens of thousands to win people over was nothing to him. With the dimension trading device, making money was too easy.
Forget the profits from selling sugar and cigarettes on the black market — just from his dealings with Daenerys, Josh's warehouses were piled high with gold and silver.