About this app
The son of the funeral home accountant inherited from his father the qualities inherent in this specific combination of professions. In addition, he had the ability to think at the state level. As a result, he almost buried the economy of a single European country. The consequences of his work, historians later called the "scam of the century."
A young Portuguese man sitting cross-legged on a tapestry couch and sorting through a pile of stale newspapers - the only way to pass the time of painful waiting. An impressive Continental cigar that moved so smoothly from thin lips to a bronze ashtray that it looked like an airship.
Under the Gothic logo of The Telegraph logo of no less large sizes, the heading announced: "Inflation in Portugal: the escudo has lost 20 times." Others were no more optimistic: "Another government crisis," "Portugal - a ship that got a hole."
Mr. obviously liked the last metaphor; the seigneur corrected his pince-nez, which had carved into the bridge of the nose, and tried to find the author's last name. Convinced of the futility of his search, he turned to the newspapers on January 16, 1920. Morning reported that the post of Prime Minister of the Government of Portugal took Ferdinand Cat. Evening - about his resignation ...
The horn's sharp hoot distracted the lord from reading. Penny hung helplessly on a gold chain. Through the stained-glass window of the embassy mansion, the Portuguese saw the headlights and the predatory face of the upcoming "Spanish-Suiza". Three gentlemen came out of it.
The cigar of the Portuguese airship crashed in an ashtray.
One of the arrivals gentlemen, holding out his hand towards the Portuguese, said: "Meet the gentlemen. This is our colleague from Lisbon - Arthur Virgilio Reis. "
Arthur Reis was to meet future partners.
The short man who introduced him with a magnificent mustache turned out to be forty-three-year-old Jose Dos Santos Bandeira. His main asset in life was that he was the brother of the Portuguese Consul in The Hague. Jose Bandeira’s track record included burglary, hiding the stolen goods, alcohol trading, and seven years in prison. However, the generous commissions from international transactions, received not without the help of a brother, and someone made a rumor that Bandeira "has interests in the oil business", created the image of a successful businessman. Actually, he was the organizer of the meeting at the consular mansion.
The second is the athletic build of a Dutchman named Karel Marang van Isselveere. A hereditary nobleman, Isselveere made a fortune in the neutral Netherlands, supplying food and raw materials to a warring Germany.
"Adolf Gustav Hennis," the third introduced himself, and gave those present a grin of a pimp.
The son of a peasant once studied for a cigar master, but ... he borrowed a large amount of money and rushed into the race, forgetting to grab his family. Dangled around the world, traded anything horrible. Hennis is his pseudonym. According to the Swiss passport.
- Come to the hall, gentlemen! - Invited Bandeira, swinging open the door with the arms. Behind them, the "magnificent four" and disappeared. When, after an hour and a half, the same doors opened and released a cigar smog, all that was heard was: "very promising," "our joint actions in Angola" ...
A half-empty first-class carriage carried Reis from The Hague to Lisbon. At home he was expected by his wife, a twelve-room apartment, three servants and a personal chauffeur. Outside the window, the subtitles of settlements changed. Flight smoked. Half of his luggage consisted of beech boxes with cigars. Running a hand over his high forehead and smoothing back rare hair, Reis wondered if the meeting was useful to him. Prior to this, he always acted alone.
