Chương 113: The Pig's Tactics

The next morning, the front page of the New York Herald silenced breakfast tables throughout New York.

On the left is a large photograph. It shows a panoramic view of the lobby of the Plaza Hotel, with its lights, formal attire, and delicacies on long tables—everything is so elegant and prosperous.

However, the composition of the photo has a strange imbalance.

The person standing on the stage holding a wine glass was surrounded by a large blank space, and the people in formal attire kept an unnatural distance from him.

The photo on the right shows Arthur being interviewed last night in front of the Plaza Hotel.

The timetable next to it was enlarged and printed separately in the lower right corner of the page.

Each record is connected to the same timeline by a thin line, eventually converging at a single node: At 8 p. m., the Epiphany charity ball officially began.

The title has only five words: "The Pig's Tactics".

Below is a short text, written by Arthur himself.

It is said that in some battles, there is a tactic called the "pig's tactic." You lean your back against a wall, hold onto that small piece of territory, head down, and wait for the enemy to pounce. You neither attack nor retreat, you just wait and see.

Although defeat was inevitable, they still had to pretend that the rear was well-preserved.

Last night, luxury cars pulled up one after another in front of the Plaza Hotel, and people in formal attire walked through the door one by one.

They walked quickly, heads bowed, backs to the camera, as if they were doing something they had to do but hoped no one would see.

I wonder if they had a good time after they went in.

However, according to the editor, Macy's was subjected to a surprise tax inspection at 2: 30 pm yesterday.

Yesterday afternoon at 3 p. m., firefighters appeared at a department store flagship store on Fifth Avenue.

Yesterday afternoon at 3: 20 PM, a family's real estate application was informed that it needed to be re-examined.

These events all occurred within hours of the start of the charity ball.

The editor has no intention of accusing anyone.

But we have to think about who it is that was forced into a corner and used every means to hold onto the last bit of territory.

Were they the guests who walked in with their heads down?

Was it still the same person sitting in the brightly lit hall, waiting for them to arrive?

The editor felt sorry for those guests.

It's not because they went.

It's not because they had to go.

The editor also felt sorry for the person who was waiting for them.

Even at this point, he still thought he was using a clever tactic, unaware that everyone had seen through the wall behind him—it was just a paper wall.

The article sparked a faster and more direct reaction in New York than Animal Farm did.

Animal Farm requires readers to make their own connections between the allegory and reality, demanding a certain level of reading ability and political sensitivity.

But "The Pig's Tactics" doesn't need that. That timeline laid everything out in the open, and anyone who could read could understand where that timeline pointed.

That morning, The New York Times reprinted the timeline with a brief editor's note, carefully worded but with a clear message.

The Associated Press issued a brief report describing the scene outside the Plaza Hotel last night, as well as the document Arthur handed to the reporter.

By noon, the news had spread throughout the entire East Coast.

For ordinary people, the reaction is even more direct.

In a corner grocery store in the Lower East Side, the owner posted the schedule on the wall behind the cashier, with a line written in pencil next to it: This is what that pig did last night.

A dockworker in Brooklyn took the newspaper to his workplace and read it aloud to those around him during his breaks.

In several blocks of East Harlem, the timetable was handwritten and posted on telephone poles at several street corners.

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But there is another voice.

A tabloid close to the Tammany Society published a rebuttal that afternoon, titled "Janney's Conspiracy Theory".

The article's logic is simple: tax and fire inspections are routine procedures and have nothing to do with the charity ball.

Kennedy's piecing together of several coincidences into a so-called timeline is a classic example of conspiracy theory, misleading the public with wordplay, and deliberately undermining the New York City mayor's charitable endeavors.

This article was reposted by several organizations under the Tammany Association, and publicly endorsed by several businessmen who had benefited from the Tammany Association.

However, its reach is like a single piece of firewood compared to "The Pig's Tactics."

3 PM, City Hall.

Jimmy Walker crumpled the New York Herald into a ball and threw it at the opposite wall.

He had done this three times already, each time picking up the newspaper, unfolding it again, reading it once more, and then crumpling it up and throwing it away.

McGuire sat in his chair, waiting for him to finish venting his anger.

Walker turned around, pointed at McGuire, and said, "He ruined my dance last night, and now he's going to slander me too? Does he think I'm a pig?"

McGuire advised, "Mayor, getting angry won't solve the problem now."

Walker put down the ashtray he was holding, and if he threw it down again, there wouldn't be anything intact left in the office.

But he was still furious: "Then tell me, how do you plan to solve this? You said last time the ball could be turned around, did it? You said sending invitations would get them to come, they came, and then what? They came, what's the difference between them coming and them not coming at all?"

McGuire did not answer and lowered his head.

Walker sat down in the chair, rubbed his temples, and lowered his voice.

"What are they saying in the newspapers these days?"

McGuire took a stack of newspaper clippings out of his briefcase and placed them on the table.

Walker glanced down at it but didn't take it.

McGuire said, "The New York Times reprinted the timeline. The Associated Press sent a brief report. The Herald Tribune devoted half its front page to it this afternoon."

Walker asked, "What about Washington?"

McGuire said, "There hasn't been a big reaction in Washington yet, but our informants in Congress say that several members of Congress are discussing this privately, especially the so-called reformists led by Eira Guardia."

Walker closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

"What about Sibyl?"

McQueen paused for a moment, then said, "The Westbli Inquiry Committee issued a new batch of subpoenas this morning. Two of them were issued to relevant personnel in the Tammony Association's finance department."

The office remained quiet for a long time.

Walker didn't say anything more, he just sat there with his eyes closed.

McGuire looked at him and, for the first time, saw something akin to weariness on the face of this usually dashing mayor.