Chương 91: The World's Most Expensive Phone Call Fee

That afternoon, Isabella returned to the New York Herald and handed the photocopied documents to Arthur.

Arthur sat at his desk, carefully reading through each document.

The phone record and the allowance slip showed a 7-minute call and a $5000 allowance, respectively.

Isabella added that, in the name of the investigation committee and with the help of some Harrison family connections, they traced the source of the allowance to a related account of the Hearst Corporation.

Arthur sneered, "They're too confident, so confident that they don't even bother to cover up their tracks."

Isabella said, "Or rather, they simply don't believe anyone would dare to investigate. In the past, no one dared to investigate."

Arthur placed the documents on the table and fell into deep thought.

This evidence was valuable, but he knew that evidence alone wasn't enough. He needed to transform these cold documents into stories that could move people.

Arthur said, "I need to write an article and figure out how to drop some bombshells first."

Isabella asked, "So what do you plan to do?"

"I'm planning to do some translation work, turning these long memos into jokes that all of New York can understand."

As a time traveler, Arthur knew all too well how to manipulate public opinion.

In the future internet age, if you published an article titled "Investigation Report on Irregular Operations by Manhattan County Court Clerks," it would definitely not get more than double digits of clicks.

But if you publish an article titled "Shocking! A phone call from the mayor's office is worth $5, 000!", it will definitely be a viral hit.

In the internet age, the core of news lies not in rigorous legal analysis, but in the manipulation of emotions and the subversion of logic.

Arthur looked up and asked, "Isabella, what does five thousand dollars mean to an ordinary worker?"

"That's several years' worth of their wages," Isabella sighed.

"Very good, how about seven minutes?"

"It's only the time it takes to smoke a cigarette," Isabella said hesitantly.

"That's right." Arthur snapped his fingers.

"So, what I'm going to write isn't a case report, but a math problem."

……

The next day, the front page of the New York Herald did not feature a dry investigative statement.

Instead, Arthur's new column features a highly sensational title: The world's most expensive phone call rate: $714 per minute Instead of quoting obscure legal provisions, the article directly presented copies of the phone record and bank transfer slip.

Of course, key information has been redacted to comply with legal regulations.

Dear New York City residents: Today, I want to talk to you about inflation.

I know everyone's been having a tough time lately; bread prices have gone up, and rent hasn't gone down. But believe me, the inflation you're experiencing is nothing compared to what the city hall is dealing with.

Let's take a look at this deal: At 5: 15 p. m. on November 19, the mayor's office called the Manhattan County Court Clerk's office.

Call duration: 7 minutes.

Six days later, a sum of $5000 was deposited into the account of the county court clerk who answered the phone.

Let's do a simple division: 5000 divided by 7.

The result was $714. 28.

In other words, this phone call from the mayor's office is worth as much as $714 per minute!

What does this mean?

At current prices, $714 could buy 7000 hot dogs or 3. 5 copies of The New York Times.

Our public servants, however, squandered this wealth in just 60 seconds.

Even the renowned AT&T company should be ashamed, as their long-distance call rates are only a few dollars per minute.

Clearly, the Tammany Institute is far ahead of Wall Street in terms of communication value.

What did they talk about in those seven minutes?

Are they discussing how to solve the unemployment problem? Are they studying how to arrange relief?

No.

According to our investigation, those seven minutes were for one purpose only: to make the defamation lawsuit against The New York Daily disappear into the pile of documents.

This is not merely corruption; it is an insult to mathematics.

……

The effect of this article is nuclear-level.

It was not only published in the New York Herald, but also distributed to the media throughout New York as the Investigative Committee's "First Special Briefing."

This time, even newspapers that had been trying to remain neutral couldn't sit still.

This stark contrast is more powerful than any serious accusation.

On the streets and alleys, people queuing for food began discussing this absurd arithmetic problem.

"Hey buddy, can I borrow a light? It'll take me a minute to find matches, and that's a $700 minute. We can't afford to waste that time."

"Don't be silly, you're not the court clerk. Did you get a call from the mayor too?"

This satire quickly became a popular meme.

Taxi drivers complain when stuck in traffic:

"This damn traffic wasted several minutes of my time, and that's thousands of dollars!"

While a housewife was haggling over prices at the market, the vegetable vendor said:

"That's expensive? Do you know how much it costs for the mayor to make a phone call?"

This thrill of deconstructing power provided New Yorkers, caught in an economic panic, with a way to vent their frustrations.

At the city hall, Jimmy Walker angrily smashed his favorite porcelain cup.

"That bastard! He's making a fool of us! $714 a minute? What the hell is he doing?" Walker roared.

Dila stood to the side, her face pale, and said, "There's only one way now."

Walker looked at Dila, immediately understanding, and said fiercely, "Yes, there's only one way: shut that clerk up forever!"

Dila immediately turned around and went out to make arrangements for people.

But it was too late.

Once the flood of public opinion breaks through its banks, it can no longer be stopped.

Arthur sat in his office, listening to Isabella talk about newspaper sales.

"We printed it twice today, but it's still sold out. Arthur, your writing style... is so mean, but I like it."

"That's a dimensional reduction attack," Arthur said with a smile, twirling the pen in his hand.

"For bureaucracies, the most terrifying thing is not going to jail, but becoming a laughing stock. Once authoritarianism is dismantled, the fear disappears."

"So what's next? This has caused such a big stir, and the New York Daily News hasn't made a move yet, which is unlike Hearst," Isabella asked.

"Hurst is a cunning old fox; he's playing dead."

Arthur sneered and took out a stack of new manuscripts from the drawer.

"Since he won't come out, then we'll force him to. We'll use not only the investigation report, but also this."

He placed the stack of manuscripts on the table.

The cover reads: Of Mice and Men.

"This is just the beginning. I want everyone to know that this is not just a story about a clerk taking five thousand dollars. This is a story of cannibalism."

"Hurst, Walker, Dila, every single one of them is a cannibal."