Stories published in my book "Para Vivir Seguros (2005) If you missed the previous story, here it is: #567901

The small wedding anniversary party of the Menotti Ramos family quickly grew in size and warmth. It all began as a surprise organized by the children, with the family, close friends, and some neighbors from the community. However, Angel Menotti and Clara Ramos were very well-liked in the community, and word spread quickly. Colleagues from the dental clinic where Mrs. Clara worked came, as well as many employees from the shoe factory managed by engineer Menotti. Close and distant relatives, friends from clubs the Menotti Ramos family belonged to, the parish priest, old schoolmates, and some people the family didn't know or remember also attended. The children, surprised by the influx of people, had to run out to buy ice, soft drinks, crates of beer, and a box of whiskey.

Around ten at night, Aquiles García, a neighbor and excellent friend of the Menotti Ramos family, knocked on the door.

"Angel, my friend, first of all, my sincere congratulations to you and your wife on this anniversary. Come, give me a hug..."

"Thanks, brother, but come in, don’t stay at the door. Come in, and let’s have a drink..."

"Look, Ángel, I actually wanted to ask you something... I didn’t come earlier because I have guests at home. Some Europeans with whom we are planning some business... Would you mind if I bring them over? There are three of them. Two Spaniards and a Romanian..."

"But Aquiles, for God's sake, you don’t even have to ask. Go and bring them. Your friends are my friends."

The additional guests turned out to be three quite serious gentlemen, dressed formally. The two Spaniards devoted themselves to eating cheese and cold cuts near the buffet, while the Romanian turned out to be an extremely pleasant and talkative person who managed to capture Angel Menotti’s attention.

"First time visiting the country, my friend? Sorry, I didn't catch your name..."

"Popescu. Nicolás Popescu. It’s my first time here."

"But you speak perfect Spanish. You have an accent, like from the south... Argentina or Uruguay."

"Well, yes... During the dictatorship, I was a diplomat in several Latin American countries, as a commercial attaché... That allowed me to establish many contacts and good relations with Western countries... Then, when communism fell, I started working on my own... I have an export and import company, with the main office in Bucharest and branches in Madrid, Bogotá, and Lima. Now we’re exploring the market here."

"And what area are you in?"

"Sorry, I don’t understand."

"Well, what field are you in...? What type of products or goods do you import or export?"

"Oh, everything, my friend, everything. Anything that can be bought cheaply here in dollars and sold for a high price in my country..."

"Are you interested in shoes, by any chance?"

"Of course. There is a great need for clothing, dress shoes, casual shoes, sports shoes... I’m very interested..."

"Well, I’ll give you my card. I have a shoe factory. Perhaps you could visit us on Monday and see what business we can do."

"With pleasure... I also represent several companies from my country. Security products, safes, alarms, cash registers. We’re entering the market and have excellent prices to compete with all the multinationals..."

"Well, we’re already pretty well covered in that..."

"I’m sure, dear friend, I’m sure. But we have some really novel products. For example, tell me, does your industry handle payments in cash or more with checks, or perhaps credit cards..."

"Well, Mr. Popescu, currently in the country few people buy with credit cards; you know, because of the interest rates... And even fewer use checks. We have one day a week, Fridays, when we do direct sales to the public. We set up a kind of store at the entrance of the factory. There we place products that are hard to sell, what we have left in stock, or that have minor defects, at good prices..."

"I suppose you sell a lot..."

"Yes... It has been an excellent idea. We’re thinking of using that system on Saturdays as well."

"And then most of the buyers pay you in cash..."

"Yes, in cash..."

"I suppose, my friend Menotti, that a security truck comes to pick up the money to deposit it in a bank."

"No, that’s too expensive. We keep the money, and then the manager makes a night deposit."

"Oh, but you see, I represent precisely a system of sealed and armored security bags that could be perfect for your company."

"Well, Mr. Popescu, it would be a matter of discussing all that when you visit me on Monday..."

Engineer Menotti waited for the Romanian to visit the factory. He never came, and the engineer thought that something must have come up, or that perhaps the European was more interested in selling his products than buying shoes. By Monday afternoon, engrossed in the demanding dynamics of his company, Angel Menotti had forgotten the matter.

That same Friday, Angel Menotti was about to spend the weekend at his beach club when he received an urgent call from the factory.

"Mr. Menotti, this is Graciela. Something terrible just happened. Mr. Mendes, the Plant Manager, was robbed with all the sales money and was shot. It’s horrible. There’s a lot of blood. The place is full of police. Please come quickly, engineer."

Angel Menotti rushed to the factory. Fortunately, the Plant Manager was out of danger. He had been shot in the thigh. The robbers took almost six million, plus an indeterminate amount in customers' jewelry and merchandise. Three months later, the judicial police asked the engineer to come with the Plant Manager to do a lineup to see if they could identify the robbers. Engineer Menotti was stunned to recognize the Romanian Popescu among the suspects. A commissioner explained that he wasn’t any Romanian but a dangerous criminal, born in the country and wanted for numerous crimes.