Continued from Part Sixteen

In Nigeria, Paul Galroni checked his e-mail. He sent out a thousand e-mails every day running various scams out of his flat in Abuja, Nigeria. It used to be easy to make money, but now he’d be lucky to get one or two responses a day. This day, he had two.

He opened the first.

Dear Obusi,

   How’s it going? I’d be more than happy to help you smuggle twelve million dollars into the US from stolen oil money. What do I need to do?

–Captain Jake Welch, Seattle PD

Strange, the first email was usually more skeptical. It’d been years since he’d enjoyed such naivety. He wrote back, “I need $1,200 to bribe local officials so I can get the money out of the country.”

 He checked his second message:

Dear Sir,

It’s a shame you’re so greedy you’d destroy people’s lives. I pray God will save your soul and urge you to get right with Him soon, before it’s too late.

–Brother Elijah Collins

“First, I’d have to have a soul.” Galroni deleted the message.

Another message arrived from that Captain Welch:

My pal Obusi,

Hope you’re having a great day, buddy. Did you see the Mariners game? Are they broadcast in Nigeria? The Giants creamed them last night.

Do you really think $1,200 will be enough to hold off local officials? I’ve been taking bribes from crime lords for the past FIVE years, and we demand a lot more than that. You’ll need a lot of money to get out of Nigeria, and I want to help you. Tell you what. I’ll loan you $345,712.53. You go ahead and give me $6,345,712.53 of that $12 million when you get here, and we’ll call it even.

–Captain Jake Welch.

Galroni fell out of his chair. With that money, he could actually go to America.

He looked around the apartment he shared with four partners. Over $350,000, they would kill him. He’d tell them he got the standard $1,200. He replied to the message, “I am not aware of sea monsters battling giants or of the giants making butter out of them.” He glanced quickly over his shoulder and provided his bank account information.

Seconds later, another message arrived in his inbox:

Great! The funds will be sent out today.

–Captain Jake Welch.

Continued Next Tuesday

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