[Chapter 64: Who Is It Exactly?]
[(Exclusive Investigation) Rising superstar Orlando Keller is sweeping across America with his addictive hit single Old Town Road and rumors involving Madonna. But behind his 'creative genius' image lies a criminal stain!
After months of undercover investigation, our paper has connected with several informants in the Bronx and is exposing for the first time the shocking truth that this 18-year-old singer was deeply involved with a local theft ring at age 15. Police sealed files reveal the gang was responsible for at least a dozen major burglaries between 1986 and 1987 across the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn, with stolen goods valued over $500,000.]
"Fuck!"
Orlando held the newspaper without hesitation and said, "Let's go to Warner! Shania, stay back at the company and keep practicing this afternoon!"
With Shania's anxious glance, the three company heads quickly walked out.
But they didn't take the front door because Seymour warned, "A big crowd of reporters has already gathered outside, not sure when."
To avoid a verbal battle, they left through a side door.
---
On the way to Warner Music headquarters, Orlando frowned, continuing to read the New York Post's slanderous article.
["...He sat counting money in a pile of stolen goods!" A former core member of the theft gang going by the alias Frontline, speaking from a secure location with face blurred and voice altered, told our reporters: "Back then, we used an abandoned car factory as our base (see photo 1: rusted gantry crane and piles of stolen items). Though Orlando was the youngest, he was the gang's 'brain' -- specializing in setting up underground fences in New York!"
The informant revealed key details: "This kid was so cautious, always wearing gloves. The stolen goods handled by him could triple in value -- even the Sicilian gangsters respected him!"]
"Fuck, fuck! This is total slander -- I'm going to sue the New York Post to death, and that disgusting Kalikow guy too!"
Orlando fumed.
Though the original Orlando did spend a time around theft gangs out of survival, he was only a fringe lookout at best.
And it lasted at most a few months, with participation in three gang operations.
Nothing like this newspaper's crazy claim that he was a core gang member!
Orlando was certain, most of what was reported here was false.
The issue was mixing mostly lies with a grain of truth.
The part that was true was his early days when he first broke out.
Warner had built his image around him admitting past involvement with theft and punishment.
They'd framed it as the image of a musical prodigy who turned his life around.
Because that record really existed and couldn't be erased.
They had to spin redemption from that true base, but wiping it clean was impossible.
Now, however, the New York Post's fabricated slanders had made things tough for a while.
"Seymour, Frank, tell me, what's wrong with Kalikow? Is he mad?"
Orlando looked up at his manager and general manager. "Or is this on you guys? Haven't figured out what's going on yet? Keep in mind this is the New York Post, not some tabloid! Why would they target me like this -- aren't they afraid of a lawsuit?"
"I've looked over the articles closely. Orlando, check if there's anything weird with the photos," Seymour warned.
"Something wrong with the photos?" Orlando frowned but still reexamined them carefully.
The New York Post's article, though slanderous, was packed with 'evidence.'
They claimed three sets of corroborated evidence chains.
First was a crime map, based on a so-called 'informant' who provided a 1987 hand-drawn map, marking Bronx's industrial zone No. 3 as a storage site for stolen goods, aligning with Orlando's teenage movements.
Second was a time anchor: the peak crime years of 1986-1987, exactly when Orlando dropped out and lived on the streets. It also cited his own media quotes about "living independently since age 14."
Orlando had indeed said that multiple times in interviews.
He really was orphaned around that time, with family assets lost to fire.
Even with government support for public schooling, he often didn't have enough to eat; growing up in a tough neighborhood, who would have kept going to school?
That was classic New York Post: mostly lies with a few truths.
The third so-called evidence chain was photos showing Orlando and others patrolling an obviously abandoned industrial area.
The article claimed he planned to buy those abandoned sites, not for legitimate business, but to cover up his past as a core gang member!
They even attached records of his company consulting New York City about purchasing those plots.
"Fuck! Fuck! That's a dockyard in Brooklyn, not the Bronx! Is there something wrong with Kurt? That photo is from when he and I were checking out Brooklyn real estate!"
The problem was he just met with Kurt yesterday.
When discussing the property deal, he'd naturally had used his telepathy. And he sensed nothing suspicious from Kurt.
Unless his telepathy failed, or it didn't work on Kurt, then if Kurt was betraying him, Orlando would've known yesterday.
Or maybe...
Kurt went home last night and only then decided to betray him?
"The photo's angle looks like it was taken secretly."
The veteran Seymour wasn't driving; Frank was behind the wheel.
Orlando's bodyguards and assistants drove behind them.
"And the distance is a bit far -- at least several dozen yards, probably shot with a telephoto lens."
"You're saying these photos were taken secretly?"
After hearing this, Orlando looked again at the photos in the paper.
They really did look like Seymour described.
The angles didn't look like close shots.
And if anyone was that close taking pictures, with so many bodyguards around, there's no way they would have missed it.
His telepathy hadn't reacted either.
So if Seymour's guess was correct, the photos were taken with a telephoto camera from about 50 yards away.
"This is obviously different from last time."
Frank, waiting at a red light, quickly said, "Last time, the smear was about petty stuff from small tabloids. This time it's the New York Post stepping up. Whoever's behind this has to be a major player! Otherwise, even the Post wouldn't dare -- this would only make their already bad finances worse!"
"Could the Post's owner know I'm trying to buy the paper?"
Orlando recounted to Seymour and Frank his talks with Kurt about wanting to buy the New York Post.
Both thought that was unlikely.
"The New York Post is a hot potato for Kalikow right now. He wouldn't risk this over you trying to buy the paper; his situation isn't good."
So who the hell was it?
Orlando furrowed his brow.
*****
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