The three associates were not content to operate in the suburbs of
Madrid; they extended the radius of their activities to the nearby
towns and to all places in general where crowds came together.
The market and the small squares were test localities, for the booty
might be of a larger quantity but on the other hand the police were
especially vigilant.
In general, they exploited the laundries more than any other place.
Vidal, like the clever fellow he was, managed to Convince El Bizco
that he was the most gifted of the three for the work. The cross-eyed
thug, out of sheer vanity, always undertook the most difficult part of
the task, seizing the booty, while Vidal and Manuel kept a sharp
lookout.
Vidal would say to Manuel, at the very moment of the robbery, when El
Bizco already had the stolen sheet or chemise under his coat:
"If anyone happens along, don't say a word; nothing. Let them arrest
him; we'll shut up tight as clams, absolutely motionless; if they ask
anything, we know nothing. Right-o?"
"Agreed."
Sheets, chemises, cloaks and all the other articles they robbed they
would sell at the second-hand shop on La Ribera de Curtidores, which
Don Telmo used to visit. The owner, employe or whatever he was of the
shop, would purchase everything the thieves brought, at a very low
price.
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