Scarface and the Untouchable by Max Allan Collins

Author:Max Allan Collins
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780062441966
Publisher: HarperCollins

Although pleased that Judge Wilkerson had thrown out the devil’s bargain, Eliot Ness knew that when it came to bootlegging, Capone could be convicted only on conspiracy charges.

The next day, the Tribune cited unnamed Untouchables—likely including Ness—who explained the difficulty, if not impossibility, of “link[ing] Capone with any substantive offenses, such as manufacture, sale or transportation of beer, within the statute of limitations.”

In early August, Ness and his Untouchables appeared before the grand jury, presenting their evidence in what seemed a vain attempt to secure new charges against Capone.

In the meantime, their most important work remained cutting off the Outfit’s income wherever they could. And summer provided bootleggers with a much-needed cash infusion as roasting Chicagoans sought icy glasses of beer. Taking no joy in denying refreshment to the city’s citizens, Ness and the Untouchables provided heat of their own, hoping to dry up an already weakened criminal organization.

As early as mid-May, Capone’s men were fleecing speakeasy owners by underfilling beer barrels and forcing more product on them than they could use.

“Raids on Capone’s breweries and his gambling dives,” reported the Tribune, “as well as high bonds required of his gangsters in federal Court are reported to have hit [Capone] hard financially, probably accounting for the cheating.”

Federal agents told the New York Times the Outfit was “virtually insolvent” from bailing out its members and replacing seized equipment. When the tax charges first came down, Capone barely had enough cash on hand to make his $50,000 bond.

The Untouchables kept up the pressure. Cruising around the South Side on June 20, two of Ness’s men noticed the driver of an ice truck glancing around furtively, as if to spot a tail. They followed him to a large double garage at 2636 Calumet Avenue and stormed inside.

A trio of startled bootleggers lit out the back way. The agents flagged down a passing police car and leapt onto its running board as it sped after one of the fleeing men. A few warning shots brought the bootlegger skidding to a stop, ready to surrender.

He turned out to be James Calloway, an associate of Bert Delaney, Capone’s brewery location spotter. The other two escaped, but back in the garage the Untouchables found more than 360 barrels of iced beer ready for delivery—some 12,000 gallons all told, worth $20,285. They also discovered another piece of evidence linking Capone to the racket—some barrels had been loaded onto a truck owned by the World Motor Service Company, a Capone front.

Less than a month later, as a thick, oppressive heat wave settled over the city, Ness got a tip liquor was stored in a garage at 3419 North Clark Street. He and the Untouchables quickly raided the place, but found nothing apart from some empty bottles and whiskey wrappers. Wilting from the weather and their failure, they had to admit defeat.

“Well, boys,” Ness said. “It looks like we’re dished again.”

But then one of the Untouchables pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and a half-dollar coin fell out, rolling across the floor and dropping through a metal grating, landing with a soft clink.

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