Silent Bite: An Andy Carpenter Mystery by David Rosenfelt

Author:David Rosenfelt [Rosenfelt, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery
ISBN: 9781250257147
Google: WN9XzAEACAAJ
Amazon: B084M1ZNNJ
Goodreads: 49127475
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Published: 2020-10-13T05:00:00+00:00

Marcus has learned quite a bit about Luther in a short time.

At least that seems to be the case as he gives his report, but I can’t be sure because I don’t understand more than one of every five words he is saying. I can tell that Corey doesn’t either because he and I make eye contact, conveying our mutual confusion.

Fortunately, Laurie is here to receive and translate the information, and it is impressive. Luther is believed to have more than 150 people in his direct or indirect employ. Of those, less than 45 are in the actual Blood Dragons gang; the rest are in the various offshoots that have come under the wing of the, shall we say, parent company.

Luther’s criminal activities are the old standbys: drugs, gambling, and prostitution. He is also thought to be running a protection racket, demanding retail-business owners pay a fee to avoid the difficulties that nonpayment can bring about.

Luther himself no longer does any of the dirty work; he functions as the chief executive officer. He does not maintain a corporate headquarters, though. Instead, he works out of three offices, all located in the back rooms of bars that he is believed to own. His name is not on the paperwork, but he is in control of each of the three locations.

His offices are located in Passaic, Newark, and Elizabeth, though he spends more time in the Passaic branch than the others. Possibly that is to keep potential enemies off-balance, though he does not seem to be facing any serious threats.

Interestingly, all this success has led Luther to enjoy some of the finer things. According to Marcus he lives on an estate in Alpine, among doctors and lawyers and investment bankers. I don’t know if he associates with his neighbors, or if they know who their neighbor is.

When it comes to restaurants, Luther frequents a select few. Marcus assumes that is because he feels safe in these particular spots and has some control over the environment. Marcus doesn’t know if Luther owns a piece of each of those restaurants, but it wouldn’t be surprising.

Bottom line is that we are not dealing with Riff or Bernardo and the Sharks or the Jets. This is the natural evolution of street gangs owning the streets. Eventually they will fold over and feed on themselves, and law enforcement will hasten that process. They will fade, as organized crime has faded, as individual self-interest comes into play.

But that will happen later, or it might not happen at all. Either way, we have no time to sit around and wait for it.

We kick around ideas about what we can do with the information that Marcus has brought us. We are running out of time; the trial is bearing down on us and we currently have no bullets in our defense gun.

Luther is going to have to be a part of that defense, whether or not he and his gang have any real-life culpability. We are going to have to point to him because we don’t have any other options.

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