The Black Hand by Stephan Talty

Author:Stephan Talty
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

12

* * *

Backlash

Before 1907 came to an end, there was one last bit of news—both sad and, in its way, wonderful—that would change the detective’s life. Vincenzo Saulino, his friend and the father of Petrosino’s beloved, passed away just before the New Year. Adelina, the restaurateur’s daughter, never revealed her feelings about his death, but she was a loyal and loving child and must have been deeply distressed. Saulino’s passing, however, carried with it one hopeful prospect. It meant that Adelina was finally free to marry the man she loved.

It’s not clear when Petrosino first made his marriage proposal. Some said it was in November 1906, when he became the first Italian lieutenant in an American police department and went to Saulino’s to celebrate. Others date it much earlier; one newspaper reported that their courtship had lasted a full decade. But all sources agree on the form the proposal took. “You too must be very lonely,” Petrosino told Adelina. “We could get along well together.” Remarkably prosaic words, but Petrosino was forty-seven years old; he was speaking the truth. He and Adelina were both lonely sojourners in the city.

In light of her father’s death, Adelina abandoned the elaborate plans she’d been privately concocting for her wedding day. Instead, she and Petrosino arranged for a small, quiet ceremony at the old St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Mott Street. The detective’s penchant for secrecy still ruled the day; he told almost no one what was happening, but rumors of the match began to leak out. The Italian colony was agog. “MULBERRY STREET ALL IN A FLUTTER,” reported the Evening Sun. “There has been whisperings among the friends of Mr. and Mrs. Petrosino for several weeks past,” the paper noted, “but neither she nor Joe would admit the truth of them.” Then, on Monday, January 6, 1908, Petrosino slipped away from police headquarters and made the short walk to St. Patrick’s. Waiting were the bride, her brother, and her sister-in-law, along with assorted relatives and well-wishers. Monsignor Michael J. Lavelle, who was old enough to remember when the streets around Mott were the province of the Irish, presided over the wedding mass. Commissioner Bingham was there, bald-headed and beaming under his handlebar mustache, as well as all the members of the Italian Squad. The iron-fisted detective had revealed a more tender side to his character, and no one was more surprised and delighted than his fellow cops.

It seemed for so many years that Petrosino had no romantic life, and yet right under their noses he’d been conducting a long-running courtship against formidable odds. The news circulated rapidly at 300 Mulberry, and on Tuesday morning, detectives and bluecoats waited impatiently for the man of the hour to arrive. When a solemn-faced Petrosino walked in, the men stood up and burst into a raucous ovation. “Joe was snowed under with congratulations,” reported the Sun. Deputy Commissioner Woods, inspectors, even rookies clapped him on the back. “[He] was all confusion and blushed like a young boy.”

Petrosino was happy.

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