The Syndicate (The Mafia Chronicles) by Peter McCurtin

Author:Peter McCurtin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: max allan collins, the mafia, crime ebooks, crime syndicates, richard condon, mario puzo, lorenzo carcattera
Publisher: Piccadilly

Chapter Eight

SIR ANTHONY HAD a sheet of paper, and after he looked at it again, he folded it and put it in his pocket. “Take off the handcuffs,” he said to Doolin.

The girl was annoyed. “Well, what did they say? Is he what he says he is?”

Doolin put the cuffs in his pocket and stepped back, opening his jacket, resting his paw on the butt of the Webley.

“Looks like it,” Sir Anthony answered. “They’ll call back later. It will be interesting to see how much else they dig up. You, Doolin, take his fingerprints with something.”

While Doolin was pressing my fingers against the smooth enameled cup, I said, “You can’t check me out that way. No police record, no army time—no prints on file.”

Brisk, almost good-humored, Sir Anthony advised me not to worry about it. “Not a bit of trouble. It really won’t matter—you’ll be dead long before the final word comes in.”

“May I speak to you in private?” the girl asked. I wondered how long she had been with Ritter’s organization. To me she looked like a theoretical fascist, one who could perhaps kill millions on paper but had no stomach for the smelly mechanics of individual murder.

“I think I know what you’re about to suggest.” Sir Anthony was pleased with himself. “The same idea occurred to me for a moment. We do need trained men—but no. There’s something about this fellow that won’t wash. Call it an old soldier’s instinct if you like.”

The girl looked at me. “What do you mean?” she wanted to know.

I answered for Sir Anthony. “He means there’s something fishy. There is. I wanted to get caught.”

“Ah now,” Sir Anthony remarked, still pleased with his powers of deduction.

It was all too much for Doolin.

“But why?” Dr. Nora DeCourcy was trying to put it together. “What did you hope to do without a gun?”

Sir Anthony cut in, all pro man catcher. “Our friend Dorf had two guns. We were supposed to find only one gun, the rifle. The little automatic in the tobacco pouch was for later. Oh my God—did you think we were that stupid?”

“He’s the one that’s stupid,” Doolin said. “A regular donkey.”

The girl shook her head slowly. “No, that won’t wash either.”

“Thanks,” I said. Now was the time to start selling, and if they didn’t buy, it was all over. If they still looked doubtful after I had spoken my piece, I would go after Sir Anthony first. The one-eyed old bastard was a hunter of men and animals, everything that walked and flew and crawled. Doolin would kill on command, but the old man loved to kill, and I knew that would make him the better shot.

“It was the only way I could break into the organization,” I started off. “The part about the contract is true. Only it wasn’t three weeks ago—more like three months. It was the way I said, a phone call, cash by mail. At first it was just another contract, a lot more money because it wouldn’t be easy, but just another hit.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.