1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:06,040 The Black Hand by Arthur b Reeve. Kennedy and I had been dining rather 2 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:10,439 late one evening at Luigi's, a little Italian restaurant on the Lower West Side. 3 00:00:10,839 --> 00:00:13,919 We had known the place well in our student days, and had made 4 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:17,800 a point of visiting it once a month since in order to keep in practice 5 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:22,280 in the fine art of gracefully handling long shreds of spaghetti. Therefore, we 6 00:00:22,359 --> 00:00:26,440 did not think it strange when the proprietor himself stopped a moment at our table 7 00:00:26,519 --> 00:00:31,039 to greet us. Glancing furtively around at the other diners, mostly Italians, 8 00:00:31,399 --> 00:00:35,560 he suddenly leaned over and whispered to Kennedy, I have heard of your wonderful 9 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:39,399 detective professor. Could you give a little advice in the case of our friend 10 00:00:39,399 --> 00:00:43,240 of mine? Surely, Luigi, what is the case? Asked Craig, 11 00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:48,679 leaning back in his chair. Luigi glanced around again apprehensively and lowered his voice 12 00:00:49,039 --> 00:00:52,560 not so loud, sir. When you pay your check, go out, 13 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:57,880 walk around Washington Square and come in at a private entrance. I'll be waiting 14 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:02,719 in the hall. My friend is dining upstairs. We lingered a while. 15 00:01:02,759 --> 00:01:06,799 O ra Quianti, then quietly paid the check and departed. True to his 16 00:01:06,879 --> 00:01:10,480 word, Luigi was waiting for us in the dark hall with a motion that 17 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:14,760 indicated silence. He led us up the stairs of the second floor and quickly 18 00:01:14,799 --> 00:01:18,599 opened a door into what seemed to be a fair sized private dining room. 19 00:01:18,959 --> 00:01:23,879 A man was pacing the floor nervously. On a table was some food untouched. 20 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:26,359 As the door opened, I thought, he started as if in fear, 21 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:30,120 and I am sure his dark face blanched, if only for an instant. 22 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:36,599 Imagine our surprise at seeing Gennaro, the great tenor, with whom merely 23 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:40,920 to have his speaking acquaintance was to argue oneself famous. Oh it is you, 24 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,959 Luigi, he exclaimed, in perfect English, rich and mellow, and 25 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:51,120 who are these gentlemen? Luigi merely replied friends in English also, and then 26 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:56,439 dropped off into a voluble, low toned explanation in Italian. I could see 27 00:01:56,480 --> 00:02:00,680 as we waited that the same idea had flashed over Kennedy's mind as over my 28 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:04,879 own. It was now three or four days since the papers had reported the 29 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:09,039 strange kidnapping of Gennaro's five year old daughter, Adelina, his only child, 30 00:02:09,159 --> 00:02:14,439 and the sending of a demand for ten thousand dollars ransom, signed as usual 31 00:02:14,879 --> 00:02:19,599 with the mystic black Hand, a name to conjure with in blackmail and extortion. 32 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:24,000 As Signor Dinero advanced towards us after his short talk with Luigi. Almost 33 00:02:24,039 --> 00:02:30,520 before the introductions were over, Kennedy anticipated him by saying, I understand Signor 34 00:02:30,759 --> 00:02:32,919 before you ask me. I have read all about it in the papers. 35 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:37,439 You want some one to help you catch the criminals who are holding your little 36 00:02:37,439 --> 00:02:42,599 girl. No, no, exclaimed Gennaro excitedly, Not that I want to 37 00:02:42,599 --> 00:02:46,039 get my daughter first. After that, catch them if you can. Yes, 38 00:02:46,599 --> 00:02:49,840 I should like to have someone do it. But read this first and 39 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:52,520 tell me what you think of it. How should I act to get my 40 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:55,960 little Adelina back without harming a hair of her head? The famous singer drew 41 00:02:55,960 --> 00:03:00,840 from a capacious pocket book a dirty, crumpled letter scrolled on cheap paper. 42 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:07,159 Kennedy translated it quickly. It read, honorable sir, your daughter is in 43 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:09,479 safe hands. But by the Saints. If you give this letter to the 44 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:14,439 police as you did the other, not only she, but your family also 45 00:03:14,719 --> 00:03:17,560 someone near to you will suffer. We will not fail as we did wednesday. 46 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:22,960 If you want your daughter back. Go yourself alone and without telling a 47 00:03:23,039 --> 00:03:27,919 soul to Enrico Albano's Saturday night, at the twelfth hour, you must provide 48 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:32,840 yourself with ten thousand dollars in bills hidden in Saturday's hill Progresso Itariano. In 49 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:36,680 the back room, you will see a man sitting alone at a table. 50 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:39,000 He will have a red flower on his coat. You are to say, 51 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:45,360 a fine opera, is i Pagliacci? If he answers not without Gennaro, 52 00:03:45,879 --> 00:03:49,280 lay the newspaper down on the table. He will pick it up, leaving 53 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:53,199 his own. The bolletino. On the third page you will find written the 54 00:03:53,199 --> 00:03:57,159 place where your daughter has been left waiting for you. Go immediately and get 55 00:03:57,159 --> 00:04:00,000 her. But by the God, if you have so much as the sh 56 00:04:00,039 --> 00:04:02,840 shadow of the police near Enrico's, your daughter will be sent to you in 57 00:04:02,879 --> 00:04:08,240 a box that night. Do not fear to come. We pledge our word 58 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,960 to deal fairly. If you deal fairly, this is the last warning, 59 00:04:12,479 --> 00:04:15,519 lest you shall forget. We shall show one other sign of our power tomorrow 60 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:20,560 La mano nera. The end of this letter was decorated with a skull and 61 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:25,879 crossbones, a rough drawing of a dagger thrust through a bleeding heart, a 62 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:30,600 coffin, and under all a huge black hand. There was no doubt about 63 00:04:30,639 --> 00:04:32,759 the type of letter. It was, such as have of late years become 64 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:36,959 increasingly common in all our large cities. You have not shown this to the 65 00:04:36,959 --> 00:04:42,959 police, I presume, asked Kennedy. Naturally, not are you going Saturday 66 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:46,480 night? I am afraid to go and afraid to stay away, was the 67 00:04:46,519 --> 00:04:49,879 reply, and the voice of the fifty thousand dollars a season tenor was as 68 00:04:49,959 --> 00:04:54,480 human as that of a five dollar a week father. For at the bottom, 69 00:04:54,519 --> 00:04:58,480 all men high or low, are one. We will not fail as 70 00:04:58,519 --> 00:05:01,839 we did Wednesday, reread Craig, what does that mean? Gennaro fumbled in 71 00:05:01,879 --> 00:05:05,959 his pocket book again, and at last drew forth a typewritten letter bearing the 72 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:12,040 letter head of the Leslie Laboratories Incorporated. After I received the first threat, 73 00:05:12,199 --> 00:05:15,519 exclaimed Gennaro, my wife and I went from our apartments at the hotel to 74 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:19,319 her father's, the banker Sazara, you know who lives on Fifth Avenue. 75 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:24,879 I gave the letter to the Italian squad of the police. The next morning, 76 00:05:24,959 --> 00:05:28,439 my father in loss Butler, noticed something peculiar about the milk. He 77 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:31,079 barely touched some of it to his tongue, and he has been violently ill 78 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:34,759 ever since. I at once sent the milk to the laboratory of my friend 79 00:05:34,959 --> 00:05:40,800 doctor Leslie to have it analyzed. This letter shows what the household escaped, 80 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,759 my dear Gennaro read Kennedy. The milk submitted to us for examination on the 81 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:48,879 tenth has been carefully analyzed, and I beg to hand you herewith the result. 82 00:05:49,399 --> 00:05:55,839 Specific gravity one point o three six at fifteen degrees centigrade, water eighty 83 00:05:55,879 --> 00:06:00,199 four point six zero percent, k sine three point four nine percent, albumen 84 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:06,560 point five six percent, globulin one point three two percent, lactose five point 85 00:06:06,759 --> 00:06:13,160 eight percent, ash point seven two percent fat three point four two percent. 86 00:06:13,399 --> 00:06:18,000 Rysinus one point nine percent. Risinus is a new and little known poison derived 87 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:21,959 from the shell of the castor bean. Professor Erlik states that one gram of 88 00:06:21,959 --> 00:06:27,759 the pure poison will kill one million, five hundred thousand guinea pigs. Rysinus 89 00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:31,519 was lately isolated by Professor Robert of Rostock, but is seldom found except in 90 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:36,639 an impure state, Though still very deadly. It surpasses strychnine, prussic acid, 91 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:41,920 and other commonly known drugs. I congratulate you and yours on escaping, 92 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:46,240 and shall of course respect your wishes absolutely regarding keeping secret this attempt on your 93 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:50,560 life. Believe me very sincerely, yours, C. W. Leslie. 94 00:06:51,079 --> 00:06:56,279 As Kennedy handed the letter back, he remarked, significantly, I can see 95 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:59,399 very readily why you don't care to have the police figure in your case. 96 00:06:59,759 --> 00:07:03,120 It has gone quite beyond ordinary police methods, and tomorrow too, they are 97 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:06,920 going to have another sign of their power, groaned Gennaro, sinking into the 98 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:12,439 chair before his untasted food. You say you have left your hotel, inquired 99 00:07:12,519 --> 00:07:15,480 Kennedy. Yes, my wife insisted that we would be more safely guarded at 100 00:07:15,519 --> 00:07:19,560 the residence of her father, the banker, but we are afraid even there 101 00:07:19,879 --> 00:07:24,720 since the poison attempt. So I have come here secretly to Luigi, my 102 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:28,639 old friend Luigi, who is preparing food for us, And in a few 103 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:31,279 minutes one of Cisare's automobiles will be here and I will take the food up 104 00:07:31,319 --> 00:07:35,759 to her, sparing no expense or trouble. She is heart broken. It 105 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:40,920 will kill her, Professor Kennedy, if anything happens to our little Adelina. 106 00:07:41,199 --> 00:07:45,240 Ah Sir, I am not poor myself a month's salary at the opera house. 107 00:07:45,319 --> 00:07:47,480 That is what they ask of me. Gladly would I give it ten 108 00:07:47,519 --> 00:07:51,959 thousand dollars all if they asked it of my contract with Signor Cassanelli, the 109 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:57,079 director. But the police, bah, they are all for catching the villains. 110 00:07:57,439 --> 00:07:59,879 What good will it do for me if they catch them and my little 111 00:08:00,079 --> 00:08:03,079 de Lina is returned to me dead. It is all very well for the 112 00:08:03,079 --> 00:08:07,160 Anglo Saxon to talk of justice and the law. But I am what you 113 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:11,519 call it, an emotional Latin. I want my little daughter, and at 114 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:15,439 any cost, catch the villains. Afterward, yes, I will pay double 115 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:20,279 then to catch them so that they cannot blackmail me again. Only first I 116 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:24,720 want my daughter back, and your father in law. My father in law, 117 00:08:24,879 --> 00:08:26,639 he has been among you long enough to be one of you. He 118 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:31,360 has fought them. He has put up a sign in his banking house no 119 00:08:31,519 --> 00:08:35,399 money paid on threats. But I say it is foolish. I do not 120 00:08:35,519 --> 00:08:39,399 know America as well as he, but I know this. The police never 121 00:08:39,519 --> 00:08:43,639 succeed. The ransom is paid without their knowledge, and they very often take 122 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:46,960 the credit. I say pay first, then I will swear a righteous vendetta. 123 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:50,200 I will bring the dogs to justice with the money yet on them. 124 00:08:50,519 --> 00:08:56,080 Only show me how, Show me how? First of all, replied Kennedy, 125 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:58,879 I want you to answer one question, truthfully, without reservation, as 126 00:08:58,879 --> 00:09:03,559 to a friend. I am your friend. Believe me. Is there any 127 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:07,480 person, a relative or acquaintance of yourself, or your wife, or your 128 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:11,399 father in law whom you even have a reason to suspect of being capable of 129 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:15,080 extorting money from you in this way? I needn't say that it is the 130 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:18,519 experience of the district Attorney's office in the large majority of cases of this so 131 00:09:18,679 --> 00:09:24,519 called black hand, No, replied the tenor without hesitation. I know that, 132 00:09:24,639 --> 00:09:26,080 and I have thought about it. No. I can think of no 133 00:09:26,159 --> 00:09:30,840 one I know you. Americans often speak of the black Hand as a myth 134 00:09:31,159 --> 00:09:35,480 coined originally by a newspaper writer. Perhaps it has no organization, But Professor 135 00:09:35,559 --> 00:09:39,919 Kennedy, to me, it is no myth. What if the real black 136 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:45,159 hand is any gang of criminals who choose to use that convenient name to extort 137 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:48,720 money? Is it the less real? My daughter is gone? Exactly, 138 00:09:50,159 --> 00:09:52,960 agreed Kennedy. It is not a theory that confronts you. It is a 139 00:09:54,039 --> 00:09:58,559 hard, cold fact. I understand that perfectly. What is the address of 140 00:09:58,559 --> 00:10:03,480 this Albanos? Luigi mentioned a number on Mulberry Street and Kennedy made a note 141 00:10:03,519 --> 00:10:07,799 of it. It is a gambling saloon, explained Luigi. Albano is a 142 00:10:07,879 --> 00:10:11,120 Neapolitan, a camorrista, one of my countrymen, of whom I am thoroughly 143 00:10:11,159 --> 00:10:16,399 ashamed of, Professor Kennedy. Do you think this Albano had anything to do 144 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:20,360 with the letter? Luigi shrugged his shoulders. Just then, a big limousine 145 00:10:20,399 --> 00:10:24,039 was heard outside. Luigi picked up a huge hamper that was placed in a 146 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:28,480 corner of the room, and followed closely by Signor Gennaro hurried down to it. 147 00:10:30,039 --> 00:10:31,960 As the tenor left us, he grasped our hands in each of his. 148 00:10:33,679 --> 00:10:35,919 I have an idea in my mind, said Craig, simply. I 149 00:10:35,919 --> 00:10:39,919 will try to think it out in detail to night. Where can I find 150 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:43,919 you tomorrow? Come to me at the Opera House in the afternoon, or 151 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:48,360 if you want me sooner, at mister Caveryer's residence. Good night and a 152 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:50,960 thousand thanks to you, Professor Kennedy, and to you also, mister Jameson. 153 00:10:52,399 --> 00:10:56,120 I trust you absolutely, because Luigi trust you. We sat in the 154 00:10:56,120 --> 00:11:00,840 little dining room until we heard the door of the limousine bang shut and the 155 00:11:00,919 --> 00:11:05,120 car shoot off with the rattle of the changing gears. One more question, 156 00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:09,000 Luigi, said Craig, as the door opened again. I have never been 157 00:11:09,039 --> 00:11:11,919 on that block in Mulberry Street where this Albano's is. Do you happen to 158 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:16,279 know any of the shopkeepers on it or near it? I have a cousin 159 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:18,919 who has a drug store on the corner below Albano's, on the same side 160 00:11:18,919 --> 00:11:22,320 of the street. Good do you think he would let me use his store 161 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:26,879 for a few minutes Saturday night, of course, without any risk to himself. 162 00:11:26,399 --> 00:11:31,519 I think I could arrange it very well. Then tomorrow, say, 163 00:11:31,519 --> 00:11:33,600 at nine in the morning, I will stop here and we will all go 164 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:37,080 over to see him. Good night, Luigi, and many thanks for thinking 165 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:41,519 of me in connection with this case. I've enjoyed Signor Gennaro singing often enough 166 00:11:41,519 --> 00:11:45,679 at the opera to want to render him this service, and I am only 167 00:11:45,759 --> 00:11:48,480 too glad to be able to be of service to all honest Italians, that 168 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:52,759 is, if I succeed in carrying out a plan I have in mind. 169 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:58,000 A little before nine the following day, Kennedy and I dropped into Luigi's again. 170 00:11:58,519 --> 00:12:01,320 Kennedy was carrying a suit case which he had taken over from his laboratory 171 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:05,480 to our rooms the night before. Luigi was waiting for us, and without 172 00:12:05,519 --> 00:12:09,759 losing a minute, we sallied forth by means of the tortuous twists of streets 173 00:12:09,759 --> 00:12:13,879 in Old Greenwich's village. We came out at last on Bleeker Street and began 174 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:18,279 walking east amid the hurly burly of races of Lower New York. We had 175 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:22,159 not quite reached Mulberry Street when our attention was attracted by a large crowd on 176 00:12:22,159 --> 00:12:26,720 one of the busy corners, held back by a cordon of police, who 177 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:30,919 were endeavoring to keep the people moving with that burly good nature which the six 178 00:12:30,919 --> 00:12:35,000 foot Irish policemen displays toward the five foot burden bearers of southern and Eastern Europe 179 00:12:35,039 --> 00:12:39,039 whose thronged New York. Apparently, we saw as we edged up into the 180 00:12:39,039 --> 00:12:43,120 front of the crowd there was a building whose whole front had literally been torn 181 00:12:43,159 --> 00:12:46,960 off and wrecked. The thick plate glass of the windows was smashed to a 182 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:52,240 mass of greenish splinters on the sidewalk, while the windows of the upper floors 183 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:54,919 and for several houses down the block in either street, were likewise broken. 184 00:12:56,480 --> 00:13:01,039 Some thick iron bars which had formerly protected the windows were now bent and twisted. 185 00:13:01,759 --> 00:13:05,679 A huge hole yawned in the floor inside the doorway, and peering in 186 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:09,799 we could see the desk and chairs a tangled mass of kindling. What's the 187 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:13,039 matter, I inquired, of an officer near me, displaying my reporter's fire 188 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:18,000 line badge, more for its moral effect than in hope of getting any real 189 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:22,159 information in these days of enforced silence toward the press. Black hand the bomb 190 00:13:22,639 --> 00:13:28,639 was the laconic reply, phew, I whistled, anyone hurt? They don't 191 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:31,840 usually kill anyone, do they asked the officer by way of reply, to 192 00:13:31,919 --> 00:13:37,600 test my acquaintance with such things. No, I admitted, They destroy more 193 00:13:37,639 --> 00:13:41,600 property than lives. But did they get anyone this time? This must have 194 00:13:41,639 --> 00:13:45,000 been a thoroughly overloaded bomb, I should judge, by the looks of things. 195 00:13:45,639 --> 00:13:48,360 Came pretty close to it. The bank hadn't any more than opened when 196 00:13:48,519 --> 00:13:54,360 bang went This gas pipe in dayna made thing crowd collected before the smoke had 197 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:56,919 fairly cleared. Man who owns the bank was hurt, but not badly. 198 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:01,240 Now come beat it down to headquarters. If you want to find out any 199 00:14:01,279 --> 00:14:05,200 more, you'll find it printed on the pink slips this squeedle book. By 200 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:07,919 this time gainst the rules for me. Tetok, he added with a good 201 00:14:09,039 --> 00:14:13,480 natured grin. Then to the crowd, quan, Now ye are blockin traffic. 202 00:14:13,639 --> 00:14:18,559 Keep moving. I turned to Craig and Luigi. Their eyes were riveted 203 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:22,240 on the big gilt sign, half broken and all askew. Overhead it read 204 00:14:22,799 --> 00:14:28,879 Sierro de Cesaire and Company Bankers, New York, Genoa, Naples, Rome, 205 00:14:28,039 --> 00:14:33,080 Palermo. This is the reminder that Gennaro and his father in law will 206 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:37,039 not forget. I gasped, yes, added Craig, pulling us away. 207 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:41,399 And Caesar himself is wounded too. Perhaps that was for putting up the notice 208 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:45,720 refusing to pay. Perhaps not. It's a queer case. They usually set 209 00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:48,879 the bombs off at night when no one is around. There must be more 210 00:14:48,919 --> 00:14:52,480 back of this than merely to scare Gennaro. It looks to me as if 211 00:14:52,519 --> 00:14:56,279 they were after Cesare too, First by poison, then by dynamite. We 212 00:14:56,360 --> 00:15:00,799 shouldered our way out through the crowd and went on until we came to Mulberry 213 00:15:00,879 --> 00:15:05,240 Street, pulsing with life down. We went past the little shops, dodging 214 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:09,879 the children, making way for the women with huge bundles of sweatshop clothing accurately 215 00:15:09,919 --> 00:15:13,480 balanced on their heads or hugged up under their capacious capes. Here was just 216 00:15:13,559 --> 00:15:18,360 one little colony of the hundreds of thousands of Italians, a population larger than 217 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:22,559 the Italian population of Rome, of whose life the rest of New York knew 218 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:28,039 and cared nothing. At last we came to Albano's Little Wine Shop, a 219 00:15:28,159 --> 00:15:31,679 dark, evil, malodorous place on the street level of a five story alleged 220 00:15:31,919 --> 00:15:37,279 New law tenement. Without hesitation, Kennedy entered, and we followed, acting 221 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:41,919 the part of a slumming party. There were a few customers at this early 222 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:46,240 hour, and an inoffensive looking lot, though of course they eyed USh sharply. 223 00:15:46,759 --> 00:15:50,639 Albano himself proved to be a greasy, low browed fellow who had a 224 00:15:50,679 --> 00:15:54,159 sort of cunning look. I could well imagine such a fellow spreading terror in 225 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:58,919 the hearts of simple folk by merely pressing both temples with his thumbs and drawing 226 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:03,840 his long bony forefinger under his throat. The so called black hand sign that 227 00:16:03,919 --> 00:16:07,240 has shut up many a witness in the middle of his testimony, even in 228 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:11,360 open court. We pushed through to the low ceilinged back room, which was 229 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:17,240 empty, and sat down at a table over a bottle of Albano's famous California 230 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:21,559 red ink. We sat silently. Kennedy was making a mental note of the 231 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:25,559 place. In the middle of the ceiling was a single gas burner with a 232 00:16:25,559 --> 00:16:29,399 big reflector over it. In the back wall of the room was a horizontal 233 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:33,200 oblong window, barred and with a sash that opened like a transom. The 234 00:16:33,279 --> 00:16:37,759 tables were dirty and the chairs rickety. The walls were bare and unfinished, 235 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:44,600 with beams innocent of decoration. Altogether, it was as unprepossessing a place as 236 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:48,320 I had ever seen. Apparently satisfied with his scrutiny, Kennedy got up to 237 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:52,720 go, complimenting the proprietor on his wine. I could see that Kennedy had 238 00:16:52,759 --> 00:16:57,440 made up his mind as to his course of action. How sordid crime really 239 00:16:57,559 --> 00:17:00,799 is, he remarked, as we walked on down the street, Look at 240 00:17:00,799 --> 00:17:04,720 that place of Albano's. I defy even the police news reporter on the Star 241 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:10,480 to find any glamor in that our next stop was at the corner at the 242 00:17:10,519 --> 00:17:14,279 little store kept by the cousin of Luigi, who conducted us back of the 243 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:18,640 partition where prescriptions were compounded, and found us chairs. A harried explanation from 244 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:22,359 Luigi brought a cloud to the open face of the druggist, as if he 245 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:27,759 hesitated to lay himself and his little fortune open to the blackmailer's. Kennedy saw 246 00:17:27,759 --> 00:17:32,119 it and interrupted. All that I wished to do, he said, is 247 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:34,839 to put in a little instrument here and use it tonight for a few minutes. 248 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:38,799 Indeed, there will be no risk to you, Vincenzo. Secrecy is 249 00:17:38,799 --> 00:17:42,960 what I desire, and no one will ever know about it. Vincenzo was 250 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:48,480 at length convinced, and Craig opened his suitcase. There was little in it 251 00:17:48,559 --> 00:17:52,640 except several coils of insulated wire, some tools, a couple of packages wrapped 252 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:56,319 up, and a couple of pairs of overalls. In a moment, Kennedy 253 00:17:56,319 --> 00:18:00,279 had donned overalls and was smearing dirt and grease over his face and hands. 254 00:18:00,759 --> 00:18:04,880 Under his direction, I did the same. Taking the bag of tools, 255 00:18:06,039 --> 00:18:08,319 the wire, and one of the small packages, we went out on the 256 00:18:08,359 --> 00:18:12,039 street, and then up through the dark and ill ventilated hall of the tenement. 257 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:18,200 Half way up, a woman stopped us suspiciously. Telephone company, said 258 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:21,880 Craig curtly, here's permission from the owner of the house to string wires across 259 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:25,839 the roof. He pulled an old letter out of his pocket, but as 260 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:27,920 it was too dark to read even if the woman had care to do so, 261 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:33,680 we went on up as he had expected, unmolested. At last we 262 00:18:33,759 --> 00:18:36,720 came to the roof, where there were some children at play a couple of 263 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:41,079 houses down from us. Kennedy began by dropping two strands of wire down to 264 00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:45,480 the ground in the back yard behind Vincenzo's shop. Then he proceeded to lay 265 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:48,039 two wires along the edge of the roof. We had worked only a little 266 00:18:48,039 --> 00:18:52,880 while when the children began to collect. However, Kennedy kept right on until 267 00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:56,960 we reached the tenement next to that, in which Albano's shop was Walter. 268 00:18:57,240 --> 00:19:00,920 He whispered, just get the children away for a minute. Now, look 269 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:03,920 here, you kids, I yelled, some of you will fall off if 270 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:07,279 you get so close to the edge of the roof. Keep back. It 271 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:11,400 had no effect. Apparently, they looked not a bit frightened at the dizzy 272 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:17,119 mass of clothes lines below us. Say is her candy store on this block? 273 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:19,880 I asked, in desperation, Yes, sir, came the chorus. 274 00:19:21,359 --> 00:19:23,240 Who'll go down and get me a bottle of ginger ale? I asked? 275 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:27,880 A chorus of voices and glittering eyes was the answer. They all would. 276 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:32,400 I took half a dollar from my pocket and gave it to the oldest. 277 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:36,480 All right, now, hustle along and divide the change. With a scamper 278 00:19:36,519 --> 00:19:40,400 of many feet, they were gone and we were alone. Kennedy had now 279 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:44,640 reached Albano's, and as soon as the last head had disappeared below the scuttle 280 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:48,519 of the roof, he dropped two long strands down into the back yard, 281 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:52,559 as he had done at Vincenzo's. I started to go back, but he 282 00:19:52,599 --> 00:19:56,119 stopped me. Oh, that will never do, he said. The kids 283 00:19:56,119 --> 00:19:59,799 will see that the wires end here. I must carry them on several houses 284 00:19:59,799 --> 00:20:03,960 far as a blind and trust to look that they don't see the wires leading 285 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:07,759 down below. We were several houses down, still putting up wires, when 286 00:20:07,759 --> 00:20:12,680 the crowd came shouting back. Sticky with cheap trust made candy and black with 287 00:20:12,759 --> 00:20:17,920 east Side chocolate. We opened the ginger ale and forced ourselves to drink it 288 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:22,240 so as to excite no suspicion. Then a few minutes later descended the stairs 289 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:26,160 of the tenement, coming out just above Albano's. I was wondering how Kennedy 290 00:20:26,279 --> 00:20:30,880 was going to get into Albano's again without exciting suspicion. He solved it neatly. 291 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:34,440 Now, Walter, do you think you could stand another dip into that 292 00:20:34,559 --> 00:20:38,279 red ink at Albano's? I said, I might, in the interests of 293 00:20:38,319 --> 00:20:42,960 science and justice, not otherwise. Well, your face is sufficiently dirty, 294 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:47,400 he commented, so that with the overalls, you don't look very much as 295 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:49,720 you did the first time you went in. I don't think they will recognize 296 00:20:49,759 --> 00:20:53,039 you. Do I look pretty good? You look like a coal heater on 297 00:20:53,079 --> 00:20:57,440 the job, I said, I can scarcely restrain my admiration. All right, 298 00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:02,240 then take this little glass bottle, go into the back room and order 299 00:21:02,279 --> 00:21:04,799 something cheap in keeping with your looks. Then, when you are all alone, 300 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:08,640 break the bottle. It is full of gas drippings. Your nose will 301 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:12,640 dictate what to do next. Just tell the proprietor you saw the gas company's 302 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:17,680 wagon on the next block, and come up here and tell me. I 303 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:22,240 entered, there was a sinister looking man with a sort of unscrupulous intelligence, 304 00:21:22,319 --> 00:21:26,000 writing at a table. As he wrote and puffed at his cigar, I 305 00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:29,720 noticed a scar on his face, a deep furrow running from the lobe of 306 00:21:29,759 --> 00:21:33,240 his ear to his mouth that I knew was a brand set upon him by 307 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:38,240 the Camorra. I sat and smoked and sipped slowly for several minutes, cursing 308 00:21:38,319 --> 00:21:42,920 him inwardly more for his presence than for his evident look of the malavitta. 309 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:48,559 At last he went out to ask the bar keeper for a stamp. Quickly, 310 00:21:48,599 --> 00:21:52,400 I tiptoed over to another corner of the room and ground the little bottle 311 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:56,640 under my heel. Then I resumed my seat. The odor that pervaded the 312 00:21:56,720 --> 00:22:00,920 room was sickening. The sinister looking man with the scar came in again and 313 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:06,000 sniffed. I sniffed. Then the proprietor came in and sniffed. Say, 314 00:22:06,559 --> 00:22:08,640 I said, in the toughest voice, I could assume you got a leak. 315 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:12,400 Wait. I seen the GA's company wagon on the next block when I 316 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:15,920 came in. I'll get the man. I dashed out and hurried up the 317 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:21,519 street to the place where Kennedy was waiting, impatiently rattling his tools. He 318 00:22:21,599 --> 00:22:26,400 followed me with apparent reluctance. As he entered the wine shop, he snorted, 319 00:22:26,599 --> 00:22:30,319 after the manner of gas men, where's the leak? You'll find it? 320 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:33,279 A leak grunted albana. What do you gett you'll pay for? You 321 00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:36,960 wanted me to do yo work? Well, half a dozen you wops get 322 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,400 out o here. That's all use water, be browned er pieces with them, 323 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:45,119 pipes and cigarettes clear out, growled Kennedy. They retreated precipitately, and 324 00:22:45,279 --> 00:22:49,400 Craig hastily opened his bag of tools. Quick Walter shut the door and hold 325 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:53,720 it, exclaimed Craig. Working rapidly, he unwrapped a little package and took 326 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:59,480 at a round, flat, disclike thing of black vulcanized rubber. Jumping up 327 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:02,599 on a table, he fixed it to the top of the reflector over the 328 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:04,559 gas jet. Can you see that from the floor, Walter, he asked 329 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:08,359 under his breath. No, I replied, not even when I know it's 330 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:12,480 there. Then he attached a couple of wires to it and led them across 331 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:18,200 the ceiling toward the window, concealing them carefully by sticking them in the shadow 332 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:22,400 of a beam at the window. He quickly attached the wires to the two 333 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:25,759 that were dangling down from the roof and shoved them around out of sight. 334 00:23:26,359 --> 00:23:29,279 We'll have to trust that no one sees them, he said. That's the 335 00:23:29,319 --> 00:23:32,680 best I can do at such short notice. I never saw a room so 336 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:34,759 bare as this. Anyway, there isn't another place I could put that thing 337 00:23:34,839 --> 00:23:38,920 without its being seen. We gathered up the broken glass of the gas dripping's 338 00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:44,160 bottle and I opened the door. It's all right now, said Craig, 339 00:23:44,279 --> 00:23:48,039 sauntering out before the bar. Only the next time you has anything the matter, 340 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:51,400 call the company up. I ain't supposed to do this without orders. 341 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:56,599 See a moment later, I followed Glad to get out of the oppressive atmosphere 342 00:23:56,640 --> 00:24:00,000 and joined him in the back of Vincenzo's drug store, where he was again 343 00:24:00,279 --> 00:24:03,839 at work. As there was no back window there, it was quite a 344 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:07,720 job to lead the wires around the outside from the back yard and in at 345 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:11,400 a side window. It was at last done, however, without exciting suspicion, 346 00:24:11,839 --> 00:24:15,880 and Kennedy attached them to an oblong box of weathered oak and a pair 347 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:21,359 of specially constructed dry batteries. Now, said Craig, as we washed off 348 00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:25,079 the stains of work and stowed the overalls back in the suitcase. That is 349 00:24:25,119 --> 00:24:29,440 done to my satisfaction. I can tell Gennaro to go ahead safely now and 350 00:24:29,519 --> 00:24:34,079 meet the black handers from Vincenzo's. We walked over towards Center Street, where 351 00:24:34,119 --> 00:24:38,400 Kennedy and I left Luigi to return to his restaurant with instructions to be at 352 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:45,000 Vincenzo's at half past eleven that night. We turned into the new police headquarters 353 00:24:45,039 --> 00:24:48,079 and went down the long corridor to the Italian bureau. Kennedy sent in his 354 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:52,799 card to Lieutenant Giuseppe, in charge, and we were quickly admitted. The 355 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:57,559 lieutenant was a short, full faced, fleshy Italian with lightish hair and eyes 356 00:24:57,559 --> 00:25:03,200 that were apparently dull until you suddenly discovered that that was merely a cover to 357 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:07,640 their really restless way of taking in everything and fixing it on his mind, 358 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:11,960 as if on a sensitive plate. I want to talk about the Gennaro case, 359 00:25:11,119 --> 00:25:15,039 began Craig. I may add that I have been rather closely associated with 360 00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:19,599 Inspector O'Connor of the Central Office on a number of cases, so that I 361 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:22,799 think we can trust each other. Would you mind telling me what you know 362 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:26,359 about it? If I promise you that I too have something to reveal. 363 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:32,039 The Lieutenant leaned back and watched Kennedy closely, without seeming to do so. 364 00:25:33,079 --> 00:25:36,559 When I was in Italy last year, he replied at length, I did 365 00:25:36,559 --> 00:25:40,359 a good deal of work in tracing up some Camorra suspects. I had a 366 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:44,200 tip about some of them to look up their records. I needn't say where 367 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:47,680 it came from, but it was a good one. Much of the evidence 368 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:51,839 against some of those fellows who are being tried at Viterbo was gathered by the 369 00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:56,079 Carabinere as a result of hints that I was able to give them clues that 370 00:25:56,119 --> 00:26:00,440 were furnished to me here in America from the source I speak of. I 371 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:03,759 suppose there is really no need to conceal it. Though the original tip came 372 00:26:03,759 --> 00:26:08,519 from a certain banker here in New York, I can guess who it was. 373 00:26:08,839 --> 00:26:14,279 Nodded Craig. Then, as you know, this banker is a fighter. 374 00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:18,559 He is the man who organized the White Hand, an organization which is 375 00:26:18,559 --> 00:26:22,880 trying to read the Italian population of the Black Hand. His society had a 376 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:26,960 lot of evidence regarding former members of both of the Commodo in Naples and the 377 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:30,680 Mafia in Sicily, as well as the Black Hand gangs in New York, 378 00:26:30,839 --> 00:26:34,000 Chicago and other cities. Well. Caesare, as you know, is Gennio's 379 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:38,279 father in law. While I was in Naples looking up the record of a 380 00:26:38,319 --> 00:26:44,799 certain criminal, I heard of a peculiar murder committed some years ago. There 381 00:26:44,839 --> 00:26:48,920 was an honest old music master who apparently lived the quietest and most harmless of 382 00:26:49,039 --> 00:26:53,759 lives. But it became known that he was supported by Caesire and had received 383 00:26:53,759 --> 00:26:57,480 handsome presents of money from him. The old man was, as you may 384 00:26:57,519 --> 00:27:03,519 have guessed, the first music teacher of Gennaro. The man who discovered him. 385 00:27:03,799 --> 00:27:06,160 One might have been at a loss to see how he could have an 386 00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:10,559 enemy, but there was one who coveted his small fortune. One day he 387 00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:14,960 was stabbed and robbed. His murderer ran out into the street, crying out 388 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:18,480 that the poor man had been killed. Naturally, a crowd rushed up in 389 00:27:18,519 --> 00:27:22,400 a moment, for it was in the middle of the day before the injured 390 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:26,440 man could make it understood who had struck him. The assassin was down the 391 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:29,960 street and lost in the maze of old Naples, where he well knew the 392 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:33,440 houses of his friends who would tide him. The man who is known to 393 00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:37,160 have committed that crime, Francesco Peoli, escaped to New York. We are 394 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:41,799 looking for him to day. He is a clever man, far above the 395 00:27:41,839 --> 00:27:45,079 average son of a doctor in a town a few miles from Naples, went 396 00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:49,440 to the university, was expelled from some mad prank. In short, he 397 00:27:49,599 --> 00:27:53,359 was the black sheep of the family. Of course, over here he is 398 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:56,839 too high born to work with his hands on a railroad or in a trench, 399 00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:02,319 and not educated enough to work anything else. So he has been preying 400 00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:06,480 on his more industrious countrymen. A typical case of a man living by his 401 00:28:06,559 --> 00:28:11,519 wits with no visible means of support. Now I don't mind telling you in 402 00:28:11,559 --> 00:28:15,759 strict confidence, continued the Lieutenant, that it is my theory that old Cesar 403 00:28:15,839 --> 00:28:19,359 had seen Paoli here, knew he was wanted for that murder of the old 404 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:23,640 music master, and gave me the tip to look up his record. At 405 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:29,319 any rate, Paoli disappeared right after I returned from Italy, and we haven't 406 00:28:29,319 --> 00:28:33,160 been able to locate him since he must have found out in some way that 407 00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:36,279 the tip to look him up had been given by the White Hand. He 408 00:28:36,319 --> 00:28:40,759 had been a camorrista in Italy and had many ways of getting information here in 409 00:28:40,839 --> 00:28:45,359 America. He paused and balanced a piece of cardboard in his hand. It 410 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:49,000 is my theory of this case that if we could locate this Pioli, we 411 00:28:49,039 --> 00:28:55,000 could save the kidnapping of little Adelina Geneiro. Very quickly, that's his picture, 412 00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:57,839 Kennedy and I bent over to look at it, and I started in 413 00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:02,720 surprise. It was my evil looking friend with the scar on his cheek, 414 00:29:03,119 --> 00:29:07,119 well, said Craig, quietly, handing back the card. Whether or not 415 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:10,079 he is the man, I know where we can catch the kidnappers to night, 416 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:14,920 Lieutenant, it was Giuseppe's turn to show surprise. With your assistance, 417 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:18,759 I'll get this man and the whole gang to night, explained Craig, rapidly, 418 00:29:18,799 --> 00:29:22,119 sketching over his plan and concealing just enough to make sure that, no 419 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:26,839 matter how anxious the Lieutenant was to get the credit, he could not spoil 420 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:32,359 the affair by premature interference. The final arrangement was that four of the best 421 00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:36,839 men of the squad were to hide in a vacant store across from Vincenza's early 422 00:29:36,839 --> 00:29:41,160 in the evening, long before anyone was watching. The signal for them to 423 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:45,119 appear was to be the extinguishing of the lights behind the colored bottles in the 424 00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:49,119 druggist's window. A taxicab was to be kept waiting at headquarters at the same 425 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:52,920 time, with three other good men ready to start for a given address. 426 00:29:53,319 --> 00:29:59,720 The moment the alarm was given over the telephone, we found Gennaro awaiting us 427 00:29:59,759 --> 00:30:03,880 with the greatest anxiety at the opera house. The bomb at Cesarre's had been 428 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:07,680 the last straw. Gennaro had already drawn from his bank ten crisp one thousand 429 00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:11,640 dollar bills, and already he had a copy of Il Progresso, in which 430 00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:17,079 he had hidden the money between the sheets. Mister Kennedy, he said, 431 00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:19,319 I am going to meet them to night. They may kill me. See 432 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:25,000 I have provided myself with a pistol. I shall fight too if necessary for 433 00:30:25,119 --> 00:30:27,599 my little Adelina. But if it is only money they want, they shall 434 00:30:27,599 --> 00:30:33,200 have it. One thing I want to say, began Kennedy. No, 435 00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:37,160 no, no, cried the tenor I will go. You shall not stop 436 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:40,960 me. I do not wish to stop you, Craig reassured him. But 437 00:30:41,079 --> 00:30:45,160 one thing. Do exactly as I tell you, and I swear not a 438 00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:48,599 hair of the child's head will be injured, and we will get the blackmailers 439 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:52,880 too, how eagerly asked Gennaro, what do you want me to do? 440 00:30:52,559 --> 00:30:56,920 All I want you to do is to go to Albano's at the appointed time, 441 00:30:56,359 --> 00:31:00,720 sit down in the back room, get into conversation with them, and 442 00:31:00,759 --> 00:31:03,480 above all, signor. As soon as you get the copy of the Bolletino, 443 00:31:03,759 --> 00:31:07,279 turn to the third page, pretend not to be able to read the 444 00:31:07,319 --> 00:31:11,440 address, ask the man to read it, then repeat it after him, 445 00:31:11,839 --> 00:31:17,240 Pretend to be overjoyed. Offer to set up wine for the whole crowd just 446 00:31:17,319 --> 00:31:19,720 a few minutes. That is all I ask, and I will guarantee that 447 00:31:19,799 --> 00:31:25,519 you will be the happiest man in New York tomorrow. Gennaro's eyes filled with 448 00:31:25,599 --> 00:31:30,319 tears as they grasped Kennedy's hand. That is better than having the whole police 449 00:31:30,319 --> 00:31:33,279 force back of me, he said. I shall never forget. Never forget. 450 00:31:33,839 --> 00:31:37,359 As we went out, Kennedy remarked, you can't blame them for keeping 451 00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:41,640 their troubles to themselves. Here we send a police officer over to Italy to 452 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:45,240 look up the records of some of the worst suspects. He loses his life, 453 00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:49,640 another takes his place. Then after he gets back he is set to 454 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:53,920 work on the mere clerical routine of translating them. One of his associates is 455 00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:57,559 reduced in rank. And so what does it all come to. Hundreds of 456 00:31:57,599 --> 00:32:01,920 records have become useless becaus the three years within which the criminals could be deported 457 00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:07,240 have elapsed with nothing done. Intelligent, isn't it. I believe it has 458 00:32:07,279 --> 00:32:12,000 been established that all but about fifty of seven hundred known Italian suspects are still 459 00:32:12,039 --> 00:32:15,400 at large, mostly in this city, and the rest of the Italian population 460 00:32:15,559 --> 00:32:21,440 is guarded from them by a squad of police in number scarcely one thirtieth of 461 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:24,400 the number of known criminals. No, it is our fault if the black 462 00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:29,920 can thrives. We had been standing on the corner of Broadway waiting for a 463 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:34,640 car. Now, Walter, don't forget meet me at the Bleaker Street station 464 00:32:34,839 --> 00:32:37,960 of the subway at eleven thirty. I'm off to the university. I have 465 00:32:38,039 --> 00:32:43,640 some very important experiments with phosphorescent salts that I want to finish today. What 466 00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:46,200 has that got to do with the case, I asked, mystified nothing, 467 00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:51,880 replied Craig. I didn't say it had at eleven thirty. Don't forget by 468 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:54,319 George, though, that Paoli must be a clever one, think of his 469 00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:59,720 knowing about riceness. I only heard of it myself recently. Well, here's 470 00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:06,599 my good bye, Craig swung aboard an Amsterdam Avenue car, leaving me to 471 00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:10,000 kill eight nervous hours of my weekly day of rest from the star. They 472 00:33:10,079 --> 00:33:15,000 passed at length and at precisely the appointed time. Kennedy and I met with 473 00:33:15,039 --> 00:33:21,000 suppressed excitement, at least on my part. We walked over to Vincenzo's at 474 00:33:21,119 --> 00:33:23,920 night. This section of the city was indeed a black enigma. The lights 475 00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:28,119 in the shops where olive, oil, fruit and other things were sold were 476 00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:31,119 winging out one by one here and there. Strains of music floated out of 477 00:33:31,119 --> 00:33:37,000 wine shops, and little groups lingered on corners conversing in animated sentences. We 478 00:33:37,079 --> 00:33:40,599 passed Albanos on the other side of the street, being careful not to look 479 00:33:40,599 --> 00:33:45,240 at it too closely. For several men were hanging idly about pickets, apparently 480 00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:50,599 with some secret code that would instantly have spread far and wide the news of 481 00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:54,519 any alarming action. At the corner, we crossed and looked in Vincenzo's window 482 00:33:54,559 --> 00:33:59,640 a moment, casting a furtive glance across the street at the dark, empty 483 00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:04,279 store where the police must be hiding. Then we went in and casually sauntered 484 00:34:04,319 --> 00:34:08,079 back of the partition. Luigi was there already. There were several customers still 485 00:34:08,119 --> 00:34:12,840 in the store, however, and therefore we had to sit in silence while 486 00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:16,679 Vincenzo quickly finished a prescription and waited on the last one. At last, 487 00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:21,320 the doors were locked and the lights lowered, all except those in the windows, 488 00:34:21,320 --> 00:34:24,840 which were to serve as signals. Ten minutes to twelve, said Kennedy, 489 00:34:25,079 --> 00:34:30,079 placing the oblong box on the table. Gennaro will be going in soon. 490 00:34:30,639 --> 00:34:32,599 Let us try this machine now and see if it works. If the 491 00:34:32,639 --> 00:34:37,239 wires have been cut since we put them up this morning, Gennaro will have 492 00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:40,719 to take his chances alone. Kennedy reached over and, with a light movement 493 00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:45,519 of his forefinger, touched the switch. Instantly, a babel of voices filled 494 00:34:45,519 --> 00:34:51,519 the store, all talking at once rapidly and loudly. Here and there we 495 00:34:51,519 --> 00:34:55,280 could distinguish a snatch of conversation, a word, a phrase, now and 496 00:34:55,320 --> 00:34:59,880 then even a whole sentence. Above the rest, there was the clink of 497 00:35:00,960 --> 00:35:04,000 I could hear the rattle of dice on a bare table, and an oath, 498 00:35:04,639 --> 00:35:08,760 A cork popped, somebody scratched a match. We sat bewildered looking at 499 00:35:08,840 --> 00:35:14,159 Kennedy. Imagine that you are sitting at a table in Albano's back room, 500 00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:16,920 was all he said. This is what you would be hearing. This is 501 00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:21,920 my electric ear. In other words, the dictograph used. I am told 502 00:35:22,079 --> 00:35:24,760 by the Secret Service of the United States. Wait in a moment, you 503 00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:30,440 will hear Gennaro come in, Luigi and Vincenzo translate what you hear. My 504 00:35:30,559 --> 00:35:35,400 knowledge of Italian is pretty rusty, can't they hear us? Whispered Luigi in 505 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:39,039 an awe struck whisper. Craig laughed, no, not yet. But I 506 00:35:39,079 --> 00:35:43,559 have only to touch this other switch, and I could provide an effect in 507 00:35:43,599 --> 00:35:47,440 that room that would rival the famous writing in Belchaszar's wall, only it would 508 00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:52,639 be a voice from the wall instead of writing. They seem to be waiting 509 00:35:52,679 --> 00:35:55,920 for some one, said Vincenzo. I heard somebody say he will be here 510 00:35:55,960 --> 00:36:00,440 in a few minutes. Now get out. The babble of voices seemed to 511 00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:05,400 calm down as men withdrew from the room. Only one or two were left. 512 00:36:06,039 --> 00:36:08,440 One of them says, the child is all right. She has been 513 00:36:08,519 --> 00:36:14,079 left in the Bacqua yard. Translated Luigi, What yard did he say, 514 00:36:14,559 --> 00:36:19,480 asked Kennedy. No, they just speak of it as the yard. Jameson, 515 00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:22,960 go outside in the store to the telephone booth and call up headquarters. 516 00:36:22,440 --> 00:36:27,000 Ask them if the automobile is ready with the men in it. I rang 517 00:36:27,119 --> 00:36:30,480 up, and after a moment the police central answered that everything was right. 518 00:36:30,519 --> 00:36:34,440 Then tell Central to hold the line clear. We mustn't lose a moment. 519 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:37,840 Jameson, you stay in the booth. Vincenzo, you pretend to be working 520 00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:42,159 around your window, but not in such a way as to attract attention, 521 00:36:42,559 --> 00:36:45,199 for they have men watching the street very carefully. What is it, Luigi 522 00:36:45,679 --> 00:36:50,760 Gennero is coming. I just heard one of them say, here he comes. 523 00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:54,320 Even from the booth, I could hear the dictograph repeating the conversation in 524 00:36:54,360 --> 00:37:00,199 the dingy little back room of Albano's down the street. He's outre above Le 525 00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:05,639 Ferdoine, murmured Luigi, dancing up and down with excitement. Vincenzo was so 526 00:37:05,719 --> 00:37:07,960 nervous that he knocked a bottle down in the window. And I believe that 527 00:37:08,039 --> 00:37:13,119 my heartbeats were almost audible over the telephone, which I was holding for The 528 00:37:13,159 --> 00:37:17,400 police operator called me down for asking so many times if all was ready there 529 00:37:17,440 --> 00:37:22,039 it is the signal, cried Craig. A fine opera, is I Pagliacci? 530 00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:28,800 Now listen for the answer. A moment elapsed, then not without Gennaro, 531 00:37:29,119 --> 00:37:32,400 came a gruff voice in Italian from the dictograph. A silence ensued. 532 00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:38,280 It was tense. Wait, wait, said a voice which I recognized instantly 533 00:37:38,320 --> 00:37:43,679 as Gennaro's. I cannot lead this. What is this? Twenty three and 534 00:37:43,719 --> 00:37:47,320 a half Prince Street, No. Thirty three and the half. She hasn't 535 00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:52,800 been left in the back yard. Jameson called Craig. Tell them to drive 536 00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:55,119 straight to thirty three and a half Prince Street. They will find the girl 537 00:37:55,159 --> 00:37:59,639 in the back yard quick, before the blackhanders have a chance to go back 538 00:37:59,639 --> 00:38:04,519 on their work. I fairly shouted my orders to the police headquarters they're off, 539 00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:07,880 came back the answer, and I hung up the receiver. What was 540 00:38:07,880 --> 00:38:10,039 that, Craig was asking of Luigi. I didn't catch it. What did 541 00:38:10,079 --> 00:38:14,559 they say? The other voice said to Gennaro, sit down? What I 542 00:38:14,679 --> 00:38:19,199 count this? Sh he's talking again. If it is a penny less than 543 00:38:19,199 --> 00:38:21,800 ten thousand, or if I find a mark on the bills, I'll call 544 00:38:21,840 --> 00:38:27,320 to Enrico and your daughter will be spirited away again translated Luigi. Now Gennaro 545 00:38:27,440 --> 00:38:30,119 is talking, said Craig. Good, he is gaining time. He's a 546 00:38:30,159 --> 00:38:35,320 trump. I can distinguish that, all right. He's asking the gruff voice 547 00:38:35,320 --> 00:38:37,440 fellow if he will have another bottle of wine? He says he will. 548 00:38:37,599 --> 00:38:42,199 Good. They must be at Prince Street now. We'll give them a few 549 00:38:42,199 --> 00:38:46,079 minutes more, not too much for word will be back to Abano's like wildfire, 550 00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:51,000 and they will get Gennaro after all. Ah, they are drinking again. 551 00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:53,079 What was that, Luigi? The money is all right, he says, 552 00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:58,679 Now, Vincenzo out with the lights. A door banged across the street, 553 00:38:58,920 --> 00:39:01,960 and four huge dark figures darted out in the direction of Albano's. With 554 00:39:02,079 --> 00:39:07,440 his finger, Kennedy pulled down the other switch and shouted Gennaro, this is 555 00:39:07,480 --> 00:39:12,199 Kennedy to the street. Polizia, Polizia. A scuffle and a cry of 556 00:39:12,239 --> 00:39:15,679 surprise followed. A second voice, apparently from the bar, shouted at with 557 00:39:15,719 --> 00:39:20,559 de lights, At with de lights. Bang went a pistol and another. 558 00:39:21,159 --> 00:39:23,920 The dictograph, which had been all sound a moment before, was as mute 559 00:39:23,960 --> 00:39:28,800 as a cigar box. What's the matter, I asked Kennedy as he rushed 560 00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:32,199 past me. They have shot out the lights. My receiving instrument is destroyed. 561 00:39:32,320 --> 00:39:36,360 Come on, Jamieson, Vincenzo, stay back if you don't want to 562 00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:40,000 appear in this A short figure rushed by me, faster even than I could 563 00:39:40,039 --> 00:39:45,400 go. It was the faithful Luigi. In front of Albano's. An exciting 564 00:39:45,440 --> 00:39:49,719 fight was going on. Shots were being fired wildly in the darkness, and 565 00:39:49,840 --> 00:39:53,000 heads were popping out of tenement windows on all sides. As Kennedy and I 566 00:39:53,079 --> 00:39:58,079 flung ourselves into the crowd, we caught a glimpse of Gennaro, with blood 567 00:39:58,079 --> 00:40:01,280 streaming from a cut on his shoulder, struggling with the policeman, while Luigi 568 00:40:01,360 --> 00:40:07,400 vainly was trying to interpose himself between them. A man held by another policeman 569 00:40:07,519 --> 00:40:10,639 was urging the first officer on that's the man. He was crying, that's 570 00:40:10,679 --> 00:40:15,880 the kidnapper. I caught him. In a moment, Kennedy was behind him. 571 00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:19,679 Paoli, you lie, you are the kidnapper. Seize him. He 572 00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:23,599 has the money on him. That other is Gennaro himself. The policeman released 573 00:40:23,599 --> 00:40:28,519 the tenor and both of them seized Paoli. The others were beating at the 574 00:40:28,559 --> 00:40:34,800 door, which was being frantically barricaded inside. Just then a taxicab came swinging 575 00:40:34,840 --> 00:40:38,079 up the street. Three men jumped out and added their strength to those who 576 00:40:38,079 --> 00:40:43,559 were battering down Albano's barricade. Gennaro, with a cry, leaped into the 577 00:40:43,599 --> 00:40:46,599 taxicab. Over his shoulder, I could see a tangled mask of dark brown 578 00:40:46,679 --> 00:40:52,199 curls and a childish voice list why didn't you come for me? Papa? 579 00:40:52,480 --> 00:40:54,000 The bad man told me, if I waited in the yard, you would 580 00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:57,960 come for me. But if I cried, he said he would shoot me. 581 00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:02,159 And I waited and waited. There there, Lena, Papa's going to 582 00:41:02,199 --> 00:41:07,760 take you straight home to mother. A crash followed as the door yielded, 583 00:41:07,280 --> 00:41:14,119 and the famous Paoli gang was in the hands of The Law End of the 584 00:41:14,159 --> 00:41:15,559 Black Hand by Arthur Bereaved