O'Brien's Dilemma

Having seen him operate many years ago, I hadn’t the slightest doubt what his goal was. “All he has to do is get me implicated in one crooked scheme, even if it’s done by first hiring me as an investigator, and I’m his. He may even have the misguided impression that he could end up with your agency under his thumb.”

Matt undoubtedly believed he had Freddie’s murder hanging over my head. It was self-defense of course, but Matt was definitely right in assuming that I wouldn’t want to go to court and try to prove my innocence. Clever people these Capones’.

“Christ Jack. That was one brilliant analysis. But don’t you think it’s a bit far-fetched.” Bill wasn’t quite sure if he was going to buy into my speculation, but it didn’t seem as though he discarded it entirely. I decided to change the subject.

“What the hell were you and Ralph discussing so seriously during dinner. It looked like you had known each other forever.” Actually, Ralph did the bulk of the talking, and Bill just had nodded at the appropriate times.

Bill said Ralph told him how proud he and rest of the Capone’s were of our men fighting the “Japs” and the “Krauts” and how terrible it was that Hitler had dragged Mussolini, kicking and screaming, into the war. He said that ordinary Italians had no desire to go to war against other European countries, and especially the United States. Ralph said his son Ralph Jr. tried to enlist in the Navy, and was turned down for flat feet. Allegedly, that broke the poor boys heart and was mainly the reason he committed suicide. He said that despite the terrible things the government was trying to do to them, the Capone’s were loyal Americans and had supported the war in any way they could.

“In other words, he fed you a line of bullshit,” I said.

“Exactly. But of course, that has no bearing on our current situation.”

I liked the way Bill operated. Take care of immediate problems first, and then figure what course of action comes next. That’s probably why he was such a brilliant combat commander, and I was just a grunt. Cosgrove had reluctantly given me a copy of the blueprints and a revision thereto, and mentioned that he didn’t care for Matt doing business with me, and leaving him out of the mix. Of course, that was after Matt and the rest of the guests had left the premises. Their departure had followed a closed-door, fifteen-minute meeting in the dining room while Bill and me cooled our heels in the lion’s den. The Capone’s said brief goodbyes and then were out the door to who knows where. I got the impression they were leaving for Chicago, but didn’t say whether they were flying, driving or going by Twentieth Century Limited. I didn’t really care. I was pleased that my former employer had cleaned up that untidy Chicago mess for me, but was extremely unhappy that he had gotten me involved in the business again. This time as an outsider of course, but involved nonetheless. Oh well, this too shall pass. The problem was I had no idea when, or what the cost might be.