Shayne was thoughtful, going over in his mind which angle to use and still keep Ann Waterman out of the picture.
He said, “It isn’t that simple, Dom. There have been twenty-two killings across the country. All of them committed with a twenty-two caliber pistol, the kind we found in Allegretti’s car, two of them. We have done a lot of research in the last twenty-four hours. The teletype works fast. I’ll tell you what we’ve got.
“On January thirteen, nineteen seventy-six, Raymond Lundgren, a coin dealer, was murdered in Sierra Madre. Lundgren was to have been a prosecution witness against two members of the Patriarca organization in New Jersey. Are you interested, Dom?”
Colletti smiled. “Very much. I read it in all the papers.”
Mike Shayne went on. “On February eleven, nineteen seventy-six, Joseph Barboza was murdered in a San Francisco hideout. Barboza was an enforcer for certain New England organized crime figures. Am I getting warm, Dom?”
“Like a slab of ice. You figure me in those capers, Shayne? From here? Thousands of miles away?”
“Dom, Al Capone was in his Palm Island estate on February fourteen, nineteen twenty-nine, when the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre happened. Sure as hell, he okayed it, and then went to Florida for his alibi. I’ve got a couple more for you.
“On December fifteen, nineteen seventy-five, Alan Wellman, a Beverly Hills attorney, and his wife, Renate were shot to death in a bedroom of their Sherman Oaks home. Wellman had been a government witness in a federal case involving theft of a fifty-thousand-dollar U.S. Treasury note, and was scheduled to testify in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia on January twelve, nineteen seventy-six. We have information that you handled that deal, Dom. Am I getting hot?”
“Not so far as I’m concerned, Shayne. Not a shred of valid evidence.”
“Now, the Roselli killing. Those two twenty-two caliber pistols we found in Allegretti’s car may just be the ones used in the Giancanna and Roselli killings, as well as some of the others. We’ll run ballistics, and sure as hell we’ll come up with enough information to put them in your hands first, and then in Allegretti’s. Am I warm now?”
“Not so far as I’m concerned,” Colletti replied. “You’ve got nothing so far to link me with anything you’ve said.”
“Okay, Dom,” Shayne said, and pointed a finger at him, “The diamond heist and the murder of the salesman. I’ve got a witness who will swear that she delivered five or six packets of diamonds to you, and that you gave her envelopes of cash which she delivered to Allegretto. How does that hit you, Dom?”
“I’m impressed, by the extent of your research, but I still don’t see how any of it affects me.”
IX
The time had come to spring Miss Ann Waterman on him. Shayne said, “Dom, Allegretti’s part-time girl-friend, Ann Waterman, delivered some five or six packets of diamonds to you on at least a half-dozen occasions. You gave her sizable amounts of money to deliver to Allegretto. That sure as hell places you in as an accessory to the heist and the murder of the salesman.”
For a moment, Colletti’s face became a mask of rage and he lost his composure. “That dumb bastard Allegretto and his women! I told him a dozen times not to put his business on a table in front of a broad. That’s one of the women he tried to kill. And the other was Lieutenant Elfmont’s wife?”
“That’s right, Dom. He kidnapped Mrs. Elfmont. We could add that little caper to the rest of it.”
Lieutenant Elfmont, Marshal Walsh, Sergeant Patterson and Detective Wilson came into the room. Elfmont shook his head to indicate to Shayne that they had found nothing.
Shayne said, “Dom, you have a safe, don’t you? We want to look into it?”
“Yes, I have a safe but you’d be wasting your time. If I had anything incriminating around here, I certainly wouldn’t keep it in my safe — the first place police would want to look. Anyway, I’ll open it.”
It was a wall safe in the library, masked by a painting. Colletti opened it. There were no diamonds inside.
“I hope that does, it gentlemen,” Colletti said. “Now, if you will excuse me, I’d like to join my daughter at breakfast. She’s very upset about all this.”
Shayne said, “Dom, think over what I said. It’s your only out. We’ve got too much against you.”
“You’ve got nothing! All you’ve got is that poor broad who attracted Allegretti, the nit-wit. Who is this Ann Waterman? I’ll tell you — a cocktail lounge pickup, a lush.” He spat out the words.
“She picks up johns and gives them whatever they want — and for what? A few drinks and a lunch. Shayne, I got the word on her yesterday and had her checked out. What the hell do you think I am? Some dumb hood like Allegretti?”
“No, and neither does anyone else here,” said the redhead. “But don’t play us cheap either. I want to read you something. This is a copy of a telegram you received about two months ago.”
“Dom, we have information and documents verifying that information relative to scheduled appearances before various committees at some near-future dates. You are urged to neutralize the principal adversaries at the earliest possible time. Dino”
“What does that prove, Shayne?” Colletti asked, but much of the bravado had gone out of his tone.
“I’ll tell you what it proves, Dom,” Mike Shayne retorted. “Shortly after this wire was sent, right after Giancanna was killed in Chicago, the other men scheduled to appear before Senate Investigating Committees, and Grand Juries, state and federal, were wiped out. We will prove you were the force behind those killings, and that of Roselli in Miami.
“You have your avenues of information, but so do we — and we also have unlimited funds to use in furthering our investigations, plus trained people in all divisions, dedicated public servants. Who have you got? I mean that you can really trust? Like Al Capone once said, ‘The only honest face I ever saw was on a dog.’
“I’ll make a prediction right now, Dom. Either you play ball with us or you’ll be facing more murder raps than a hundred top lawyers will be able to square. Then, no deals. Now’s the time.”
“All that, Shayne, on that lousy telegram and that cheap broad whose testimony wouldn’t convince anyone. A fresh kid just out of law school would tear her credibility to shreds. Do what you want. I’m standing pat.”
“I’ll be back tomorrow, Dom. You’ll have had time to think things over.”
“Don’t waste your time, Shayne.”
The redhead laughed, said, “I get paid for every minute of it.”
Outside the house, Shayne asked the group for their opinions. Tom Elfmont said, “I don’t know. Colletti doesn’t strike me as a man who’ll cop out. There’s no doubt in my mind that he has some powerful connections in the area. You expect him to crack, Shayne?”
“I think so. If not for himself, then for his daughter. He would do a lot to save her from exposure as the daughter of a hood. There’s a strong bond between the two. I caught that.”
Sergeant Patterson said, “That may be true, but if I were you I’d do something quick and thorough about protecting your star witness. Unless I miss my guess, Colletti at this very moment is setting up plans to have Ann Waterman killed. If your theory is correct about his being the force behind all the killings, on orders of the Syndicate Council, of course, then having Waterman hit is the least of them all. Waterman is your baby, Shayne. You brought her into the picture.”