Ryskind said, “Somewhere in the vicinity of seventeen thousand.”
Santo Junior said, “Don’t shit a shitter. I’d say eight thousand tops. Anything more than that and you’d be too fucking occupied to make money.”
The dock phone rang. Pete tilted his chair back and grabbed the receiver.
“This is Bondurant.”
“I’m glad it’s you, but don’t you soldier types say hello?”
Jack Ruby-un-fucking-mistakable.
Pete cupped the mouthpiece. “What is it? I told you not to call unless it’s important.”
“What it is is the crazy Fed. He called me yesterday, and I’ve been stalling him.”
“What did he want?”
“He offered me four Gs to fly up to Lake Geneva Goddamn Wisconsin and case the layout of Jules Schiffrin’s house up there. It seems to me this is part of that farkakte Pension Fund-”
“Tell him you’ll do it. Set up a meet someplace quiet fortyeight hours from now and call me back.”
Ruby gulped and stammered. Pete hung up and popped his knuckles ten across.
The goddamn phone rang again-
Pete snagged it. “Jack, what are you doing?”
A man said, “This ain’t Jack. This is a certain Mr. Giancana looking for a certain Mr. Hoffa, who a little birdie told me is there with you.”
Pete waved the phone. “It’s for you, Jimmy. It’s Mo.”
Hoffa belched. “Hit that loudspeaker doohickey on that post there. Sam and me got nothing to hide from you guys.”
Pete tapped the switch. Hoffa yelled straight at the mike stand: “Yeah, Sam.”
The speaker kicked in loud:
“Your West Virginia guys fucked up my boy Lenny Sands, Jimmy. Don’t let anything like that happen again or I’d be inclined to make you apologize in front of an audience. My advice to you is to leave politics the fuck alone and concentrate on staying out of jail.”
Giancana slammed his phone down. The sound made the whole dock shimmy. Heshie, Johnny and Santo shared this green-atthe-gills look.
Hoffa blew verbal. Birds shot up out of trees and covered the sky.
46
The road bisected two fenced-off pastures. Clouds covered the moon-visibility was close to nil.
Littell pulled over and stuffed his money in a grocery bag. It was 10:06-Ruby was late.
Littell turned off his headlights. Clouds skittered by. The moon lit up a huge shape walking toward the car.
The windshield exploded. The dashboard fell on his lap. A steel bar cracked the steering wheel and ripped the gearshift out.
Hands jerked him across the hood. Glass ripped through his cheeks and lodged in his mouth.
Hands dumped him in a ditch.
Hands picked him up and pinioned him against a barbed-wire fence.
He was dangling. Steel barbs pierced his clothes and held him upright.
The monster ripped his holster off. The monster hit him and hit him and hit him.
The fence shook. Twisty metal gouged his backside down to the bone. He coughed up blood and chunks of glass and a big piece of a Chevy hood ornament.
He smelled gasoline. His car exploded. A heat blast singed his hair.
The fence collapsed. He looked up and saw clouds ignite.
DOCUMENT INSERT: 5/19/60. FBI Memorandum: Milwaukee Special Agent-in-Charge John Campion to Director J. Edgar Hoover.
Sir:
Our investigation into the near-fatal assault on SA Ward Littell is proceeding but making scant headway, primarily due to SA Littell’s poor attitude and lack of cooperation.
Agents from both the Milwaukee and Chicago Offices canvassed Lake Geneva for eyewitnesses to the assault and for witnesses to Littell’s general presence In the area and were unable to locate any. Chicago SAC Leahy informed me that Littell was under loose su.rvefflance for matters pertaining to internal Bureau security and that on two recent occasions (May 10th and May 14th) the agents mobile-tailing Littell lost him on roadways leading north to the Wisconsin border. The nature of Littell’s business in the Lake Geneva area is thus far unknown.
Per investigatory specifics:
1)-The assault occurred on a rural access road four miles southeast of Lake Geneva. 2)-Brush marks in the dirt near the remains of Littell’s car indicate that the assailant obliterated all traces of his tire tracks, rendering forensic casting impossible. 3)-Littell’s car was burned with a highly-flammable nitrous gas compound of the type used in the manufacture of military explosives. Such compounds burn themselves out very quickly and are used because they minimize the risk of decimating the area surrounding the target. The assailant obviously has military experience and/or access to military ordnance. 4)-Forensic analysis revealed the presence of charred U.S. currency laced with paper bag fragments. The aggregate weight of the fragments indicates that Littell was carrying a large amount of money in a grocery sack. 5)-Farmers rescued Littell, who was pinned to a downed section of barbed-wire fence. He was taken to Overlander Hospital near Lake Geneva and treated for a massive series of posterior cuts and lacerations, broken ribs, contusions, a broken nose, broken collarbone, internal hemorrhaging and facial gouges caused by contact with windshield glass. Littell checked out against medical advice fourteen hours later and engaged a taxi cab to drive him to Chicago. Chicago Office agents assigned to loose-tail Litteil saw him entering his apartment building. He collapsed in the entry hail, and the agents interceded on their own authority and drove him to Saint Catherine’s Hospital. 6)-Littell remains at the hospital. He is listed in “good condition” and will most likely be released within a week. A supervising physician told agents that the scarring on his face and backside will be permanent and that he should slowly recover from his other injuries. 7)-Agents have repeatedly queried Littell on three topics: his presence in Lake Geneva, the presence of the burned money and enemies who might want to hurt him. Litteil stated that he was in Lake Geneva scouting retirement property and denied the presence of the money. He said that he had no enemies and considered the assault a case of mistaken identity. When asked about CPUSA members who might be seeking vengeance on him for his Bureau Red Squad work, Litteil replied, “Are you kidding? Those Commies are all nice guys.” 8)-Agents have surmised that Litteil has made at least two trips to Lake Geneva. His name has not appeared on any hotel or motel ledgers, so we are assuming he either registered under assumed names or stayed with friends or acquaintances. Littell’s response-that he took catnaps in his oar-was not convincing.
The investigation continues. I respectfully await orders.
John Campion
Special Agent-in-Charge, Milwaukee Office
DOCUMENT INSERT: 6/3/60. FBI Memorandum: Chicago SAC Charles Leahy to Director J. Edgar Hoover.
Sir,
Per SA Ward J. Littell, please be informed.
SA Littell is now back on light duty and has been assigned to review Federal deportation briefs in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, work which utilizes the writ-analysis expertise he developed in law school. He refuses to discuss the assault with other agents, and as SAC Campion may have told you, we have yet to find witnesses to his Lake Geneva visits. Helen Agee told agents that Littell has not discussed the assault with her. I personally questioned BA Court Meade, Littell’s only friend in the Chicago Office, and have the following to report.
A)-Meade states that in late 1958 and early 1959, following his expulsion from the Top Hoodlum Program, Littell “loitered” near the TEP listening post and expressed interest in the squad’s work. That interest dissipated, Meade stated, and he further surmised that it is extremely unlikely that Littell engaged in anti-Mob actions on his own. Meade scoffed at the notion that the Chicago Mob was responsible for the assault or that left-wingers surveffied by Littell were seeking vengeance for his Red Squad efforts. Meade thinks that Littell’s “marked bent” for young women, as evinced by his continuing affair with Helen Agee, was the motive for the assault. Meade colorfully stated, “Go back up to Wisconsin and look for some idealistically-inclined girl with nasty brothers who didn’t take kindly to sis consorting with a forty-seven-year-old boozehound, G-man or no G-man.” I find this theory plausible.