"Thank God."

"Am I right? How many people are saying the exact same thing these last two days? Thank God this Oswald isn't a Jew.' '

' 'Whatever he is, at least we know he's not a Jew.

"Am I right? These are the things people say."

"When I think of my father," Jack Ruby said.

"Of course. This is what I say."

"Always drinking, drinking. Out of work for years. My mother talked Yiddish to the day she died. She couldn't write her name in English."

"This is exactly the situation we find ourselves today. I'm saying there are things that need protection."

"I'm a great believer in you have to stand up for your natural values."

"Don't hide who you are."

"Don't hide. Don't run."

"This is a subject I talked to Carmine only today. I've been talking to Carmine direct. He made reference to he was anxious about Oswald. It makes the whole country look bad, all this talk on a level of conspiracy. I'll tell you what people want. They want this Oswald to vanish. That's how you close the book on loose talk. People want him off the map, Jack. He's a nuisance to behold."

"It's a tide of emotion where anything can happen."

"It's a wave. You feel it in the streets. It carries everyone along. We're involved one way or another whether we like it or not. Look at the ad that ran in the paper with a thick black border. Signed with a Jewish name. People notice things like that. They file it away. There's a lot of extreme feelings that attach themselves to Jews."

"I personally feel I've been dropped in a pool of shit."

Jack Karlinsky nodded.

"Let me tell you something right straight out. The man who gets Oswald, people will say that's the bravest man in America. And it's just a matter of time before somebody clips him. They're saying reports of mob action any time. The people want a blank space where he's standing. This act, they'll build a monument, whoever does it. It's the shortest road to hero I ever saw."

"You talk to Carmine."

"Carmine mentioned your name. From Tony Push. They know about you, Jack, in New Orleans."

"I did some things in the Cuba days."

"In other words this Oswald is an aggravation. He knows some little iffy things. He has some names he's playing around in his mind. Carmine wants to clear the air."

"I was over at headquarters, dropping in this afternoon. There's talk they're moving him to the county jail."

"I was about to say. It's a procedure they have to follow in a felony case. This city, it's screwy, the way certain affairs are handled in the legal arena. Commit a violent crime and there's a good chance you'll walk. This is a feature of the local climate. You know as well as I. Murder is easier to get exonerated than breaking and entering, Jack."

"It's considered how people behave."

"Am I right? It's considered settling things Old West-style. They have it ingrained in the way they think. You get a shvartzer kills another shvartzer in a gunfight, the case won't even go to trial."

"Nobody cares enough to try a case like that."

"This is what I say. I'm saying. Popping a guy like Oswald, this is the same approach. Can you project a heavy sentence to take this guy out?"

"People want to lose him."

"You'll see total rejoice. As things now stand, Jack, what are you worth to the city of Dallas? You're a Chicago guy to them. You're an operator from the North. Worse, a Jew. You're a Jew in the heart of the gentile machine. Who are we kidding here? You're a strip-joint owner. Asses and tits. That's what you mean to Dallas."

"Who are we kidding?"

"Who are we kidding here?"

"When I think of my mother."

"Exactly what I'm saying."

"My mother went crazy in a big way. I can't describe the horror. I used to look in her eyes and there was nothing there that you could call a person. She screamed and raged. That was her life. My father hit her. He hit us. She hit us. She thought we were all shtupping each other. Brothers and sisters having constant sex. I never went to school. I fought. I delivered envelopes for Al Capone."

"I'm saying. This is my point. It builds up a pressure that's bad for us all."

There was a short heavy silence.

' Thank God he's not a Jew.

' Thank God whatever he is, at least he's not a Jew.' '

"Jack, I'm sure you hear the same thing in the street I've been hearing for almost two days. The man who kills that communist bastard is saving the city of Dallas from world shame. This is what they're saying in the streets."

"What is Carmine saying?"

"Good point. Because here you have an ally. Here you have protection and support. Carmine himself brought up the subject of the loan. I think you'll be delighted with the terms."

"And for this?"

"For this you undertake to rid the city."

"In other words."

"Jack, you're a floater all your life. This is a chance you put your fist around something solid. You want to end your life selling potato peelers in Piano, Texas? Build something. Make a name."

"So what you're saying, Jack."

"Take him off the calendar."

"Clip him."

"Turn him into a crowd," Karlinsky said sadly.

He unwrapped a cigar but didn't light it. He looked old and drawn. He sat like a patient in a waiting room, preoccupied and tense, hunched forward on the sofa.

"Carmine is offering that we completely forgive the loan. We make the loan, then we cancel the debt forever. Forty thousand dollars. Deliverable at the first convenience. It's just a question how soon. We expect very soon. We don't expect a major delay here."

"What about my clubs?"

"We look after them in the meantime. I have every confidence you'll see a rebirth. Think of the people who'll want to say they paid a visit to the Carousel. Jack Ruby's club, who took out Oswald."

"To see what kind of atmosphere."

"Out-of-towners in total droves. You own a gun, Jack?"

"What do you think?"

"Carmine is getting full cooperation from the boys in Dallas. They have people they render assistance in the police. The police are going to move Oswald out of the building via the basement. It is for some time after ten A. M. There are two ramps to the street."

"Main Street and Commerce."

"I'm saying, Jack. The ramps will be heavily guarded. The building entrances closed off. The accordion gate between the two parts of the building will be locked. The power will be off in the elevators except for the jail elevator, which they'll use to bring Oswald down."

"I can probably walk right down a ramp."

"Wait. I'm saying."

"I'm a known face in the building."

"Not tomorrow you can't walk down a ramp. They are letting in reporters with press cards and that's it. A limited number, mainly picture-taking. This transfer is very delicate. They have extra men coming in. They're determined it goes off without a hitch."

"Then how do I get in?"

"I'm saying, Jack. There's an alley that runs along the east side of the building. You're inconspicuous here. Halfway down there's a door to the new part of the building, the municipal annex. This door is always locked except tomorrow we arrange it's open. There is no guard on the door. You go in the building. Once you're inside you see elevators and stairs. You take the stairs down. They're fire stairs. This is how you get in the basement."

"How do they bring him out?"

"Handcuffed to a detective. Another detective on the other side. What kind of gun do you have?"

"Snub-nose.38. Fits in a pants pocket."

"You'll have the heaviest hard-on in America."

Karlinsky laughed bleakly, a growl down in the throat. Jack sat behind the desk, looking blank. The conversation ended here.

Jack was alone for an hour figuring out how to meet recent wages and bills without the weekend receipts. This kind of petty arithmetic tightened his skull.