Read Online (1982) The Almighty by Irving Wallace - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Irving Wallace
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so.’
‘Probably not, because Gus Pagano was a local story and
you were in Chicago at the time. Three years ago Pagano was a
minor crime figure. Not a killer, but a thief. One night the
cashier of a hotel on the Park, on Fifth Avenue, was held up.
She set off a silent alarm. Just as the robber was making his
escape, a squad car arrived and two of the city’s finest got out
of it. The robber gunned them down, killed them, and got
away. The police, as you know, don’t take murder of a
policeman lightly. A wide net was thrown out. Suspects were
pulled in, and among them was Gus Pagano. Immediately
three witnesses pointed him out as the police killer. He denied
it, protested his innocence, but then what else would one
expect from a hardened criminal? Anyway, Pagano was tried,
found guilty, sentenced to the chair. He was incarcerated at
the Green Haven Correctional Facility. He continued to
insist upon his innocence. Although unlettered, he liked to
read, and he began to read up on the law. Then Pagano began
to file appeals, as well as write letters to all the New York
newspapers. A few of us on the Record were impressed by his
letters, and we decided to have our legal staff monitor one of his appeals. As a result, there was a long delaying action and his execution was put off time and again. Finally Pagano lost his last appeal, and a firm date was set for his execution. He was on Death Row, getting ready to meet his Maker, when another man was picked up for murder in Atlanta and confessed to the killings of which Pagano had been accused. In fact, the real murderer very much resembled Pagano, so the mistake by all the witnesses was understandable. Anyway, Pagano was released from Death Row and released from prison and was a free man.’
‘And now he’s working for you?’
‘Yes. It came about quite simply. Some time after he’d gotten out of prison he came up here one. day to see us, ostensibly to thank us for our help in appealing his case. Actually he was looking for money. He admitted to being back in the mob, back into petty crime, but the pickings were poor. He wondered if we’d pay him to be an informant. We were wary. He could hardly be regarded as the most trustworthy of parties. But Dietz said he was street-smart and ordered me to give him a chance. Se we put him on a modest retainer. Most of his leads were too vague and cautious to be of any value, but gradually he began to phone in tips - three, four, five - that led to fairly big stories. We’ve kept him on the payroll ever since.’
‘What’s he got to do with Sam Yinger?’ asked Victoria.
‘Pagano knew Yinger slightly before either of them was in Green Haven. I don’t know if that amounts to much. More important, Yinger now occupies the cell on Death Row that Gus Pagano occupied before he was found innocent and released.’
McAllister waited for Victoria’s reaction, and she reacted almost at once. ‘I get it. Since we can’t get to Yinger, we find out what he’s going through in that cell before his execution from Pagano, who went through the same experience.’
‘You’ve got it. Get the material from Pagano - and write it about Yinger.’
‘When do I see Gus Pagano?’
‘Any minute. He’s on his way here. He has an idea what we want from him. You can talk to him in our conference room next door. Here’s a file of clips about the Yinger crime. Brief
yourself on it. When you’re finished with Pagano, go write the story. No more than eight hundred words. Turn it in to me this afternoon.’ He directed her to a side door. ‘Good luck, young lady.’
Gus Pagano proved to be a dapper, slender, youngish man, perhaps thirty-five, who looked like a fugitive from an Edward G. Robinson gangster movie. His five-foot-eleven-inch frame was encased in a tight pinstriped double-breasted blue serge suit. He wore blue suede shoes. He had a full head of curly black hair, close-set eyes, a long hawklike nose, thick lips, and
‘Probably not, because Gus Pagano was a local story and
you were in Chicago at the time. Three years ago Pagano was a
minor crime figure. Not a killer, but a thief. One night the
cashier of a hotel on the Park, on Fifth Avenue, was held up.
She set off a silent alarm. Just as the robber was making his
escape, a squad car arrived and two of the city’s finest got out
of it. The robber gunned them down, killed them, and got
away. The police, as you know, don’t take murder of a
policeman lightly. A wide net was thrown out. Suspects were
pulled in, and among them was Gus Pagano. Immediately
three witnesses pointed him out as the police killer. He denied
it, protested his innocence, but then what else would one
expect from a hardened criminal? Anyway, Pagano was tried,
found guilty, sentenced to the chair. He was incarcerated at
the Green Haven Correctional Facility. He continued to
insist upon his innocence. Although unlettered, he liked to
read, and he began to read up on the law. Then Pagano began
to file appeals, as well as write letters to all the New York
newspapers. A few of us on the Record were impressed by his
letters, and we decided to have our legal staff monitor one of his appeals. As a result, there was a long delaying action and his execution was put off time and again. Finally Pagano lost his last appeal, and a firm date was set for his execution. He was on Death Row, getting ready to meet his Maker, when another man was picked up for murder in Atlanta and confessed to the killings of which Pagano had been accused. In fact, the real murderer very much resembled Pagano, so the mistake by all the witnesses was understandable. Anyway, Pagano was released from Death Row and released from prison and was a free man.’
‘And now he’s working for you?’
‘Yes. It came about quite simply. Some time after he’d gotten out of prison he came up here one. day to see us, ostensibly to thank us for our help in appealing his case. Actually he was looking for money. He admitted to being back in the mob, back into petty crime, but the pickings were poor. He wondered if we’d pay him to be an informant. We were wary. He could hardly be regarded as the most trustworthy of parties. But Dietz said he was street-smart and ordered me to give him a chance. Se we put him on a modest retainer. Most of his leads were too vague and cautious to be of any value, but gradually he began to phone in tips - three, four, five - that led to fairly big stories. We’ve kept him on the payroll ever since.’
‘What’s he got to do with Sam Yinger?’ asked Victoria.
‘Pagano knew Yinger slightly before either of them was in Green Haven. I don’t know if that amounts to much. More important, Yinger now occupies the cell on Death Row that Gus Pagano occupied before he was found innocent and released.’
McAllister waited for Victoria’s reaction, and she reacted almost at once. ‘I get it. Since we can’t get to Yinger, we find out what he’s going through in that cell before his execution from Pagano, who went through the same experience.’
‘You’ve got it. Get the material from Pagano - and write it about Yinger.’
‘When do I see Gus Pagano?’
‘Any minute. He’s on his way here. He has an idea what we want from him. You can talk to him in our conference room next door. Here’s a file of clips about the Yinger crime. Brief
yourself on it. When you’re finished with Pagano, go write the story. No more than eight hundred words. Turn it in to me this afternoon.’ He directed her to a side door. ‘Good luck, young lady.’
Gus Pagano proved to be a dapper, slender, youngish man, perhaps thirty-five, who looked like a fugitive from an Edward G. Robinson gangster movie. His five-foot-eleven-inch frame was encased in a tight pinstriped double-breasted blue serge suit. He wore blue suede shoes. He had a full head of curly black hair, close-set eyes, a long hawklike nose, thick lips, and
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