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“Go ahead,” Luccarella said with another wave of his hand. He was all magnanimity that morning.

“I like my privacy just like you do. So I told one of my men to watch the door to the hall. He’s my driver, Sergeant Krone.”

“So we won’t be interrupted, huh? I don’t mind, but Shorty and Jassy’ll take care of the door.”

“I’m not worried about anyone coming in; it’s about their going out. So if you got a bug in this room and you’re thinking of taping any of this, I suggest you forget it.”

“What the hell kind of creep do you think I am?” Luccarella said, not quite yelling.

“The kind who might bug a conversation like we’re about to have.”

Luccarella smiled suddenly. “Yeah, maybe I am at that. But there’s no bug. I swear to God.”

“We’ll make sure later,” Necessary said.

“Okay, you made a point, now make an offer.”

“It’s no offer,” Necessary said. “It’s take it or leave it. I get a third. You and Dye can fight over the rest.”

An incredulous look appeared on Luccarella’s squeezed-up face. “A third of what?”

“The net. On everything.”

“A third! Christ, what do you mean a third? Lynch only got ten percent.”

“I may as well give you the bad news now,” I said. “I get a third, too.”

“You’re out of your fucking mind,” Luccarella yelled. “You get a third, he gets a third — you know what that leaves me? You know how much?”

“A third,” I said.

“Like shit it does. It leaves me just what Lynch got — ten percent. The rest goes back east.”

“That’s too bad,” Necessary said and drained his Scotch and water. “I don’t want to argue. I’ll take thirty percent. Dye can talk for himself.”

“Thirty’s okay,” I said. “That leaves you forty.”

“I can’t operate on forty.”

“You won’t operate at all unless I say so,” Necessary said.

“Fifty-five, forty-five,” Luccarella said.

Necessary shook his head. “It’s too complicated. I can figure the easy ones like thirty percent and a third and a half and the round numbers. Figuring forty-five and fifty-five percent’s too hard.”

“I’ll have to check back east,” Luccarella said. “I’ll have to explain to them what I’m up against.”

“I tell you something, Luccarella,” Necessary said. “Either you’re in or you’re out for forty percent. You can explain things later. Right now it’s yes or no time.”

Luccarella looked at Samuels, who refused to return his gaze. “Well, don’t just sit there, dummy! Say something, for Christ’s sake. That’s what I pay you for.”

Samuels sighed. “Under the new circumstances, perhaps Chief Necessary’s proposal does have merit, particularly if the net increases over what it formerly was.”

“It’ll increase,” Necessary said, shaking the ice in his glass. “Dye and I’ll see to that, won’t we?”

“Sure,” I said.

“How much?” Luccarella said, a measure of greed creeping into his voice.

“Well, Dye and I’ve been talking about that and we thought we just might turn Swankerton wide open now that I got the department all reorganized the way I like it. From what me and Dye can figure, Lynch and that doodlebug who was his chief of police kept things running about half speed. We thought we just might edge her up a notch or two.”

“What the hell’s he talking about?” Luccarella said to me.

“Just what he said. We’re going to exploit the town’s full potential.”

“Why don’t you translate that into dollars and cents?”

Necessary looked at me. “Go ahead,” he said.

“It means the net should go up by one hundred percent at least.”

“Ah,” Samuels said. “I think I see.”

“In one-syllable words, just for me,” Luccarella said. He was almost pleading.

“I believe what Mr. Dye is saying is that the fixed costs will remain fairly constant despite a marked increase in the volume of business.” Samuels looked at me for confirmation and I nodded.

“You mean the nut’s going to stay the same because the payoffs will stay the same and any new business will be just that much gravy? That’s what you mean, ain’t it?”

“That’s it, Luccarella,” Necessary said. “So your forty percent share of the new net will be equal to eighty percent of the old.”

“That’s better,” Luccarella said softly, almost to himself. “That’s a hell of a lot better. You got a deal.”

“Almost,” Necessary said. “Almost we got a deal.”

“Now what’s the matter?” Luccarella looked at me. “Now what the hell’s bugging him?”

“Ask him,” I said.

“All right, goddamn it, I’m asking you!” It came out a yell and this time Luccarella heard it himself. “Sorry,” he said, squeezing his eyes shut. “I gotta watch that. I just get too enthusiastic. I’m impatient, you know. My analyst says that there’s nothing wrong with being impatient. He said a lot of great men have been noted for their impatience. But it’s gotta be channeled, he says. It’s a type of energy and it’s gotta be directed. Now then, Chief, I’m gonna ask you again calmly. See how calm I am? What do you mean by almost we got a deal?”

“The word got around that Lynch was slipping so some of them came down to see if it was true.”

Luccarella gestured impatiently. “I heard about that. Dye here told me about it. Jimmy Twoshoes from Chicago and Sweet Eddie Puranelli out of Cleveland. Couple of others. They’ll forget about it when they hear Lynch’s out.”

“They’ve heard,” Necessary said.

“So they’ll get out.”

“They’ve heard something else.”

“What?”

“They’ve heard you’re slipping.”

I estimated that roughly $30,000 worth of analysis was destroyed by Necessary’s comment. Luccarella shot up out of his seat. “Me?” It was a scream this time, not a yell. “Who said I’m slipping? Who’s the sonofabitch who said it, Necessary?” He was stalking about the room now, knocking into furniture. He picked up an ashtray and smashed it against the wall. “Slipping, huh? Who said it, goddamn it? I’ll fix that sonofabitch. You think I’m slipping, Samuels? Did you tell ‘em I’m slipping?” He rushed over and grabbed the lawyer by his shirt front and jerked him from the couch. “What are you, a goddamned spy?”

“I never said—”

Luccarella dropped the lawyer, who sank back down on the couch. He spun around to face us. “You guys — you guys told them I’m slipping. You set it all up, I can tell. You guys are trying to fix me. You’re trying to get everything for yourself. I can’t trust nobody. I can’t even—”

“Shut up, Luccarella!” It was either Necessary’s harsh, slashing tone or my hangover, but it made me start. It also stopped Luccarella in mid-sentence.

“Bad, wasn’t it?” he said and hung his head like a scolded child. “I know what it is, all right. My analyst explained it all to me. It’s paranoia. That means that you think people are plotting against you when they’re not. He said lots of great men have had it and have gone on to live real useful lives.”

“It’s not paranoia this time,” Necessary said. “These guys think Swankerton’s ripe and they think you’ve slipped and they’re set to move in and move you out.”

“You can stop them,” Luccarella said.

“It’s not my job when you think about it,” Necessary said. “I can get my cut from them. They’ll give me a deal, just like you’ve done. But you already know the operation and that’s why I prefer to do business with you. Dye and me don’t want to spend our time breaking in the new help.”