"How big?"
"Outsized. We didn't realize to what extent until we went to town on him. Mannie Waller, for all his crassness, is probably the Syndicate's Mr. Big. Since Appalachian they've played it plenty cute."
"And he disappeared right after I opened Rhino's grave."
"Apparently."
"The call got through then."
"That's right. Now supposing, since we're all in this nice informal atmosphere, you say what's on your mind. If I didn't feel like you had a possibility of being right, and on top of that, that it could have been me who sent you away for seven years on a bum rap, you wouldn't be getting this opportunity to make me look like a fool. And if Dan didn't go along with you, I don't think I would have either. But now you're getting your chance. Just lay it out so we can see what it is."
I sat back, put the pieces together the way it looked best and gave them the picture.
"Before I was sent up I made a project out of Rhino Massley, intending to get hold of the documented evidence that determined his position inside the organization he ran and the outside loot to go with it. You know what happened. I took too big a bite. Rhino managed a neatly set-up frame and I took a dive behind bars. And with me gone Rhino was riding high . . . nobody big enough to push or cut him out. He had it made, but then came a time when he wanted out of the organization and things like this just don't happen unless you kick off."
"Buddy Rhino met Elena Harris and fell like a ton of bricks. She had showgirl looks, was educated, had everything Rhino ever wanted, and he went off the deep end. She had one other thing, too. She was a nurse, and this could have given him the idea. He cooked up a way to get out of the mob, without a sword hanging over his neck, and open up a new life for himself."
"So he fakes this polio thing. He went through the whole iron lung act because who the hell would think anybody would fake that? Suicide or murder maybe, but never anything like that. He even waited until a storm cut the power on the lung to make it look real. His nurse couldn't get the auxiliary power started in time."
"The doctor was fixed, of course. So was the mortician. They both thought they were made for life for their part in it and in a way they were. Rhino bumped them himself and made it look like an accident. He even managed to hold still in a casket for some photos and made it look good."
"He was the Syndicate paymaster and he had a bundle. He was supposed to keep it well hidden, so when he died suddenly and the bank was never uncovered, the mob simply felt that he had done his job a little too well, discounted the loss, and started fresh. At that point Rhino and Elena took off for Rio, he under an assumed name and properly disguised."
I paused there and waited. Dan was doodling idly on the edge of paper. Cal Porter said, "It's making sense. Go on."
"Now I speculate. Rio was a little too rich. Elena got out of hand. Those millionaires down there have an income at least. All of Rhino's loot was going out. It wouldn't take too many bad turns of the card to have that happen. Finally Rhino was wiped out and Elena wasn't holding still for it. She dumped Rhino for somebody else and the big act was all for nothing."
I could feel the scowl on Porter's face as he reached for the events and tried to sift them.
I said, "But to get back . . . Rhino's original hold on the mob itself and its outside agencies was his 'black bundle,' the stuff that could crucify plenty of big ones in and out of government. If it were a buried secret like the mob presumed the money to be, everything was all right."
"After all, during the time Rhino was gone it never turned up and it could be counted as being out of existence. In a way, it was almost like that. He had that hidden well . . . it had gone with his ex-wife so completely nobody could run it down. Then one day the ex-wife died and it came out quite inadvertently who she was and the mob was onto a new lead. There was the possibility that Rhino had separated the money and his 'package,' leaving the latter where it was accessible yet hidden."
"The mob couldn't afford not to follow up this idea. They suspected that Rhino's black bundle could have been among her effects. The survivor was Rhino's daughter, Terry, and as such inherited. The mob watched and waited and when Terry suddenly came to New York, they thought they had it pinned down. . . . Terry Massley had Rhino's stuff and was coming in to make a sale. Like father, like daughter, they figured. They laid for her, most likely figuring to make her talk, or if she wouldn't, knock her off and conduct a search themselves. By coincidence, I got involved."
The D.A.'s face seemed frozen. "By sheer coincidence," he repeated.
"Drop dead," I said.
"This coincidence is pretty farfetched," Porter remarked sourly. "This black bundle of Massley's was the invisible factor in Rocca's trial. Now suddenly by coincidence the girl runs into him."
Dan laughed. "You know what you should call this coincidence, Cal?"
Reluctantly, Porter asked, "What?"
"Luck. It's going to make you governor."
Then it was my turn. "That is," I said, "if I don't squawk about that bum rap I took back there."
The knuckles of Porter's fingers showed white. "I'm not making any deals. All I want to do is play it right."
"Me too, Mr. Porter, me too. I want it right. It's just that I have something coming to me for those seven years and I intend to get it."
"We'll talk about it. What do you want?"
"Legwork. You have everything going for you, so you might be able to get L.A. to process Rhino's ex-wife's effects. She left something behind that hasn't been uncovered and we have to find it first."
Porter scribbled something on a pad and nodded. I waved for the waiter, told him to bring a phone, and dialed the Enfield Hotel. After a minute the operator informed me that Terry wasn't in her room. I hung up scowling and Dan wanted to know what the matter was. "Terry's not around. She wasn't there when I called from Phoenix."
"You know how dames are."
"I told her to stay put."
"For two days? You're nuts. She's around the hotel someplace. Have her paged."
"No," I said, "I'm going up there myself. I don't want to broadcast anything." I looked at Cal Porter. "Okay with you . . . or did Phoenix put a hold order on me?"
For the first time Cal let a smile show. "They would have liked to. In fact, over somebody's protestations out there, they suggested it. You stirred up a big one."
"You'll do the stirring if you can get somebody to really shake down the late Mrs. Massley's effects out there."
Dan flipped another cigarette into his mouth. "And what do I do, boss man?" he grinned.
"More legwork. See if you can get anybody to identify Richard Castor as having shipped out of Rio bound for the States. I doubt if he would have traveled first class."
Both of them were watching me closely now.
I said, "I think Rhino Massley slipped back here intending to pick up his old documents in order to finance another bankroll to buy Elena Harris back with. I think it was Massley who contacted Terry, knowing that somewhere in her mother's effects was his big hope."
Porter nodded curtly. "There's only one hole."
We both waited for it.
"Rhino's got a crazy fixation against women. Then suddenly he's all gone over this Harris girl?"
It was something that had bothered me too, but I dismissed it with the only thing I could think of. "There's an exception to every rule, Mr. Porter. Meanwhile, it's the only line of reasoning we have."
I let them think about it, told them I'd call back later and walked out.
The maid was a short, doughty old woman, and she was certain about it. She didn't quibble or hedge and the fin I had given her hadn't bought a story. The girl in my room who had registered in as my wife wasn't there and hadn't been all day. Previously she wouldn't let anyone in, even to make up the room. Twice the day before, room service had brought in a tray, but that was all. However, this morning when the maid had tried the door with her master key since there was no Do Not Disturb sign out and the door was not locked from inside, she went in, cleaned up, and went out.