The Barrel Mystery

by William J. Flynn

  CHAPTER XXIII

  FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS FOR A BADLY WRITTEN LETTER

  The value of these letters to the gang, and the peculiar informationrevealed in them to the Secret Service, prompted the "Black-Hand"crowd to get together a fund of $500, which was offered by one of thecrowd to a man now attached to the New York Police Department. Withthis money the gang intended to bribe this man to get the letters andreturn them to Mrs. Morello. Until this man, who was then a member ofthe police department and a detective, reads this, he will not suspectthat I even knew of the offer.

  There were other letters containing information of very valuablecharacter to the Secret Service.

  Now, when the arrest was made, the news spread through East OneHundred and Sixth Street, where Morello was living, and some of thescouts brought the information to Nick Terranova, a half-brother ofMorello. Terranova thereupon rushed down to Milone's grocery store atNo. 235 East Ninety-seventh Street to notify the members of the gangwho might be there that Giuseppe had been placed under arrest.

  There was a surprise coming to Nick when he discovered a number ofSecret Service men in charge of the store, and the members of the gangtaken away by the government's officers. He tried to act an imbecile,and pretended not to understand English when asked for a reason forhis coming into the store. He was as communicative as the proverbialoyster.

  At the time when Morello was arrested he was in bed with his son.Under the pillow of each was found a large revolver. Neither fathernor son, it is needless to say, were given the opportunity to reachthe weapons. The son has since been murdered.

  And now that we are on the subject of letters I might relate that whenthe members of the gang discovered Comito had confessed what he knewof the counterfeiting scheme, they tried to locate Comito, who hadbeen hidden by me. They tried a number of ruses in their efforts tolocate him for the purpose, presumably, of murdering him.

  One of their efforts was characteristic: Secret Service operativeRubano was thought by the gang to be the man who was communicatingwith Comito by mail. This was presumed by the gang without foundation.However, it was enough for the gang to feel that this was the way inwhich I was keeping in touch with Comito. Here is what happened:

  Don Gasparo had a drug store at No. 23 New Bowery, where he also had abranch post office and received letters there for a number of the"Black-Hand" crowd. Some one wrote to the postmaster of New York, on achange of address card, and asked the postmaster to have all of PietroRubano's mail sent to No. 23 New Bowery.

  Now you must sign your own name to the card asking for this change. Sothere was the difficulty of getting Rubano's signature to the cardwithout his knowing it. That was easy for the writer. He forgedRubano's name on the signature line of the card. The gang was elated.

  They would now get the "Squealer" Comito's letters to the SecretService and locate and destroy the traitor.

  But, like the plans of the little field mouse of whom Robert Burnswrote, the best laid schemes "gang aft agley."

  I asked Rubano if he had made the request of the post office to havehis mail addressed to the New Bowery place, and the detective told meit was news to him.

  Then information came to me about Gasparo, and I found that thedruggist had good reasons to stand in with Morello. He had formerlyrun a drug store up in the Bronx in the near neighborhood of Lupo andMorello's real estate venture and was a fast friend of Morello. Infact, he and Morello were co-workers in enterprises that do notpropagate peace on earth and good will among men.

  We started to lay a trap for Gasparo. I sent a number of letters fromdifferent parts of the country addressed to Rubano at the CustomHouse, New York, knowing that they would be forwarded to the NewBowery address.

  The letters were placed in large envelopes of different and pronouncedcolor and easily distinguishable to the eye when placed in the letter"R" box in Gasparo's branch post office.

  Then I set Secret Service men to watch those who called for mail andto shadow any one calling for the large colored envelopes.

  This scheme of mine did not work out, though, to any fruitful endbecause of the failure of any of the gang to call for the envelopeswith Rubano's name on them. A number of the gang had gone in and outof the drug store for days, but not one took away any of the largecolored envelopes. Either they were afraid to take the chance or somesuspicious circumstance warned them off when at the post officewindow. Such things as a strange man passing and looking into the drugstore, or the appearance of a stranger in the neighborhood, might havebeen sufficient reason for the member who started for the letters torefrain from asking for them at the last moment. These Morello-Lupomembers are very suspicious, and in dealing with them this trait mustalways be considered.

  Another incident of the efforts of the gang to locate Comito may be ofinterest at this point when I relate that the gang offered $2,500 toany one who would reveal to the "Black-Handers" the whereabouts ofComito. This $2,500 was offered to the same member of the New YorkPolice Department who was also offered $500 for the return of theletters, two of which I have given a few pages back.