Final Confession by Bill Crowley Dennis Lehane Gilbert Geis Brian P. Wallace Page A

Tony and Angelo not to dwell on what could have been, and to think about their next score. But that was hard for even Phil to do. Finally he got word from an intermediary that Cushman wanted to talk. The two of them met at Castle Island in Southie. Cushman insisted they meet at a crowded place because he thought he was going to get whacked.
    There were no jokes that day, just apologies. He was like a scared child, whimpering and apologizing. He said he’d gotten some bum information. Phil agreed. Cushman then asked Phil about Angelo, and was told he should stay away from Angelo for the rest of his life, or Angelo would shorten that life considerably. Cushman agreed. Phil made it very clear that if he ever mentioned the canceled-check robbery to anyone, Cresta would kill him. Cushman thanked Phil and left. “I never saw Cushman after that day,” Phil noted.
    â€œAngelo was pretty shook up by the fiasco. He stayed in his house for a couple of weeks, which was unlike him,” Phil said. Finally Angelo called Phil at McGrail’s. “He sounded depressed, so I told him we were having a big surprise birthday party at McGrail’s for Tony,” Phil recalled. At first Angelo feigned indifference, but Phil told him how disappointed Tony would be if he was AWOL. Angelo grudgingly agreed to stop by.
    When he showed up at McGrail’s he was astounded to hear everyone start singing “Happy Birthday” to him as he walked in the door. “What the hell’s going on, Phil?” Angelo asked as the regulars continued to serenade him. “We’re having a birthdayparty. What’s it look like?” Phil said, laughing. “You told me it was
Tony’s
birthday,” Angelo yelled over the singing. “Well, I guess we’re even because I told Tony it was
yours
.” Phil smiled. “What the fuck are you up to?” Angelo asked angrily. “Lighten up, Ange, I just wanted us to do some celebrating together, that’s all.”
“Celebrate!
” Angelo yelled sarcastically. “We look like a bunch of no-talent clowns and you want to celebrate? Celebrate
what?
” “Celebrate that we’re all alive, celebrate that nobody’s going to jail, and celebrate that nobody knows we had anything to do with that canceled-check robbery. Is that enough for you?” Phil angrily shot back. Angelo hung his head and after a few seconds he said shyly, “I’m sorry, Phil. I guess I’ve been acting like an asshole. You’re right. I got nothing to bitch about.” Phil smiled and said, “Well, come on, let’s drink up. And happy birthday.”
    That was the last time the canceled-check robbery was ever brought up.

9
Kansas City, Here We Come
    D ESPITE THE CANCELED-CHECKS FIASCO , the team was doing well. After the Parker House heist, Phil decided that, though there was nothing that matched the adrenaline rush of opening a vault or popping an armored car, for the time being he liked being a jewel thief. “It was like being Cary Grant in
To Catch a Thief
,” he later remarked.
    After the Rideout job in May 1965 and the Parker House heist in October of that year, Phil Cresta began to have a bigger name with the wise guys in Chicago than he did in Boston. That was just the way he wanted it. Between January and Halloween 1965 the team had made over three-quarters of a million dollars.
    Bank robberies and armored car hits drew a lot of media attention, though, and that, in turn, drew the interest of people like Angiulo and Tilley. Phil didn’t want that. If Angiulo ever learned that Phil had made over three-quarters of a million dollars in ten months right under his nose, there would have been trouble. The best thing about the Parker House job, Phil decided, was its absence of publicity. The hotel and the insurance companies had taken the hit and kept their mouths shut because they didn’t want to invite copycat robberies. So, for