out in small chunks. You two can even keep it in a safety deposit box. South America, Central America, Mexico. You can trade it there. Suppose you hit five or six banks in Rio. Convert it and then convert it back. Months later the stuff driftsback into the Federal Reserve System. By then it’s too late to identify where it came from.”
“So why don’t you do it?”
“Because there is some strange difficulty about getting a passport. And I have no legitimate business reason for a trip. You and Catton have stock in a Panamanian shipping line and in two small South American air lines.”
“How the hell would you know that?”
“Paul, I think that’s the first time I ever heard you say a naughty word. Never mind how I know.”
“The stock is practically worthless.”
“But you’ve got it.”
“Can’t any of your … associates get out of the country?”
“There is a kind of unreasoning, superstitious dread about this money, Paul. It doesn’t make sense, but it’s there. My friend, the guy who wants to sell it, was in France three months ago. He took fifty thousand of it along and lost his nerve and brought it all back and put the whole bundle in what he considers a safer place. I think you’re too hardheaded to be superstitious about it.”
“What do you get out of this?”
“Ten per cent.”
“Why doesn’t he take the whole bundle and leave for good, go some place where he can’t be sent back?”
“He’s a patriot. He likes milk shakes and air conditioning. And he’s got other irons in the fire. Is Luciano happy?”
“I’ll … I’ll have to think.”
“You can’t miss. Can you raise the money?”
“Not now. Not the way things are. Maybe the two of us can, if Catton will go for it.”
“He’ll go for it, if he’s as smart as you are, Paul. It’s what I told my friend a month ago. It’s got to be sold to somebody legitimate. It’s too risky to try to do anything with it here. You might pass three thousand bucks before some smart teller checks the list. Once that starts, you wouldn’t hear about it. They’d just close in on you, using every bill as a signpost, like a paper chase.”
“How do I get in touch with you?”
“I’m registered at the Hancock House. I’ll wait.”
“How can I be sure it’s the money? This would be a fine way to unload counterfeit.”
Dixon grinned merrily. “Why, if you have any doubts, take one of those fifties to the bank and ask about it, pal.”
“But …”
“It’s legitimate. I’ll give you a clipping with those three sets of serial numbers and you can check. It’s the money. You’ll be buying three dollars for … no, four dollars for every one.”
Catton, lying listless and wasted in bed, had been frightened by the idea. It had taken Paul two hours to convince him. By the time he left, Burt Catton was exhausted. And Paul knew just how far they could go. Forty from Burt and twenty-five from him would strip them almost completely. Sixty-five thousand.
He offered Dixon sixty. Dixon was amused, indignant, enraged. Paul stood firm. Dixon left and made a phone call. He came back and said seventy was rock bottom. Paul offered sixty-five and said it was absolute top. Dixon was gone much longer the second time. He came back and said, “All right. It’s fine. It’s just dandy. I don’t get ten per cent. I get five per cent. Instead of eight grand I get a lousy three and a quarter, so he only nets one and a quarter less than if you took it at seven. The rest of the difference comes out of my hide. Write this down. Ready? Hogan 68681. That’s a Tulsa exchange. Phone any day next week in person, from Tulsa. Ask for Jerry. Have the sixty-five with you in cash. No thousands. When you get Jerry on the line ask him if he knows where you can buy a good used Cad. He’ll take it from there.”
“Tulsa!”
“It’s a city. Like in Oklahoma. You won’t like it. Few people do.”
And as they had parted then, the last time
“So why don’t you do it?”
“Because there is some strange difficulty about getting a passport. And I have no legitimate business reason for a trip. You and Catton have stock in a Panamanian shipping line and in two small South American air lines.”
“How the hell would you know that?”
“Paul, I think that’s the first time I ever heard you say a naughty word. Never mind how I know.”
“The stock is practically worthless.”
“But you’ve got it.”
“Can’t any of your … associates get out of the country?”
“There is a kind of unreasoning, superstitious dread about this money, Paul. It doesn’t make sense, but it’s there. My friend, the guy who wants to sell it, was in France three months ago. He took fifty thousand of it along and lost his nerve and brought it all back and put the whole bundle in what he considers a safer place. I think you’re too hardheaded to be superstitious about it.”
“What do you get out of this?”
“Ten per cent.”
“Why doesn’t he take the whole bundle and leave for good, go some place where he can’t be sent back?”
“He’s a patriot. He likes milk shakes and air conditioning. And he’s got other irons in the fire. Is Luciano happy?”
“I’ll … I’ll have to think.”
“You can’t miss. Can you raise the money?”
“Not now. Not the way things are. Maybe the two of us can, if Catton will go for it.”
“He’ll go for it, if he’s as smart as you are, Paul. It’s what I told my friend a month ago. It’s got to be sold to somebody legitimate. It’s too risky to try to do anything with it here. You might pass three thousand bucks before some smart teller checks the list. Once that starts, you wouldn’t hear about it. They’d just close in on you, using every bill as a signpost, like a paper chase.”
“How do I get in touch with you?”
“I’m registered at the Hancock House. I’ll wait.”
“How can I be sure it’s the money? This would be a fine way to unload counterfeit.”
Dixon grinned merrily. “Why, if you have any doubts, take one of those fifties to the bank and ask about it, pal.”
“But …”
“It’s legitimate. I’ll give you a clipping with those three sets of serial numbers and you can check. It’s the money. You’ll be buying three dollars for … no, four dollars for every one.”
Catton, lying listless and wasted in bed, had been frightened by the idea. It had taken Paul two hours to convince him. By the time he left, Burt Catton was exhausted. And Paul knew just how far they could go. Forty from Burt and twenty-five from him would strip them almost completely. Sixty-five thousand.
He offered Dixon sixty. Dixon was amused, indignant, enraged. Paul stood firm. Dixon left and made a phone call. He came back and said seventy was rock bottom. Paul offered sixty-five and said it was absolute top. Dixon was gone much longer the second time. He came back and said, “All right. It’s fine. It’s just dandy. I don’t get ten per cent. I get five per cent. Instead of eight grand I get a lousy three and a quarter, so he only nets one and a quarter less than if you took it at seven. The rest of the difference comes out of my hide. Write this down. Ready? Hogan 68681. That’s a Tulsa exchange. Phone any day next week in person, from Tulsa. Ask for Jerry. Have the sixty-five with you in cash. No thousands. When you get Jerry on the line ask him if he knows where you can buy a good used Cad. He’ll take it from there.”
“Tulsa!”
“It’s a city. Like in Oklahoma. You won’t like it. Few people do.”
And as they had parted then, the last time
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