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Kemper said, “Who is she?”
Le
Kemper pulled out a morgue glossy and forced it on Le
Le
“So? So this is supposed to scare me?”
“Giancana did this, Le
Littell grabbed the snapshot. “Let’s hold back a second. You’ve made your point.”
Kemper steered him into the dining room. Kemper pressed him into a cabinet with his fingertips.
“Don’t ever contradict me in front of a suspect.”
“Kemper…”
“Hit him.”
“Kemper-”
“Hit him. Make him afraid of you.”
Littell said, “I can’t. Goddamnit, don’t do this to me.”
“Hit him, or I’ll call Giancana and rat him off right now.”
“No. Come on… please.”
Kemper handed him brass knuckles. Kemper made him lace his fingers in.
“Hit him, Ward. Hit him, or I’ll let Giancana kill him.”
Littell trembled. Kemper slapped him. Littell stumbled over to Le
Le
Le
“Who’s Laura Hughes? Tell me in detail.”
Littell dropped the knucks. His hand throbbed and went numb.
“I said, ‘Who’s Laura Hughes?’”
Le
“I said, ‘Who’s Laura Hughes?’”
Le
He said, “She’s Joe Ke
Littell shut his eyes. The Q amp;A made absolutely no-
Kemper said, “Keep going.”
“How far? I’m the only one outside the family who knows.”
Kemper said, “Keep going.”
Le
“Mr. Ke
Littell opened his eyes. Le
Kemper twirled the knucks on one fmger. “Where did she get the name Hughes?”
“From Howard Hughes. Mr. Ke
Littell closed his eyes. He started seeing things he wasn’t conjuring up.
“Ask Mr. Sands a question, Ward.”
An image flickered out-Le
“Ward, open your eyes and ask Mr. Sands a-”
Littell opened his eyes and took his glasses off. The room went soft and blurry.
“I saw you arguing with Mad Sal outside the church. What was that about?’
Le
“Why?”
“Because Sal’s poison. Because he’s poison like you are.”
He sounded I’m-a-snitch-now resigned.
“But he didn’t let you quit?”
“No. I told him I’d work with him for six months tops, if he’s still…”
Kemper twirled his knucks. “If he’s still what?”
“Still fucking alive.”
He sounded calm. He sounded like an actor who just figured out his role.
“Why wouldn’t he be?”
“Because he’s a degenerate gambler. Because he owes Sam G. twelve grand, and a contract’s going out if he doesn’t pay it back.”
Littell put his glasses on. “I want you to stick with Sal, and let me worry about his debts.”
Le
Kemper said, “Answer Mr. Littell.”
Le
Kemper slipped the knucks into his waistband. “Don’t tell Laura Hughes about this. And don’t tell anybody about our arrangement.”
Le
Kemper winked. “You’ve got panache, son. And I know a magazine man in L.A. who could use an insider like you.”
Le
DOCUMENT INSERT: 1/16/59. Official FBI telephone call transcript: “Recorded at the Director’s Request”! “Classified Confidential 1-A: Director’s Eyes Only.” Speaking: Director Hoover, Special Agent Kemper Boyd.
JEH: Good morning, Mr. Boyd.
KB: Sir, good morning.
JRH: We have an excellent co
KB: I’m at a restaurant on Northeast “I” Street.
JEH: I see. The Committee offices are close by, so I Imagine you’re hard at work for Little Brother.
KB: I am, Sir. At least cosmetically.
JEH: Update me, please.
KB: I convinced Little Brother to send me back to Miami. I told him that I could depose some Sun Valley land fraud witnesses, and in fact I did bring back some inconclusive depositions.
JEH: Continue.
KB: My real motive in traveling to Florida was to accrue information for you on the Gretzler and Kirpaski matters. You’ll be pleased to know that I checked in with both the Miami and Lake Weir Police Departments and learned that both cases have been moved to open file status. I consider that a tacit admission that both homicides win remain unsolved.
JEH: Excellent. Now update me on the brothers.
KB: The Committee’s labor racketeering mandate expires in ninety days. The paperwork forwarding process is now in the compilation stage, and I’ll be sending you carbons of every piece of salient memoranda sent to our target grand juries. And, again, Sir, my opinion is that Jimmy Hoffa is legally inviolate at this time.
JEH: Continue.
KB: Big Brother has been calling legitimate labor leaders allied with the Democratic Party, to assure them that the trouble that Little Brother has stirred up with Hoffa does not mean that he is anti-labor overall. My understanding is that he will a
JEH: And you remain certain that the brothers do not suspect the Bureau of collusion in the Darleen Shoftel matter?
KB: I’m certain, Sir. Pete Bondurant’s girlfriend Informed Little Brother of the Hush-Hush piece, and Ward Littell exposed both our primary bug and Bondurant’s secondary bug independent of her.
JEH: I heard the Brothers’ father made Howard Hughes eat crow.
KB: That’s true, Sir.
JEH: Hush-Hush has been lackluster lately. The advance peeks that Mn Hughes has been sending me have been quite tame.
KB: I’ve been staying in touch with Pete Bondurant on general principles, and I think I’ve found him a Hollywood-co
JEH: If my bedtime reading improves, I’ll know you’ve succeeded.
KB: Yes, Sir.
JEH: We have Ward Littell to thank for that entire Big Brother snafu.
KB: I passed through Chicago and saw Littell two days ago, Sir.
JEH: Continue.
KB: I had initially thought that his THP expulsion might push him toward taking antiMob actions on his own, so I decided to check up on him.
JEH: And?
KB: And my concerns were groundless. Littell seems to be suffering his Red Squad work in silence, and the only change of habit that I could detect was that he’s begun an affair with Tom Agee’s daughter Helen.
JEH: An affair of a sexual nature?
KB: Yes, Sir.
JEH: Is the girl of age?
KB: She’s twenty-one, Sir.
JEH: I want you to keep an eye on Littell.
KB: I will, Sir. And while I have you, could I bring up a tangential matter?