His mother looked at him steadily for a moment and then asked in Italian,

"Have they shot him?"

Sonny nodded. His mother bowed her head for a moment. Then she went

Back into the kitchen. Sonny followed her. He watched her turn off the gas under

The panful of peppers and then go out and up to the bedroom. He took peppers

From the pan and bread from the basket on the table and made a sloppy sandwich

With hot olive oil dripping from his fingers. He went into the huge corner room

That was his father's office and took the special phone from a locked cabinet box.

The phone had been especially installed and was listed under a phony name and

A phony address. The first person he called was Luca Brasi. There was no answer.

 

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Then he called the safety-valve caporegime in Brooklyn, a man of unquestioned

Loyalty to the Don. This man's name was Tessio. Sonny told him what had

Happened and what he wanted. Tessio was to recruit fifty absolutely reliable men.

He was to send guards to the hospital, he was to send men out to Long Beach to

work here. Tessio asked, "Did they get Clemenza too?" Sonny said, "I don't want

to use Clemenza's people right now." Tessio understood immediately, there was

a pause, and then he said, "Excuse me, Sonny, I say this as your father would say

it. Don't move too fast. I can't believe Clemenza would betray us."

30 "Thanks," Sonny said. "I don't think so but I have to be careful. Right?"

31 "Right," Tessio said.

32 "Another thing," Sonny said. "My kid brother Mike goes to college in Hanover,

New Hampshire. Get some people we know in Boston to go up and get him and

Bring him down here to the house until this blow’s over. I'll call him up so he'll

expect them. Again I'm just playing the percentages, just to make sure."

33 "OK," Tessio said, "I'll be over your father's house as soon as I get things

rolling. OK? You know my boys, right?"

34 "Yeah," Sonny said. He hung up. He went over to a small wall safe and

Unlocked it. From it he took an indexed book bound in blue leather. He opened it

to the T's until he found the entry he was looking for. It read, "Ray Farrell $5,000

Christmas Eve." This was followed by a telephone number. Sonny dialed the

number and said, "Farrell?" The man on the other end answered, "Yes." Sonny

said, "This is Santino Corleone. I want you to do me a favor and I want you to do

It right away. I want you to check two phone numbers and give me all the calls

they got and all the calls they made for the last three months." He gave Farrell the

number of Paulie Gatto's home and Clemenza's home. Then he said, "This is

Important. Get it to me before midnight and you'll have an extra very Merry

Christmas."

Before he settled back to think things out he gave Luca Brasi's number one

More call. Again there was no answer. This worried him but he put it out of his

Mind. Luca would come to the house as soon as he heard the news. Sonny

Leaned back in the swivel chair. In an hour the house would be swarming with

Family people and he would have to tell them all what to do, and now that he

Finally had time to think he realized how serious the situation was. It was the first

Challenge to the Corleone Family and their power in ten years. There was no

Doubt that Sollozzo was behind it, but he would never have dared attempt such a

 

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Stroke unless he had support from at least one of the five great New York families.

And that support must have come from the Tattaglias. Which meant a full-scale

War or an immediate settlement on Sollozzo's terms. Sonny smiled grimly. The

Wily Turk had planned well but he had been unlucky. The old man was alive and

So it was war. With Luca Brasi and the resources of the Corleone Family there