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It was only impossible because he didn't want Clemenza to die. The fat man had

always brought him gifts when he was growing up, had sometimes taken him on

outings when the Don had been too busy. He could not believe that Clemenza

was guilty of treachery.

25 But, on the other hand, Sollozzo would want Clemenza in his pocket more

than any other man in the Corleone Family.

26 Michael thought about Paulie Gatto. Paulie as yet had not become rich. He

was well thought of, his rise in the organization was certain but he would have to

put in his time like everybody else. Also he would have wilder dreams of power,

as the young always do. It had to be Paulie. And then Michael remembered that in

the sixth grade he and Paulie had been in the same class in school and he didn't

want it to be Paulie either.

27 He shook his head. "Neither one of them," he said. But he said it only

because Sonny had said he had the answer. If it had been a vote, he would have

voted Paulie guilty.

28 Sonny was smiling at him. "Don't worry," he said. "Clemenza is OK. It's

Paulie."

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29 Michael could see that Tessio was relieved. As a fellow caporegime his

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sympathy would be with Clemenza. Also the present situation was not so serious

if treachery did not reach so high. Tessio said cautiously, "Then I can send my

people home tomorrow?"

30 Sonny said, "The day after tomorrow. I don't want anybody to know about

this until then. Listen, I want to talk some family business with my brother,

personal. Wait out in the living room, eh? We can finish our list later. You and

Clemenza will work together on it."

31 "Sure," Tessio said. He went out.

32 "How do you know for sure it's Paulie?" Michael asked.

33 Sonny said, "We have people in the telephone company and they tracked

down all of Paulie's phone calls in and out Clemenza's too. On the three days

Paulie was sick this month he got a call from a street booth across from the old

man's building. Today too. They were checking to see if Paulie was coming down

or somebody was being sent down to take his place. Or for some other reason. It

doesn't matter." Sonny shrugged. "Thank God it was Paulie. We'll need Clemenza

bad."

34 Michael asked hesitantly, "Is it going to be an all-out war?"

35 Sonny's eyes were hard. "That's how I'm going to play it as soon as Tom

checks in. Until the old man tells me different."

36 Michael asked, "So why don't you wait until the old man can tell you?"

37 Sonny looked at him curiously. "How the hell did you win those combat

medals? We are under the gun, man, we gotta fight. I'm just afraid they won't let

Tom go."

38 Michael was surprised at this. "Why not?"

39 Again Sonny's voice was patient "They snatched Tom because they figured

the old man was finished and they could make a deal with me and Tom would be

the sit-down guy in the preliminary stages, carry the proposition. Now with the

old man alive they know I can't make a deal so Tom's no good to them. They can

turn him loose or dump him, depending how Sollozzo feels. If they dump him, it

would be just to show us they really mean business, trying to bulldoze us."

40 Michael said quietly, "What think he could get a deal with you?"

41 Sonny flushed and he didn't answer for a moment. Then he said, "We had a

meeting a few months ago, Sollozzo came to us with a proposition on drugs. The

old man turned him down. But during the meeting I shot off my mouth a little, I

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showed I wanted the deal. Which is absolutely the wrong thing to do; if there's

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one thing the old man hammered into me it's never to do a thing like that, to let

other people know there's a split of opinion in the Family. So Sollozzo figures he

gets rid of the old man, I have to go in with him on the drugs. With the old man

gone, the Family power is cut at least in half. I would be fighting for my life

anyway to keep all the businesses the old man got together. Drugs are the

coming thing, we should get into it. And his knocking off the old man is purely

business, nothing personal. As a matter of business I would go in with him. Of

course he would never let me get too close, he'd make sure I'd never get a clean

shot at him, just in case. But he also knows that once I accepted the deal the

other Families would never let me start a war a couple of years later just for

revenge. Also, the Tattaglia Family is behind him."

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