The Godfather

 “The Godfather” By Mario Puzo
 
107
hatred that pervaded his body. He wanted to give no warning to anyone in this world as 
to how he felt at this moment. As the Don would not. Then he felt himself carried into the 
hospital and he lost consciousness. 
When he woke up in the morning he found that his jaw had been wired together and that 
four of his teeth along the left side of his mouth were missing. Hagen was sitting beside 
his bed. 
“Did they drug me up?” Michael asked. 
“Yeah,” Hagen said. “They had to dig some bone fragments out of your gums and they 
figured it would be too painful. Besides you were practically out anyway.” 
“Is there anything else wrong with me?” Michael asked. 
“No,” Hagen said. “Sonny wants you out at the Long Beach house. Think you can make 
it?” 
“Sure,” Michael said. “Is the Don all right?” 
Hagen flushed. “I think we’ve solved the problem now. We have a firm of private 
detectives and we have the whole area loaded. I’ll tell you more when we get in the car.” 
Clemenza was driving, Michael and Hagen sat in the back. Michael’s head throbbed. 
“So what the hell really happened last night, did you guys ever find out?” 
Hagen spoke quietly. “Sonny has an inside man, that Detective Phillips who tried to 
protect you. He gave us the scoop. The police captain, McCluskey, is a guy who’s been 
on the take very heavy ever since he’s been a patrolman. Our Family has paid him quite 
a bit. And he’s greedy and untrustworthy to do business with. But Sollozzo must have 
paid him a big price. McCluskey had all Tessio’s men around and in the hospital 
arrested right after visiting hours. It didn’t help that some of them were carrying guns. 
Then McCluskey pulled the official guard detectives off the Don’s door. Claimed he 
needed them and that some other cops were supposed to go over and take their place 
but they got their assignments bollixed. Baloney. He was paid off to set the Don up. And 
Phillips said he’s the kind of guy who’ll try it again. Sollozzo must have given him a 
fortune for openers and promised him the moon to come.” 
“Was my getting hurt in the papers?” 
“No,” Hagen said. “We kept that quiet. Nobody wants that known. Not the cops. Not us.” 
“Good,” Michael said. “Did that boy Enzo get away?” 

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