The Godfather

 “The Godfather” By Mario Puzo
 
195
“No,” Kay said. 
Detective Phillips said in a polite voice, “If you do have contact with him we’d like you to 
let us know. It’s very important we get to talk to Michael Corleone. I must warn you that 
if you do have contact with him you may be getting involved in a very dangerous 
situation. If you help him in any way, you may get yourself in very serious trouble.” 
Kay sat up very straight in the chair. “Why shouldn’t I help him?” she asked. “We’re 
going to be married, married people help each other.” 
It was Detective Siriani who answered her. “If you help, you may be an accessory to 
murder. We’re looking for your boy friend because he killed a police captain in New York 
plus an informer the police officer was contacting. We know Michael Corleone is the 
person who did the shooting.” 
Kay laughed. Her laughter was so unaffected, so incredulous, that the officers were 
impressed. “Mike wouldn’t do anything like that,” she said. “He never had anything to do 
with his family. When we went to his sister’s wedding it was obvious that he was treated 
as an outsider, almost as much as I was. If he’s hiding now it’s just so that he won’t get 
any publicity, so his name won’t be dragged through all this. Mike is not a gangster. I 
know him better than you or anybody else can know him. He is too nice a man to do 
anything as despicable as murder. He is the most law-abiding person I know, and I’ve 
never known him to lie.” 
Detective Phillips asked gentiy, “How long have you known him?” 
“Over a year,” Kay said and was surprised when the two men smiled. 
“I think there are a few things you should know,” Detective Phillips said. “On the night he 
left you, he went to the hospital. When he came out he got into an argument with a 
police captain who had come to the hospital on official business. He assaulted that 
police officer but got the worst of it. In fact he got a broken jaw and lost some teeth. His 
friends took him out to the Corleone Family houses at Long Beach. The following night 
the police captain he had the fight with was gunned down and Michael Corleone 
disappeared. Vanished. We have our contacts, our informers. They all point the finger at 
Michael Corleone but we have no evidence for a court of law. The waiter who witnessed 
the shooting doesn’t recognize a picture of Mike but he may recognize him in person. 
And we have Sollozzo’s driver, who refuses to talk, but we might make him talk if we 
have Michael Corleone in our hands. So we have all our people looking for him, the FBI 
is looking for him, everybody is looking for him. So far, no luck, so we thought you might 

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