The Godfather

 “The Godfather” By Mario Puzo
 
252
were beginning to sniff Michael’s trail. That gives you one of the answers to your riddle. I 
had to make the peace to insure my son’s safety. There was nothing else to do.” 
Hagen didn’t bother asking the Don how he had gotten this information. He was not 
even surprised, and it was true that this solved part of the riddle. “When I meet with 
Tattaglia’s people to firm up the details, should I insist that all his drug middlemen be 
clean? The judges will be a little skittish about giving light sentences to a man with a 
record.” 
Don Corleone shrugged. “They should be smart enough to figure that out themselves. 
Mention it, don’t insist. We’ll do our best but if they use a real snowbird and he gets 
caught, we won’t lift a finger. We’ll just tell them nothing can be done. But Barzini is a 
man who will know that without being told. You notice how he never committed himself 
in this affair. One might never have known he was in any way concerned. That is a man 
who doesn’t get caught on the losing side.” 
Hagen was startled. “You mean he was behind Sollozzo and Tattaglia all the time?” 
Don Corleone sighed. “Tattaglia is a pimp. He could never have outfought Santino. 
That’s why I don’t have to know about what happened. It’s enough to know that Barzini 
had a hand in it.” 
Hagen let this sink in. The Don was giving him clues but there was something very 
important left out. Hagen knew what it was but he knew it was not his place to ask. He 
said good night and turned to go. The Don had a last word for him. 
“Remember, use all your wits for a plan to bring Michael home.” the Don said. “And one 
other thing. Arrange with the telephone man so that every month I get a list of all the 
telephone calls, made and received, by Clemenza and Tessio. I suspect them of 
nothing. I would swear they would never betray me. But there’s no harm in knowing any 
little thing that may help us before the event.” 
Hagen nodded and went out. He wondered if the Don was keeping a check on him also 
in some way and then was ashamed of his suspicion. But now he was sure that in the 
subtle and complex mind of the Godfather a far-ranging plan of action was being 
initiated that made the day’s happenings no more than a tactical retreat. And there was 
that one dark fact that no one mentioned, that he himself had not dared to ask, that Don 
Corleone ignored. All pointed to a day of reckoning in the future. 

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