The Godfather

 “The Godfather” By Mario Puzo
 
56
bury the remains in a secret place on the estate. 
Six hours later Johnny Fontane received a phone call from the executive producer of the 
film telling him to report for work the following Monday. 
* * *
That evening, Hagen went to the Don’s house to prepare him for the important meeting 
the next day with Virgil Sollozzo. The Don had summoned his eldest son to attend, and 
Sonny Corleone, his heavy Cupid-shaped face drawn with fatigue, was sipping at a 
glass of water. He must still be humping that maid of honor, Hagen thought. Another 
worry. 
Don Corleone settled into an armchair puffing his Di Nobili cigar. Hagen kept a box of 
them in his room. He had tried to get the Don to switch to Havanas but the Don claimed 
they hurt his throat. 
“Do we know everything necessary for us to know?” the Don asked. 
Hagen opened the folder that held his notes. The notes were in no way incriminating, 
merely cryptic reminders to make sure he touched on every important detail. “Sollozzo is 
coming to us for help,” Hagen said. “He will ask the family to put up at least a million 
dollars and to promise some sort of immunity from the law. For that we get a piece of 
the action, nobody knows how much. Sollozzo is vouched for by the Tattaglia family and 
they may have a piece of the action. The action is narcotics. Sollozzo has the contacts 
in Turkey, where they grow the poppy. From there he ships to Sicily. No trouble. In Sicily 
he has the plant to process into heroin. He has safety-valve operations to bring it down 
to morphine and bring it up to heroin if necessary. But it would seem that the processing 
plant in Sicily is protected in every way. The only hitch is bringing it into this country, and 
then distribution. Also initial capital. A million dollars cash doesn’t grow on trees.” Hagen 
saw Don Corleone grimace.The old man hated unnecessary flourishes in business 
matters. He went on hastily. 
“They call Sollozzo the Turk. Two reasons. He’s spent a lot of time in Turkey and is 
supposed to have a Turkish wife and kids. Second. He’s supposed to be very quick with 
the knife, or was, when he was young. Only in matters of business, though, and with 
some sort of reasonable complaint. A very competent man and his own boss. He has a 
record, he’s done two terms in prison, one in Italy, one in the United States, and he’s 
known to the authorities as a narcotics man. This could be a plus for us. It means that 
he’ll never get immunity to testify, since he’s considered the top and, of course, because 

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