The Godfather

 “The Godfather” By Mario Puzo
 
92
them and would have broken free except that a man stepped out of the shadows behind 
him and threw a thin silken cord around his neck. The cord pulled tight, choking off 
Lucas breath. His face became purple, the strength in his arms drained away. Tattaglia 
and Sollozzo held his hands easily now, and they stood there curiously childlike as the 
man behind Luca pulled the cord around Lucas neck tighter and tighter. Suddenly the 
floor was wet and slippery. Luca’s sphincter, no longer under control, opened, the waste 
of his body spilled out. There was no strength in him anymore and his legs folded, his 
body sagged. Sollozzo and Tattaglia let his hands go and only the strangler stayed with 
the victim, sinking to his knees to follow Lucas falling body, drawing the cord so tight 
that it cut into the flesh of the neck and disappeared. Lucas eyes were bulging out of his 
head as if in the utmost surprise and this surprise was the only humanity remaining to 
him. He was dead. 
“I don’t want him found,” Sollozzo said. “It’s important that he not be found right now.” 
He turned on his heel and left, disappearing back into the shadows. 
Chapter 8
The day after the shooting of Don Corleone was a busy time for the Family. Michael 
stayed by the phone relaying messages to Sonny. Tom Hagen was busy trying to find a 
mediator satisfactory to both parties so that a conference could be arranged with 
Sollozzo. The Turk had suddenly become cagey, perhaps he knew that the Family 
button men of Clemenza and Tessio were ranging far and wide over the city in an 
attempt to pick up his trail. But Sollozzo was sticking close to his hideout, as were all top 
members of the Tattaglia Family. This was expected by Sonny, an elementary 
precaution he knew the enemy was bound to take. 
Clemenza was tied up with Paulie Gatto. Tessio had been given the assignment of 
trying to track down the whereabouts of Luca Brasi. Luca had not been home since the 
night before the shooting, a bad sign. But Sonny could not believe that Brasi had either 
turned traitor or had been taken by surprise. 
Mama Corleone was staying in the city with friends of the Family so that she could be 
near the hospital. Carlo Rizzi, the son-in-law, had offered his services but had been told 
to take care of his own business that Don Corleone had set him up in, a lucrative 
bookmaking territory in the Italian section of Manhattan. Connie was staying with her 
mother in town so that she too could visit her father in the hospital. 
Freddie was still under sedation in his own room of his parents’ house. Sonny and 

---