The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps

Jerry tried again.

“Them Gorgons ain’t it?” And when I looked at him, “When I followed Big Joe I knew who lived in the swell dump he went to. His brother, the Doctor. It’s gospel in the right places that Joe never makes a big move but the Doctor advises it. He never pushed no cart on the Avenue, did the Doctor. He never played any gat in Joe’s rise. Most of the big timers don’t even know the Doctor to speak to. But they know what Joe means when he says, “I’ll think it over,” or “I’ll tell ya tomorrow.” I remember once O’Hara, the big bootlegger, the wise money, hearing him say to Joe Gorgon, a year or two before O’Hara got bumped off, and I came with you—”

“All right, Jerry,” I helped him out. This lingering over a story was Jerry’s way of finding out if I were interested, “what did Mr. O’Hara pull on Mr. Joseph Gorgon?”

“It was a liquor deal, I think, a big one, for control of the entire Bronx. When Joe told him what was what, O’Hara says, ‘Are you speaking through your own mouth, Joe, or through the mouth of the Third Gorgon?’ And, Bing! Like that, when Joe gave him the office that he was simply an echo, O’Hara smacked right in on the deal — like nothing at all. I hear as how the Doctor makes judges now, and sells justice at so much a head. They say as how he can pull a murderer right out of the Tombs for the right price. That’s how he gets his money, and—. But if it was me, I’d say this Eddie Gorgon is the worst of the lot. Shoot you in the back like THAT.” He snapped his fingers.

“In the back, eh Jerry?”

“Yeah. That’s his way, unless it’s a snowbird. Do you think he got little Toney that night?”

“Maybe.” I was listening though. “But I think, Jerry, if I had to fear any man, I’d pick the influence to fear. It comes natural and sometimes easy to pop at a guy who’s standing behind a rod he didn’t aim right, or pull the trigger quick enough. But influence, you see, hasn’t any body.”

Jerry scratched his head.

“It don’t sound right.” He seemed to think aloud. “But I think I get what you mean. This Third Gorgon don’t sport no firearms. That may be hot stuff for the police, or you, with your finicky ideas. But there’s a hundred or more guys in the city who’d find it much easier to give a guy the works who’s unarmed than—”

“But those guys won’t. Maybe there’s no reason for them to do it. And maybe a good reason why they shouldn’t. You wouldn’t want to be the guy who knocked over Joe Gorgon’s brother, would you?”

“No,” said Jerry, “I wouldn’t. But Joe Gorgon only kills for business, for necessity, while Eddie—. Well — he’s got the killer instinct, Boss. You might duck in and out, and hide from influence — but you can’t do nothing with a gun against your back.”

“And that’s the point,” I told him. “It’s influence, Jerry, that puts that gun against your back, whether it’s Eddie’s gun or Joe’s gun, or a hundred or more other guns. If you kill a rat, another takes its place. If you kill a dozen rats, a dozen take their place. But if you kill influence, you kill where the rats breed. How the devil can you walk in and shoot down an unarmed man,” and, very slowly, “and get away with it?”

“Well, they all get it sooner or later,” Jerry said, philosophically. “But if Eddie Gorgon was after me, like I hear as how he’s after you, I’d forget influence and shoot the guts out of Eddie Gorgon.”

Not elegant? Maybe not. But practical just the same. I simply said:

“Eddie Gorgon is only a common murderer, and as such not to be worried about. You see, it’s influence again, Jerry. If it wasn’t for his brother, he’d have been taken for a ride or roasted at Sing Sing long ago. Now, get this training into your head. A common murderer is only as good as the gun he draws, if you can forget what’s behind him. But—. Here’s where we lay up. My business is just around the corner.”