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But they got a tutor for the other kid and he not only finished high school, but they got him into Harvard and they put him through in style. I mean he didn’t lack for anything. Then when he got through Harvard, they sent him down to the University of Virginia’s law school. I hear he breezed through that.”
    â€œAnd this is the man in Washington who wants to see me?” I said.
    â€œHe’s the one.”
    â€œHow did he get to be Sacchetti’s godfather?”
    â€œBecause Angelo Sacchetti was Sonny from Chicago’s kid and Sonny from Chicago once saved this guy’s life.”
    â€œYou lost me again.”
    Small sighed, this time more deeply than before. “I shouldn’t be telling you all this. It’s just going to get you in trouble.”
    â€œFrom what you’ve said, I’m already in trouble.”
    He thought about that for a moment and then seemed to come to a decision. Or perhaps he was just acting it all out; I could never tell.
    â€œAll right,” he said finally. “This Sonny from Chicago, nobody ever found out his real name, showed up in New York one day with a one-year-old kid on one arm and a violin case in the other.” He paused and looked at me skeptically. “You think I’m kidding about the violin case, don’t you?”
    â€œYou’re telling it,” I said.
    â€œThen keep your looks to yourself.”
    â€œGo on.”
    â€œWell, it seems that this Sonny’s wife was an ex-hooker who had got into some trouble with one of the Chicago outfits and they dumped her into Lake Michigan. I don’t know what kind of trouble it was. So this Sonny takes his violin case and takes out seven of the guys who he thought were responsible for it and he brings his kid and his Thompson down to New York. Well, by this time the kid I went to high school with is through with law school and he’s back in New York and running a few errands for Costello. He meets this Sonny from Chicago who’s also gone to work for Costello and they start palling around together. You know why?”
    â€œI couldn’t even guess,” I said.
    â€œBecause this Sonny from Chicago looks nice, you know, neat—just like a college kid. He speaks well, dresses conservatively, and this kid I went to high school with has turned into something of a snob because of his education. You follow me?”
    â€œSo far.”
    â€œWell, the guy who’s gone to college gets into trouble—not with Costello, but with somebody else, it doesn’t matter who. But it’s bad trouble, very bad, and Sonny from Chicago and this kid get caught in a fight down in the Village. Somehow Sonny saves the kid’s life and the kid promises that he’ll make it up to him.”
    Small gave me another of his long pauses. “Well?” I said.
    â€œWell, they catch Sonny from Chicago trying to cheat in a crap game two weeks later and they just nail him to the wall and leave him there. The college kid hears about it, so he takes this one-year-old baby of Sonny from Chicago’s to raise. He becomes his godfather.”
    â€œAnd the baby was Angelo Sacchetti.”
    â€œThat’s right.”
    â€œWhy the name Sacchetti?”
    â€œI don’t know, but somebody once told me that he got it off a box of noodles.”
    â€œWhat happened to the college kid—the godfather?”
    â€œThey sent him to Washington.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œWhy does anybody send anybody to Washington? As their lobbyist.”
    â€œI’d say he forgot to register.”
    â€œDon’t kid yourself.”
    â€œWhat does he do?”
    Small managed a pained expression. He did it very well, I thought. “Let’s just say he looks after their interests.”
    â€œAnd this guy reared Angelo Sacchetti?”
    â€œHe tried to anyhow. Maybe you don’t know it but Angelo had about nine governesses and maybe as many tutors. He was