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 “No? Well, watch us. Or rather, watch me. The Chief says I'm to prosecute.”

“Where is he?”

“At home, of course. You're not important enough to get him out of bed in the middle of the night to come down here and question you.”

“No? Well, I'm important enough to give him a nice big bit every month. And you, too. If anything happened to me, the gang would go to pieces and you wouldn't get those bits any longer.”

“If your gang was broken up, there'd be room for two or three other gangs, and each one of ’em would be glad to kick in with as much as you do. Competition is the life of trade, you know,” he added grimly.

“I could increase my bits,” suggested Tony shrewdly.

“Yes, but that wouldn't interest us now. Three or four gangs spread around the city are a lot more help to a political machine than just one. And you've never shown any interest in helping us build up the machine, anyway. No, Camonte, this is our chance to knock you off your throne and we're not going to miss it.”

Tony's face had frozen and his eyes glittered.

“Listen, Moran,” he said, and his voice held a