All language subtitles for Target The Corruptors - S01E01 - The Million Dollar Dump

Our story tonight finds crime in one of
the most unexpected places, the trash can.

Refuse, garbage, junk, worthless waste.

But in order to get rid of it,

average Americans pay four to five
hundred million dollars every year. Why?

Because of the greedy fingers of
the underworld, the corruptors,

who see not a garbage
dump, but a gold mine.

They stake their first claim to
this fortune in Yonkers, New York.

Through a syndicated column in 115
leading newspapers throughout the country,

I tried to educate the public to
the shocking events of modern crime.

In the spring of 1961, I began my
investigation into the New York carting scandal.

My first lead?

A phone call from one Giovanni
Gallardo, an independent cartman in Yonkers.

What's the matter, Gallardo?

Today's such a good day?

Makes you.

I want the whole truck busted
up in little pieces, you follow?

Right, Nick.

Ready to go, Lieutenant?

What do you want?

Get out of here!

Mr. Gallardo? What?

My name's Paul Marino. From the
papers? The guy from the papers?

I was supposed to meet him here at
5.30. Yeah, well, he ain't here.

Come in, Mr. Marino.

Look, I said he's not here, huh?
I said it. Now get out of here.

I'll tell him when he comes back.

My father's already
missing two days. Look, will

you shut up? You'll
have to wait, Mr. Marino.

Come on in.

Please, have a seat.

Well, thank you.

I've got some coffee in the kitchen.

No, thanks.

You're his family?

I'm his daughter, Tina.

We live with him, Pete and Maeve.

Look, I've told you a hundred times,
haven't I? A hundred times I've told you!

He used to live in Newark.

He's got some old friends there.
Sometimes he stays over. So what, huh?

You think I can get through to her? You
work with him? Look, I don't know you.

Would you have some fruit?

You and your father-in-law,
you run your own business?

Look, you...

I know you. I've read your stuff.

You keep sticking your nose in where it
don't belong. Now, go on. Get out of here!

Go on! Get out of here! Please!

Look, you wouldn't tell the
police. That's right, maybe.

I don't know.

But God in heaven, if you don't tell
him... There's nothing to tell him, huh?

What's there to tell him?

Help us. Please.

Please.

He said they were pushing
him. That much he told me.

He broke away from the
Cardmans Association.

Nick Long's outfit.

He was the only one
with guts enough to do it.

Why, Mrs. Mazera? Why did he pull out?

Long bled them. He bleeds them
all. He keeps the prices up.

Did you work for him, too?

I've got my own company.

Everybody works for
him, just because they got

their own sign on the side of the truck.

She don't know what she's
talking about. It's an association.

You got a root, and it's all
yours, all yours. No one else moves in.

You got protection. From law?

Yeah, well, go on, tell him you
got no protection. Go on, tell him.

That's not protection, that's rape.
Look, I told your father, didn't I tell him?

I said keep your nose clean.

Tina.

I better come back some other time.

Oh, baby.

I'll, uh... I'll be at the
parkside if you want me.

But a cop says so well, let him ask.
Hey, clean up these dirty towels over here.

The place looks like a laundry room.

Stupid, Nick. Stupid,
stupid. What's stupid?

Just plain stupid. Why don't you
say something else besides stupid?

What else is there to say, Nick?
Stupid is the only word for it.

Well, what are they going to find out?
I mean, even if they pick up the guns,

where are they going to
trace them? To the army?

You got a TV set, Nick. What do you
watch? Cowboys and Indians, cops and robbers,

McClellan's two cities away.

Why don't you sit in your room at
night and watch his committee work?

He feeds on gentlemen like you that go
around liquidating people in garbage dumps.

Your type appeals to
him fine. Nobody knows.

Nobody knows nothing.
There's nothing to know.

They don't have to know,
Nick. They just guess.

Well, what did you want me to do, huh?

You know what the guy was
after. You know what he was up to.

He was going around steaming up
everybody. What was I supposed to do,

stand there and watch him?

First thing you know, right away they're
going to start a whole new association.

Well, nobody pulls that
on me. Remember that.

All muscle and stupid. What
do you think this is, the 30s?

What are you talking about the 30s?
What's that got to do with anything? Listen,

let me tell you something.

You know, maybe I didn't go to school
much, but there's one thing that I know.

I worked myself up in this
organization of nobodies.

Not Gallardo, or you,
or any other monkey's

gonna take it away from me, remember that?

Very stupid, Nick.

Hey, I want you to
shut up with that stupid.

Nick, you got any problems, any
decisions to be made, you come to me.

Yeah, I'll come to you. I'm gonna come
to you when I think I gotta come to you.

There are ways of dealing
with people like Gallardo.

Whatever ideas a man thinks he's got, two
minutes with me, he forgets his own name.

Or maybe you'd like to
discuss that point with Mr. Guido.

Well, I'm not so sure Mr.
Guido won't agree with me.

What makes you think he's
going to agree with you?

All right, let's go down to his office.
We'll discuss it. You'd like his office,

Nick. It's a very nice office.

I can arrange it.

Hey, wait a minute.

Guido had the best stops, right?

King's Supermarkets, he had Acne
Products, he had that other place,

that big joint up on Prospect
Street. Now I got that now, right?

All that belongs to my company.
Wait a minute, wait a minute.

You know what that means to Guido? You
know what that means to the association?

That's another $12,000. Why don't
you call him up and tell him that?

Go ahead, go ahead, call
him up and tell him that.

I'll bet you $100 you won't
call him up and tell him that.

Nick is sweating.

Why don't you go wash yourself?

What is it this time?

You ever hear of Nick Long? Nick Long?

Anastasia's been friends?
He's moved up in the world.

National Cartman's Association now.

Hold it.

There are limits to what I'll do
for you, Paul. Oh, this will be good,

healthy work for you, Jack. You look soft.

I've rented a
beautiful dump truck for you.

You pick it up in the morning.

Go right to Long.

Go easy when you meet him. He's cagey.

You'll have to beg your way in. Nick Long.

The local chapter is
right under his thumb.

What have you got on him?

I won't get your hopes up because I
got one foot back on that plane. Well,

he moved in three years ago.
Always put in, I don't know.

The day he took over, prices
started moving up. They're still flying.

That makes for expensive
garbage. You don't know how expensive.

And it's all kicking
back to the syndicate.

Frankie Guido's crowd. He's the one we're
really after. But we can't touch him yet.

He's got himself too tight in operation.

But if once, just once, we can
break through, even on Long's level.

Well, just how'd you figure on
getting me into Long's little society?

I've built up quite a background for you.

You're Bill Phillips from Allentown,
Pennsylvania. Is there such a guy?

Here.

His credentials.

That'll tell you his whole story.

Right down to the birthmark on his neck.

You gotta be careful on this one,
Jack. And remember, whatever you get,

the simplest thing, let me know.

By phone.

What about Long?

Anything on him I can use?

He's sensitive about his background. He
was born in a slum, never quite through it.

You might be able to use that.

And what do you do?

Nothing.

Not till you get in.

That's what I like about you.
You make everything sound so easy.

Just jump into my truck and drive
right into the jaws of Long's steel trap.

Something for you?

Yeah, where can I find Nick Long?

Mr. Long?

Yeah.

Back there, that office.

Thank you.

I'd like to be able to do
something for you there, kid,

but we don't have no file on you.

I know you don't have a file. I'm out
of state. I'm Pennsylvania. Yeah, yeah,

but we don't take anybody with no file.

Look, Mr. Long, I've been
all my life in Allentown.

I got no place to go there, so I
figure I'll sell my home, come here.

All I got to my name now
is in that truck out there.

Look, I work hard.

I'm easy to get along with.

Uh, where do you live, Mr. Phillips?

Post office box 327. Very nice
address. Where do you sleep, in the box?

Uh, Adams Hotel, South Yonkers.

How'd you happen to pick here?

It's as close to the
big town as I could get.

I could hardly get a
route right in Manhattan.

Only when I talk to some of the guys,

I hear that there's this association
you gotta join or you don't get a route.

Mr. Phillips, a lot of hard work has
gone into the building of this association.

A lot of people, Mr. Long,
myself, Those boys out there,

we've given heart and soul to make
this thing what it is. To most of us,

it's a prideful thing. Look, I
hustled the trucks for five years.

I never missed a day.

Look, I got
recommendations. Here, read them.

Listen, do you know what it costs to join
this organization? Do you have any idea?

You know, you got an initiation
fee of $1,000. You know, of course,

your $500 a year dues plus
5% of your gross income.

You got your assessments for your
welfare, for your retirement. Well,

where are you going to come
up with that kind of money?

Yeah, that's pretty steep.

That's one way to keep out
the transients, Mr. Phillips.

I couldn't pay that much till I
started my route. Sorry, Phillips.

We have to abide by the rules and
regulations of our association.

Maybe you'll have
better luck someplace else.

Could you give me a break?

I'm just trying to make
a buck. I'm sorry, son.

You two, you got it made. So
what does it mean to you, huh?

All right, son, you better just...

Always some guy up there with a mouth
full of words keeping a little man down.

Okay, okay, who needs your job?

Good thing I'm around to screen
fellows like that. Yeah, don't kid yourself.

Don't kid yourself. I
could take a kid like that,

and I'd make a good trucker out of him,
and at least he keeps his mouth shut.

He don't give me any trouble. And
I'd make a dollar on him besides.

Now you're taking in jerks off the
street. Why don't you use your head, Nick?

What do you mean off the street?
What off the street? In two minutes,

I know everything I know about this guy.

How stupid can you get?

That's enough with the stupid.

I had enough with the stupid!

Wait a minute, Nick.

Nick, come back here.

Nick!

Hey, kid!

Wait a minute!

Say, Mr. Phillips, right? Yeah.

I gave second thought to some
of the things you said inside,

and you sounded to me like you're,
well, you know what I mean, a sincere guy.

Good worker, good trucker.

You're probably the type of
guy that's going to appreciate

what the association is
doing for its members.

I'd like to help you out.

What do you mean?

I'm going to get you into the association.

In other words, what I'm saying is this.

You're a stranger here, right? I'm
going to vouch for you. In other words,

I'm going to sponsor you for the
membership, and that takes care of that part,

and as far as the money's
concerned, I'm going to work out a loan.

The grand?

That's right.

What do I do for collateral?

Well, we use the truck here.
We use that for the collateral,

and I'll be taking payments
out of your income each week.

You'll take it?

I thought this was an association
deal. They're going to lend me the money.

No, no, no. I'm loaning you
the money, not the association.

Let me explain how that works, you see. I
got a finance company that's on the side.

In other words, that's a service
for the members of the association.

In other words, emergency. A guy
gets in a jam, he needs ready cash.

He comes to me, I help him out.

Well, is this going to cost me? I
mean, is there any interest involved here?

I'm going to take my 20%.

I got it.

But you'll still come out ahead.

I don't know what to say.

I mean, the way I was looking back there
in the office, I thought that I was...

Yeah, well, that's the way I work.

You see, I make up my mind and move fast.

All right.

Come in tomorrow, you sign the papers, you

go to work, I'll give you the roof, right?

Right. Yeah, yeah, right.

Look, I'm in a hurry.

Phillips, William
Phillips, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

I want a complete summary of
his background in the business.

As soon as you can cut it. Thank you.

Wait a minute, wait a minute.

On this one, you phone me personally.

You understand? Nobody
else. Me, personally.

Nick Long's our target, all right. But
there was another guy there, Kramer.

I think his name's Kramer.

Layers into the top
rest, something like that.

Now, he's the one who dug in on me.

But Long's vulnerable. I
have a hunch you touched

the right panic button he
takes off like a rocket.

Well, can you stun him? Well, I don't
know. Kramer's on top of them night and day,

just making sure no one tries.

Okay, then don't push it. Work in
with the men. Make friends with them.

And whatever you do, lay off the
Gallardo thing. Don't even mention his name.

And stay loose.

I'm going to take a
crack at it along myself.

Maybe I can push that
panic button. If I do,

you're going to have
your hands full of garbage.

God knows there's enough of it around.

The trash, Gallardo never collected.

Before long, however, the corruptors
would transform this refuse into money.

Money coming out of the
market's profits, and in turn,

from every purse in the neighborhood.

The second pickup he's missed.

You pay good money for
service, you get this.

I'm going to find me a decent
cartman if it costs me 300 a month.

Holden Carting Company.

Yeah, listen, my name is Sloat. I'm
manager of the Giant King supermarket.

There was this fellow, uh... Gallardo.

Gallardo? He's missed two pickups.

You ought to see this stuff. It's
piled all the way up to the roof.

I was going through the
Yellow Pages, and I saw your ad.

Hello.

Hello, are you there?

Oh, yeah, I'm sorry, Mr. Sloat, but I
got more than I can handle right now.

What's with you people?
You're the third one I've phoned.

Why don't you try long-carding?

Yeah, you'll find the number in the book.

Thanks.

Come on, Carding.

Oh, Mr. Schmoed.

Yeah, what can I do for you?

Well, I'd be very happy
to add you to our route.

Yeah, that'd be $500 a month.

I was paying $250 to my last service.

Well, what you pay on the old service,
that's something that I can't help. I mean,

it has nothing to do with me.
What were you paying, $250? Well,

no wonder you weren't getting any service.

Nobody can afford to operate that
way. You know what it costs today.

You got your wages,
you got your taxes, you

got all kinds of expenses there, you know.

I mean, I'm lucky I don't
just jump off a bridge.

I know the price of labor.

What are you trying to pull on me?

Listen, Mr. Schloat, if you can get it
cheaper, what do you say, Godspeed, right?

I mean, listen, as a matter of fact,

there's a couple of companies up north of
you there. If I can give you their names,

I'll help you out. I won't
pay it. It's a 100% jump.

Look, don't think I don't know
what's going on. Yeah, well,

I can understand that
situation. But if you change your mind,

there'll always be
somebody here to help you out.

Well, that's the fifth one on
Gallardo's, Rube, when he signs up.

Five out of 106 in a whole week on by.

You're a real
nine-second man, aren't you, Nick?

Well, what is that supposed to mean?

Too slow, Nick.

See, Mr. Guido wants to see the
green a little faster. You're too slow.

Too slow, huh? Well, you got such a head
for brains, let me see you do it faster.

OK, Mike.

All right.

Mike?

Mike?

Yeah?

Now, Mike, I want you to make a phone
call for me to the police. Police? Yeah,

that's right, the police.

There's a pile of garbage mountain high
out in back of the Giant King supermarket.

You'd think those
people were starting their

own private dump right out in the street.

This is a menace to
public safety and health.

And as a public-spirited citizen,

I think you ought to show a little
righteous indignation about that.

You know what I mean,
Mike? Give him a call.

All right.

There's somebody poking around down there.

Somebody you're looking for?

Mr. Long?

That's right.

I'm Paul Marino. Yeah,
I know. I heard of you.

From Giovanni Gallardo, no doubt.

I'm a busy man. Yeah, I've heard.

Is there something that you want here?

I understand Gallardo is still missing.
Well, what has that got to do with me?

He was a member of your association.
That's right. He quit. He got too good for us.

And now he's missing.
Kramer, Mr. Marino. Martin Kramer.

I'm national
representative for the association.

How are you? Very good, sir. Thank you.

I'd heard you were
interested in our organization.

A little item in your column
about a week ago, wasn't it?

He's interested in Gallardo.

He's not interested in us.

Sure. Any help we can be,
Mr. Marino. Any help at all.

Why don't we go into my office?
Much more comfortable there. Nick,

you got a lot of things to do.

I'll talk to Mr. Moreno.

What have I got to do? I
ain't got nothing to do.

You said you were national, Mr.
Kramer. Yes, yes, that's right.

Well, don't you think Mr. Long's more
intimate knowledge of local matters might...

That's right, that's right.

And anything that I can do to help, I
want to be able to help you with that.

After you, gentlemen.

Gallardo, Gallardo. I'll have that
for you in a minute, Mr. Marino.

Gianni Gallardo. Let me
see. Gee, here we are.

Everything you want to know is right in
this file, Mr. Moreno. Complete dossier.

He was a rather distinctive looking
man. You'll probably want a picture.

Uh, Nick, will you see if we
haven't got a picture of Gallardo,

something maybe at the picnic last year?

Who was the last one to see
him? Would you know, Mr. Long?

Uh, we never could
determine that, Mr. Moreno.

I suppose maybe somebody on his route.

Mr. Long?

Must have been somebody on his route.

He finished his route about
when? Usually around 4.30.

It's a fairly routine procedure, Mr.
Moreno. The same with all the men.

They finish their
route, unload their trash.

Where? We have our own dumps.

You own all the dumps, don't you?

From there, Mr. Gallardo
probably would have gone right home.

So somewhere between the
time he finished his route,

he finished it, didn't
he? Yeah, he finished.

Sometime between there
and home, he disappeared.

A man in a 10-ton truck, half the
size of a house, he just disappeared.

I don't think I quite understand what
you're driving at, Mr. Moreno. Oh, come on.

The man I'll give you, but the truck.

The police have his license
plates, a full description.

Pilato's name on the side
of each door, and nothing.

Not a sign of it anywhere.

Not even in the junkyards.

Any four ways from the city you look.

Just how would you
figure a thing like that?

I don't know, but just how would
you figure it, Mr. Moreno? Well,

if there's anything more than a guess.

But supposing... Now, this is
pure speculation, of course.

But supposing for some
reason, some weird reason, A

couple of guys with
warped, sick minds... Marino!

Hey, Marino!

Marino!

I see you got your hands
dirty out in the garage.

You better be careful about that.

Mr. Long is suggesting, sir, that
perhaps you'd care to freshen up a bit.

Wash your hands.

Thanks.

They are a little dirty.

There's a nice soap,
Mr. Long. Smells nice.

I guess in your business,
you need a good, strong soap.

Better get that bum out of here.

You, uh, were making a
point, Mr. Marino? Yes.

Supposing these two people, they had
Gallardo's business all locked up.

We're bleeding him dry. An old man
like that, been in the game all his life.

Well, you know how old men are.

Maybe he just decided to
do something about it.

It's not really all that far-fetched.

Decent, honorable businessman.

Well, yourself, for instance.

You'd have to take care
of a situation like that.

Dump him in the bay, maybe.

That'd be kind of stupid,
wouldn't it? Oh, I don't know.

Not if you covered your tracks.

All that'd be is that truck.

The equipment you got these days.

You could break up a truck in an hour.

You better mind your own business.

This doesn't concern you. Why don't
you let the cops worry about this?

What are you butting in for? Relax, Nick.

Get out of here. Remember, Reisel
tried the same thing. Shut up, Nick.

He'll get around to it. Now
lay off or you're going to

get hurt. Forget the
phone. Answer the phone, Nick.

We got a business going here, Nick.

Yeah, what is it?

Yeah, Mr. Sloan, I'd be very
happy to do business with you.

That'll be $600 a
month. That's right, 600.

Yeah, well, that was a half an hour
ago, and I'll tell you something.

Another half hour is going to be
700, and I'll tell you something else.

There's nothing that you or
anybody else can do about it.

Nice talking to you.

You got a mouth, Nick.

Oh, you have got a mouth.

So the Giant King
supermarket, the Acme Produce Company,

and every other business on the Missing
Gulotta's route met Nick Long's price.

But with a narrow margin of profit
on which these companies operated,

they couldn't pay it and stay in business.

So the additional cost was
passed on to the consumer.

A penny here, two cents there,
a nickel on some other item.

Didn't seem like much
until the bill was added up.

The grand total was an indirect tax
levied on the consumer by the corruptors,

men like Nick Long, who
intended to squeeze every

last penny out of every
honest man's pocketbook.

Mr. Kramer. Have a good dinner?

I can't eat. I don't know what it is.

All right.

All right, boys, let's
come to order here. Come on,

let's settle down, get
quiet. We're going to start.

The reason we call this
meeting is because the, uh,

money situation, the,
uh, the, uh... Financial.

The financial situation
of the association, um...

The financial situation here in the
organization is not what it should be.

But now that we all got together
here, it's important that we start.

According to the financial report,

what's happened is we're
running this association the

way some of our
customers here Run their homes.

In other words, we're
spending more money than we got.

The four lawsuits that we had
in the first quarter last year,

all the expenses that's come and due
now, and the insurance premium's gone up,

generally, the whole
expense level has rised.

Now, the committee, the financial report,

feels that the only way that we can keep
this going is to increase the assessments.

Now, take it easy, fellas. Wait a minute.

Let me say this. I don't like the
assessments any more than you do,

and I got to pay them
just like anybody else.

Uh, now the committee has
recommended that the increase

for industrial and
business staff is $5 a month.

$5 a month and a dollar
a month for residential.

If you don't like the assessment, if
you don't like it, you vote it down.

Mr. Long. Yeah.

Phillips.

Right.

You state your name, what's
on your mind before you start?

Bill Phillips.

I guess I'm the newest
member of the association.

See, I'm a little mixed up.

I want to do the right thing, but I
don't know if I can afford it or not.

Now, I'm just getting started here, and I
got a lot more expenses than I can stand.

And now, this new assessment.

Well, sure, your costs are up.

But so is your income up.
And let me, wait a minute.

I want to ask every guy here something.

Is there anybody in this
room that's unhappy with the

amount of money that
they've been making recently?

Nobody else is complaining here, Phillips.

See, let me explain. When your
costs go up, then your price goes up.

You pass that along to the
consumer, to the customer.

Yeah, but they might hire another company.

What other company?

Well, you've got to
understand, this is a protective area.

You're in a protective area.

All your area is protected.

There's not a single business that's not
a dues-paying member of this association.

Well, suppose a company
quits our organization.

Well, then he goes out of business.

Oh.

How do you manage that?

Well, we don't manage nothing.

I mean, when a man quits the association,
we're not responsible for what happens.

I think we are responsible.
Wait a minute, Mazzara. You're

out of order. This is not your turn.

Wait your turn.

My father-in-law.

You know him.

You all know him.

He's been missing for a week, and nobody,
not one of you, says anything about it.

All right, all right, come on, come on,
let's have some order here. Keep it quiet,

boys, this is a meeting. He was a
chartered member of this organization.

He paid his dues every year. He
paid his assessment, all of them.

Where is he, huh?

What happened to him?

You know what happened to him. All
of you know what happened to him.

All right, come on, come on here.
Let's have some order in here. Bizarre,

you're out of order. Sit down here.

Mr. President, may I have
the floor, please? Yeah.

All right, go ahead. This
chair recognizes, chair

recognizes Mr. Kramer,
national representative.

You boys all know me.

My job as traveling
secretary has made me familiar with

the problems of all the
chapters throughout the country.

And I must say that I feel qualified
to heartily agree with Mr. Mazara.

We are responsible for all our members.

Past and present, even the ones
who think they've outgrown us.

The Gallardo family has
endured intense personal tragedy.

As human beings, this association
is obligated to do what it can.

And as legitimate
businessmen, it behooves us.

To clear away the ugly
shadow of mystery and doubt,

which still hovers over the Gallardo case.

Well, the police are
doing everything they can

in our respect. They're working on that.

Of course. Of course, Mr. Long.

But it's our obligation and
our duty to help where we can.

We've not done enough.

I move that we appoint a special
committee to investigate the Gallardo case.

Would you care to second
the motion, Mr. Mazzara?

I second it. All in favor? Aye. Opposed?

Motion carried. One
more thing, Mr. President.

To operate at peak efficiency,

this investigating committee will need
professional advice, the best available.

I recommend that the costs of this advice
be paid for from the association funds.

Well, that's what I'm just talking
about according to the financial report.

The funds here are pretty low.

Funds are low.

All right.

In that case, I move that the
assessment being considered

at this time by the
membership be altered slightly.

Pay $1 extra for each residential stop.

One dollar extra for each industrial stop.

You'd measure the Gallardo case in
terms of dollars and cents, Mr. Holden?

Yeah, and we still have to bring it down!

Will an extra dollar in
your pocket take the place

of the empty chair in
the Gallardo household?

No!

I urge you members, all of you,

to vote in favor of your
conscience and not your pocketbook.

All in favor of the assessment! Aye. Sure.

Post!

You and your lousy...

You want an investigation, huh?

All right.

I'll get you a real investigation.

Call a recess.

Determine a recess and meeting.

No, not this time,
Laurie. I'm not finished yet.

Tina, me, listen. That guy
Marino, where does he live?

Oh, never mind why. What's his number?

Okay, okay, his hotel. Where is it?

I was just calling my wife, Nick.

Your wife, huh?

Yeah, she, uh... Look,
Nick, what I said in there...

You guys got to
understand, my wife, she's been

very nervous ever since
her father, you know?

She's been very unhappy around the house.

I was just calling her to let her
know what you guys are trying to do.

Well, you do that, Pete.

You go home and tell your wife
what we're going to do for you.

Yeah.

Go ahead, Pete.

Go on, go on. I'm going to tell you
right what we're going through for you.

How long will it take
you to get a hold of Lou?

Just a phone call, Nick.

Phone.

Tell him I got a contract for him.

Pennies, nickels, and dimes
became dollars, fives and tens,

a steady stream of money flowing
from the consumer who paid the bills,

to the collectors who picked up the
trash, to the cartman who employed him,

to the hands of Nick Long,

and the men who helped him hold
the industry in an iron grip.

What are you guys doing here?

Said to make it an accident.

Yeah.

Look, Mike, you must be kidding, huh?

Look, I told you, it was my wife.

This is our accident.

It's his wife.

Was it an accident, Mazarin?

Mazarin? A word.

That's all I want to hear.

Just a word.

And nod your head if
you can understand me.

Did anyone do this to you?

What does it end with, Peter?

What does it end with?

Killing?

Rippling people?

And everyone?

Oh, you're just standing by, just
standing by, letting it happen, taking it?

Tell them, Pete. Tell them
who did it to you! Tell them!

Mike Pichonsky.

When I tell you to do a job, you
do it. Who asked you to get fancy?

You won't last long, Nick. You can't.

Get out of here. Get out of here!

You got a one-track mind, Nick.

What do you want from me? I was
going to see the guy from the newspaper.

All right, he was going to see him.

So what?

What was he going to tell him?

I was going to see him. Ain't that enough?

It's not enough, Nick.

Stupid, Nick.

Get out of here.

Get out. Get out of here.

You want to go see Guido,
go see Guido. I don't care.

I get the results.

I get the action.

Show him the payments.
He'll straighten you out.

He's laughing your bum. I'm
going to tear out your heart.

Get out of here!

Thanasi Frankie Guido.

In the minds of many, he is
a legitimate businessman,

owner of two office buildings, one
hotel, director of a large city bank,

president of Guido Realty Company.

But unlike the
hoodlums of the 20s and 30s,

The underworld leaders of
today do not court publicity.

Frankie Guido, a
businessman whose business is crime,

has no desire to be a celebrity.

It's bad for business.

And this is big business.

Hello, Martin.

Guido?

Been some time. Expected you
sooner. What? No, thank you.

I usually don't bother.

Mark of an ambitious man. You ever notice?

Also, the way to an ulcer.

Eat lunch, Mark. Put some meat on
your bones. No, thank you, sir.

I won't keep you. You
can just put it there.

Sit down.

Hm.

Long's doing rather well.

Isn't he?

Well, yes, yes, Mr. Guido.

He is doing well, isn't he, Martin?

If you say so, sir.

Industrious.

Keeps a tight rein on his people.

Never misses a payment. And he's
young, Martin. Young, there's the key.

Always the importance of new blood.

You'll permit me, sir.

That's all you'll get
from Long is blood. Huh?

He's like a child with too many toys.

He's high as muscle, but he hasn't
the judgment to use it correctly.

Judgment's important. Very.

Man, for a job as big as
Long's, shouldn't show

bad judgment. I agree, Mr. Guido. Bill?

He takes results.

That takes justice.

Yes, sir, but for how long?

Something happens,
something goes wrong, he comes out

slugging instead of
thinking. That leads to mistakes.

Wrong makes mistake?

Galato?

Noisy old man.

Wrong is like me.

He doesn't like too much noise.

Killing him made the noise.

Anything else?

Pete Mazzara? Yeah.

Well, first the old
man, then his son-in-law.

What was his reason? The
meeting a couple of nights ago.

Pete pushed Nick about Gallardo and
then threatened an investigation.

That's a pretty good reason.

A stupid reason. On
Long's part, Mr. Guido.

You see, I told him.

I told him a dozen times. There are ways
of reaching people like Gallardo Mazzara.

You don't have to resort to
violence, but he just doesn't listen.

You make it sound very simple.

No more than you think
of yourself, Mr. Guido.

I don't know what I think, Martin.

Seems to me just a choice of two ways.

Next way stirs the police.

They've stirred for years. Let
them stir. The press and the press.

Paul Marino.

Of course, Mr. Guido, if...

If we welcome that sort
of attention, if there's

been a change in policy,
why, I'll just shut up.

You're a bright boy,
Martin. A real bright boy.

But you don't eat lunch.

Only looking after your interests, sir.

You have a way about that, I noticed.

The look in your eyes
when I came into the room.

Hungry, but you don't eat.

I think you misunderstood.

That ham.

You'd like that ham,
wouldn't you, Martin? A baked

Virginia ham. A whole ham, just for lunch.

Put your hand on it.

Martin, put your hand on it.

On the hand.

Right on the hand.

You feel the wealth of it?

Boozing out through that layer of fat.

Closer, Martin.

Put your hand closer.

I like having you look
after my interests, Martin.

I like having you want them.

That ham, this office, everything I own.

Greed in a man I
understand. It works for me. Fine.

Stay greedy, Martin.

Just don't ever let me see
the grease on your hand.

What about Long?

I don't know.

You make a nice combine.

His muscle, your hip.

He's only a piece of my
territory, Mr. Guido. One of these days,

he's going to bust out of his cage.
When I'm not there to cover for him,

he's going to put us all in trouble.

Wash him up.

What's funny?

You wouldn't understand,
sir. You just made a joke.

When I tell you to kill
somebody, it's no joke.

How'd you get the
bruise on your face, Mike?

The Easter Bunny bit me.

It's a pretty fair bruise
on the look of the thing.

So I slipped and I fell. Into
what, Nick Long's knuckles?

Well, you're guessing.

Oh, no. No, not really, considering...

Long gave you a
contract on Pete, you blew it.

How many times I gotta
tell it to you? The guy

gives me nothing. I
work for him, that's all.

Doing what?

I told it to you.

Again.

Odd jobs. I do odd jobs.

Like what?

Around the garage.

Mazera fingered you to Jonsky.

Now, if you want to go down
the drain all by yourself,

you're playing it just right.
Well, he fingered nothing. What,

are you trying to feed me a
job like that at night? Oh, no.

No, not night.

Late afternoon. Well,
you put a grab and a crush

on a guy all over with sweat and fear,

he ain't going to know you
apart from his own brother.

All right, Mike.

Let's have it again.

How'd you get the bruise?

Well, I...

I mean, I, um, you know how
long is he, uh... Actually, I, uh,

I give him a bump tip on the
horse, and he, uh, blows his top,

and he busts me in the mouth, that's all.

For a lousy tip? No, I mean it honest.

Oh, come on, Mike, get with it. You think
all you have to do is sit there and lie?

Do you think that makes you immune?

Is that what Long told you?

If it can cause a tight spot, just
sit there and lie and play stupid.

Can he get out of this?

He won't, Mike. He can't.

Don't you want to read the
newspapers, watch television?

I've been there.

I've followed the McClellan
Committee all over this country.

I've watched them grill cheap little
hoods like you to pieces. The pressure's on,

Mike, right down the line.
Right down to the longs and you.

Yeah, well, you don't shake me.

I don't.

Lieutenant.

Mr. Blood's here as a witness.

What are you talking about? Flood,
his name is Phillips. Is it, Mike?

What do you mean, witness?

We have everything we need.

Enough to drown you, Mike.

We know what you did with Azera.

How much more do you think it'll
take to tie you in with Gallardo?

You got nothing on that.

Not on me.

You go right on thinking it.
You hold that good thought.

Hold it all the way to the
chair. You got nothing. Nothing?

Where were you on the night Delano
disappeared? Oh, we know you're lying.

But who'll back up your lie, Long?

You're going to have to have
that lie backed up by others.

Who'll do it for you, Mike?

I don't know. You're in
this alone, all alone.

And that's just where
Long's gonna see that you stay.

Long put out contracts on
Gallardo and Pete and gave them to you.

What chance I got if I tell?

You missed the point, Mike.

It's what chance have
you got if you don't.

Okay, okay.

You're under arrest, Long!

Come on out!

Make it easy!

Long!

Wait here.

It's all there, Nick.

Jonski's full statement.

Lieutenant, how are you?

I'm going to be right with you.
I'll hold you up just one minute.

You're entitled to read it.

Joey, don't forget about them boxes. I
want all that junk cleaned up by the morning.

Hey, what do you think of the coat?

I mean the color.

You like the color I got there? Is
it really all that simple, Nick?

What about going in? Come on, will you?

You know Mike as well as I do. A
little heat and he's gonna fall.

Between now and tomorrow, the
guy changed his story four times.

It might be a little tougher this time,
Nick. Why are we kidding ourselves? Well,

you can't touch me. That's all.

You don't touch me.

Frank Guido's orders were carried out.

Nick Long died from his
injuries before reaching the hospital.

And with his death, one more
battle against the corruptors was won.

The Suburban Cartons
Association returned to its

original status as an
honest trade organization.

But the war, the bigger war, continues in
other communities, in other industries.

For the Nick Longs of
crime are expendable.

To the men at the top like Frankie Guido,

to the men on the way to
the top like Martin Kramer,

a defeat in one city
only means a greater effort

to seek new power and
new fortunes in another.

Unfortunately, no industry, no community,

no way of life is
immune to the corruptors.

THE END