Chapter 7

I managed to get into the political headquarters with virtually no effort. These people were so sure of themselves that they did not even lock the doors after they quit for the day. Certainly, Big Ed's operation was big enough to squash anybody who gave them a hard time, so maybe the unlocked doors did not mean so much except an arrogance that had to be seen to be believed.

The apartment was easy to find on the second floor because of all of the light and sound coming from it. There was a large dinning room, but the dinning table was relatively small to make room for all of the entertainment taking place during dinner. I guess that my first estimate had been sort of correct because the open part of the room was filled with naked boys and girls madly fucking away in all sorts of positions. The missionary position seemed to be the least popular, but one couple was using it.

There were a total of 12 young couples cavorting on pads on the floor, and they were using a wide variety of positions, just about anything that would allow a cock to penetrate a cunt. To my estimate, these seemed to be 14 and 15-year-old kids, but some might possibly have been younger. My guess was that they were from brothels owned by Big Ed, but I had no way to be sure. Anyway, the kids looked like they were having fun, but I could not be certain.

In addition to the fucking demonstration, I could catch sight of two naked girls under the table giving blowjobs to Big Ed and the bishop, and I wondered if the bishop was staying the night. This was too big an affair for me to interrupt. Even if the performers fled at the sight of me, they surely would attract attention, and that was something that I wanted to avoid at the moment. It looked like I was stuck with waiting for the dinner to break up before I could do anything. This was not the kind of thing that I would normally pay to see, but I had to admit that the novelty was attractive.

Finally, dessert was served and the party broke up. The last to leave were the two girls giving the blowjobs. At last, the two men adjusted their clothes and lit up cigars. I gave them 10 minutes to talk about the entertainment and the blowjobs before I joined the conversation. I walked onstage, so to speak, carrying a club in my left hand and a Colt pocket pistol in my right.

I interrupted with, "Good evening, Gentlemen. I hope you enjoyed the entertainment as much as you seemed to, though I would guess that the blowjobs were the best part of the show.

"You may wonder why I am here, but I will ease your minds on that very quickly. Specifically, I had a short discussion with Jimmy the Joker just before he was fatally wounded about a subject that I have been hired to stop: someone is harassing the Jewish population of San Francisco, and that has to stop immediately."

Big Ed's face blanched immediately as soon as I mentioned Jimmy the Joker, and I was sure that he was aware of the information that I was privy to. I said, "He told me that you, Big Ed, had contracted with his gang to harass the Jews, and I am here to say that you will stop doing so as of tonight. Use your influence to find out exactly what happened to Jimmy the Joker, because the same thing will happen to you if the harassment continues.

"Bishop Riley, I don't know exactly how much you had to do with the campaign of harassment, but I will hold you responsible if it does not stop immediately. From what I have seen tonight, I would not put it past you. As long as you confine yourself to debauchery such as took place tonight, I will leave you alone, but you now know what I will not tolerate, and you know that I can get to you anytime I wish.

"You will pay the Jewish elders the cost to repair the damage, plus 20% as a penalty. Also, you will pay the husband whose wife was raped and beaten by the gang a monthly stipend of $10 for as long as she lives.

"You two gentlemen, and I use the term very loosely, are now on notice: LEAVE THE JEWS ALONE! Any further harassment that I suspect can be attributed to either one of you will result in two deaths. Rest assured that I can do it.

"Now, I will leave you to whatever further entertainment you might have planned, but don't forget this little conversation at your peril." I had planned my escape route before I had entered the building, and I was gone before either man could overcome his shock and react.

I met with the Jewish elders and told them what had happened at Big Ed's apartment. They were shocked that the bishop was involved, but they were very appreciative of my efforts, and promised to deposit my reward in my bank account on Monday. I thanked them and left.

Dammit, the next few days were boring as I looked around for my next case.

This case was a protection racket run by the Rabbits on the Barbary Coast. The Merchants' Association offered me $100 to put a stop to it. The only way to do that was to show the boss of the Rabbits how dangerous it was to fool with me. I thought to put some pressure on him as I had done to Jimmy the Joker. In this case, I was looking for a man who used the sobriquet of Magus.

Just for the fun of it, I disguised myself as a messenger and delivered a note to the Rabbits headquarters. The note said, "Stop your protecting racket immediately, or you will suffer the fate of Jimmy the Joker." The note was signed "The Punisher." I didn't think that the note would have much effect, but I was curious. Well, I was right. I was going to have to pay a visit to Magus at Rabbits headquarters.

I had waited to see if my note did any good, and it didn't, so my next step was to show Magus the error of his ways. Sure, I could just kill him from a distance with a rifle shot, but I was trying to send a message to all of the gangs on the Barbary Coast that they should stay within their own territory. Therefore, I was going to have to prove that I could get to any of them anytime I wanted to. That would require some careful planning and a little theatrics.

The first part of my plan was to find about a half-gallon of green paint. I planned to show Magus that he needed more "protection." The next step was to find the most secure route into the Rabbits' headquarters building. Magus' office and apartment were on the third floor, so I had to get there without being discovered. Finally, I had to escape after scaring the shit out of Magus.

Getting the paint was easy. I needed a disguise to get into the building without causing too much hullabaloo. I figured that the easiest way to do that was to mimic something I had done earlier: I needed to waylay a Rabbit about my size and to steal his clothes.

As I was working on that phase of my plan, I found something even better. I spotted a janitor about to enter the building. Him I followed and knocked unconscious without killing him. I stole his clothes and left him tied up in an alley where he would eventually be found. Naked, and obviously with no money, I figured that he would just be turned loose.

I put my sealed can of paint inside his slop bucket and covered it with soapy water. I carried the bucket and his mop into the headquarters building just as if I was working there. Several guards saw me, but paid no attention to me as I walked right past them. One finally stopped me, and I said I had been called to clean up a mess on the third floor. Apparently, that was not a rare happening, so the guard let me go without any further word.

I reached the top floor and simply found the only guarded door. There was only one guard, and I set my mop and bucket on the floor when he challenged me. I held my hands out to show that they were empty and walked up to him. Before he could realize that something was amiss, I hit him in the solar plexus with my fist and crushed his windpipe when he reflexively bent over. I set him in his chair with his shotgun in his lap and retrieved my mop and bucket.

I entered the office and saw Magus sitting at his desk going over a ledger. "What the hell do you want?" he snapped at me. I glanced around and saw that there was one bodyguard and a clerk in the office with him, so I acted without bothering to answer his challenge.

The guard was poked in the solar plexus with the end of the mop hard enough to rupture some internal organs. The clerk was struck in the side of the head with the mop handle and laid low. I don't think that he was killed, but I am not sure. He was out of the way, and that was all that counted.