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.Hundreds of pleasure boats wander between U.S.and Mexican waters on a good summer weekend; nobody can really check them all.""Has he got a boat of his own?" I asked."He didn't look like a yachting type to me.""That's more or less what put us onto it," she said."He bought a yachting cap and a big seagoing motorsailer a couple of years ago and started getting very nautical indeed.Since then he's been running down to the Ensenada area quite frequently.Ostensibly it's just a matter of booze and broads, if you know what I mean-the shipboard parties get pretty noisy sometimes.We have a hunch some of that noise is generated for public consumption, so to speak, and the parties have actually been a cover for some trial runs.Naturally, we've left him strictly alone so far.We've been trying to determine just how many boats besides the Fleetwind are involved; and where the actual southern terminus is located.""So you've got the probable route pinned down," I said."Have you any line on the laboratory, and the source of supply?""The source is easy, and at the same time impossible," she said wryly."What I mean is, there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of Mexican farmers back in the hills growing the poppies on a small scale.There are dozens, maybe hundreds, of independent collectors buying the gum from them and boiling it up to get the morphine base, which they'll sell to anyone who'll pay the going price-"She had to stop as the elderly gent in coveralls passed us once more, heading for a grimy door next to the office, presumably the john."It would take the Mexican Army to make an impression at that end," Charlie said when the old man was back on the job once more."As a matter of fact, the crackdown by our brother agencies along the border has kind of jogged them into taking a little action: burning a few fields and arresting a few peasants.It won't last, of course; it never does; but it's the best we can hope for right now.The laboratory is a different matter.Frankie has got to set up a good one somewhere, if he wants to market a high-class product.We think he must have it just about ready to go.""Have you any idea where?"She moved her shoulders half-helplessly."Not really, except that it will undoubtedly be in Mexico.The surveillance problems are smaller there; besides, the refined heroin takes up less room than the morphine base and is easier to smuggle.We figure it's either in Ensenada or between there and the border, but Frankie's been very careful on his south-of-the-border cruises and we've had to do our watching from a distance so as not to tip him off.Once we locate the lab, we can get the Mexican authorities to close it down for us-but of course we don't really want that to happen until the timing is just right.We want to be certain that the place is in actual production, and that Frankie himself has taken delivery of a few kilos and brought them up here, where we'll be waiting.""What makes you think he'll handle the smuggling himself?" I asked."Most of those big boys make a point of keeping their hands clean of everything connected with drugs except the money.""Frankie's got a problem," she said."The syndicate does frown on the dope trade these days, officially, for public relations motives.That means that Frankie's got to keep his activities secret not only from us, but from his Mafia associates and superiors as well.I don't think he'll trust any underlings to handle the first few shipments.He'll take as few syndicate people into his confidence as possible until he's got things running smoothly and profitably.""It sounds reasonable," I said."But you're going to a hell of a lot of trouble, it seems to me, to catch just one man with a few pounds of happy-dust."She hesitated."You don't understand; it's not just one man we're concerned with.At present the syndicate is more or less out of the drug business, except for a few greedy, rebellious individuals like Frank Warfel.Right now, Frankie's superiors would certainly crack down on him if they knew he was planning to involve the organization in a risky gamble with dope.But suppose he manages to hold them off until he can show them a smoothly functioning gold mine from which they can all profit? In that case, they'll be much less likely to chastise him, won't they? They may even be tempted to change their official policy once more.And even if they don't, they may find more and more backsliders like Frankie defying their edict-""Actually, from what little I know about them, I gather the various families don't really have much authority over each other.""That's right." Charlie looked at me almost pleadingly."You see how important it is, Matt?You see that it's got to take precedence over your quest for vengeance.I mean, thousands of lives will be ruined by drugs if Frankie succeeds; or if.if somebody kills him so we can't catch him red-handed and make such a big public 'stink that his Cosa Nostra friends will continue to stay out of the drug business, permanently."Well, she had a point.I might kid her about the strange legal logic that tries to cure an addict by making a criminal of him, but I hold no brief for anyone who tries to cash in on his addiction.I said, "Well, to the best of my knowledge, I'm not really after Frank Warfel.""Perhaps not [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]