Baccano! - Volume 22 - Chapter Pr

Interlude - Couldn’t Be Busier Organizing Information

“All right. Let’s get our facts in order, shall we?”

When the voice spoke from behind the mountain of documents, the staff of the Daily Days newspaper nodded, their expressions focused.

“I’ll start by explaining how it began, then. A few months ago, Firo Prochainezo, a young Martillo Family executive, temporarily infiltrated Alcatraz as part of a plea bargain with the Division of Investigation. He made contact with the terrorist Huey Laforet there, shortly before Huey himself vanished.”

“You think Firo helped him break out?”

“No, I imagine his own organization helped him escape. However, we’ve received information that Huey is plotting something here in New York. Bartolo Runorata is harboring him on his property, as a guest,” Nicholas reported. He was part of the old guard at the paper.

Elean, a man in Chinese robes, chimed in. “That means all of Laforet’s handpicked terrorists are assembling in the city. They’ve already taken their airplanes out for a spin, and a group that’d be right at home in the circus is skulking around town… It’s bedlam out there.”

The unseen president responded from behind the documents. “A three-way standoff between Huey, the Division of Investigation, and the mafia would be bad enough. Now the House of Dormentaire, a European financial group, have joined the game as well. They’re also linked closely to our ‘top secret matter.’ None of this goes in the paper.”

At the Daily Days, the phrase top secret matter indicated something located beyond the bounds of common sense. It encompassed vampires, fairies, and other beings one would usually find in fantasy novels. Here in New York, though, most of the information they collected was about the “liquor of immortality,” and about those who’d helped themselves to a glass of eternal life.

In comparison, the top brass of the Daily Days newspaper had determined that all other things—including scandals related to politicians, mafia big shots, or even the president of the United States—were “just information.”

That top secret matter was the reason they were holding this emergency meeting.

“Still, who’d have thought most of those key figures would assemble at the underground-casino party at that new skyscraper, Ra’s Lance? Actually, an overwhelming proportion of immortals are denizens of the underworld. If you don’t count the hundreds of Nebula employees involved in that one experiment, of course.”

The next one to speak was Henry, a bespectacled man with gaunt cheeks and hair that had gone white in places.

“There are five main players. A ‘scratch group’ consisting of local juvenile delinquents and the Russo Family, formed around the Camorra known as the Martillo Family. The Runorata Family, one of the East’s leading mafia syndicates. The Gandor Family, which has hired a crowd of hitmen. A terrorist group led by the immortal Huey Laforet. And the House of Dormentaire, a large but fading financial group that has involved itself from Europe. The Division of Investigation, Senator Beriam, and the staff of Nebula also seem to be acting suspiciously behind the scenes…”

Rachel finally joined the conversation; she was holding a sheaf of papers. “And? Who is this Nader Schasschule guy? He keeps coming up, but I don’t see a connection to any of these organizations. I’ve never even heard his name in New York before.”

Henry pushed his glasses up with a smirk. “Come on, Rachel, you have a connection to the man. After all, you were involved in the Flying Pussyfoot incident… If there is a link between four of those major players, then, would it be Huey’s former faction?”

She looked at him quizzically. “I’ve never heard a man with that name was on the train.”

“That’s because he wasn’t. He couldn’t be. He tried to sell out the black suits—the Lemures—and was nearly killed in the process. Well, by some miracle, he survived. Thanks to his betrayal, the police force got their hands on quite a bit of information about the Lemures.”

“Oh, right. Now I remember… But why is he part of this? This says he’s at the casino party as a proxy gambler for Eve Genoard…?” Rachel frowned.

Henry shook his head slightly. “I really don’t know. Nader Schasschule… I checked into him, and from what I’ve seen, the man is an enigma. He doesn’t have nearly as much of a presence as, say, Firo, Bartolo, and Huey. One could even say he’s the only player on the board right now who’s incapable of pulling his weight. I’d guess that he stumbled into it by mistake…or that someone’s setting him up to take a heavy fall.”

Henry hadn’t immediately dismissed Nader upon learning of his involvement. It was just that Henry had yet to find anything special in Nader’s history, and unlike the immortals, Nader didn’t seem to have any unique abilities.

However, as he tried to brush the question aside, the voice behind the documents interrupted him. “I’m not so sure about that.”

“President?”

“Oh, I’m not suggesting he has hidden connections or anything special in his background. It’s simply wiser not to make light of anyone, period.” Although the president was admonishing his subordinate, he sounded amused by the whole situation. “In any case, he is involved, and that fact carries weight. Everyone—from our central player Huey Laforet to a traveler who just happens to walk past the venue—is brimming with valuable information.”

“Well, yes, but…”

“No matter how heroic or villainous a man is, he’s a cipher until the moment he does something. Those of us who deal in information can’t ignore anyone who’s involved in this incident. For example—when that robber couple came to New York in 1930, did even one of you manage to predict they would become so deeply involved in this top secret matter before it happened?”

The room fell silent.

Once he’d given them a moment, the president continued lightly, as if he were joking. “Only someone with precognition could have known. If we had a prophet like that in town, someone whose predictions were always accurate, that would be yet another top secret matter.”

The president paused. When he went on, the words seemed more for his own benefit than for theirs.

“Still, speaking of top secret matters… That demon was the cause of the whole ‘liquor of immortality’ affair and everything that followed. I wonder where he is and what he’s doing now.”