American Tabloid - James Ellroy [81]
And (on May 18th) I coerced a third informant into my stable. This man (a Dallas-based strip club operator/loanshark) is searching for a borrower to refer to Sal D’Onofrio and thence to Sam Giancana. I consider this man to be a mgjor informant, because he previously referred a loan seeker to Giancana and the Pension Fund. He calls me at a pay phone near my apartment every Tuesday morning; I have given him money on several occasions. He fears me and respects me to just the right degree. Like Sal D’Onofrio, he has perpetual money troubles. I believe that, sooner or later, he will supply me with a potentially subornable borrower.
I also now have a fund of my own, i.e., an informant fund. In late May I secured an $81,000 robbery stash, one unreported to any police agency. I have paid Sal D’Onofrio $32,000 from this fund, strengthening my hold over him. Strange, but I had originally thought that Lenny Sands would be my most valued informant, but both Sal and the Dallas man have proven themselves more competent (or is it more desperate for money)? I blame you, Kemper. Setting Lenny up with Pete Bondurant and Hush-Hush was detrimental to my purposes. Lenny has seemed abstracted lately. He travels with Sal’s junket tours and moonlights for Hush-Hush, and seems to have forgotten what I hold over him. Does he taik to your friend Miss Hughes? I’d be curious to know.
Per your instructions, I’m avoiding Court Meade and the listening post. Court and I have also formally ceased our assignment trade. I’m being careful, but I can’t help dreaming Utopian dreams. My essential dream? A John P. Kennedy Presidential Administration, with Robert Kennedy fulfilling his brother’s anti-Mob mandate. God, Kemper, wouldn’t that be heaven? Tell Mr. Kennedy he’s in my prayers.
Yours,
WJL
DOCUMENT INSERT: 7/3/59. Personal note: Kemper Boyd to Robert F. Kennedy.
Dear Bob,
Just a short note to update you on the work of your anonymous colleague the “Chicago Phantom.”
He’s working hard, and I hope you find it gratifying that there’s at least one human being on earth who hates Organized Crime as much as you do. But, as hard as he is working—and always within the legal guidelines you set down to me—he’s getting scant results pursuing the possibility that alternative Pension Fund books exist. The Chicago Mob is a closed circle, and he hasn’t been able to gain the inside information he hoped he would.
Moving along. Aren’t you and Jack going to offer me some post-McClellan Committee employment?
Yours,
Kemper
DOCUMENT INSERT: 7/9/59. Personal Letter: Robert F. Kennedy to Kemper Boyd.
Dear Kemper,
Thanks for your note on the Phantom. It is good to know that an ex-seminarian FBI man shares my anti-Mob fervor, and what most impresses me about him is that he doesn’t seem to want anything. (Jesuit sem boys are schooled in self-denial.) You, however, want everything. So, yes, Jack and I have an offer for you. (We’ll discuss details and money later.)
We want you to stay with our organization and fill two positions. The first: traffic manager for the McClellan Committee’s legal paperwork. We’ve disbanded, but like the Phantom, I’m still afire. Let’s keep our anti-Mob and anti-Hoffa momentum going. You could be very helpful in seeing that our evidence gets into the proper investigatory hands. Secondly, Jack’s going to announce his candidacy in January. He wants you to manage security for his primary campaigns and hopefully through to November. How about it?
Bob
DOCUMENT INSERT: 7/13/59. Personal note: Kemper Boyd to Robert F. Kennedy.
Dear Bob,
I accept. Yes, unlike the Phantom I want everything. Let’s nail Jimmy Hoffa and elect Jack President.
Kemper
DOCUMENT INSERT: 7/27/59. Official FBI telephone call