Dante took immediate control of their meeting. “I have spent two hours today meeting with the heads of half a dozen police divisions, and now each of them is back in his office, plotting with his staff to see how many ways they can harass the Casselli family and the others. Here are a few things we are already doing. One, vehicles identified as belonging to the families and their associates will be routinely followed and many of them stopped by the police for an examination of the vehicles and their documentation. Minor traffic and document infractions will be punished. Two, all known Mafia members with the rank of capo and above will be surveilled, with no attempt to hide our attentions. We want them to feel harassed. Warrants are being prepared to tap the telephones of those key men that are not already tapped, and noises will be made on the lines to let them know we’re listening. And, of course, you will be glad to know, Stone, that we have posted large notices in certain neighborhoods in Naples and Rome that a five-million-euro reward and a new passport and resettlement help is being offered to anyone with information that can put Casselli in prison.”

“Euros?” Stone asked. “Not dollars?”

“The euro is our currency.”

“Oh, never mind, Mr. duBois and I will find a way.”

Dino seemed to be suppressing a laugh.

“And we have placed uniformed policemen on the site of your hotel construction to protect it from criminal vandalism.”

“Why,” Stone asked, “are you going out of your way to let these people know they’re being surveilled?”

“Because they have such a sense of entitlement over many years that they believe themselves invulnerable to law enforcement. We want to show them that is no longer so, unsettle them and make them nervous, because when they are nervous they will make mistakes. Casselli, for instance, has already had two of his most trusted associates murdered since your luncheon with him. Unfortunately, one of them has turned out to be already helping us, but the other has been a thorn in our flesh for years. We expect that now anyone who Casselli has the slightest reason to doubt will meet with the same fate.

“The tax authorities are also undertaking extensive audits of Casselli’s legitimate businesses, as well as others thought to be part of his empire. Before today is out, a factory surreptitiously owned by him which produces olive oil falsely labeled as extra virgin will be shut down by the health authorities. A network of used-car lots owned by one of his associates and thought to be dealing in stolen vehicles will have each vehicle examined for signs of theft or lack of proper documentation, and if even one is found, the lot offering it for sale will be shut down and its inventory confiscated.”

“That is all very encouraging,” Dino said.