Tomaso Gubiannie, Boss of the Bosses, wiped his mouth with the cloth napkin and said, "They want our help. Since we control the market here, they say we need to move there. We can do it, but it may not be profitable."

          It was July 14, 1968. The six bosses of the Camorra drank red wine and shared bread while perusing the menu. In Italy, discussing the menu — which hadn't changed in ten years — was nearly as good as the food, and eating the food was almost as good as admiring the women. But on this evening, there were no women in Restorante Reginella; the owner closed it for a "private party."

          They were all there. From the oldest, Tomaso Gubiannie, Boss of the Bosses, to the youngest, Soldier Nunzio "Pinkie" Fabbroni. Underboss Anthony "Fat Tony" Bellomo; Vincent Romano, Joseph "Toto," Cali, and Frank "the Snake," DeCicco. Plus, the Consigliere, Settimo "Numbers" Gaggi.

          Underboss Anthony "Fat Tony" Bellomo spoke up. "We need to send a killer there. Not only to produce bodies but to keep order. This-a squid is good. But who'd be the killer?"

          The bosses of the Camorra held meetings away from scrutiny, in a restaurant tucked away and just minutes from the major freeways north of the city. Cars with drivers sat reading the papers while the bosses dined on pasta and seafood in a delightful setting minutes from the freeways. With lookouts posing as tourists on the surrounding hillsides, the polizia di stato had no chance to raid the restaurant.

          Settimo "Numbers" Gaggi kept quiet. Don Gubiannie respected his advice far above the others. But Numbers was smart. He waited until it mattered. "The Frenchman," the Snake offered. "He's-a the one."

          Salerno, Italy, was ideal for the Camorra organization, situated on the coast just 55 miles south of Naples and hemmed in by mountains. On Italy's Tyrrhenian Coast, including Rome, Campania, Tuscany, and Calabria, as well as the Infamous Amalfi Coast, the Camorra had plenty of work to keep it busy. On Italy's other coastline, ships sailed around the boot to Trieste, Venice, Rimini, and Lecce, then on to Spain, Morocco, Portugal, France, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt. 

          "You know he's acey-deucey," Pinkie said.

          It was important that the Camorra not interfere with the business of other syndicates in Italy. The other, more powerful crime organizations there wanted no part of the "dead business," as they called it. "Get the fuck outta here, the only thing we do with dead bodies is burry them." Therefore, the dead business was not a threat to any other criminal organization in Italy. 

          "What you mean, Pinkie? What's a that? This acey-deucey."

          "He goes both ways," Calli commented.

          "What?" He's-a gay?"

          "No, he has-a cazzo but he's a woman."

          "He's a gay."

          "No, I think they are calling it trans, now. He's a man with a cazzo but looks like a woman."

          "Pass-a the gravy."

          "Oh, you-a mean-a stone bitch."

          "Trans, stone bitch, you call it what you want."

          Settimo let the conversation continue. When worthless talk popped up at the Boss of the Bosses' meetin's, he remained silent.

          "You know the Eye is back," Fat Tony interjected. He'll have a killer too, maybe the bee guy."

          "Ah, the savage in the hole."

          The American Federation in Oklahoma City, headed by former New York Gambino mobster Ghiaccio Chiacchiericcioto, known as "Eye" because his name was difficult to pronounce; he sought the assistance of the Naples-Salerno Camorra in establishing a more efficient method for obtaining cadavers and expanding the Federation's business in the United States. The top medical schools were under pressure and couldn't get corpses for their students. 

          While the Eye was "away," he had a cellmate who was Choctaw and trained killer bees. While  "away," the Eye kept his trap shut, thus allowing the Gambinos of New York to let him go and establish the dead business without their interference.

          "Don Gubiannie, if I may say so," I Settimo said.

          "Go ahead, Settimo," Gubiannie replied. "Speak a-you mind." 

          "I know dead bodies and how to transport them better than anyone in Italy. The Naples Camorra would only be making small profits without me. Don Gubiannie, the Americans need our help to survive. So, we give them help. We send a couple of people there to get them going. When the operation is healthy and making money, we take over. Like we always do, we'll find ways to move the bodies in America."

          "Here we have shipping," Don Gubinannie said. "We can send our bodies anywhere. But there," he said, meaning America, "who knows?"

          The Camorra devised its own ingenious business strategy. Supplying dead bodies to medical schools in Europe and Asia. It was highly profitable for the Camorra. Dead bodies — i.e., cadavers — were in high demand; medical research doesn't get done without cadavers. The Camorra collected substantial payoffs for protecting ships that docked and refueled in Salerno. With that protection, ship captains looked the other way while bodies were packed in dry ice and loaded into empty cargo containers and delivered to ports in the Eastern Hemisphere. The Camorra had the ship captains "by-a the balls."

          "But why America?" Bellomo asked. "It's too big, too-a far."

          Settimo spoke up. "In America, people are dying from new diseases. Heart attacks, diabetes, and strokes are rising fast. Americans are stupid. They eat shit food and sit on their ass watching television."

          "So, what does this have to do with the Naples Camorra, Settimo?" Don Gubiannie asked.  

          "We can control the market but have the American Federation do all the legwork. Eye is making his way to Philadelphia," Settimo replied. "A place out of the way, called the Hill. We must have a presence there, Don Gubinannie."