Soon afterward the federal investigation started and the wheels of the conspiracy started to spin in reverse. In the grand-jury waiting room, Kropke tried to return the money to Schuster. The following day he showed up at Schuster's office with an envelope that had to be delivered personally.

But Schuster was out; so he left a note instead.

Throughout the trial, John V. Kenny had dozed off from time to time in his wheelchair, and frequent recesses had to be called so he could rest. On June 7 the 78-year-old political boss was hospitalized with a distended bladder. The examination disclosed that he was suffering from a variety of ailments, including a prostate condition, heart disease and hardening of the arteries.

During the three-day recess to assess his condition, Stern had consulted electronics experts at Bell Laboratories and RCA. He suggested that the trial continue via closed-circuit television to Kenny's room in Pollak Hospital.

"While it may be novel," he told Judge Shaw, "I submit to Your Honor that it is an approach which does not derogate from Mr. Kenny's constitutional rights."

The judge ruled that the plan was "not workable": "I am not going to order the criminal trial of a man while he is lying in a hospital bed."

Despite Stern's disappointment at losing his star defendant, the Little Guy was severed from the case. The trial continued-more grueling than ever. With Kenny gone, the sessions ran longer and had fewer breaks.

The next witness was John Merrigan of Gerard Engineering, which had handled many projects in Jersey City and Hudson County-so many that Merrigan couldn't recall all the times he'd been forced to kick back.

Manning and Merrigan originally formed the concern - Gerard is Manning's middle name - to bid on a project in Bayonne. When that deal fell through, Manning pulled out of the firm. The original understanding was that Gerard would not be required to pay kickbacks. Then Manning brought word of the new terms: Gerard would have to kick back twenty percent on the first two projects, ten percent thereafter.

Among the payments, Merrigan told of giving $20,000 in a black bag to James Dolan, chief engineer in the Jersey City Department of Public Works, for delivery to Manning. After the federal investigation started, Manning "asked me if I would take back part of the money which I had paid in kickbacks." Merrigan agreed. He met Wolfe for lunch at the King's Inn restaurant in New Brunswick. After the meal Wolfe led him into the men's room and handed him an envelope. "I was asked to give you this," he told Merrigan.

The envelope contained $18,000 in $100 bills. Merrigan put $17,000 in a safe-deposit box, which he later turned over to the U.S. attorney. Stern introduced it as evidence.

The session ran so late that the clerk's office had closed before the court recessed for the day. Stern agreed to take the $17,000-then in court custody-back to his office overnight for safekeeping. Noonan, ever playing the court jester, playfully plucked the envelope from Stern's pocket. Judge Shaw, who saw it from the bench, commented on the defense lawyer's "undisclosed talent." Noonan, of course, returned the money. "Otherwise," Stern says, "we would have had another case."

Merrigan's testimony was reinforced by that of Dolan and of David Muss, who had succeeded Merrigan as head of Gerard. Dolan told of collecting many payments and delivering the money to Manning including the $20,000 in the black bag. He also related how he was called into Kunz's office after the federal investigation started. Kunz "asked me if I had heard the latest about Mario Gallo.

"I said to him, `No, what is the latest about Mario Gallo?'

"He said, `They found him with a rope around his neck. The same thing happens to you or anyone else who talks about what is going on in Jersey City.'"

It wasn't true. Kunz may have said it, but Mario Gallo had died in an auto crash.

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