A FRIEND IN LOW PLACES

  An attractive paradise like Naples has always been a haven for the rich and shameless. Captains of industry. Corporate heads. And,  to the captains of other forms of skullduggery. Gangsters. Mafia chiefs--all "retired", of course. In truth, they were retired while living in Naples, adhering to the old mob adage "you don't crap where you eat." 
  One such baron of the bad guys we'll call Tony Bandana. Tony had been a kingpin in the Detroit Mafia. Some law enforcement agents, familiar with Tony's Detroit operation, said he ran the place. That no ongoing criminal enterprise in the Motor City survived without Tony's sanction and tariffs.

 The FBI regularly visited Naples to keep an eye on Tony, parking near his house in nondescript cars, keeping track of the comings and goings--particularly when there were meetings with out-of-town-not-so-retired associates. In short, he was a major crime figure and it was no secret.

 Ray Barnett remembers one afternoon, when Tony was at the Bank of Naples attending to his accounts. Leaving, he put his attache case on top of his Lincoln while he unlocked the door. And, like the rest of us sometimes do, he drove off, leaving the attache case at the curb after it slid off the roof. A good Samaritan reported the found case and Ray was called to the scene. He opened the case, to ID the owner, and was able to determine the owner was Anthony Bandana.
 How could he miss. Inside were two, personalized, 8 by 10 photos of a couple of Anthony's admirers: Former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his Eminence the Pope.