Barbieri’s State Department file listed him as a former Italian naval officer who had been transferred to the diplomatic corps. Anderson passed the information on to Commander Mc Farlane who suddenly showed great interest:
“We need to interview Mrs. Maria Nicolosi.” He told Anderson over the phone.
In his report to ONI headquarters he wrote:
“A preliminary request to the New York City police department and the FBI yielded the following information:
Mrs. Maria Nicolosi is the proprietor of an Italian restaurant called “Maria’s Isle of Capri” located at 402 West 37th Street close to Ninth Avenue in New York City’s “Hell’s Kitchen.” The place is popular with middle class Italo-Americans but it also attracts a few major underworld figures; politicians of all stripes, old fashioned anarchists to Italian Fascist diplomats. Mrs. Nicolosi, age 39, is the widow of “Don” Luigi Nicolosi, who died of natural causes at age 78 in 1937. Mr. Nicolosi a well-known racketeer and pimp was active in New York in the 1920s and 30s. Police records indicate that in later years he made money exclusively from high level prostitution operating several plush Manhattan brothels for the underworld group led by Charles “Lucky” Luciano and later Vito Genovese. The latter is currently a fugitive from justice known to be residing in Nola, near Naples, Italy. Mr. Luciano is currently serving a forty-year sentence at Dannemora State Penitentiary while retaining tight control of his underworld organization that remains based in Manhattan. There is no open indication that Mrs. Nicolosi is still connected to the Luciano mob. She has been under surveillance since her husband’s death with no tangible results. New York City detectives point to her arrest record for prostitution in 1930-31 and believe Mrs. Nicolosi may still be managing several high level prostitution rings operating in the city using her restaurant as a cover…”
The report arrived just as scores of Liberty ships were being torpedoed all along the East coast from South America and the Caribbean to Greenland and Iceland on their way to supply Great Britain and the USSR. There was mounting nervousness within the population and wild newspaper stories were feeding a mounting fear since many people were convinced that New York was a prime target for a massive Axis attack. The civilian defense authorities and Mayor LaGuardia feared that panic could break out at any moment as more enemy aliens and their “sympathizers” were being picked up off the sidewalk in broad daylight. The average citizen was in the grip of the “Pearl Harbor syndrome” and internment camps were set up for Japanese, Italian and German aliens even though many were naturalized American citizens.
A few days later, just before noon, McFarlane accompanied by Anderson went to Maria’s Isle of Capri. The lady didn’t seem to mind talking to the two officials. She immediately recognized Anderson from New Year’s Eve 1939.
“You never did catch the guys that gunned down Bruno Scalise, did you?” she asked lighting a cigarette.
Anderson looked at her cold eyes and blood red lipstick and couldn’t help thinking that she was one tough woman capable of anything.
“No, unfortunately we haven’t found the perpetrators of those two murders…at least not yet…”
She had a sardonic smile and blew a puff of smoke over their heads defiantly. McFarlane cut in and asked the first question:
“Mrs. Nicolosi, we don’t mean to pry into your private life…”
She shook her head with a sly smile;
“You already know all about me, I’m sure, commander!”
Mc Farlane looked embarrassed and turned to Anderson who was all smiles and took the lead.
“This is a confidential interview in the spirit of the war effort, more than any criminal investigation, I want you to understand that Mrs. Nicolosi. We have no reason to believe that you are an Axis sympathizer, but we do know that you were intimate with Italian Consul General Barbieri whom we know was in fact an agent of the Italian Navy and may have played a role in organizing sabotage in this area. Can you help us with this?”
She stubbed out her cigarette nervously and clasped her hands together,
“Well, as you know this is rather embarrassing for a woman…but I can say that Vittorio Barbieri and I had what you call a…physical relationship. It may sound hard to believe but we never discussed politics when we were alone together. If he was doing nasty things against this country he never told me about them.”
Anderson felt he was witnessing a masterful performance, she was behaving like a ‘lady’ after all and certainly had vast experience at lying about many other men long before Barbieri came along. He wasn’t about to let her off the hook,
“In the context of the war Mrs. Nicolosi I urge you to come forward with any information you may have that could assist us. We know there are many potentially dangerous individuals at large and we are making every effort to apprehend them before any further damage is done. So please think carefully and don’t hesitate to contact either of us should you remember something or know anything that can be of assistance. I don’t think I need to remind you what the penalties are for collaborating with the enemy.”
McFarlane said all this in a gentlemanly manner that Maria seemed to appreciate.
“I do understand and I will contact you, of course.” She answered still smiling.
In the car Anderson commented,
“My feeling is that we should run her downtown and give her the third degree, woman or not. On the other hand I know we shouldn’t rush things. If she is an active agent, by now she should be figuring out how best to shut down her networks as quickly as possible. We have to place her on 24-hour observation and listening devices. There’s no other way.”
McFarlane agreed,
“I think you’ll eventually catch her but she’s very slippery. She also knows a lot more than we suspect. It will take some time to catch her l if we’re patient enough to wait.”
“I think you’re right, commander.”