Under the Williamsburg Bridge

This is the story of how Dutch Schultz and his top men were hit, as Charlie "The Bug" Workman told it to me: "Mendy was the first one into the Chop House bar," Charlie said. "He was wearing a black raincoat with a sawed off 12-gauge underneath. Mendy always liked them big-bore guns. Said nothing matched 'em for stopping power." "I came in about a step behind him. I was carrying my favorite .45 Colt Flattop. It's a six-shooter, but I was cocky in them days and didn't think I needed more. Besides, I knew Mendy's piece wasn't just loaded with birdshot. "He looked around and saw a couple of guys sitting at a table near the bar. I think he must have opened his coat a bit to show his gun because those guys blew past me outta the bar quicker than anything. "Because we had both been there when Longy ran the place, we knew that Dutch and his guys would be in the back. There was this short hallway that was about wide enough for two guys to pass if they're facing each other. At the end of that hallway is the crapper." As he was telling me this story — probably the most important thing that ever happened to him in his life, something he had 20 years in stir to think about, Charlie got a real serious look on his already stern face and became almost angry. "Now here is where everybody gets the story wrong," he said, his voice thundering. "They say I stopped off in the toilet and saw some guy taking a leak there, but didn't recognize him as the Dutchman. "That's Bullshit!" he yelled, as if his feelings were hurt that anyone would think a pro like him would not recognize a Boss and a primary target. "I knew where the guys were and where I had to go. I didn't even have time to think about a goddamn bathroom! "Sure enough, Abbadabba Berman, Abe Landau, and Lulu Rosencrantz were sitting at a table facing the hallway. I guess they figured that they were safe as long as they didn't have their back to the doorway. "Well, Mendy proved them wrong. Quick as lightening he brought the shotgun up to his hip and let Lulu have it. I remember the buckshot hit him right in the chest and stomach. Guts went everywhere. He fired again and this time Abbadabba got it in the head. "I had my Colt drawn and gave Abe Landau a couple in the gut," Charlie went on. "I felt a bit bad about that because I knew Abe and a gut shot is not a nice way to go out. But I didn't have time to think about it. "Now, like I said, everyone thinks Dutch was taking a piss when he was hit. That's bullshit, too. He was in the same room with his boys, except he wasn't sitting at the table. He was off to the side..." Charlie pointed to a spot in the room where we were drinking as if the ghost of Dutch Schultz was standing there. "He was off to the side," the Bug repeated, "enough so he could get past me and get into that small hallway. Now HERE," he emphasized the word, "is where the crapper comes in." "Dutch zigged around me like a running back and made a dash to the bathroom. I figured he was going for a chopper stored in there. Dutch liked Tommy guns and knew how to use 'em. "I got a bead on him and tapped off a couple of rounds and the force of the slugs turned him around," Charlie said. "But the Dutchman still had some heart in him and I emptied the Colt into him as he crawled toward the bathroom. I figured four shots with a .45 would kill just about anybody right away, but this time I was wrong. Dutch looked up at me as he laid on the floor. I swear he was grinning up at me. We both knew he was dying. If I had known it would take him a day to die and that he would go out jibber-jabbering like a crazy man, I'd have reloaded and given him one in the head. "Still, I didn't feel as bad about Dutch as I did about Abe, because me and Abe was friends once. "Anyway, I looked inside the toilet and sure enough, there were two Tommy Guns propped up against the wall. If Dutch had been a step or two faster, Mendy and me would have been as dead as Lulu, Abbadabba, and Abe." Charlie stopped telling his story and looked me in the eye. It was like he was coming out of a dream. "Another thing that really pisses me off is that people think I went through Dutch's pockets while he was dyin'. That's bullshit, too," he spat. "I was on a hit," he said. "All the time I was thinking about who was driving the crash car...you know, my getaway car. "I lost sight of Mendy, but that was OK — it was how Lepke planned it," Charlie said. "I've heard the bullshit stories that Mendy got pissed because I was looking for loot, but that's not true. "When I ran out of the Chop House a big Caddy drew up alongside and hopped up on the curb. I jumped in beside the driver, who turned out to be Benny Siegel. "Benny and I went to Brooklyn and I slept like a baby," Charlie said. "The next day Mendy and I did have a sit down with Lepke, but it was not to iron out a beef, it was for congratulations and payoff. Mendy and me never had any beef about that hit or any other. "And that's how the hit on the Dutchman went down," Charlie "The Bug" Workman said, sitting back and taking a drink of beer.