Book 2, Chapter 3 Summary

It is four months after the brutal Tattaglia/Barzini slayings, at 4 am on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. Michael Corleone, his wife, and children all sleep peacefully in their new Las Vegas home. Today is also the day after the big Clemenza-Zaluchi wedding in Detroit. The narrator tells us that, at the wedding, Michael gave the merest nod to a man named Sal Narducci, thus setting in motion his plan to destroy all the Corleone rivals. As Michael sleeps on, we see the beginnings of his plan unfold as the various wedding guests wake up and start their days.

In Detroit, Frank Falcone of L.A., and Tony Molinari of San Francisco, both heads of California crime organizations, prepare to leave Joe Zaluchi's guest house, where they spent the night after the wedding. A police car escorts their limo to...