whose fai tions, might give valuable information to Lombino, but she claimed only to know that Dozier was being held some- where in Padua. Tt was now time to see Restelli. On the night of Jan. 26, Lombino climbed into a white Alfa Romeo with four Italian po- licemen and headed for Milan. Behind them was a second car carrying Cam- pione and other SISMI officers. It was only | part of the odd caravan that raced along the highway that night. The Italians were tailed by at least two Mercedes sedans filled with Mafia soldiers armed with ma- chine guns. Their instructions: protect Lombino. When the improbable parade of motorists reached Milan, a CIA agent joined up as well. The lawyer and SISMI agents then met with Restelli, who was brought out of jail especially for the conference, which took place in a police office in the Palace of Justice. “It is very important to America that we find the general,” Lombino said to the Mafia leader. “Can you help us?” he question did not exactly surprise Restelli;sLombino had already been in touch with him through intermediaries, and from his jail cell Restelli had dis- patched his troops to track down leads. Restelli had also ordered the supply line of heroin to parts of the underworld cut off in order to encourage tips from addicts sud- denly deprived of drugs. Restelli’s pre- sumption: in exchange for giving the au- thorities information on Dozier, he would receive more favorable treatment from the Italians. On Jan. 27, according to a partici- pant at the meeting, Restelli gave the SISMI agents the address of the apartment build- ing in which Dozier was being held. * His mission accomplished, Lombino returned to Rome. Next morning, Jan. 28, he was sitting in his room at the Hotel Bos- ton with “M” when the word came: James Dozier had just been rescued in a daring raid at 2 Via Piridemonte, in the heart of Padua. “M”. turned to Lombino and thanked him profusely for his help. Since the rescue, U.S. officials have been careful to give full credit to the Italians. Both Rome and Washington have forcefully claimed that the success of the op- eration was the result of dogged police work and the confessions of Red Brigades members who had been captured during the six-week search for Dozier. When first. questioned by TIME two weeks ago about CIA and Mafia in- volvement in the rescue, Ambassador Rabb heat- edly denied it. “I swear to God that nothing like this : ever happened,” the am- bassador said. In fact, he proved:For Release The key link: Milan Mafioso Franchino Restelli getueuer: sew AWQ-G ViZNASYV O788R000: insisted, he had spent The key address: 2 Via Pindemonte, after the successful raid —< papers requested by the 2648 kept try- ing tosend to Italy a swarm of experts rang- ing from FBI agents to Pentagon tacticians. Some of the American aid was bizarre at best: during the last week of the search, TIME has learned, U.S. military officials brought to Rome a psychic who sent the ca- rabinieri chasing after a futile lead. “They were coming through the windows, coming through the doors,” recalled Rabb. “Every- body in the intelligence agencies wanted in, but this was a job for the Italians.” When presented with evidence of Ma- fia involvement, Rabb offered to check with the embassy’s CIA station chief. The ambassador returned 40 minutes later, looking embarrassed. He confirmed that SISMI had indeed made a deal with Lom-: bino and that, after the U.S. had offered Lombino protection and a guarantee that he could return to the U.S., the Mafia law- yer had gone to Italy and met with “M.” Rabb insisted that nothing had come of Lombino’s aid. “It was a big fizz,” the am- bassador said. The FBI and the Justice Department refuse to confirm or deny the story, while the CIA offers a terse “no comment.” It may never be known just how valu- able the Mafia’s help was in finding Dozi- er, Rabb’s explanation, which minimizes the Mafia’s role, may be accurate. The Italian police did indeed make a series of key arrests just before the raid, and law- enforcement officials in Rome insist that these suspects helped lead them to Dozier. In the days just before the rescue, the trail was growing so hot that the police might have found the general without help from Restelli. On the other hand, Italian mag- istrates acknowledged that on Jan. 26 Restelli was secretly released from prison at the request of SISMI and the CIA to meet with officials in Milan. U.S. embassy per- sonnel in Rome confirm that Dozier’s whereabouts was not known until the night before the raid, which is when the Mafia leader reportedly gave the address to the Italians. ; Today General Dozier is stationed at the U.S. Army basé in Fort Knox, Ky. Mar- cello Campione, who clashed with the head of SISMI, has been dis- # patched to the Italian em- bassy in far-off Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. Fran- chino Restelli has been transferred from his Milan prison to a more hospitable jail in Parma. Dominic Lombino is back in New York, reportedly waiting for the Justice Department to approve the residency ciA. In: Italy, trouble is brewing within SISMI about the sum. of money, which turned out to be $500,000, that was promised to Lom- , bino but that has apparent- ly disappeared. And, oh yes, the Fat Man is still in Brooklyn, making at-