Marcone the Informant

[Con]

So one of my favourite theories is the reason Marcone has no trouble from local law enforcement is because he's made a deal on a government level.

It's happened before with senior Mob bosses.

What Marcone offers however is much more valuable as an informant then just organised crime activity. Marcone can inform on The Unseelie Accords and other supernatural powers.

Thats invaluable information for the US Government or even other World Governments.

Not to mention it just makes Marcone more powerful which he's always trying to increase.

Discuss.

[Avernite]

So one of my favourite theories is the reason Marcone has no trouble from local law enforcement is because he's made a deal on a government level.

It's happened before with senior Mob bosses.

What Marcone offers however is much more valuable as an informant then just organised crime activity. Marcone can inform on The Unseelie Accords and other supernatural powers.

Thats invaluable information for the US Government or even other World Governments.

Not to mention it just makes Marcone more powerful which he's always trying to increase.

Discuss.

When did it happen?

That is to say - I think if we go back far enough  with it happening, we should have seen SOME vague hint. I could buy we haven't heard if he flipped to informing around Changes or so, and totally buy it if he sent out feelers after Batlle Ground (I mean Harry spelled out that there'd be government agents watching the supernatural), but if he was there way back in Fool Moon? Nah.

[Mira]

  Yeah, there have been hints that Marcone had his fingers in the government.  Sadly Chicago has been known for that in it's history.  In The Godfather, it was also one of it's themes.

[Con]

When did it happen?

That is to say - I think if we go back far enough  with it happening, we should have seen SOME vague hint. I could buy we haven't heard if he flipped to informing around Changes or so, and totally buy it if he sent out feelers after Batlle Ground (I mean Harry spelled out that there'd be government agents watching the supernatural), but if he was there way back in Fool Moon? Nah.

 

I think it's been hinted from the beginning possibly even Fool Moon.

Marcone got Murphy's report extremely easily even for corruption.

[Snark Knight]

He might. But his influence through plain corruption is pretty vast.

That Goodman Grey story where Grey's secretary takes out a bunch of VIP's who'd been clients of the child brothel Marcone wanted an example made of ... something like a dozen of them were under Marcone's thumb, and he treats losing them as just a moderate inconvenience.

[Con]

He might. But his influence through plain corruption is pretty vast.

That Goodman Grey story where Grey's secretary takes out a bunch of VIP's who'd been clients of the child brothel Marcone wanted an example made of ... something like a dozen of them were under Marcone's thumb, and he treats losing them as just a moderate inconvenience.

I mean tbf Marcone seems to view most net losses as just mildly inconvenient. The hitman thug who betrayed him in Storm Front, burning down the Varsity, The expense and effort of killing the Fomor, the Weregild and loss of a defensive location.

Marcone views most any loss as 'oh well' with the retribution the same as most people view mildly annoying paperwork as a result of their job.

[b4utoo]

Well there's a flip side to that. Are you sure that Marcone sees it as losses. I think Marco and has so many of the same thing happening just different versions of it. When one thing doesn't work out he sees it as a learning experience. And sees how to expand upon that later. In a way you might see it as a positive when things burn down crash down explode whatever to shows him a new way to improve

[Con]

True.

He hired Gard when Dresden repeatedly turned him down, and most fan theories have him accepting Namshiels coin after the Fomor incident.

Mostly because he almost lost Hendricks and his life, him not using Namshiels in that situation was recklessly putting himself and a useful subordinate or two in peril he couldn't recover from easily.

[Second Aristh]

True.

He hired Gard when Dresden repeatedly turned him down, and most fan theories have him accepting Namshiels coin after the Fomor incident.

Mostly because he almost lost Hendricks and his life, him not using Namshiels in that situation was recklessly putting himself and a useful subordinate or two in peril he couldn't recover from easily.

I think it was roughly after he returned from the Vatican in GS that he took up Namshiel.  That aligns with Marcone doing his homework before jumping into something dangerous.  Even Hand was before Changes, though granted, Even Hand could have convinced Marcone to start looking for more personal power to directly call upon.

[Snark Knight]

I mean tbf Marcone seems to view most net losses as just mildly inconvenient.

Sure, I'm just saying the extent of his corruption network in-story is probably a lot bigger than any parallels in real-world organized crime subversion of the US judicial and political system. I don't think we can draw conclusions that he's got too much pull for it not to indicate a deal, because his corruption influence is essentially however wide it needs to be for narrative convenience.

[Con]

the extent of his corruption network in-story is probably a lot bigger than any parallels in real-world organized crime subversion of the US judicial and political system.

Agreed. Which would seem to just support my theory that it's not just corruption but an outright deal.

The US may think it beneficial to have a vanilla human (as far as they know) a player in the Unseelie Accords. One they can use and predict.  US have been dealing with the Mob for a over a century. It's almost ritualistic when it comes to cutting deals.

[Mira]

Agreed. Which would seem to just support my theory that it's not just corruption but an outright deal.

That is corruption, plain and simple..

[seanham]

I like the idea of Marcone being an informant for the government; however, I just don't see it. For instance, what does Marcone get out of the deal? He already has little care for the law, so what can the government offer him to make the deal worth it? Also, if he is an informant and gets found out (which he definitely would), Lara, Mab, and the other signatories would not be happy with him. The one thing we know for sure about Marcone is that Marcone looks out for Marcone and, by extension, his people and property. Mab is much scarier than the US government and would destroy Marcone and his people if need be. Although it's a fun thought, I just don't see it coming true.

[vincentric]

What kind of leverage could the government have on Marcone that could compel him to inform? And what government agency could resist using it to take down The Chicago Mob because that's how big Marcone is?

Also informants work for the government so the government can use them to land bigger fish. The only possible bigger fish is Dresdenverse Chicago is Lara/House Raith. She has better government connections than Marcone per the books and no bad public PR. If Marcone were an informant, she's in better position to inform on him. He's local, she's nationwide possibly worldwide in scope with a bigger and richer though not as loyal organization.

[Snark Knight]

Also informants work for the government so the government can use them to land bigger fish. The only possible bigger fish is Dresdenverse Chicago is Lara/House Raith.

He's got national and international connections - dealings with coastal organized crime, and at least one of the southern organizations per the Grey short story.

In favour of the hypothetical deal argument, the government's interest might not be so much in bigger organizations as worse ones. It's lampshaded multiple times that even those in Chicago he can't bribe are reluctant to try too hard to bring him down just because less organized crime that aren't as concerned with limiting collateral damage or enforcing 'no kids' would just fill the void if they succeeded.