Arnold Rothstein:  There was a man once . I do n't recall his name . Frequented the billiard parlors downtown . He made a comfortable living wagering whether he could swallow certain objects , billiard balls being a specialty . He 'd pick a ball , take it down his gullet to here , and regurgitate it back up . And one evening , I decided to challenge this man to a wager . _ Ten thousand _ in cash for him to do the trick with a billiard ball of my choosing . Now , he knew I 'd seen him do this a dozen times , so I can only surmise that he thought I was stupid . We laid down the cash and I handed him the cue ball . He swallowed it down . It lodged in his throat , and he choked to death on the spot . What I knew and he did n't was that the cue ball was one - sixteenth of an inch larger than the other balls . Just too large to swallow . Do you know what the moral of this tale is , Mr. Yale ?
Frankie Yale: Do n't eat a cue ball ?
Arnold Rothstein: The moral of this story is that if I 'd cause a stranger to choke to death for my own amusement , what do you think I 'll do to you if you do n't tell me who ordered you to kill Colosimo ?