OK I can’t resist because I love this movie SO much.
Salino - the waitress Redford shacks up with = hired assassin in Lonnegan’s gang.
The guy who shot Salino in the alley = a mobster Henry Gondorff hired to protect Hooker (Redford) and the guy who killed Salino before she could kill Hooker
FBI captain = works for Gondorff - part of the long con. We learn at the very end that Hooker was never going to snitch but needed to play along to get the pesky police detective to get Lonnegan out of the horse betting parlor to finish the sting.
Hope that helps!
Thanks. I like the movie also because of the actors mostly. I’m going to see if it’s in book form and maybe I’d understand it better. I don’t know why the authorities were after Lonnegan anyway..or what the “long con” was and why.
Much easier to read is “King Con” by Stephen Cannell - TV writer/producer who died a few years ago.