28

“YOU’RE SURE THEY were cops,” Paul Kelly said, looking closely at McManus. They were in a back room at the New Brighton Dance Hall, Kelly’s headquarters.

“Saw a badge on one of ’em.”

“Badges aren’t that hard to come by. Could be they were Pinkertons or something like that.”

Jack held up his left hand, wrapped in a fresh cast. “T’ings was dicey, Paul. Could’n be sure, not a hun’ed percent.” Kelly sat back, considering the situation. He was not a believer in chance or coincidence. For a man like Kelly such inconveniences as coincidence or lack of information could not be allowed to get in the way.

“Truth is, Jack, that Big Tim had some protection arranged for our friend, Mister Saturn. No matter if it was Pinkertons or detectives or goddamn Daybreak Boys.”

“Daybreak Boys? Paul, them mugs been gone fer years. I don’—”

“I was making a fucking point, Jack. Anyway, the point is that Big Tim is protecting that fuck Saturn. He’s the ticket into the goddamn steamship racket, so naturally he’d want to protect his stupid ass.” Kelly wanted to find out what the Bottler had going that he hadn’t told him about. Kelly figured it for smuggling. He knew the Bottler’s style and that would fit him like an old suit. What bothered him was the Bottler’s trying to keep it quiet. That wasn’t to be tolerated. He’d have to be confronted and he’d have to cut Kelly in if he wanted to stay healthy. But Kelly wanted that boat for his own reasons now that he knew there was a possibility of getting a piece of it. There was gambling, prizefighting outside the three-mile limit, and smuggling of his own to be done. “You say you stomped him pretty good before the cavalry arrived, right?”

“Sure, Paul. Kicked his ass proper.”

“Okay, that’s good. The message got sent. You told him to stay away from the Wigwam?”

“Sure, jus’ like youse said.”

“Wish you’d had the chance to bring me the Bottler. Between this and that fucker Twist we got an interesting situation.”

Kelly sighed. “So, first things first. We have to protect the Bottler, but I need him here as soon as you can haul his fat ass. You got that? Anything happens to him, it’s gonna be me makin’ it happen. We gotta keep Kid Twist off him, and get his ass back in line, so we’re in on this Slocum thing. Let Twist get his flippers on the Bottler’s game and before you fuckin’ turn around, we’d have every fucking up-and-comer on the East Side trying to eat our lunch.” Kelly looked McManus in the eye. “You make sure nothing happens to the Bottler. Not until I say so, got it?”

“Sure, Paul. I got some mugs we can count on if t’ings get noisy.”

“Good. Make it happen. Now as to Big Tim.” Paul steepled his fingers and took a deep breath. “The man will not get what’s rightfully mine. I don’t give a shit about the money or whether we’re palsy-walsy come election time, nobody pushes me like that. But whatever gets done, Tim can’t know who did it. That’s more important than anything. I fucking hate what Tim did, but we can’t do business on the East Side without him. Simple as that.”

“He could have a accident. Every mug has accidents.”

“No! Only make things worse,” Kelly said. “Forget it.”

“He’s gonna hear about Saturn.”

“Yeah, but he won’t be sure who did it, will he?”

“No way, Paul. Da mugs I used don’ know nothin’.”

“Good. That’s exactly how it’s got to stay. Now listen, I want you to go back and keep an eye on the Slocum. There’s a couple of things I want you to look into.”