‘He’s working on my shift. I won’t make a move until the smoke starts. Then I’l grab him as if I thought he was trying to escape. As soon as the smoke gets thick I’l rush him to you. You’l have to handle him after that.’
‘If he gets tough, clip him and carry him. Think you can do it?’
Noddy grinned, showing tobacco-stained teeth.
‘For five grand I could push over the Woolworth building,’ he said. ‘I’l get him to you if I have to take him on my back.’
‘Right,’ Baird said. ‘I guess I owe you some dough.’
Noddy’s eyes glistened.
‘That was the arrangement.’
‘Give him twenty-five Cs,’ Baird said to Rico. ‘You’l get the rest tomorrow.’
Reluctantly, Rico went to his suitcase, opened it and counted out the money. He handed it to Noddy, who checked it, his breath whistling through his nostrils with suppressed excitement.
‘Gee! I’ve never seen so much dough al in one heap,’ he said, stuffing the money in his hip pocket.