Ackie came back again with the Scotch and two glasses. He put the glasses down on the table and poured the whisky out carefully. Then he came over and put one of the glasses in my hand.
“If you want to get Mardi back you gotta snap out of it,” he said.
He was right.
“This is a frame-up, Nick,” he went on, “the old gag again. The same stunt as they pulled on Vessi. Blondie knew too much so they knocked her off and planted her on you. The next thing you’ll know is that the cops will roll up and make a pinch. They’ll get away with it just like they got away with it the first time.”
He was right again.
I finished up my Scotch and got to my feet. My own danger didn’t worry me, but if I were behind bars there was no one to find Mardi. I had to get this angle right first.
“You better keep out of this, Mo,” I said. “I can’t drag you into it.”
Ackie filled up his glass again. “Forget it.”
“No… I mean that.”
“I’m in with you from now on. We’re going to bust this thing wide open. We’re going to get Mardi back and we’re going to get Spencer on trial. We’re going to find out what’s at the bottom of the Mackenzie Fabrics, and when we’ve done all that we’re going to write the grandest news-story, and we’re going to get someone to print it.”