Gangsters came and went — that is, those gangsters who stood in right with Mike Larrigan. The others kept away.
The elite of Mike Larrigan’s crew were permitted in the upstairs rooms. The others inhabited the barroom below, looking for opportunities to be summoned into Larrigan’s presence.
The big Irishman was a specialist in the beer-running racket. He supplied many of the South Side saloons, and had direct contact with several breweries.
His henchmen frequently hijacked booze trucks that carried the products of Nick Savoli, but none of these inroads had been directly traced to Larrigan as the source.
Hence, while there was no friendship between Larrigan and Savoli, open enmity had not been declared.
Savoli was in the business to make money, rather than to wage warfare. His organization was compact and firm, ruled by lieutenants and lesser chieftains.
Larrigan, on the contrary, was a loose organizer. Those closest to him obeyed his commands; others were almost beyond his reach.
Hymie Schultz and Four-gun Spirak, as members of Larringan’s tribe, never entered into hijacking. But they had no qualms when it came to sticking up gambling joints that paid tribute to Savoli. They had raided Marmosa’s place with calm assurance.
Schultz and Spirak had gradually begun to allow themselves greater privilege. They were skating dangerously close to thin ice.
In fact, they had already passed the deadline. The big shot had made his first effort to eliminate the two troublemakers when he had employed Monk Thurman to get them.