The dinner was being held in a large private dining room. Each arrival entered through an outside room. There each newcomer was greeted by three gangsters who seemed to be a receiving committee.
Their real purpose was to frisk the man they welcomed. No gats allowed was the rule of this peace meeting.
Barney Higgins and two plain-clothes men were in this outer room. They had been virtually invited there. They were a safeguard, for the receiving committee carried no weapons.
It was well understood that the detectives should not enter the dining room. If they insisted upon going in, the peace talk would be off.
Jerry Kirklyn managed to squeeze in and stay close to Barney Higgins.
MIKE LARRIGAN was an early arrival. The big Irishman nodded in a friendly manner to Barney Higgins; then went through the formality of a search.
Shortly after his entrance, Higgins nudged Kirklyn. Genara and Anelmo, the Homicide Twins, had put in their appearance. Both men were expressionless. They seemed to be a pair apart from all others. They were searched, and they went into the dining room.
The real event was the arrival of Nick Savoli. His appearance was heralded by Mike Borrango and Al Vacchi. Higgins suspected that the big shot would not be far behind his henchmen, and in this he was correct.
Savoli was accompanied by Steve Cronin. He had restored the New York gunman to temporary favor for this occasion. Cronin had been inactive for some time; he made an ideal bodyguard for this event.
Savoli’s former bodyguard was out of Chicago, and was wanted by the police.