“He has the right idea,” said Borrango enthusiastically. “Maybe he will not be able to make this fellow Vincent talk; but his plan to hold him is a good one. He is very smart. Very smart.”
“Yes — but” — there was a hidden thought in the big shot’s voice — “let us hope that he succeeds — for his own good.”
“It means five grand for him.”
“Five grand. But if he fails — “
“If he fails?” echoed Borrango.
“If he fails,” repeated Nick Savoli, “Larrigan will be happy.”
The meaning of Nick Savoli’s final statement was clear to Mike Borrango.
Monk Thurman had gained his point. Should he succeed in making Harry Vincent talk, he would be too valuable a man to sacrifice. Monk Thurman, successful, would be the one man to combat the menace of The Shadow.
But Monk Thurman, unsuccessful, would be just another gangster — a man whose death would cement the new alliance between Nick Savoli and his former antagonist, Mike Larrigan.
Monk Thurman and The Shadow. Somehow, Borrango felt that a fierce conflict was impending between those two men of Manhattan, who had made new history in Chicago’s underworld.