The walls were hung with expensive tapestries. Chairs and tables, carved of heavy mahogany, bespoke luxury.
Ernie’s eyes wandered across the room, and he gazed with keen interest toward a divan upon which a beautiful girl reclined. She was attired in a varicolored dress that formed the one bright spot in the softly-lighted room. The girl had blond hair, and she gazed at Ernie with languishing eyes.
Then, as the gangster continued to stare toward her, the girl turned her eyes toward the ceiling, and raised a cigarette to her lips. She seemed indifferent to his presence as she blew a puff of smoke.
Ernie suddenly came to his senses. He knew the reason for the blond’s action. Men of the underworld are jealous of their women. Ernie was here on business. It was not wise for her to attract his attention.
Ernie Shires realized his mistake and immediately rectified it. He turned toward the other side of the room, where two men were seated, both looking steadily in his direction.
One of these men was quiet-looking and solemn-faced. He was obviously a visitor. It was the other man who commanded Ernie’s interest. He needed no introduction.
Ernie recognized him as “Killer” Durgan, racketeer de luxe!
No individual could have been more out of place in those surroundings than Killer Durgan. He was a man with a cruel, leering face, that betrayed a merciless, animal nature.
MANY a mobsman had quailed before the snarling face of Killer Durgan, but Ernie Shires did not follow their example. Instead, he returned the man’s evil leer with a grin.
Killer Durgan was a man to his liking. In him, Shires recognized his own traits. He had heard that Killer Durgan was a man who would stop at nothing. Now, he was sure of it.