Duffy glanced at the clock. He saw it was quarter to six. He said, “Come on, we got a date. Let English fix this.”
Shep followed him out of the apartment and down the stairs. Duffy said when they got into the street, “Morgan’ll just hate me for this.”
Shep grinned as he climbed into the car. “Yeah,” he said. “Will they burn the nance?”
Duffy shrugged. “Maybe English’ll hush it all up. But you bet they’ll pin something on that nance to keep him busy.”
It was just after six when Duffy swung the Buick to the kerb outside the Belmont Plaza. “Come with me,” he said.
They walked into the busy lobby. Across the lounge he saw Schultz reading a newspaper. Schultz made no sign that he had seen him, but by the way he folded the paper and laid it down Duffy knew he had.
The little guy and Joe came in. Joe was looking mad, he scowled at Duffy. The little guy said, “You’re going to get into trouble one of these days.”
Duffy said, “Skip the talk. Let’s get down to business.” He walked into the bar. The little guy Followed him, leaving Joe in the lobby. Shep beamed at Joe, but said nothing.
The little guy said, when they got to the bar, “What you doing with Gilroy’s mob?”
Duffy stared at him coldly. “You’ll know before long,” he said. “Come on, let’s get this over, you stink.”