“Gallagher” grinned and leaned his hands on the desk as he said, “Doing jobs for big shots!”
“For instance——?”
“I was right-hand man to Steve Hackinaw out in Chi three years back.”
“Uh-huh.”
Hackinaw was dead so Mr. Sandborn was fairly safe in that statement. Hackinaw had been “Big Time” in gambling rackets but was done in by rival factions. His right-hand man had been a fellow closely resembling Mr. Sandborn. Besides, the underworld had lost track of that “yes-man,” though G-men knew that he was dead! They had felled him in battle in a deserted suburban section and the facts had never got into the papers.
“I been taking it easy last few years, Nevada,” said Gallagher, “since the heat went on and just thought I’d try to land a job somewhere. By good luck I fell in with your men at Main Haven!”
“You seem to know me, Gallagher,” Nevada said, blowing smoke rings.
“Who doesn’t? You were big guns in the West and I’ve always figured you’d be somebody to tie up with. It sure was lucky of me to run into you.”
“Dago ain’t gonna like it, Gallagher, should I use you as my trigger man.”
“Who’s scared of Dago, Nevada?”