Prohibition is the law of the land, but Nellie needs cash - after socking a gangster in the face, she's got ten days to make it right. Frightened and caught empty-handed, Nellie turns bootlegger.
She accepts a job from her sly friend Lola to pick up...
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This girl has no business negotiating and yet here she is, calling the shots. It's enough to make me mad as hell, but not as much as the prospect of Travers being dirty.
I take her arm and tug her back towards the lobby. The train's pulling away from the platform and she struggles for just a moment to stare back at it and I pull her along but just for a fleeting second I worry that she'll break away and chase after it.
"Let's get a few things straight," I say, "I'm taking you down to the station. You're going to tell your whole story and I'm going to compare it to what Lola says. And if if things don't match up I'm booking you. Understand?"
She doesn't answer at first. She's just re-clasping her pocketbook.
"Understand?" I say.
"Yes," Nellie answers, "But I'm telling the truth."
I hold open the door and she slips into the car Mulligan drove down here. He peeks inside and whistles.
"That's the gal who came by looking for you earlier."
"So it is," I say. I rub my temples. I can't escape it. Everybody's tainted in this dirty, good-for-nothing town.
I sit beside her and Mulligan drives us both back to the station. Before we shove Nellie Sullivan into the cell she asks to make a phone call.
"Sure," I say. I stand next to her with my arms crossed. My eyes sting. I've been awake too long.
"I'd like to speak with Lola," she says, after she's dialed, "It's Nellie Sypek calling."
Faintly I make out the low timbres of an older male through the receiver.
"Lola," Nellie says, "I'm all right. I'm down at the police station." There's a pause. Nellie glances at me.
"He's here," she says. Then she hangs up the phone.
"Lola will be here soon."
Mulligan pokes his head in. "Travers is waiting for you in the meeting room, Howard. He made it clear that it was urgent."
I leave Nellie with Mulligan and steel myself for what's to come. I want to trust Travers more than anything, but after what she's said, the doubt is there. I hover just a moment too long and that makes Travers give me a long look.
"Good of you to join me, Lester." He wipes at his brow with a handkerchief. I take a seat without being asked.
"Can you believe we caught Tim Wells?"
Travers stows his handkerchief. "Mr. Wells has been released."
"But we busted his operation," I say, unable to believe it, "We booked an additional fifteen for violations—"
"I'm not doing to dispute technicalities with you, Lester," Travers says, "I understand that the witness escaped?"
