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straightened out.”
    “I will, Irish. One way or the other one.”
    “You want that drink now?”
    “I’ll pass again. Walk me down?”
    “Sure. Let me put the guns in a box for you and wrap it up. Need any ammo?”
    “Yeah. Better make it five or six packs. And throw some Three-in-One oil in, too, would you?”
    “Okay.”
    Later, the two men stood by the open garage door downstairs and talked of jobs they worked together. After half an hour had gone, Nolan asked Irish how much he owed him for the guns and ammunition, and was his credit good?
    “You don’t owe me anything, Nolan. . . . I’m in to you for much more than money could ever repay. . . . I’m so goddamn lucky you got Werner to set me up. . . .”
    “Werner’s the lucky one. I never met a man who knows more about mechanical things than you. I don’t care if it’s cars or tools or guns or . . .”
    “Or jukeboxes?”
    “Yeah. Those too, I suppose. What exactly are you doing for Werner? The jukebox thing’s a front, I assume?”
    “Oh no, it’s more than a front; you’d be surprised what a little moneymaker it is. We keep it crappy-looking around here sort of on purpose, so nobody official wants to spend much time nosing around. But the juke business is big. Got some thousand jukes in the area, another thousand-and-a-half pinballs, couple thousand cigarette machines, and then there’s candy machines and gum, working out of our other place over in Moline. Got a whole building up the block just for trucks. I also service the slots Werner’s got in the gambling room downstairs at the Maricaibo over in Milan. And, of course, I keep Werner’s boys supplied in good clean workable gunware, and let ’em use the range upstairs for practice when they want. . . . For a sideline Werner lets me provide the same service to any of my old working pals, whenever they pass through the Cities. I only wish I’d been able to supply you sooner, Nolan.”
    “Thanks, Irish. You know I appreciate it.”
    “Forget it. Any time, anything.”
    “Say, you wouldn’t know where I could line up a car, would you?”
    “Sure. Phony registration and out-of-state plates and all? Fresh paint job to cool the heat? A cinch. Just give me a call, number’s in the book. Friend over in East Moline can fix you up fine.”
    “Good. I got nothing going right now, but I may need a car later.”
    “Sure.”
    “Well, Irish, I better let you go back upstairs to your little girlfriend.”
    “Only not so little, huh? You’re sure you maybe don’t want to borrow her tonight? Maria’s her name. Fantastic.”
    “How’s the wife?”
    “Oh, fine, pregnant of course. Jesus Christ, five kids we got. Why I had to be born Catholic I’ll never know.”
    “Yeah, it’s tough. I bet your priest looks forward to your confession.”
    “You crazy, Nolan? Think I trust those bastards to keep their mouths shut?”
    “I’ll see you, Irish.”
    “Good luck with Charlie.”
    “Yeah.”

5
    The first thing Nolan did after taking leave of Irish and his jukeboxes was walk on downtown to find a bank to get his hundred-dollar bill broken up.
    Three blocks from the warehouse he came to the First National Bank of Davenport. He went in and scanned the faces of the five tellers at the five windows in front of him: two men, one wearing salt-and-pepper hair and darkrimmed bifocals, putting the push on sixty, the other middle-aged with a brown butch and dimpled chin; and three women, two of them female counterparts of the men, the third an attractive young brown-eyed blonde.
    Nolan opted for the blonde.
    “Yes sir?”
    “Break this into fives for me, will you?” He handed her the hundred.
    “Of course.” She pulled open her money drawer and counted out the fives, holding them out for Nolan to take.Her brown eyes were large, long lashes fluttering around them. “Anything else I can do for you, sir?”
    “Matter of fact there is. You could tell me how to get to the local YMCA.”
    “Yes, well,