Jimmy flashes her his brilliant white smile. "Hey, doll, don't worry...I don't bite. 'Uncle Tommy' has known me since I was ten years old, and I've never bit anybody yet!"
Inside, Tommy goes to the locker room, ditches the rumpled suit into his locker, and grabs a quick shower. The hot water feels fantastic, but it can't wash away the creepy feeling that the whole world is going sideways. Dressing quickly in the fresh suit, the big detective heads out into the main area of the gym. Sure enough, Bozo is there, holding a heavy bag for another puncher. "Hey, Billy," says T.E. "Oh, *ufffff*..
hey, Tommy...*ufffffff*...what can I do for ya?" grunts Bozo between punches. Tommy almost feels sorry for the big rummy..not smart to start with, a few hundred too many shots to the head have left him simple-minded as a big kid. "Hey, Billy, I wanna talk to ya about somethin'...come on out in th' alley..I've got a bottle in th' Buick." "Sure thing, Tommy!" The two head out the back door of the gym and into the alley.
Ms. Storm is standing outside the Buick, talking to Jimmy in the back seat. Reaching in through the open passenger side door, Tommy flips open the glove box and pulls out a pint bottle of rum. Handing it to the red-haired former puncher, Tommy says "Let's me and you talk about what you been doing fer Mr. Lipschitz, lately, Billy." Eagerly uncorking the pint, Bozo takes a couple of greedy swallows, wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, and says, "Awww, Tommy, ya know I can't talk to ya about that!"
"Well," says T.E., "Howzabout ya tell me where I can find him, an' I can ask him myself." Taking another swig, Bozo answers, " I guess that'd be okay, Tommy...he's down at Warehouse 14, they got some kind of big equipment down there..." Suddenly, the conversation is cut short by a burst of gunfire from the end of the alley. T.E. pulls his big automatic, Storm, with astonishing quickness, hunkers down behind the open passenger door and starts firing with a revolver. The kid in the front seat even gets in on the action, leaning out the driver's side window and popping off two quick shots with a derringer she's produced from somewhere. Rolling down behind the trunk, Gunn empties the clip of the big .45 down towards the end of the alley. There's still some return fire for a moment, but only for a moment. Nearly shattering everyone's eardrums, Jimmy Chu leans out the back window and cuts loose with the machine-gun, chipping brickwork all over the place where the gunfire has originated. All resistance ceases. Tommy doesn't know if their unseen adversaries have been hit, or only run off, but it doesn't matter...at least the gunfire has stopped. Rising up from behind the trunk, his Colt still smoking in his hand, he turns around and his blood runs cold again.."Bozo" Collins is lying flat on his back, a hole in the middle of his forehead, the pint bottle still in his hand gurglling its remaining contents into the gutter. "At least I didn't shoot 'im," thinks Tommy. Grimly, he realizes..."That's two out of three."
"Back in the car, kids," he growls. He puts the big Buick in gear, and heads for the Warehouse District. Next stop-Warehouse 14.