“Well, it certainly is fine to see you,” Noonan said, pumping my hand up and down while patting my back. “By God! you had a narrow one last night⁠—the rats! I was dead sure they’d got you till we kicked in the doors and found the joint empty. Tell me how those son-of-a-guns got out of there.”

“A couple of your men let them out the back door, took them through the house in back, and sent them away in a department car. They took me along so I couldn’t tip you off.”

“A couple of my men did that?” he asked, with no appearance of surprise. “Well, well! What kind of looking men were they?”

I described them.

“Shore and Riordan,” he said. “I might of known it. Now what’s all this?” nodding his fat face at Albury.

I told him briefly while the boy went on dictating his statement.