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Synopsis[]
On December 29 at The Daily Days, the president discusses the information his employees have all traded with various clients. Elean has given Eve Genoard the name of the Gandor Family as a possible lead on Dallas's, and Nicholas sold Roy Maddock's name to the Runorata Family. Though the president asks Henry if Roy Maddock's visit to the information brokerage had yielded any results, Henry tells him Roy couldn't afford any information, keeping what he'd previously told Roy secret. With the briefing on recent transactions over, the president tells Nicholas to have someone check up on Lia Lin-Shan for further information on the bag she was given by Edith.
Meanwhile, after stopping at the Gandors's speakeasy and narrowly avoiding getting caught up in the attack that had just been sprung on it, Edith returns home to find Roy missing. In his place is a note telling Edith he's going to try and resolve the situation himself, and that he wouldn't be coming back to their apartment before he finished. As Edith discovers his note, Roy arrives at Eve Genoard's house on Millionaires' Row. However, he has sudden doubts about what he plans to do, so he settles on watching from a distance and waiting for Eve to leave the house.
Inside the house, Benjamin expresses relief that Eve is feeling better. Privately, Eve's mind is actually still on the Gandors, and she resolves to settle matters with them herself while hiding her intentions from Benjamin and Samantha.
At the same time, Gustavo Bagetta finishes entertaining several important messengers from Manhattan's big five crime syndicates. Their meeting with him had contained a slew of backhanded comments about Gustavo's position, and several warnings not to step outside of his lane---most notably, they tell him that the only places he can act freely without the big syndicates intervening are the territories belonging to the Gandor Family, the Martillo Family, and the Daily Days. Even after they've been gone for some time, Gustavo continues to fume about the disrespect they showed to him. Doubling down on his resolve to eliminate the Gandors, Gustavo throws a hotel ashtray at the wall.
The next night, December 30, Berga Gandor complains to Firo Prochainezo about the difficulty of scoring on the roulette wheels in the casino he manages him; Firo rebuffs his complaints and says he should be a little more concerned about the situation with the Runorata family. Berga says that he's only here because hanging around his own casinos is dangerous, and Firo tells him to stay home so the Martillo family isn't brought into the conflict, then has a grifter dragged out of the casino.
The conversation shifts when Berga brings up the name Claire; Firo declares that the Runoratas have practically lost if Claire is going to be involved. As the two continue to discuss the situation, a man creeps up behind Berga and attempts to jab a needle into Berga's back, but Firo catches him and knocks him unconscious before the needle can make contact. With that taken care of, Firo asks Berga to leave, and to take his attacker with him. Berga obliges, noting that Tick will be excited to get him.
The same night, Gustavo learns that his men know Roy's location, but have elected not to grab him as Roy is at Millionares' Row, which wasn't one of the locations designated as 'safe' by the messengers from the larger syndicates. As they were watching Roy closely, they were approached by five men in black, and decided to leave one guard behind while the rest of them made an exit to avoid further scrutiny. Gustavo caves in the face of the man explaining the situation to him with a marble ashtray, growing more annoyed at the percieved slights to his character from the larger syndicates. He orders the rest of the men to leave the room, and they leave without telling Gustavo that Roy had specifically been watching the Genoard residence.
On the afternoon of December 31, Claire Stanfield arrives in New York and asks the Gandors about the job they've called him in for. He carries on saying he wants to finish it fast, since there's a woman he needs to track down who might marry him later. Berga rebukes him for his habit of asking total strangers to marry him, but Claire insists he's always been serious when he's posed the question to people. Luck prods him about his solipsistic beliefs before telling him he shouldn't trust the sort of woman who'd accept a proposal like that.
When Luck says his name, Claire tells luck that "Claire" is dead on paper. Luck points out that Claire can't marry the woman he's after if he's officially dead, and asks about buying an identity. Luck asks what they should call him if 'Claire' is dead, and Claire suggests that either 'Vino' or 'The Rail Tracer' will work. Berga calls these names lame, and he and Claire begin to fight eachother in the middle of the alley.
Benjamin, Samantha, and Eve stumble across this fight, which has attracted a large crowd, on their way to do some shopping. Eve gets lost in thought, and in order to cheer her up, Benjamin and Samantha inform her that they've hired a cook and bartender to cook meals for Eve, and that they'll most likely be showing up for work the following day. Eve tries to protest, but the two of them insist that they're hiring the extra staff so they can take care of more matters themselves, but Eve rationalizes that they're hiring more people to make her feel better. Realizing this, Eve guiltily reflects on the selfish plan she intends to enact regarding the Gandors.
On their way back from shopping, the three of them encounter another strange sight: a strange couple buying all the dominos from a general goods store. Eve watches them, realizing they look just like the couple that took her family's fortune a year before.
Elsewhere, Begg Garrott meets up with a mysterious figure. While Begg casually asks him if he's met with Maiza Avaro, the figure tries to explain the situation with the explosives he'd ordered. Begg cuts him off, revealing that he knows what happened and also assuaging his worries about retribution from Bartolo Runorata, admitting that he'd paid for the explosives out of his own pocket. The figure asks why, and Begg replies that he'd heard about their situation and wanted to help him out. He then confesses that he's abandoned alchemy, and that he can't give the figure a happy smile, so his regular one will have to do. The figure affirms that what he can do now is enough, and hugs Begg, smiling too and thanking him for not eating them. Begg replies that he'll get angry if the figure says something like that again.
Berga and Claire finish their fight, and Claire comments that Berga's gotten strong to have emerged without a scratch---though this is actually due to Berga's immortality, as Claire actually had landed many hits on him. With their fight out of the way, the two of them alongside Keith and Luck make their way back to the Gandors' office, and Claire once again asks who he's been hired to kill. To his astonishment, Luck tells him just to walk around town and act as intimidation to warn the Runoratas away from acting against them.
At about that time, Gustavo has reconnected with Begg, who informs him about the explosives getting stolen. Though Begg says he can mass-produce the explosives in a month, Gustavo insists that a month is too long, and complains that Begg's friend is useless for letting his explosives get stolen. Begg warns him not to mock his friend, and Gustavo declares that anyone who lets someone steal the things he's producing and distributing is incompetent. Begg dissolves into laughter, and Gustavo only realizes after he's left that he himself had let someone steal the drugs he was supposed to be distributing.
Later that night, at the Daily Days, the information brokers go over what new information has surfaced. The president informs the other three that the most notable information to have surfaced is the incident aboard The Flying Pussyfoot, and although Rachel has already given her account of the incident, it's being swiftly covered up. He speculates that the person with the most information about that incident would be Vino. Nicholas asks if he's referring to Claire Stanfield, and mentions he supposedly died in the conductors' room. The president expresses doubt in this conclusion, since the way the body was mutilated indicates a cover-up. Furthermore, Rachel recieved a ticket for the train from someone, and the president doubts that she would have taken it from a body.
He further speculates that Claire wouldn't die so easily, and that there are only a few people who might be capable of killing him---Ronny Schiatto, Chané Laforet, and Felix Walken. Nicholas asks if Felix Walken is still in town, and the president confirms that he is, although he's tried to step down from killing because he has a daughter now. They drop the subject there and the president continues speaking about the incidents surrounding the Runorata family. After he finishes summarizing, he asks after the black bag he'd tasked Nicholas with keeping an eye on. Nicholas relays that he'd seen two men enter Lia's room after she took her bag there, but that one of them had probably been her younger brother Fang Lin-Shan, and the other was probably his friend Jon Panel. He confirms that both of them had also coincidentally been involved with the Flying Pussyfoot incident. The president urges Nicholas to keep a close watch on the bag, since things like that are difficult to keep track of, then carries on discussing other topics of note.
A short while ealier, Lia frets about the safety of the bag Edith had entrusted to her, since her room has no lock. She deliberates who she can leave it with to ensure its safety when her younger brother Fang knocks on the door. He asks if he and his friend can stay the night before they leave the next day to start work with someone who lives on Millionaires' Row, and mentions that they'd allowed him access to their safe for any valuables. At this, Lia's worry about the bag's safety disappears completely.
The next day, January 1st, 1932, Edith's fretting about Roy's location has led her to the Daily Days, where she encounters the information broker Henry. As he brings her into the back, Nicholas and the president discuss in hushed tones about Henry hiding something, and worry over his intense need for information. This conversation goes unheard by Henry, who muses in his mind about how easy it had been to manipulate Roy's movements with his information, and how he also wants to twist Edith's fate. Edith, who also hadn't heard the conversation, is relieved at first to know that Henry might know where Roy went. However, her relief turns to horror when Henry tells her he's probably going to do something with Eve Genoard, and Henry reminds her that she doesn't know where Eve lives in the first place.
Edith asks after a price for that information, but Henry rebukes her, saying that people like her and Roy couldn't possibly afford such valuable information. Indignant, she asks what information she could trade for it, and Henry brings up the Flying Pussyfoot incident, asking after Vino's testimony---if she can get him that, he'll give her both Eve's location and a way to escape the Runorata family. Edith makes him promise her he'll give her the information if she gets that testimony, and he asks her why she'd go that far. She responds that it's because of a promise. Henry looks on incredulously as Edith turns on her heel and leaves.
Nicholas suddenly appears in the doorway, scolding Henry for his lack of shame. Henry tries to weasel his way out of having confessed to giving Roy information by claiming he wasn't at work, but Nicholas further scolds him for slacking on the job. He suddenly softens, though, and commends Henry for his guts towards the end of their conversation. Henry expresses confusion at what he means, and Nicholas cryptically replies that this might be a good way for Henry to encounter a risk during his pursuit of information, and warns him not to die.
Edith, some time after her conversation with Henry, arrives at the Gandors' office. She's welcomed in by Tick, who's sitting alone at a table with a man that's playing with a pair of scissors by jabbing them in between his splayed fingers. Tick expresses that he'd like to try that out, but the man warns him away from it. Just as Edith is reconsidering her choices, Tick calls for the Gandor brothers, and she steels herself and begins to explain the situation.
After she's finished explaining, Luck assures Edith that they don't intend to do anything about Roy, but then tells her that she's committed a misdeed by knowing fully well about the Gandors' stance on drugs and hiding them anyway. Luck asks his brothers what her punishment should be, but neither of them can answer right away, so they step away to discuss. After a bit of back-and-forth about what an appropriate punishment for her crime would be, the man (who had been in the process of juggling five pairs of scissors) whispers something to Tick, who then asks the Gandors if he can cut her hair as her punishment. The brothers agree, and as Tick cuts her hair, the man mutters that the three of them aren't cut out to be mafia bosses.
As her haircut is almost finished, Luck sternly warns her that this is the last time she'll be let off so easily. Tick then snips the final bit of hair off and declares he's finished, following which Luck asks what kind of information the broker she'd met with had asked for. Edith asks after a hitman named Vino, and the man (now attempting to juggle twenty pairs of scissors) confirms himself to be Vino.
Around sunset, Fang and Jon arrive at the Genoard residence. After introducing themselves and being let in by Benjamin, the two of them marvel about seeing a real butler. Benjamin and Samantha hurry to fetch Eve to introduce her to the kitchen staff, but when Samantha enters her room, Eve is missing. Upon further investigation, she and Benjamin find a large ladder underneath her bedroom window. Fang picks up a letter on the desk, which Benjamin takes from him and begins to read; it's a letter from Eve expressing her gratitude, which he stops reading after seeing the phrase "if I haven't returned in three days..."
Some time later, Benjamin bemoans Eve's decision to leave the house, while Samantha gets ready to leave. When he asks her where she's going, she, Fang, and Jon all express that they're going to search for Eve. After hearing this, Benjamin decides to join them. While they're on the way, Samantha asks about the black bag Fang's been carrying this whole time. Fang explains that his sister gave it to him for safekeeping, and that it's supposed to be some kind of dangerous drug used by a large corporation. Samantha reassures him that the person they're going to meet is incredibly trustworthy, so they can give the bag to him.
Later that night, Edith meets back up with Henry at the Daily Days. She tells him she's found the information he wants through her personal connections, and a young man---Claire Stanfield---emerges from the shadows, greeting Henry. When Henry doesn't respond, the man repeats the greeting, then scolds Henry for not being very friendly. He then drags Henry with him out of the Daily Days, promising Henry an in-person simulation of what the guys he'd killed on the train felt.
After Henry and Claire leave the scene, Nicholas gives Edith the information she'd been hoping to get from Henry about Eve's whereabouts and warns her that she and Roy should lay low for now. He then addresses the Gandors, who have also arrived on the scene, and tells them they'll communicate Gustavo's whereabouts to them as soon as they have that information. Satisfied with this conclusion, Edith and the Gandors all leave. After they've left, Elean approaches Nicholas, commenting on his enthusiasm. Nicholas replies that he's just trying to stay as neutral as possible.
Elean then asks after the black bag, which Nicholas says is on the move after Lia's brother took it. They don't know where it's headed yet, but Nicholas is confident that information will make its way back to them. Just then, the door to the Daily Days opens, revealing Samantha, Benjamin, Fang, and Jon. Elean catches sight of the black bag Fang is carrying and comments that objectivity isn't an option anymore, which frustrates Nicholas.
Elsewhere, one of Gustavo's men reports to him that Vino has been seen around the city, and that the Gandors hired him for something. The mention of Vino makes Gustavo nervous, and he orders his subordinate to send out the Runorata hitmen. His subordinate informs him that it isn't possible to do that, since the Runorata hitmen work directly under Bartolo. Gustavo then demands that his subordinate find freelancers or mercenaries who want to take down someone like Vino, and also demands bounties to be put on the Gandor heads. Gustavo's men are annoyed at this ridiculous order, but carry it out anyway.
Meanwhile, Eve frets about what to do now that she's actually managed to run away. Just as she's about to hail a taxi to take her to the Daily Days, she's interrupted by Roy Maddock, who tells her there's something he wants to ask her about. When he tells her it's about her family, Eve's expression changes. This makes Roy think he's on the right track, so he doubles down and tells Eve he knows her family's secret. Eve mistakenly assumes this means he's part of the Gandor family, and when she asks if he is, he's too startled to reply. She fervently presses on, asking if he can take her to his leader, while he panics.
In order to clear up the air, Roy takes Eve to a nearby restaurant and explains his situation. Upon hearing about the drug manufacturing her family had supposedly been involved in, Eve does nothing but plead her family's innocence. Roy begins to feel guilty about having informed her of her family's dark deeds, blaming both himself and the drugs for his stupidity and lack of consideration for her feelings. However, Roy has at least kept one piece of information to himself; the fact that Eve's father and brother were actually killed by the Runorata family. He contemplates telling her to get her to cooperate with him against the Runoratas, but decides against it because he wouldn't be able to stomach that.
Eve calms down from her intense reaction to hearing about her family's misdeeds, and asks Roy if there was any chance her father and brother's deaths might have been because of the Runoratas. Roy frantically tells her that this isn't the case and that the Runoratas had only taken advantage of their deaths to take over the factories they operated. Eve is relieved, and Roy comes to the bitter realization that Henry had set him up for failure. Just when he's thinking his luck has run out completely, Eve agrees to help him secure his safety from the Runorata family on the condition that he accompany her to the Gandors' office.
Roy obliges, and takes her to the Coraggioso. He tells her to go in herself since he can't meet with the Gandors, intending to wait for her outside, but the door opens from the inside before Eve can enter. A beautiful, doll-like woman emerges and asks the two of them if they need something. When Eve says they need to meet with 'Mr. Gandor,' the woman remarks that there are five people named Gandor here including her and her sister-in-law, and introduces herself as Kate, the wife of Keith Gandor.
A short while later, Keith and his brothers return to their office after their visit to the Daily Days. Tick informs them that Kate had stopped by, but that she'd gone back home when he'd told her Keith wasn't there. Keith is notably upset, and his brothers discuss how he hadn't been able to spend last New Year's with her, either. They then move on, discussing how Claire has apparently taken a night train after expressing that he wanted to ask something to the information broker. The three of them chalk his behavior up to being about that girl he'd mentioned wanting to marry and drop the conversation.
On the night train, Claire finishes giving a ghostly-pale Henry his account of the Flying Pussyfoot incident. He then asks Henry for information regarding 'a certain girl', then carries on to ask after a second, unknown piece of information.
Around the same time, Gustavo's men inform him that Roy has made contact with Eve Genoard, and the two of them went to the Gandors' office. Gustavo angrily asks why they hadn't killed him when he'd stepped on Gandor territory, and they mention that Begg wanted to take him alive. Gustavo informs them that "that formaldehyde-pickled bastard" isn't their boss; when he asks them to tell him who their boss really is, the man speaking for the group calmly gives him Bartolo's name, which shuts him up until he thinks to tell them that Bartolo had left jurisdiction of this territory to him.
Begg enters the room and casts doubt on Gustavo's claim, since Bartolo had left everything drug-related to him. He reaffirms the order to take Roy alive, then comments that "formaldehyde-picked bastard" had been a good insult, since he can't rot.
Meanwhile, Kate has taken Eve and Roy to her home. Since she'd been planning to eat with Keith, she'd cooked extra food, but she offers it to Roy and Eve since it seems like Keith will be too busy to come home. Roy immediately begins digging in, while Eve is more hesitant to eat, but they both end up agreeing that her cooking is very good. Kate expresses happiness when Eve quietly compliments her food, and Eve tries to push the conversation forward by asking when they might be able to meet with her husband. Kate explains that he's dealing with some trouble at the moment and might not make it home anytime soon. Eve asks if he's a mafia professional, which Roy hastily tries to scold her for, but Kate replies nonchalantly that he is.
She tells the two of them about the history behind the Gandor family; the Gandors' father had started the organization after the boss of the previous syndicate had given him the territory to escape a difficult dispute. Despite the territory shrinking, their father had worked hard to maintain it, to the point of working himself to death. At that point, the three brothers took up his cause and continued to maintain the family's territory. Kate ends the story by admitting that the Gandors are constantly in rough situations, and that she herself has had two attempts on her life.
Eve asks why Kate married such a dangerous person. Kate doesn't respond immediately, instead sitting down at the organ in the corner of the room and beginning to play. Eve asks if she'd improvised that piece, and Kate nods, beginning to reminisce on her own past.
Kate had played the organ over silent movies up until 1927, when the Vitaphone sound system was made popular by the film The Jazz Singer. She'd gone to watch the movie to confirm that whatever sounds it played would be less impressive than the live music she could create, but was quickly brought to tears when the noise she heard coming from the screen was applause, rather than music. 'Talkies' began to show at more and more theaters, and Kate wound up without a job afterwards.
One day, she was approached by a strange man who asked her what theaters she was still playing in. Though she thought he was messing with her at first, he pressed on, saying that he only went to see movies to hear her play. After a short while, she found out his identity as one of the heads of the Gandor family, and grew curious about him, eventually deciding that she'd like to play music for him, since he was practically a silent movie himself.
Kate returns to reality from her memories, noting that the recital she'd played to distract Eve from her question had seemed to work nicely. She regards her two houseguests with kindness, figuring that neither of them seem like particularly bad people, and offers to let both of them stay the night so they can visit the Gandors' office in the morning.
Late at night, Nicholas smokes a cigarette at his desk. He muses on his occupation, considering the fact that he'll always be plagued by anxiety over the information he has no matter how well he fortifies himself. Furthermore, he concludes that information is power, but an uncontrollable sort of power like the weather that nobody can control, and that Henry would do well to learn that. Just then, Henry bursts into the door, pale-white and trembling. Nicholas rushes to catch him as he nearly passes out, cursing Vino for "going way too far." Just before Henry loses consciousness, he expresses delirious excitement over having gotten the information he did. Nicholas sighs, expressing further frustration over the business of selling information.
Trivia[]
Cultural References[]
- The game Claire is playing with Tick's scissors when Edith first sees him is commonly known as the "knife game", and is usually played with a knife. While the origins of the game are unknown, it didn't become popular until the late 1980's.