[THE DAMNED DON'T CRY!]

I, The Jury

Game Date: 30, 31 May 1947
Date Played: 28 February 2004


Norma walks into the office smiling from ear to ear. She has two tickets to the tonight's show at the Blue Parrot -- Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters fronted by the new comedy duo of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Is he interested? Of course. They leave for an early lunch on the town.

Nate's old buddy Felix Dimetriades contacts him with an offer for a simple job. It requires waiting for a navy launch at 7:00pm, transferring the cargo to his boat and delivering it to a private jetty. Sure, no problem, says Nate.

After lunch, Gabi returns to find Dolores sobbing quietly to herself. In a rare display of sensitivity, Gabi asks her what's wrong. Dolores bought two tickets to the fashion show at the town hall tonight -- Bonjour/Buon Giorno -- the first display of European fashion in the US since the war. Her boyfriend said that there was no way he was going to a fashion parade and she dumped him on the spot. Call one of your friends, suggests Gabi and walks away.

Jeff runs into Nick Hamer on the street. Nick invites Jeff to the bar at the Blue Parrot. Over beers, Nick complains that he's getting too old for his work and questions Jeff on how he escaped the rackets and set up his own business. They talk about the 'old days', of when they were younger and sink gradually into morose, alcohol-driven memories of their lost youths.

Jack, left to close up the office, locks the door, turns and finds himself looking straight into the frightened eyes of Vivian Sternwood. She needs help. Someone is after her. She shows Jack the bullet holes in the side of her car. Of course, he'll protect her until Joan Sternwood can negotiate a deal with whomever is behind it.

Nate is waiting at the appointed place at 7:00pm. Felix arrives late. They transfer twelve eight-inch naval gun charge bags from the launch to Nate's boat. Nate is getting increasingly nervous. His disposition is not helped any when, approaching the private jetty, he recognises Johnny Rocco on the dock with several goons waiting for the shipment.

Rocco, happy with the speedy completion of the job, admires Nate's boat. Nate stays in the shadows of the wheelhouse. Rocco offers to buy the boat but Nate refuses. Eventually, Rocco must leave - important things to do, he says.

Benny and Norma are shown to a good table close to the stage from where they have a great view of the performance. Dinner is wonderful.

Gabi waits at the bar for Jack to arrive for their Friday evening drinks session. She's furious when he shows up with Vivian Sternwood on his arm. However, she refuses to let her emotions show except through the skillful display of verbal fencing in which she engages Vivian. Jack, being a mere male, notices none of this.

Jeff notices the rest of the office and Vivian Sternwood have arrived. He groans and suggests to Nick that they find a quiet bar somewhere else. They leave.

Nate, after tying up the boat takes a taxi to the Blue Parrot, which, being Giuliani's known headquarters, he assumes is Rocco's target. He stops a couple of blocks away and runs for the nearest phone box. He demands to speak to Giuliani or the club manager. When Nate refuses to say what his call is regarding, the phone line goes dead. The same thing happens a second time.

Nate decides that the direct approach may be the best option and strides purposefully toward the entrance to the Blue Parrot until he sees four black cars lined up across the road from the club. Inside each are several large men in badly fitting suits. He stops in his tracks -- Rocco's men!

Discretion being the better part of valour, Nate tries for a side entrance or a window into the club. As he turns down the side street, he misses Jeff and Nick as they walk by, oblivious of the impending threat and the limousine pulling up outside the entrance to the club.

Inside the club, Benny and the others watch Giuliani and his entourage enter and take up residence in the only empty table in the club. They are surprised to see that Dolores is with him, giggling like a school girl as the older man lavishes her with attention. Benny turns to Norma, to what home-spun wisdom she'll come out with on this occasion, to find her not paying attention. She's watching a waiter of Mexican origin, she thinks, wheeling the desert trolley towards the centre of the room, ignoring the requests of patrons for plates from the trolley.

Benny signals the others and Giuliani. Something is wrong and they should leave. Giuliani signals his group and they immediately make for the main entrance again. Jack and Gabi must deal with Vivian's protests before they get her to move at all. Norma keeps asking why they must leave in the middle of the show.

Suddenly, the room explodes as the bomb in the desert trolley triggers. Amid the screaming patrons and the destruction, Benny and Norma make their escape through the kitchens and out the back of the club. Jack, Vivian and Gabi follow several yards behind Giuliani towards the main entrance. Vivian, in shock, insists that they stop to collect her fur from the cloak room. This saves them from and gives them a clear view of the the events occurring at the front of the Blue Parrot.

Rocco's men stand in the middle of the street across the front of the night club entrance. Giuliani and his entourage spill onto the sidewalk. Rocco's lieutenant shouts something and the goons bring their tommy guns to bear. Giuliani grabs Dolores and use her as a human shield as Rocco's goons spray the front of the club with bullets. Dolores screams as she is riddled with bullets and Giuliani miraculously survives.

Jack and Gabi see this. They look at each other and draw their pistols. Taking careful aim, they shoot Giuliani in the head. He slumps to the ground. They pull Vivian into line and make their way back into the nightclub and out the back.

Outside, Nate takes a few shots at Rocco's goons. When he realises that he's achieving very little, he runs for it. Jeff and Nick take up positions in a doorway of a gentleman's outfitters and make a better show of shooting at Rocco's men. They drop two and the rest, perceiving the threat, shoot up the front of the store. Jeff and Nick run through the broken shop windows into the store.

They make quick plans and Nick hides in the clothes racks near the front while Jeff waits for the goons to appear at the front of the store before making a show of diving behind the counter for cover. Bullets slam into the counter around him. Two other shots ring out silencing the tommy guns. Jeff pokes his head around the counter and sees one gunman on the floor and Nick and other clutch their chests and fall to the ground. Jeff runs to Nick and they share a moment before Nick dies in Jeff's arms.

Jeff stands and strides onto the street, firing at Rocco's men as they march slowly forward into the hail of hail from Jeff's two pistols. With the odds at four to one, it is inevitable that Jeff is cut down and dies in the street as his mother always feared he would.

Case Closed