A Black Knife
- The Op is out to stir up some trouble. He goes to poolrooms, cigar stores, speakeasies, soft drink joints, street corners—wherever he saw men loafing around.
- He spread the news about the boxing tip he had gotten from Thaler. And then he waits to see what happens. Clever, no?
- See, at the beginning of the day, the odds were 7 to 4 that Ike Bush would win. By mid-afternoon, Kid Cooper is a 2 to 1 favorite. Well played, Mr. Op.
- Then the Op starts chatting up a man named Bob MacSwain, who is angry that he listened to Bush and put all his money on him.
- MacSwain tells the Op that he has information on Bush that could send him to jail: Bush's real name is Al Kennedy and he used to be a part of Scissors Haggerty's mob in Philly. Bush had been involved in the killing of two men and is still wanted by the police.
- The Op persuades MacSwain to let him use this information to convince Bush to win the fight. At the Maxwell hotel, the Op tracks down Bush and threatens to reveal Bush's identity to the police unless he agrees not to take a dive during the boxing match.
- At the match, the Op runs into Dinah, who has bet money on Bush. The fight starts: Ike doesn't flop and beats Cooper.
- Suddenly, a black knife flies through the air and stabs Bush in the neck. Someone clearly is angry that Bush didn't take a dive as he had been ordered to do, and Bush pays for it with his life. Sheesh. This town.