He lifted the empty brandy bottle and shook it over his head and a nervous-looking waiter brought over another. Danny threw the bottle in his hand on the floor to join the other three he and Mike had consumed during the evening. It was not his usual practice to have supper at the White Swan on Thursdays, but over the last few weeks Robert Munroe’s investigations had brought the first crop of arrests. After that snivelling bastard Hennessey turned king’s evidence, Old Annie and Murphy were put away by the police and now Milo, second only to Black Mike, had been taken into custody. The arrests had sent ripples of disquiet among many of Danny’s business acquaintances. Some of those who had fallen over themselves to buy him a drink not a month ago were now avoiding him like he had the pox. If he had known the word, Danny would have called his situation humiliating. He threw the last of the brandy down the back of his throat and poured another into his glass with a shaky hand. The comedian with a small dog dressed as a clown left the stage to grumbles and boos from the audience and Maggie, the new singer Forster had engaged, stepped into the centre of the stage.
