The Rolling Bootlegs/Night

Synopsis
In a hall underneath the speakeasy portion of The Alveare, Firo Prochainezo's induction into the higher ranks of the Martillo Family officially begins, conducted by Molsa Martillo. The ritual begins with a series of questions; Molsa's first question to Firo is whether he wants to be a camorrista. Firo answers yes, and Molsa continues that he will be putting himself in a dangerous position, asking whether or not he's still sure, knowing this. Firo answers yes once more. Molsa asks if he would take his own life for the sake of the family; Firo answers yes. Finally, Molsa asks if Firo would kill his own father if his father acted against the family. Firo hesitates to answer yes, but not because of familial attachment--rather, both Firo's father and mother have long since died of tuberculosis. Nevertheless, he answers to the affirmative.

Molsa carries on giving a speech about descending the spiral staircase into the world of organized crime, asking one final time if Firo understands the risks and is willing to join the family's upper echelons anyway. Firo replies yes one final time. After receiving his answer, Molsa prompts him to show his resolve, so Firo steps forward and plunges his knife into the table, leaving himself unarmed. He then picks up a specially prepared handgun, aiming it first at Molsa, then at himself, before walking around the table to give the gun to Molsa, kneeling as he does so. Molsa has Ronny Schiatto bring over two bottles and a glass as Firo continues to kneel, and Molsa pours both bottles into the glass; one of the bottles contains wine, and the other contains poison. Firo begins to bring the glass up to his lips, only stopping when Molsa takes the glass from him as he's about to ingest the poison.

Each of these actions had served a purpose in the ritual. Abandoning his knife had been a symbol of courage, turning the gun from Molsa to himself symbolized a willingness to put his own life before Molsa's, and almost drinking the poisoned wine had shown a willingness to obey his caposocietà even if obedience meant death. After these three actions have been completed, Firo asks Molsa to test his duty, beginning the final ritual.

Kanshichirou Yaguruma is asked to stand witness as Firo faces Maiza Avaro in a duel with knives. Yaguruma lays out the rules: either man stabbing their opponent in the chest is forbidden. Having no objections, Firo and Maiza take off their jackets and begin the fight. The fight lasts for some time, with the two of them apparently pretty evenly matched, but Firo wins after locking Maiza into "a cross-counter with knives" and tricking him into drawing his arm back too quickly. Maiza holds his arm up to show the others Firo's victory, and the executives dispel the somber atmosphere by rushing to congratulate Firo on his victory, as he's passed the third ritual. Molsa picks up the gun Firo had handed to him earlier and fires a celebratory shot into the ceiling. At this point, Firo notices that the blood from Maiza's cut has mysteriously disappeared, but before he can ask about it, a scream rings out from the room above them.

A short while earlier, Isaac & Miria speculate about whether or not Ennis was able to take the thugs she had beat up to the police station successfully, veering off topic quickly as Miria asks Isaac where they're going. Isaac replies that, in order to steal money from the Mafia, they have to steal money from a smaller syndicate so they don't get in too much trouble. So, their plan is to steal from the Martillo Family and the Gandor Family; since it's closer, they're currently on the way to the Martillo Family's speakeasy.

Arriving at the establishment, the two thieves are let in by Seina, the proprietress of the honey shop that serves as Alveare's front business. They marvel at the speakeasy for a few seconds before they're greeted by a waitress who informs them that most of the tables are being reserved by a group; true to this, the only customers they observe are a few old men, a child, and a group of three men in the back. The two of them are led to a table in the back, and they ask the waitress to fetch them some of their cheapest liquor. As soon as the waitress leaves to fetch their drinks, Isaac and Miria begin scouting for places the Martillos might keep their money. Isaac finds a bunch of barrels near their table and peeks in between them, noticing a strange cluster of holes in the floor.

Isaac suddenly hears cheers through the holes in the floor, at which point the waitress returns and frantically warns Isaac to step away from the barrels. Before he can move, a bullet penetrates the floor, grazing Isaac's foot through his shoe. Isaac promptly faints, likely from shock, prompting Miria to assume the bullet had killed him.

Later, Isaac and Miria have both joined the celebration that commences in honor of Firo's promotion, since Firo and Maiza had recognized them from the hat shop earlier in the day and since Isaac had almost gotten killed by Molsa's ceremonial firing of the pistol. Despite the earlier situation, the two of them partake in the feast that's been brought out as cheerily as ever. Randy and Pezzo approach Firo to ask if he has any more of the liquor he brought, but Firo replies that they ran out of time because he'd encountered a fire while he was out stocking up. Randy and Pezzo suddenly become flustered and Seina reprimands them and Firo for asking about other liquor when they're already in a speakeasy.

Firo sheepishly replies that he wanted something a little less sweet; the Alveare is known for the distinct honey flavor that comes with its alcohol. While this flavor is less popular, the speakeasy manages to stay afloat because the Martillos run it directly and don't need to pay protection money. Nor do they pay bribes to the lawmen; the local police wouldn't accept them anyway.

The jovial conversation inside the Alveare continues. Among other avenues of discussion, Yaguruma compliments Firo's knife skills, Molsa spends the whole night asking if anyone has seen the pepper, Maiza points out that Firo has two less bottles of liquor than he'd previously bought, Isaac and Miria enjoy the food, and Randy sheepishly refuses to perform the trick with the burning glove he'd been practising earlier. In the midst of all this, Firo smiles cheerfully, wishing that this time could last forever.

In the meantime, Dallas Genoard and his two remaining friends enter the Coraggioso, immediately killing the lone man they find inside the jazz hall portion of the building. They then head downstairs, resolving to do away with everyone and everything except for the box they'd been sent there to retrieve. Four members of the family are already down there when they descend, and after trying to obtain the box through negotiation fails, Dallas and his friends gun them down with "tommy guns." However, one of the men who'd survived manages to shoot Dallas in the head and his two friends in their guts. This surviving man attempts to call Luck using the undamaged wall telephone, but a regenerated Dallas stabs him in the head before he can make it there.

Meanwhile, after the celebration in the Alveare, Isaac and Miria have begun to head towards the Gandor Family's hideout. Since they'd decided that the Martillos were too nice to steal from, they've ended up here so they can attempt to steal from the Gandors. As they watch for any activity around the premesis, they see three men exit the jazz hall with a box in hand. Unable to see the faces of these men, they don't immediately recognize them as the thugs who had tried to beat them up earlier, and they assume the box they're carrying is full of Gandor money. With this assumption, the two of them make up their mind to attack the three men, who they think belong to the Gandor Family.

Dallas and his friends discuss what they'll do with the liquor now that they've gotten it back. Though one of Dallas' friends insists the people asking for the liquor will probably just kill them, Dallas suggests threatening the liquor in echange for their lives and the promised money. They don't get a chance to discuss this scenario much further, however, as a strangely dressed man appears suddenly in their path.

The man, Isaac, overdramatically introduces himself as Professor Moriarty. Dallas and company are unimpressed, and Isaac attempts to change the name he'd given to a variety of other literary villains before the thugs draw knives on him. Miria appears from behind, throwing handfuls of pepper and lime at the thugs, and her and Isaac grab the box and run in the ensuing chaos.

Ennis, who had been following Dallas and his friends, saw the whole scene, but wasn't able to make out the identities of the people who had attacked Dallas' group. She decides to pursue the people who'd stolen the crate, but is unable to locate them. After a short while of searching, she comes across some clothes discarded in the corner of an alley, recognizing the clothes and general figures of the thieves to match Isaac and Miria's.

Some time later, Berga, Keith, and Luck Gandor arrive at the Coraggioso after the police inform them of the attack on their building to find the jazz hall in shambles and five of their men dead.

Cultural References

 * The first appearance of speakeasies in the Baccano! series happens in this chapter. As the series accurately portrays, speakeasies became popular after prohibition due to exploiting loopholes in the law regarding the status of an establishment; by hiding a bar behind a "front" location, business owners could claim they didn't serve alcohol. The book mentions the presence of around 32,000 speakeasies in New York, but this number comes from the late 1920's; it's unknown how many there were by 1930.
 * Isaac references the Sherlock Holmes series, presenting a jar of honey he'd gotten from the Martillos and claiming it was a gift from Sherlock Holmes, who kept bees. While many of Isaac and Miria's literary and cultural references are either mixed-up or completely imaginary, Sherlock Holmes did actually become a beekeeper.

Unanswered Questions

 * Is Maiza Avaro immortal?
 * Why is Firo missing two bottles of liquor?
 * What's going to happen to the immortality elixir?
 * Where were the Gandor brothers at the time of the attack on the Coraggioso?

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Molsa Martillo
 * Firo Prochainezo
 * Kanshichirou Yaguruma
 * Ronny Schiatto
 * Maiza Avaro
 * Isaac & Miria
 * Seina
 * Lia Lin-Shan
 * Randy and Pezzo
 * Dallas Genoard
 * Ennis
 * Berga Gandor
 * Keith Gandor
 * Luck Gandor