Baccano!/Recap/1934 Alice in Jails/Just Admit Its Your Fault

New York, temporary investigation headquarters.

Victor wakes up from his nap and demands a report. The other investigators, Bill Sullivan and Edward Noah, point him toward the files on his desk and get back to work. Victor reads them and warns the others that they should be prepared for anything--Huey's experiment, whatever it might be, could include anything up to the disappearance of all of New York.

Victor starts ranting at length about Huey, calling him a Mad Scientist who's not even quite that because he delved into the fantastic just as Maiza had summoned the demon. He claims that Huey would even use his own defeats to fuel his experiments. The others aren't even sure what Victor's talking about anymore.

Edward asks if they're been any reports from Firo's end, but Victor brushes him off, claiming that he never expected anything from him anyway and that he'd just be thankful if Firo could figure out Huey's methods of communication. Victor then mentions that according to Missouri, Nebula may have sent in their own operatives to contact or kidnap Huey themselves.

Suddenly, the phone rings.

The Alveare. Ronnie recalls the events that occurred one month ago, in the direct aftermath of Isaac's arrest.

Miria had come to him for help, but Ronnie refused, as he did not want to use his powers for anything other than the Martillo Family. Not only that, breaking Isaac out of jail would be too blatant a reality rewrite. Ronnie warned Miria to keep away from her apartment for now and find a different place to stay in order to avoid detection.

Back in the present, Maiza is extremely concerned for Firo. He'd heard rumours about Alcatraz, and worries that, despite physical immortality, Firo's spirit may break under the pressure. Ronnie assures him that Firo will be fine.

A little after the lunch hour rush, the radio starts reporting some strange news--there's been a series of explosions at 300 locations throughout Elson Hill, a city in the Chicago area, and mass disappearances of up to 200 people. Placido Russo is said to have some connection to all this. The news also mentions Manfred Beriam, who was in Chicago at the time.

Ronnie and Maiza discuss Elson Hill, where 60% of the population works for Nebula. Maiza thinks that Placido Russo may be trying to start a fight with Nebula. Ronnie quietly confirms that New York was a decoy for the events that are occurring in Chicago, and wonders what Huey's next move will be.

Madison Square Garden.

Chane is facing down Spike and the former Felix Walken. She thinks she could defeat Spike one-on-one, but ex-Felix is another story entirely. Chane is not about to give up without a fight, though, since she's afraid that they might come after Jacuzzi's gang. Ex-Felix can tell Chane's not going to cooperate.

Suddenly, Chane realizes that she's being surrounded by about a dozen men in black. Spike points them in Chane's direction, but one of them comes up to Spike and tells him that something's going wrong. Spike then realizes that he's hearing one extra set of footsteps. Ex-Felix looks around and finds someone standing beside Chane. It's Claire.

Spike accuses him of pulling a Big Damn Heroes, but Claire admits that actually, he's been there since the beginning, but didn't show himself to Chane because he was so entranced by her pensive face as she walked through the park. Chane blushes and glares at him, and Claire apologizes.

Spike demands to know who this newcomer is. Alarm bells are going off in his head, but he doesn't understand why. Claire introduces himself as Chane's fiancee, Felix Walken. All eyes are now on Ex-Felix.

Back at Victor's investigation headquarters, Victor takes the phone. It's from Donald Brown.

Suddenly, Victor freezes and signals for Edward to turn on the radio. It's the news broadcast about the bombings and the mass disappearances in the Chicago area. Edward is shocked that they did not receive any information on the incident until after the broadcast. Victor realizes that all the activity in New York was a decoy for Chicago.

Then, the door opens and a strange man in ragged clothing enters. Everyone is surprised, but the man introduces himself as a prior acquaintance. He claims to have come with a message for Victor from Huey--"Sorry for causing you all this trouble". Victor realizes that this guy might be the key to figuring out Huey's method of communication, but he's getting a bad feeling about this.

The man continues with the message--"Sorry for causing you all this trouble, but I can't let you get between me and Nebula right now. I'll have to keep you tied up momentarily."

The man drops a bomb. Victor warns the others to take cover just as it goes off.