"In a world where there are few roses, Roger Touhy never
pretended to be one but his finish emphasizes that even a man who was not so
good may be the victim of men who are worse." -Chicago Sun Times
In the early evening of the night he died, Roger Touhy prepared to
drive to a meeting at the Chicago Press Club with Ray Brennan and their book
publisher to discuss Factor's suit against them.
At the same time, across town, John Factor dined
at the Singapore Steak House on Rush street. The place was owned by two old
saloon keepers named Fritzel and Jacobson, whom Jake had known from Prohibition
days. Tommy Downs managed the restaurant which was popular with the mob in the
1950s. Downs was once in charge of security at the Sportsman Park Race Track
which was previously owned by Bugs Moran and later by Frank Nitti. In 1959 the
Singapore Steak House was secretly owned by Chuckie English, a former member of
the 42 Gang and right-hand man of Sam Giancana, and it
remained one of Chicago's celebrity hangouts despite the mob
connections.
Jake said he had flown in from Los Angeles to
spend the holidays with his son Jerome and to press his suit against Touhy and
Brennan over The Stolen Years.
Also seen in the Singapore that night was Murray
Humpreys, who had helped Factor rig his own kidnapping almost three decades
before. As always, Humpreys sat with a glass of whisky in front of him. The
Hump put it there to impress the others and nothing more, since he never drank.
During the rest of the evening, the normally low
profile Humpreys made sure of accounting for his whereabouts. He left the
Singapore and strolled down Clark Street where he was seen at Fritzels, a
fashionable restaurant and later at L'Escarot, another restaurant, returning
home he said at 3:00 A.M.
Tubbo Gilbert left his palatial homes in Los
Angeles and Palm Springs where he lived in semi- retirement, and was in town
overseeing his extensive real estate and contracting interests. He would later
tell reporters that he had flown into Chicago to spend the holidays with his
grandchildren.
At 5:00 RM. sharp, Walter Miller pulled his car
up to the front of Roger's sister's home to take Touhy to his meeting with
Brennan and the publisher. At 5:55, they pulled into the Sheraton Towers Hotel
garage and took the elevator to the top floor to the wood-paneled press club.
Brennan, customary scotch in hand, greeted them at the door. They hung up their
winter coats and walked to a round table in the middle of the room where
Richard H. Brown, a New York lawyer representing the book's publisher,
Pennington Press, was seated.
Brennan ordered appetizers and a German beer for
Touhy. They talked for three hours about the book. It was a grim conversation.
Factor's suit had hurt the book's sales because the big chain department stores
fearing a suit from Factor, refused to carry it. As if that wasn't bad enough
the Teamsters had refused to load and carry copies on their trucks.
At 9:15 Miller said they had to leave because
Roger was on an 11:00 P.M. curfew. Brennan helped his two guests on with their
topcoats. Miller's coat sagged from the heavy .38 caliber in his right pocket.
The last thing Touhy said to Brennan was,
"Factor goes around calling me every vile name in the book. I'm going to
Springfield on Friday to ask Governor Stratton for a full pardon. Goodnight,
kid."