The following day, two “good operatives” named Mickey Linehan and Dick Foley arrive in Personville. They are detectives from San Francisco; the Op has asked them to come to town to help with his anti-corruption mission. 

They mention that the head of their company, referred to as the Old Man, wants to know more about what is happening, but the Op is reluctant to share details until he has completed his mission. The Op assigns them jobs: Mickey will trail Pete the Finn and Dick will trail Lew Yard. The Op wants to sow discord between the corrupt rulers of the town so that they turn on one another. 

The Op visits City Hall to meet with Noonan. By this time, Noonan has recruited Tony Agosti and Jerry Hooper, members of Whisper’s gang who escaped alongside him. Jerry, the rumors suggest, is the man who “put the knife in Ike Bush” (118). Noonan believes that Whisper is hiding at the abandoned Cedar Hill Inn on the outer limits of the town. He summons the entire police force to arrest Whisper. The Op accompanies them to the motel in squad cars loaded with guns and ammunition. 

At the Cedar Hill Inn, the police officers surround the place where they believe Whisper is hiding.