noon
Glasses tinkled on the long , smooth bar . The roulette wheel whirred , and even at that early hour , cards were being slapped down , faces up , at the stud-poker table . Including the customers at the bar , there were perhaps a dozen men in the house besides Garvey himself . Garvey was tending bar , which was his habit until noon , when his bartender relieved him . Gil Garvey was a menacing figure of a man , massive of build and sinister of face . His jet-black eyebrows met in the center of his scowling forehead , and under them gleamed eyes cold and dangerous . A thin wisp of a dark mustache contrasted with the quick gleam of his strong , white teeth .