with the help of private detectives and richie "the hammer" ginelli, a former client with ties to organized crime, an emaciated billy tracks the gypsy band north along the seacoast of new england to maine. he confronts lemke at their camp and tries to persuade him to lift the curse, but lemke refuses to do so, insisting that justice must be done upon billy. the gypsies throw billy out of their camp, but not before lemke's great-granddaughter gina shoots him through the hand with a ball bearing. billy calls for help from richie, who sends a mob doctor to treat billy's hand and then arrives in person to terrorize the gypsy camp.