allen has been betting on horses using techniques of multiple bets ("polys") used by tony. the horseracing bookmaker (guy kibbee), arrives at john allens apartment. john allen: "what do you want?" bookie "you've won". allen "how much" bookie: "$388". john allen (brightening up momentarily) "$388?". bookie: "niftiest little poly i ever saw". bookie: "with that kind of money you can clear a lot of debt". john allen "i'll clear them all off, that's what bud would have wanted me to do". bookie: "don't talk like that". a deranged john allen insists that he only wants $172 of the winnings. allen rummages in a cupboard to find his teacup, the one he had on his finger when he married shirley day. "this teacup was once filled with bootleg liquor, then it was filled with the blood of my only friend". he throws the teacup on the ground, smashing it and exclaims "i'm going to be free!". john nervously counts out what shirley got from tony and enough for a gun.