[quote=@JFK]The bar man took a moment to respond. Scratching his chin. Joe laid a big bill on the counter. His face lit up. "Yuse always a kind one Joe. Anything for a friend. Not many half-breed brothers. Most broads learn from their first mistake. A funny nose you say? Sounds like it could be the McClusky brothers. Did one have regular hair and the other had kinky hair?" Joe nodded with a wicked grimace as he replied, "Sounds like 'em. You know where they haunt?" The bar man shook his head. "No, but the pawnbroker Aloysius mentioned they sold him some shinies a couple weeks ago. He might know more."

Joe grumbled unintelligibly. He ordered another drink for the road and knocked it back unceremoniously. "Send Pearly my regards, woodya." He stumbled out of the bar and fumbled with his keys. He swerved back home and climbed under the covers next to Ruby, his long suffering wife. He mumbles some excuse about a complicated emergency before he drifted off into oblivion. It had been a long time since Joe had been burdened by dreams. [/quote]
Be careful that you don't make too many massive, momentous plot advancements like this too early, nor too often. The twists, the turns, the complications, the hauntings of other motives (including other PCs'!) encroaching into your own—that's where the fun's waiting. Joe won't be much of a noir protagonist following a simple, linear A→B progression, now will he? 😌 Just a suggestion for maximum enjoyment, not a hard rule I'm enforcing.

Otherwise, good post, and worth the wait. I like details such as the rock-salt and the olfactory notes lending credence to the atmosphere. Ditto Joe's casual racism and offhanded aspersions well-characterizing him from the start.