Word was sent to Melvin Purvis, the head of the Chicago FBI office and the man who would eventually get Dillinger, "Pretty Boy" Floyd and Alvin "Old Creepy" Karpis. He, in turn, contacted Hoover in Washington. Hoover ordered all available agents in Chicago and St. Paul, Minn., to immediately converge on the Little Bohemia. Planes were chartered and armed agents were on their way by early afternoon.
But as the agents were flying in the gang was ready to "fly" out. It was just after 3 p.m. and they were settling their bill. They wanted to leave as soon as Reilly and Patricia Cherrington returned. Reilly had been sent to St. Paul the day before to get more money and guns. Cherrington had gone along to keep a doctor's appointment. What Van Meter and the others didn't know, however, was that Reilly and Cherrington had already arrived back at the lodge, but quickly left when they suspected a police trap. Earlier that afternoon Nelson had ordered the cars hidden from view. When Reilly arrived at about 3:30 p.m., he didn't see the cars or anyone walking around. The place look deserted. Fearing the gang had been captured and police were inside waiting for him, he and Cherrington quickly drove off. Reilly planned to return after dark when he could get a better look around.
At 4 p.m. the gang sat down to dinner, still thinking Reilly would return at any minute. As usual for a Sunday, the bar had been full most of the afternoon. One of those drinking at the bar noticed Hamilton didn't have a glass and offered to buy him a drink. Hamilton said he was sorry, but didn't he drink. "Damn you, you'll drink with me or I'll pour it down your mouth," the man shouted and yanked Hamilton out of his chair. Hamilton turned to Wanatka with a smile and said, "This guy's pretty tough. Think maybe I should have one." When Hamilton finished his drink, the man asked him if he was going to buy a round for the bar. Hamilton did, and even purchased a pair of tickets for a local baseball game. After a few minutes, Hamilton quietly asked the man if he could go, saying his friends were waiting to leave. The man agreed. He had no idea of who he had been bullying. Hamilton was considered quiet and easy going by nature, but had a reputation as a tough fighter when cornered - and he had little aversion to using a gun. As he left the bar to return to his room he winked at Wanatka, and Wanatka took a breath of relief.
By 6 p.m. Carroll and the others were getting concerned. Reilly hadn't arrived and they began considering leaving without him.
As the gang discussed what to do, the agents were landing in Rhinelander where a member of Wanatka's family was there to meet them as planned. He described the area around the lodge to the agents and told them the gang was scheduled to leave sometime the next morning. He was unaware the gang had decided to leave that night.
The plan was for Wanatka to herd the staff into the basement of the lodge at 4 a.m., the time the agents would raid the facility and, they believed, capture the gang asleep. The plan called for three agents to storm the main door of the lodge. A group of five more would flank the lodge on the left and a similar group would do the same on the right. What the agents did not know, however, was that there was a deep ditch on the left, a barbed-wire fence on the right and the steep bank behind the lodge would mask any escape route along the lake. Worse, no one told Purvis and his agents about Wanatka's two watchdogs.
Shortly before 8:30 p.m. the agents arrived at the dirt road leading to the lodge. They huddled at the side of the road making final preparations for the coming assault. At about the same time, Reilly and Cherrington were approaching the lodge from along the same road, Highway 51, but from the opposite direction. Just before rounding a bend and coming onto the access road to the lodge and the gathering of armed agents, however, Reilly again lost his nerve. He pulled off the road and decided to wait a few more minutes before checking out the lodge.
Meanwhile, the agents moved out, stumbling and tripping along the dark road. Purvis would later say that by the time they spotted the soft yellow glow of lights from the lodge, the agents were wet, cold and confused. The agents were just beginning to fan out as planned when the unthinkable happened. The two dogs began to howl and bark wildly. Believing all possibility of surprise gone, the agents began running and stumbling to their positions.
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