At home with the Van Aldens, the drip-drip-drip of the still in the kitchen is keeping Nelson awake. Well, that, and probably the fact that he's betraying all his long-held principles to be a stooge for some two-bit bootlegger. Sigrid tries to reassure him, "It is okay, husband," but he's not calmed. He just stares intensely forward. And, not for nothing, but the last thing this lunatic needs is a sleeping problem.

Nucky and Esther Randolph are sitting quietly in Jimmy James's New York office, making semi-awkward conversation. He offers her box seats to "Dizzy Izzy" on Broadway (is THAT the new title for The Naughty Virgin? Eeesh), but Esther would rather the freebies be kept to a minimum. He asks what she does for fun, then. "I run naked through the pages of the federal tax code," she says with the barest hint of a smirk. Look, I really like Esther Randolph, but if this show is leading up to her and Nucky in bed, I am out. Means arrives for their meeting and says that arrangements are in place. He asks Esther if she would rather not hear the details of the plan, but she says if she's in for a penny, she's in for a pound. So apparently the plan involves Nucky making a pitch to Andrew Mellon, who you will recall is both Treasury Secretary and James Cromwell. Means says Mellon will be having lunch at the exclusive Union Club in midtown, and he's arranged for Nucky to masquerade as Mr. Charles Rickson of Missouri. "You have prospered mightily in beef," Means grins at Nucky. He really seems to enjoy this double-dealing. Randolph delivers some unnecessary pointers to Nucky that are really just nuggets of exposition for us. Mellon is the Treasury Secretary, of course, and as such, he's in charge of enforcing Prohibition and collecting income tax, neither of which he's too keen on, per Means. And he despises Harry, whom he regards as a "common thief." Nucky asks if this is all enough to get him to arrest Remus. Oh, there's more! Mellon is also the majority shareholder in a distillery in Pennsylvania. This is news to Randolph, though Means assures her it's a "pointless possession in this day and age." But, he says, "it's remarkable how large small irritations can loom in the minds of great men. He doesn't really fit in as well in this universe, but Gaston Means would have made a superb Deadwood character. Nucky raises an eyebrow and asks if that's it. "The rest will be a tribute to your resourcefulness," Means replies. At this, Esther decides she in fact does not want to hear everything, and she makes her exit.