'I have nothing venereal, Doc,' she chirped, 'but I don't mind you poking around in there. You have good hands. I'll confess something – I find it rather stimulating. Does that sound naughty?'

'It sounds very female and I like it.'

Avis possessed hair tightly bunned at the back, almond-shaped grey eyes, pert nose, a slash of red mouth. As Dr Holmes neared her, she sat up, and threw off her kimono. The milky-skinned, outsized breasts stared back at him.

He set down his bag.

'How've you been, Avis?'

'Not too busy, Doc. The sisters have put a clamp on this place. I've had half as many customers as I had before. It's boring, lying around, and I don't like what it's costing me. If something doesn't change soon, I'm thinking of going elsewhere.'

Dr Holmes sought and found his speculum. 'You won't find any house half so generous as this anywhere in the Levee.'

'I know. I was thinking of doing what some of the other girls around have done. Taking a room in a hotel and inviting more action.'

'That's an idea,' Dr Holmes said casually. 'Want to take your position? Let's get on with the examination.'

Avis rolled off the bed, stood straight over the doctor and touched her breasts provocatively. She lay back on the edge of the bed, her feet barely touching the carpet.

'Open your legs wider, dear,' Dr Holmes directed her.

When she did so, he bent down on his knees. With his free hand he touched her soft vaginal lips, rubbing them slightly.

'Hey,' she called, 'let's not have any more of that. You're getting me going.'

'I'm sorry. I'll watch myself.'

'Well, don't overdo that. I don't mind your being friendly.'

With his fingers, he angled the speculum first downwards and then sideways to determine that she was healthy.

He extended the examination beyond what was necessary because he was enjoying himself.

Finally, he raised his head. 'You're fine, Avis.'

She sat up on the bed, lifted her knees, and wrapped her arms around them. 'I knew I was. You're not leaving right away, are you?'

'Not yet,' said Dr Holmes, sitting down beside her and wiping the mirror of his speculum with a handkerchief he had dipped in alcohol.

'You seem like maybe you have something on your mind.'

'I do, Avis, if you feel like talking.'

'Talking to you is fun, Doc. You're a cute fellow.'

'Thank you, Avis. I can return the compliment. You're a cute girl, actually the cutest one in the place.'

'Well, now -'

'There is something I'd like to talk to you about. The first time I saw you a week ago, and just a little while ago, you voiced some displeasure with Aida and Minna. You spoke of setting up your own shop in a hotel. Were you serious?'

Avis shrugged her bare shoulders. 'I don't know. Just a thought I'd had.'

'Will you do it?' asked Holmes, putting away his speculum.

'Probably not. I'd like to. I don't think I have enough initiative. I can't do things on my own.'

Suavely, Dr Holmes posed a question. 'What if you didn't have to? I mean, have to do something on your own?'

'It would help, but still, for all the boredom, it's pretty cosy here. Having someone take care of you.'

'What if you left with someone's help and had that someone take care of you?'

She considered Dr Holmes curiously. 'What do you mean?'

'I mean I have an idea,' Dr Holmes went on. 'I gather, from something you mentioned last week, that you don't have any money worries. True?'

'True. I'm a small-town girl. I watch every penny. I've seen what happens to other girls in the Levee who spend every dime they have on clothes, on booze, on drugs. I've held on to my earnings.'

'I have something in mind,' said Dr Holmes. 'Can I ask you this? How much have you saved up?'

'A decent sum. About $2,000, at my last count.'

'Just right for what I have in mind, Avis,' Dr Holmes continued. 'I have a suggestion to make, a proposition, really. Right now you keep half of what you earn every night. Isn't that so?'

'It's so.'

'How would you like to keep more, much more?'

'I'd sure like that. But how -?'

Dr Holmes proceeded more confidently. 'Like letting me set you up in your own house, maybe smaller than this one, but just as luxurious. We could be partners. You would be in competition with the Everleighs, but you would be independent, your own boss, and keep most of what you earn. If you put up your savings, and I put up an equal sum, we could rent and furnish a really classy establishment. You could keep not half your income, but three-quarters, and I'd keep one-quarter for my investment. How does that sound?'

'Too good to be true.'

'There's more,' Dr Holmes added. 'You wouldn't be alone either. You could move in with me, and stay with me after hours. I'd take care of you.'

'You would?'

'I'd like to. You're a very special sort of girl. We'd get along very well. Of course, only if you'd want to live with me. Would you?'

'And how! I already hinted to you, I find you – well, attractive, and someone I'd like to bed down with on the side.'

'Well, there you have it,' said Dr Holmes, exhilarated. 'Our own business, and our own home – together. You ready to do it?'

'Just say when!'

'Tonight, Avis. Tonight. I'll go back to my office and prepare the contract for our partnership. You pack up and meet me at my place. Here's my card. Come at six o'clock. Bring all your things. Can you do that?'

'I'll manage.'

'Then we'll celebrate. I'll take you to the Palmer House for dinner -'

'Oh, my, I've never been there.'

'Just the beginning. Then you can look over our partnership contract and we'll both sign it. In a week I'll pay down on the lease of a building, and we'll furnish it together. In a month you'll be in business and making a fortune.'

'I'm so thrilled.'

'And you won't be alone at any time. We'll be together.'

He stood up. Immediately, she was on her feet in front of him, naked and wildly aroused. She hugged him tightly and kissed him.

'You'll never regret it,' she whispered.

'Neither will you, Avis,' he said wryly. 'We have a memorable date for tonight.'

'I'll be there,' she promised. 'I can't wait.'

It was early evening, and they were seated in the grand dining-room of the Palmer House.

Avis – decorously dressed in a pink blouse, and broad-lapelled Eton jacket, and tailored brown skirt – and Dr Holmes held hands across the table, as a uniformed waiter served them soup out of a silver tureen.

After the waiter had discreetly receded, Holmes was amused to see the awe on Avis's face as she repeatedly scanned the rich furnishings of the room.

'This room,' said Holmes, 'is fashioned precisely after the dining-room of the Potsdam Palace in Germany.'

'That chandelier is a knockout,' Avis said.

'It's an Egyptian chandelier,' Holmes explained. 'The mirrors around the room are Venetian, and that staircase over there is made of Italian Carrara marble. Nothing is too good

for you, my dear. Do you wish another bottle of Veuve Clicquot?'

'I'd better concentrate on my soup. What did we order? I forgot.'

'Terrapin a la Maryland for your main course. I ordered prime roast beef.'

They spooned their soup in momentary silence. Avis spoke up again. 'You saw I brought two suitcases into your house. I moved out of the Everleigh Club completely. They never saw me go.' She hesitated. 'I hope you meant every word you said – about me moving in with you. And about our partnership.'

'I couldn't have been more serious. You can believe everything I told you.'

'I'm glad,' Avis said, 'because I took it very seriously.' She touched her purse on the table. 'I even brought my share of the investment. I withdrew my $2,000 from the bank.'

'Excellent,' said Holmes. 'As I promised you, I'll match it.' He put down his spoon. 'I drew up the contract for your approval.' He reached into a pocket, brought out a piece of paper, and unfolded it. 'Here it is. Just as I outlined our agreement. Have a look.' She glanced at the page.