After nodding a welcome to Minna, Aida resumed speaking. 'Now that you've heard what is going on and how we are to proceed, let me sum it up for you so that there can be no mistakes.'

Minna decided to intervene. She stepped into the Japanese Room and called out, 'Aida, may I break in with a few words?'

'Of course.'

Minna crossed the room and ascended the dais to stand beside Aida. She addressed her older sister. 'Aida, what we arranged so hastily has a few flaws. Now that I've spoken to Cathleen and Bruce, our niece and nephew, I have some afterthoughts, and would like to revise our plan.'

'Whatever you say,' said Aida agreeably.

Minna turned to face the small assemblage.

'I'm sure Aida has told you of our original plan to keep all of you here during this crisis. Well, I don't think that will work. With so many girls here, we and our relatives would be at great risk should one of you suffer a slip of the tongue. It would be hard for Aida and myself to pretend that this is our personal home. Furthermore, it would be difficult to pretend that you are all a floor show, since most of you can't sing or dance at all. I have a compromise in mind.'

She glanced at Aida, whose face registered only her usual gracious, slightly inscrutable expression. Minna turned to the girls once more.

'We will keep the dining-room open. I have told our niece and nephew it is a room reserved for our wealthiest friends, a profitable enterprise that enables us to pay some of our overhead expenses. Cathleen and Bruce understand the dining-room is off limits to them. I wouldn't want them to wander in and hear from some drunken diner that this is actually a brothel.

'As for you girls, I think six of you should remain here to play hostesses in the dining-room. No nonsense beyond that. The others can take vacations in the city. You will receive the full amount of your average weekly earnings. You can take up in hotels – although I instruct you to avoid any sexual activity on your own or in any other brothel – and do whatever else you want. You will return here to work in two weeks. Be sure to let Aida and myself know where you will be staying, so if need be we can locate you. Now, any questions?'

A redhead named Cindy held up her hand. 'Who stays on here, and who are the ones to go on vacation?'

'Very well,' said Minna. 'I'll name the six of you who remain to receive guests in the dining-room. The others will leave as of this evening. Aida and I, with Edmund's help, will find you hotel rooms. The six who'll stay are – you, Cindy, and Margo, Belle, Phyllis, Dagmar, and the new girl I just hired to replace Fanny – you, Karen. The rest of you, have a good time off, and be back here in two weeks to the day. Good luck.'

The following day, since she had the afternoon off, Karen Grant telephoned Mayor Carter Harrison and asked to meet with him.

An hour later, she was seated across from the mayor in his City Hall office.

'Some good news, I hope,' said Harrison.

'Not yet, but soon. There will be a slight delay before I can come up with any concrete evidence for you.'

'What do you mean?'

Karen went ahead. 'I was told to expect a visitor, a male visitor, when there was an unexpected intrusion. Two young relatives of the Everleigh sisters arrived from Kentucky, one of them a niece who is to marry the son of a prominent businessman.'

'Go on.'

'Well, the niece and nephew were sent to stay with their aunts. They were told the Everleigh sisters are highly placed socialites. To keep the niece and nephew from knowing what their aunts really do, all sexual services in the Club have been postponed. For two weeks the Club is to be no more than a legitimate home and restaurant.'

'Two weeks! You mean that until then I can have no evidence that the Club is a brothel?'

'None whatsoever, Mayor. Let me explain -'

Carefully, Karen recalled what she had heard from Aida and Minna and tried to repeat what she could remember to the mayor.

'There you have it,' she said, and sat back. 'A hiatus.'

'For the time, a hiatus.'

'Yes, until the day after the wedding. The relatives will leave, and the Everleigh Club will resume as a brothel. So I'll have time on my hands. Do you want me to pick up on some of my secretarial work for you?'

'God, no,' said Harrison quickly. 'I don't want you seen near my office. You are to stay around the Club, work evenings as a restaurant hostess, and keep on the alert. When the time comes, and you get the evidence, inform me at once – I'll shut down the Everleigh Club for ever. Karen, I mean to win this one.'

'You will, I promise you.'

'Don't try to reach me or take any chances. Just wait. Do you mind?'

'Not at all. The Everleigh Club, whatever its shame, is, I have to admit, a fascinating place to be. The gaudiest place you've ever seen in your life. I don't mind taking it easy there. And Minna Everleigh herself is an interesting person. By the way, her real name is Minna Lester. Her niece and nephew are Cathleen and Bruce Lester.' Karen picked up her purse. 'I'll keep an eye on all of them. Next time I see you, I hope I'll be the bearer of good tidings.'

Karen left the mayor's office and went downstairs to the lobby. She was heading for the exit doors, when a young man – a tall, handsome young man – intercepted her.

'Pardon me, Ma'am,' he said in a courtly manner. 'By any chance are you Miss Karen Grant?'

Startled, she said, 'Why, yes.'

'I'm Bruce Lester,' he said, introducing himself. 'I'm Minna Lester's nephew.'

For an instant, Karen was shaken. 'Minna Lester? Of course,' she said lamely.

'I saw you briefly yesterday, and again this morning, at my aunts' house.'

'I… I remember seeing you.'

'You're working for my Aunt Minna as a staff member in the restaurant.'

'A hostess,' she corrected him. 'I assist the guests to their seats and help them with their menus. And you – you're in Chicago to chaperon your sister until her wedding?'

'Yes. My father in Kentucky wanted us to stay with his sisters when we came to Chicago, so that's what we're doing. Actually, chaperoning is not the only reason I'm here.'

'Oh, no?'

'I have a very modest stable of three race horses, and I'm here to possibly sell one.'

'I'd like to know more about that some time,' said Karen. 'I'm fascinated by race horses.'

Bruce was entranced. 'That's wonderful,' he said. 'I'd like to tell you more, not some time but now. Have you had lunch?'

'Not yet.'

'Neither have I. Do you mind joining me?'

She met Bruce's gaze. 'I'd enjoy that.'

'On my way to the City Hall, I passed a place called Bill Boyle's Chop House. A sign said the lamb chops were thirty-five cents, so it must be a good place. Do you know it?'

'I do.' She had been there several times. It was a favourite lunch place for Mayor Harrison's aldermen. 'Let's go to Boyle's.' As they left the lobby, she half turned to Bruce. 'Incidentally, what were you doing in City Hall?'

'Sightseeing. This is my first visit to Chicago. What were you doing here?'

She thought quickly. 'I don't have to be at the restaurant until dinner time. So I decided to visit a girl friend who just got a job here as a secretary.'

'I'm glad we were here at the same time,' said Bruce, as he touched Karen's elbow, directing her outside.

It was a short walk to Boyle's Chop House, but for Bruce Lester it was mostly a silent one, he was so overwhelmed by his gorgeous companion.

Once inside, and seated opposite Karen, Bruce tried to find his tongue as he gave the waiter their order. He ordered lamb chops for both of them, and when Karen requested a stein of Pilsner beer, he ordered one for himself too.

After the waiter had gone, he addressed himself to Karen. 'I love my aunts' home, what I've seen of it, but I find the restaurant there rather odd. What's a restaurant doing in a home?'