'From what I know,' said Karen, 'your aunts are two single ladies. They'd find it awkward to invite gentlemen over, so the restaurant makes it easier for them to see friends at home. Also, even though Minna and Aida are wealthy, that's a costly mansion they have to keep up day after day, and the restaurant brings in certain useful income.'

Bruce shook his head. 'I still find it odd, mixing business and pleasure. How did you get a job there?'

'I saw an advertisement for a restaurant hostess. I worried that it might be something – well, not decent -'

'You mean like a cover for white slavery?'

'Nothing quite that terrible. But still – anyway, I applied. When Minna Lester interviewed me, I realized that she was a lady and the desire to hire a hostess was genuine. So I started a few days ago.'

'What do you do on the job?'

'As I told you,' said Karen, 'just smile prettily when diners arrive, take them to a parlour for a drink, then show them to their tables, see to their menus, make suggestions, maybe banter a little to make them feel at home.'

'That's all? Do any of the diners ever get fresh?'

'Not really. Minna would never have them back. She's very strict.'

'But you only work evenings,' said Bruce. 'Which gives you your mornings and afternoons free. I hope you'll take some time to show me Chicago. Or are you new here?'

She smiled. 'I'm old here. I'll be glad to show you around.'

They waited in silence until their beers were served.

After each had a sip, Karen resumed. 'First, you'll have to show me something – the horse you brought along.'

'I'd be pleased to do that,' said Bruce. 'Frontier is as sleek as can be, and fast. You'll adore him. Only, there's a problem. Before leaving Kentucky I entered him in the American Derby. I guess I was trying to get rich quick. But when I took him to Washington Park yesterday to rent a stable, I found out Frontier is too small to get anywhere in the Derby. So I suppose I'll really have to sell him.'

'Don't do that until I've seen him.'

'I won't, I won't. Actually, I'd invite you to Washington Park tomorrow to see him, but I can't because I have another date, an important one, I suppose.'

Karen frowned briefly. 'A date?'

'Not what you think,' he said hastily. 'I'm not interested in any other woman, not now that I've met you.'

'Aren't you the flatterer, though.'

'I mean it, Karen. I've never met a woman like you.'

'Thank you. Tell me about your date.'

'It's at my sister's future in-laws' for lunch. Aunt Minna and Aunt Aida and I are to chaperon my sister Cathleen, and after lunch we'll discuss the wedding. The Armbrusters want to lay out plans for the ceremony – it's in two weeks.'

'Have you met the Armbrusters before?' Karen wanted to know.

'In Kentucky, when they were thinking of going into horseflesh.'

'How do you feel about them?'

Bruce Lester wrinkled his nose. 'Alan is a nice kid. The rest of them, Harold T., the father, Pearl, the mother, and their daughter Judith are awful.'

'I hope you survive the lunch.'

'I have to,' said Bruce simply. 'Because I want to see you again.'

The lamb chops were served, but they ignored their plates.

'Will I?' Bruce added.

'As much as you want to, Bruce.'

'Then we have a date for the day after tomorrow.'

That evening, Minna brought Dr Herman Holmes into the Blue Room of the Everleigh Club.

Already familiar with the youthful collegiate room, Holmes settled into the pillows of a blue leather sofa as Minna drew up a chair closer to him.

Minna had telephoned the physician earlier, insisting he come to the Club to discuss a personal matter.

'I've never seen the Club so deserted,' said Holmes to Minna, who had settled across from him.

'There's a reason,' said Minna, 'and that's why I summoned you tonight, to tell you all about it. I hired you because I was told you were trustworthy. Now I must trust you to the fullest extent.'

'You advised me this was a personal matter, and personal it shall remain.'

'Very well,' said Minna. 'This is what happened. I have a lovely niece, Cathleen, my brother's daughter in Kentucky. She is a complete innocent. She recently met the son of a prominent Chicago meat-packer in Louisville. The young man's name is Alan Armbruster, the only son of Harold T. Armbruster.'

'You mean the millionaire meat-packer?' asked Holmes.

'The very one. Anyway, Alan fell in love with my niece, they became engaged, and they are to be married in two weeks. I knew about the wedding, but it was not made clear to me that my brother expected Cathleen, as well as his son Bruce, to stay with Aida and myself.'

'They're here?' said Holmes, surprised. 'How can you handle that?'

'I can't, and yet I can,' said Minna. 'My brother Charlie has never been in Chicago. He has no idea what Aida and I really do. He believes, as we led him to believe from the start, that Aida and I made a fortune through investments, bought this mansion, and are part of Chicago 's best society. So it seemed reasonable to send his daughter and son to stay with us until the wedding.'

Holmes was truly astonished. 'But they'll find out in a jiffy what goes on here.'

'I don't intend to let them find out,' said Minna. 'I've practically cleared out the Club. Gave most of the girls vacations and kept six here to serve as dining-room hostesses. I advised everyone, the servants included, of my problem. Now I felt it was necessary to tell you also. There must be no loopholes.'

'You can depend on my silence, Minna. You know that.'

'For the next two weeks, I am Minna Lester and my sister is Aida Lester – our maiden names.'

'Of course.' Holmes squirmed on the sofa. 'What am I to do in the meantime?'

'You are not to set foot in the Everleigh Club until you are summoned. You will still earn your fee by attending my girls who have been put on vacation. I'll give you a list of hotels where they are hiding out. You will continue to examine them. I want to be assured they are not working on the side and contaminating themselves.'

Holmes was pleased. 'Certainly fair enough.'

Minna rose. 'Come along. We'll drink to it in my study.'

The next morning at eleven-thirty, the four Lesters, in Minna's new Ford, drove up North Shore Drive along the quiet waters of Lake Michigan, swung on to Lake Park Avenue, and went through open metal gates. The semicircular driveway ahead of them led to the entrance of the brick mansion that was the home of Harold T. Armbruster.

They had all spent the morning dressing for the critical occasion.

As usual, Minna was the most flamboyantly dressed. She was wearing a diamond dog collar, a stomacher studded with emeralds, a long gown of rich blue silk, with four diamond bracelets rattling on one wrist. Aida was similarly attired, but wore only a pearl necklace that had belonged to their mother. Cathleen, as befitted her age and virginal state, was the most simply dressed, in a pleated white linen blouse and brown skirt. Bruce was neatly attired in a straw hat, celluloid collar, new twenty-five-cent black necktie, and expensive seventy-five-cent checked shirt he had purchased at Mandel Brothers.

They had been squeezed together in the car, since room had to be made for Edmund to chauffeur them. Descending from the Ford, Minna led the way up the marble steps.

Admitted by a butler into the foyer, the guests were received in the garish living-room by Harold T. Armbruster himself. Armbruster was flanked by his top-heavy, dumpy wife, Pearl, and his two offspring. Judith Armbruster looked somewhat like Abe Lincoln, Minna decided – not bad for Lincoln himself, but not as good for an eligible girl in her twenties. Alan, on the other hand, while above medium height and seemingly strong enough, had a faint, ethereal quality, somewhat like Keats. Minna liked him at once.