The Golden Room

'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 Mi

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 Mi

'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. Mi

'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 Mi

'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, Mi

Already familiar with the youthful collegiate room, Holmes settled into the pillows of a blue leather sofa as Mi

Mi

'I've never seen the Club so deserted,' said Holmes to Mi

'There's a reason,' said Mi

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

'Very well,' said Mi

'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 Mi

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 Mi

'You can depend on my silence, Mi

'For the next two weeks, I am Mi

'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.'

Mi

The next morning at eleven-thirty, the four Lesters, in Mi

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

As usual, Mi

They had been squeezed together in the car, since room had to be made for Edmund to chauffeur them. Descending from the Ford, Mi

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, Mi