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'What?' said Mayor Harrison hastily. 'Anything you wish. Name it.'
Mi
'I have much at stake in seeing you open for Prince Henry,' said Armbruster. 'What can I do for you?'
Mi
Armbruster flushed but seemed relieved. 'That's your condition for opening the Club?'
'Yes, the wedding.'
'Then you can open the Club. The wedding will take place in your house this evening.' He hesitated. 'In return for that, I have a request. My most heartfelt ambition is to become ambassador to Germany. I was hoping to get a word in to Prince Henry to that effect. Now I can see that a word from you, Miss Everleigh, would carry considerably more weight with the prince. Would you consider doing it?'
Mi
Returning to the Everleigh Club, Mi
Now there was a single morning and afternoon in which to return the Club to normal.
Her first act was to send Aida scurrying out to contact the servants. They would be needed to unpack the furniture, hang tapestries and artwork, and shelve the books in her library.
Once the servants were found and set to work, Aida's next assignment was to locate the musicians and have them ready to play that night.
Next, Mi
Mi
'Telephone Alan Armbruster and tell him the wedding will take place tonight,' Mi
While waiting for the restoration to begin, Mi
As the dozen servants gradually began to trickle in, the furniture was uncrated under Mi
Then the musicians brought in their instruments and set them in their familiar positions. After that, the beautiful Everleigh girls, herded by Edmund, jubilantly returned to the Club and began to move their belongings upstairs.
Observing all this activity, Mi
While supervising the resurrection, Mi
'What is it, Edmund?'
'Gentleman to see you, Miss Everleigh. Insisted it's a matter of urgency. Wouldn't give me his name, but gave me this calling card.'
Puzzled, Mi
PINKERTON'S NATIONAL DETECTIVE AGENCY
Beneath the trademark eye, it read:
We Never Sleep
William A. Pinkerton Superintendent Chicago Branch
Mi
Now Pinkerton was here to see her – apparently he had uncovered something. She was terribly busy at the moment, yet Pinkerton himself wanted to see her on a matter of 'urgency'.
Mi
She said to Edmund, 'Tell the gentleman I'll be glad to see him in the privacy of my study. You escort him, Edmund. I'll be there waiting.'
A few minutes later, Mi
She had half forgotten his appearance, but when he lumbered in, she recognized him at once. He was this bulky man, with neat, flat hair and an overflowing moustache. He was carrying a thick folder. Without wasting time, he took a chair and drew it up across from Mi
Opening the folder in his lap, he raised his head.
'You may recall, Miss Everleigh, I advised you after our last conversation on the telephone that I would continue working for you at no cost, unless I found something.'
'Yes.'
'I found something, Miss Everleigh.'
'On the three missing girls?'
'No. On Dr Herman Holmes, your house physician. Remember, I advised you I'd be investigating Dr Holmes himself.'
'I do remember your saying that. But why him?'
'His veracity, or the lack of it,' said Pinkerton. 'I am very experienced in judging when people are or are not speaking the truth. I was immediately suspicious of Dr Holmes. I questioned his veracity.'
'About what?'
'About insisting he did not know what had happened to your three missing girls. I began to check into the background of Dr Herman Holmes. It wasn't easy, but with the help of our branch offices I managed it.'
'Managed what, Mr Pinkerton?'
'I'm afraid what I learned will appal you.'
Mi
Shuffling through his notes, Pinkerton did not look up. 'To begin with, his name is not Herman H. Holmes. His real name is Herman Webster Mudgett. He has one of the most unsavoury backgrounds I have ever come across. There exists evidence that Dr Holmes has been a forger, bigamist, horse-thief, mad scientist, swindler – and possibly, quite possibly, most likely although not yet proved, a Bluebeard of sorts, a compulsive murderer.'
Mi
'Judge for yourself.' He began to read from his notes, actually skimming the notes and giving Mi