'He had a girl, by his own admission. He won't give me any details, except to say he did have sexual intercourse. And yes, I paid for it. It was added to my dining bill, which is in my pocket.'
The mayor was on his feet. Coming around his desk, he took Armbruster by the shoulders. 'Am I hearing you right, Mr Armbruster? Are you telling me you have first-hand evidence that the Everleigh Club is – right now – operating as a house of prostitution?'
'As a whorehouse, a real, working whorehouse.'
The mayor's excitement was growing. 'You can prove it, testify to this?'
'Definitely. That's why I'm here. To side with you in your reform movement. Last night, after my son was sent upstairs to cohabit with one of those professional chippies, I learned by accident that the house is owned by Minna and Aida Everleigh, who have misrepresented themselves to me as socialites. They were to give the bride – their niece – away. I was shocked. I instantly called off the wedding. No son of mine is marrying into the family of whorehouse madams. The wedding is cancelled.'
'I'm saddened to hear that, but the banquet… Will you still have the banquet for the prince of Prussia?'
'The banquet is on. The wedding is off. And I'll not be satisfied until the Everleighs are in jail and their establishment shut down for ever.'
The mayor was beaming. 'I need only your sworn testimony before my chief of police, Francis O'Neill, to accomplish that end.'
Armbruster raised his right hand. 'You have my promise that I'll testify against the Everleighs and their Club immediately.'
The mayor linked his arm inside Armbruster's. 'Let's get you downstairs to the chief of police, swear you in, and take your deposition. Then I'll be free to accomplish what I've been trying to accomplish all these weeks – bring an end to the careers of Minna and Aida Everleigh.'
Minna had been sitting in the Gold Room in the early evening trying to distract herself from thoughts of the run-in with Harold T. Armbruster. She was reading the collected poems of Shelley when Edmund appeared in the doorway.
'There you are, Miss Minna,' Edmund said. 'I've been looking everywhere for you. There's someone here to see you.'
'Without an appointment?' Minna said, surprised. 'Who is it?'
'Chief of Police Francis O'Neill.'
Minna put aside her book of poetry. 'That doesn't sound promising. All right, show him in.'
Edmund disappeared, and a minute later reappeared to usher the corpulent chief of police into the Gold Room.
Minna offered her hand as O'Neill waddled over to her.
'It's been a long time, Chief,' she said, shaking his hand. She patted the sofa cushion beside her. 'Please sit down.'
With a wheeze, the chief of police took a seat next to her. 'I'm sorry to come by so abruptly, Minna,' he apologized. 'But I had to.'
'Why?' asked Minna calmly.
'I'm not here of my own free will, I assure you. I guess you know who sent me.'
'Mr Armbruster, I presume.'
O'Neill nodded. 'And the mayor. Technically, Mayor Carter Harrison sent me at the instigation of Armbruster.' The chief fiddled with the buttons of his uniform. 'Minna, I heard about your niece's wedding – that it's off. I'm sorry.'
'No loss,' said Minna, 'although we'll miss Alan, who's the best one in that family. Cathleen will manage without the Armbrusters. She'll go back to Kentucky and find plenty of eligible men there.'
'I'm sure she will, Minna.'
'But you're not here to discuss my niece,' said Minna. 'You have something else on your mind.'
'That's right, Minna.'
'And it's bad news.'
Clearly unhappy, the chief of police jerked his head up and down. 'That's right.'
Minna had known this chief, and others before him, for a long time. Usually, when they came by with bad news, that bad news was simple to define. It meant additional pay-offs, or higher pay-offs, to keep the Everleigh Club open. This visit, Minna knew, was more serious.
'Go ahead,' Minna prompted him. 'Let me have the bad news. Has it got to do with the mayor's reform campaign?'
Chief of Police O'Neill gave a weary sigh. 'Mayor Harrison has ordered me to shut down the Everleigh Club.'
'That's no surprise.'
'For good, Minna.'
Minna's expression remained impassive. It was not unexpected news, but still, the finality of it was unexpected. She'd gotten out of scrapes like this constantly. She sensed that she would not be able to elude this one.
'Based on Armbruster's evidence?'
'Yes.'
Minna started shaking her head. She kept shaking it. Not indignantly, but as a comment on the injustice of this turn of events. 'It's not fair, you know. Armbruster himself brought his son over here. We recognized him from the newspapers, and we did him a favour. So that's not what he has against me. What he has against me is that he was misled into thinking I was a society lady. When he found out I wasn't, he couldn't stand by and let his son's marriage bring me into his family. Not in his position. It's really not fair. I'm cleaner in my business than he is in his.'
Chief of Police O'Neill nodded sadly. 'I couldn't agree with you more, Minna. Yet, there it is. I have to follow orders.'
'I'm not faulting you, Chief.'
'Worse than that, Minna, I'll have to arrest you and Aida.'
This time Minna was genuinely surprised. 'I didn't know you could do that.'
'It's a law in the books,' said O'Neill. 'It's always been there, gathering dust, but Harrison has dusted it off. You and Minna are to become object lessons to the Levee.'
'What happens after we're arrested?'
'We take you down to the jail and book you. We'll put you in a cell until your lawyer meets the bail that's set, which may be considerable. After that, you're free until the trial date.'
Minna sighed. 'What a mess.'
'There you are, Minna. It's out of my hands.'
'What is in your hands? Shutting me down?'
'First shutting you down. Then ordering your arrest. The mayor insists that you be out of business when the prince of Prussia arrives.'
'When is that?'
'Not tomorrow morning, but the morning after. That gives you tonight and most of tomorrow to make arrangements to get your people on the road. When that's done, we'll post the notice outside and two of my men will escort you and Aida to the local prison.'
'Not much time to act,' said Minna.
'The best I can offer,' said the chief, rising. 'My job is to see that there is no Everleigh Club and no Everleigh sisters visible when the prince of Prussia sets foot in this city of purity. Again, I'm sorry, Minna. Forgive me. But orders are orders. Now you better get ready to leave.'
Minna did not inform her sister of their bleak future until early the next afternoon. She wanted Aida to have a restful night before they tackled what lay ahead.
In the morning, while cleaning out her desk, she tried to think through all that had to be done.
First, she must notify Edmund to assemble all the girls living on the outside for a three o'clock meeting that afternoon in the Moorish Room.
Second, she must find a decent hotel where Cathleen and Bruce could stay before returning to Kentucky.
