The Golden Room

Karen hesitated, then decided to speak out. 'Not quite, Minna. Afterwards, as we were coming here, Bruce wanted to see a place he'd heard about called the Levee.'

'The Levee,' Minna repeated with disbelief. 'He wanted to see that?'

'He saw it.'

'But for heaven's sake, why did you take him there – here – all around here?'

'Because he insisted, Minna. He wanted to visit the worst of Chicago as well as the best.'

'He saw the brothels?'

'They both did,' admitted Karen.

Minna was silent for an interval as she fixed her eyes on Karen. At last Minna spoke. 'What… what did they say? You can be honest with me, Karen.'

'They were upset by everything in general,' said Karen. 'They seemed to understand and excuse the girls who work here.' Karen paused. 'They blamed the brothel madams most.'

'Oh, my God!' Minna gasped. 'What if they ever found out what Aida and I are really doing here?' When Karen did not comment, Minna drew herself up resolutely. 'Well, they won't. They'll never find out. I won't let that happen. From now on, Aida and I will be doubly on our guard. Thank you, Karen, for telling me the truth and putting me on warning. A hundred thanks.'

Many of the Everleigh girls were idling at the Tremont House Hotel during their enforced vacation.

Dr Holmes had agreed to examine each of them once a week, and he had been doing so during the past two hours.

Now, towards the end of his day, there was only one girl waiting to be examined. This was Greta, a Swedish beauty of about twenty, who was the most playful of all the girls and the most receptive to Holmes's advances.

Greta and Holmes were alone in her room on the fourth floor, and Holmes, removing his jacket, watched her provocatively undressing.

It had crossed his mind when he had arrived, and it was still on his mind as he waited for Greta, that he could have her right there in her room. He had never attempted any sexual advances in the Everleigh Club itself, because it was too populated, and there was a chance that Minna or Aida might walk in on one of his examinations.

But here in the Tremont House Hotel, a comfortable distance from the Everleighs, he felt safe to do whatever he wanted to do.

Greta sat down on the bed, and spread her legs. Finding his speculum, Dr Holmes approached her.

He kneeled down, and perfunctorily examined her for any evidence of recent sexual activity.

There was none. She was clean.

Holmes remained on his knees. 'No real problem,' he said.

'I shouldn't think so,' she called down to him. 'I haven't had a man since leaving the Club. I feel like a virgin.'

Gazing at her vagina, Holmes began to feel the stiffening between his legs.

'If there is any problem,' he said, 'it's that you're very tight down here. You need lubricating.'

'How do I do that?' Greta wanted to know.

'By letting your doctor help you.'

'If you think you can, go ahead,' she said lazily.

Holmes put down his speculum, and returned his attention to her vagina. 'Lie back flat,' he called up hoarsely. 'Spread your legs wider. Very good.'

With his head again between her thighs, his tongue circled her vaginal lips. Then he began to kiss her.

Her body started, and she sat up halfway. 'Hey, Doctor, I didn't know you did that.'

'I never do. But you're something special. I can't resist. Do you object?'

'Not especially, except Minna told me not to have anything to do with any man while I'm outside the Club.'

'Didn't she say you could see me?' he asked, looking up at her.

'Yes, of course.'

'Didn't she say I could treat you?'

'Yes, but-'

'I am treating you, Greta. Lie back and cooperate.'

Greta exhaled. She lay back and gave up all resistance. 'Whatever… whatever you say, Doctor.'

'I say let's enjoy ourselves.'

He bent down once more, easing his head between her thighs, until he could kiss her labia again, and then extended his tongue and inserted it inside her vagina.

She was moist, and her buttocks were rotating.

After a few minutes, he thought she'd had an orgasm, but he wasn't sure and he didn't care.

He pulled back slightly, clambered to his feet, and stood between her legs, unbuttoning his trousers.

'Sit up, Greta,' he commanded. 'Come here.'

He grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her head down to his distended penis. 'It's fellatio time, darling.'

'It's what?'

'Time to do unto others as you would have done to you. It's time to suck, Greta.'

Her mouth closed over him and her tongue and lips slid expertly over his penis. He trembled with frenzy. She was good, very good, very, very good. Staring down at the top of her head, the exposed back of her neck, he realized how many men she must have done this to, and he was excited by one thing – a desire to sever her head from her body, to dismember her, so that she could do this to no one ever again.

He felt he was coming apart, and then he did, erupting and groaning and groaning.

Later, he patted her cheek. 'You were magnificent, Greta, better than any woman I have ever known.'

'Really? Well, you weren't half bad yourself.'

Holmes dropped the speculum in his bag. 'Then maybe we belong together.'

'What are you saying?'

'I'm saying we seem suited to each other. Why don't you pack your things and move out of here? Move in with me.'

Greta hesitated. 'I'd love to, but what will Minna and Aida say?'

'They'll never know. Move in with me tomorrow. We can live together, and if it works out as I think it will, we can get married. No more of that Everleigh drudgery for you. Will you?'

'Will I!' Greta exclaimed, falling upon Holmes with a hug, and kissing him again and again. 'I'll be there.'

Holmes was scribbling on a piece of paper. 'Here's my address. Any time from noon on tomorrow.'

'I'll be there. I'm so happy.'

'You won't regret it, darling. I'll have a real treat in store for you. I guarantee you one thing. You'll find peace for the first time in your life.'

It was not until just before noon that Minna Everleigh learned that yet another of her favourite girls had disappeared.

The word of this had come from Edmund, who had routinely checked the scattered whereabouts of the Everleigh girls and reported to Minna on what he could learn of their security and behaviour.

This morning he had reported that Greta was missing from the Tremont House Hotel. Edmund had learned that less than an hour before his phone inquiry, Greta had checked out of her room with her suitcases, leaving no forwarding address.

News of this defection had thoroughly mystified Minna and shaken her.

What disturbed Minna most was the constancy of the disappearances. First Fanny. Then Avis. Now Greta. There were two factors that troubled Minna. The first was the number of disappearances within so short a time. Minna had been ac-

customed to losing one girl a year, two at the most. But three leaving without a word in two weeks – it was unheard of. The second factor that concerned Minna was the manner of each disappearance. Until these, when a girl had wanted to leave the Everleigh Club, she usually had been honest with Minna in giving her reason and her destination. A man had proposed marriage to her and she wanted to settle down. She missed her home and family in Denver and wanted to return. Or, simply, she was bored with being enclosed in the Everleigh Club and devoting her life to lying on her back and pretending to enjoy herself. In the past, the departure of each girl, though few and far between, had always been courteous and forthright.

Now Fanny, Avis, and Greta had vanished into thin air, without any explanation.

Minna brooded over the matter for long minutes, and finally she telephoned the young reporter, Chet Foley, at the Chicago Tribune.