The Golden Room

by Irving Wallace

  'What do you expect us to do?' asked Coughlin.

  'Oh, come on,' said Minna with exasperation. 'We know you two have the First Ward in your pocket. If you can get your army here to vote against Harrison, he'll be licked.'

  'I repeat,' said Coughlin, 'what do you want us to do?'

  Minna put down her glass. 'We want you to do what you've done for years. Buy the votes. Buy votes against Harrison.'

  'That takes considerable money,' said Coughlin.

  'How much?' demanded Minna, aiming her question at Kenna. 'How much will it cost us to stay in business?'

  '$15,000 cash on the line today,' said Kenna.

  Minna whistled. 'That's a lot.'

  'You're asking a lot,' said Kenna smoothly.

  Minna's eyes went from Coughlin to Kenna. Finally, she said. 'No. You're skimming too much off the top for yourselves. Aida and I will offer you $10,000.'

  Coughlin shrugged and said, 'I don't know.' He squinted at his partner. 'What do you think, Hinky Dink?'

  Kenna stared down at the carpet. He murmured, 'Well, of course, Minna and Aida are old friends.'

  'Okay,' said Coughlin, meeting Minna's gaze. 'I guess $10,000 could do the job.'

  Minna broke into a smile and picked up her glass. 'It's a deal.' She swallowed her champagne. 'Let's go to the study and we'll give you the money.'

  John Coughlin and Michael Kenna did not discuss the newest deal they had made until they were safe in the confines of their City Hall alcove.

  Seated, they both loosened their collars as Kenna poured two whiskies. 'Quite a day,' Kenna said.

  'Productive,' said Coughlin.

  Kenna sat down again with his whisky and drank it. 'Okay, Bathhouse, how do we do it?'

  'Do what?'

  'How do we spend Armbruster's money to elect Harrison and spend the Everleighs' money to see that Harrison is not elected?'

  'Easy,' said Coughlin, gulping his drink.

  'Yeah, how?'

  Coughlin sat up. 'We go with the highest bidder. We elect Harrison.'

  'But the Everleighs are old friends, Bathhouse.'

  'Never mind,' said Coughlin expansively. 'We'll make it up to Minna and Aida after Harrison wins. We'll elect the mayor, which will make our meat-packer happy. But we won't let Harrison shut down the Everleigh Club. That way, both sides get what they want.'

  Kenna squirmed. 'Sounds impossible.'

  Coughlin finished his whisky. 'I don't know. All hell'll bust loose, but we can do it. I have a few ideas. Trust me, Hinky Dink. Everyone's coming out on their feet – I think.'

  TWO

  Minna Everleigh stood beside the desk in her study, angrily rereading the front page of the Chicago Times. She glared at the headlines:

  CARTER HARRISON WINS MAYORAL RACE

  INCUMBENT DEFEATS STEWART 146,208 TO 138,548

  SLENDER MARGIN DUE TO

  SURPRISE TURNROUND IN FIRST WARD

  REFORM CANDIDATE HARRISON

  PROMISES IMMEDIATE CLEAN-UP OF CITY VICE

  Minna looked up as Aida returned from her telephone call. 'Well?' Minna asked.

  'I spoke to Bathhouse, told him you wanted to see him,' said Aida. 'He expected the call. He and Hinky Dink are already on their way.'

  Still seething, Minna flung the newspaper on the desk. 'Those double-crossers!'

  Aida picked up the paper. She scanned the bold headlines. 'It was close, anyway.'

  'Close only counts in bed,' snapped Minna.

  Aida continued to scan the front page. 'Minna, listen to this. Prince Henry of Prussia, the brother of the kaiser of Germany…'

  'What about him?'

  'He's coming to Chicago soon. Minna, he'll attract a lot of people. It could mean more business for us.'

  'What business? We'll be out of business. Harrison will see to that.'

  'Why don't we find out what Bathhouse and Hinky Dink have to say?' pleaded Aida. 'Here, let me pour you a whisky.'

  'Make it a double!'

  Fifteen minutes later, as Minna and Aida sat brooding, Edmund the valet knocked, opened the door, and showed John Coughlin and Michael Kenna into the office.

  Minna snatched up the paper and waved the front page at Coughlin. 'After taking all of our pay-off money, how do you explain this? Your very own ward turned the tide for Harrison. How did that happen?'

  'We passed your money around,' Coughlin said with sincerity. 'Apparently it wasn't enough. Someone else must have come along and outspent us.'

  'I don't believe you,' said Minna sharply. 'I'll bet you pocketed it all yourselves.'

  'Minna, I swear -' began Coughlin.

  'We spent it all,' interjected Kenna. 'Somebody on the mayor's side just came along and bamboozled us.'

  'It makes no sense,' persisted Minna. 'The Levee vote was suicidal. Everyone voted against themselves. Everyone is going to be wiped out, and first of all the Everleigh sisters.'

  'No, that's not true,' said Coughlin. 'That's what I was coming over here to tell you.'

  'What do you mean, not true?' Minna demanded.

  'Please sit down, Minna. You too, Aida, and let me explain what really happened.' He waited for the sisters to sit, and then picked up the newspaper. 'It says here you lost, but I can tell you that you really won.'

  'That's a slick one, Bathhouse,' said Minna bitterly. 'We lost but we won.'

  Coughlin pushed on. 'Just listen to me. Hinky Dink and I were with Mayor Harrison this morning. To congratulate him. I tell the mayor, "You can do whatever you want to do with the other houses in the Levee. But you can't close the Everleigh Club." The mayor rears up at that. "Who says I can't close the Everleigh Club? It's the one whorehouse I mean to close and fast." Then Hinky Dink speaks up and says, "Mayor, we have it on good authority it is not a whorehouse. Sure, it was once. But it isn't one now. The Everleigh Oub is a restaurant, and the girls there are dancers and entertainers." The mayor is furious. He says, "I know it's a whorehouse." So I says to him, "Mayor, you better prove that for certain before you can close it down." That shut him up for now.' Coughlin beamed at Minna. 'So there you are, home free.'

  'Who's home free?' Minna demanded. 'If I haven't got our house and our girls, what have I got?'

  'An expensive restaurant, with special charges for seeing the girls perform, in whatever way they perform. Maybe a way can be arranged for some of them to perform upstairs if you're careful to screen all visitors.'

  'But, in effect, we still don't have a house anymore,' insisted Minna.

  'Not exactly. You can earn enough on the restaurant to keep going, and let the girls do floor shows as entertainment.'

  'You know our real money comes from upstairs.'

  'So you'll lose a little for a short time,' said Coughlin cheerfully. 'Gradually, the heat will be off. The mayor will have other, more pressing matters on his mind. He can claim he reformed you and forget about it. When he does, you can resume business as usual – no more problems. So maybe you think you lost, but Hinky Dink and I say you won, in the long run you won.'

  'That's a terrible scheme, but I'll go along with it for a little while, as long as you do your part.'

  'Meaning?'

  'Meaning that you see to it that none of the Harrison-people get in here. I don't want spies who'll try to prove we're still running a whorehouse.'

  'Hinky Dink and I will do our best. You have to do your part too.'

  'Like what?'

  'You have to get your girls to pledge they won't peep a word of any goings-on upstairs. That means your servants too.'

  'Don't worry about the girls and the servants. They don't want the place shut down. They want their jobs.'

  Kenna moved up beside Coughlin. 'One thing, Minna. Do you have any outsiders who work here?'

  'Outsiders? Just one. Dr Myers from the Loop. He comes here weekly to examine the girls.'

  'Can you trust him?' asked Kenna.

  'How do I know?'

  'Not good enough,' said Coughlin. 'Fire him. We have someone
to replace him.' He looked at Kenna, who nodded assent. Coughlin resumed. 'We know of a Dr Herman H. Holmes, who specializes in female complaints and who has offices in Englewood, which isn't that far away. We heard he's the most close-mouthed and trustworthy doctor around. We can tell him what's going on, and I know you can depend on him. We'll send him over Saturday. Mayor Harrison'll never learn a thing. Then you can use the restaurant front, and quietly keep up your business.'

  'Sounds reasonable,' said Minna. She glanced over at her sister. 'Aida, let's assume it'll work, and let's have a bottle of champagne on the reformed Everleigh Club.'

  When Harold T. Armbruster received the call from Mayor Harrison's secretary, Miss Karen Grant, inviting him to drop by for a moment that afternoon to convey his thanks for the meat-packer's assistance in the election, Armbruster hesitated momentarily. He was a busy man, and normally he would have suggested it would be sufficient for the mayor to thank him on the telephone. But then Armbruster remembered something else he had read in the morning newspaper besides the election results. What he had read was very much on his mind.

  He had decided that it might be a wise idea to meet with the mayor in person, after all.

  'Yes, fine,' Armbruster had said. 'Tell Mayor Harrison I'll be delighted to come by this afternoon at three o'clock.'

  Now, at five minutes after three, Armbruster sat comfortably in a tufted leather chair across from the mayor's roll-top oak desk.

  'Congratulations,' Armbruster said again. 'It was a wonderful victory you had yesterday.'

  The mayor leaned back in his own high leather swivel chair, plainly pleased with his triumph. 'Thank you for your kind words,' Harrison said, 'and more than that, thank you for your contribution. That probably made the whole thing possible. Let me repeat, Mr Armbruster, if there is ever anything that I can do for you…'

  Armbruster interrupted him. 'As a matter of fact, there is something.'

  'Ah, good. You need only name it.'

  'There was an item that I read in the paper this morning.'

  'And what was that?'

  'It was about Prince Henry of Prussia, head of the German Navy, the brother to Kaiser Wilhelm. He's coming to the United States to pick up the kaiser's new yacht – and he intends to make one side trip – right here to Chicago, presumably because of our large German population. May I ask you, Mayor Harrison, is this true?'

  'Absolutely. I don't have the date, yet, but I believe that Prince Henry will be in our fair city in about three weeks.'

  Armbruster leaned forward intently. 'Mayor, the fact is, I would like to meet Prince Henry.'

  'I'm sure that can be arranged.'

  'I don't mean merely a handshake. I would like to have a relaxed talk with him. Will he be very busy?'

  The mayor thought about it. 'Well, Prince Henry's visit is still in the planning stage. We hope to have him place a wreath on the Abraham Lincoln Monument. Then we plan to escort him on a quick visit through the city. About this talk you want with Prince Henry – is it important?'

  'To me it is, yes, very important,' Armbruster said urgently. 'I want to request that the prince assist me in becoming

  ambassador to Germany.' Armbruster checked himself briefly. 'Let me confide in you, Mayor Harrison. I have at this stage in my life almost everything a man could wish. A prosperous business. A beautiful mansion for a home. A devoted family and good friends. I have as much wealth as I could ever want. I have everything that Armour, Swift, Marshall Field, and my peers have, except one thing – social status. My peers have it. I don't. For the benefit of my wife, my children, myself, I would like to have social status too. Becoming ambassador to Germany would give me exactly that.'

  Mayor Harrison was confused. 'But aren't ambassadors appointed by – well, wouldn't that come from our secretary of state or President Roosevelt?'

  'Of course, Mayor. But they could be influenced. If I had an opportunity to ingratiate myself with Prince Henry, he could pass my name on to the kaiser, and the kaiser in turn could suggest to President Roosevelt that he would like me appointed ambassador. I'm sure that would do it. I may not have diplomatic background, but I am German and speak German perfectly. I'd be a logical choice.'

  'I'm sure you would be,' said Harrison. 'The problem is arranging time for you to speak privately with Prince Henry. He's going to have a tight schedule.'

  'What are you planning for his evening here?'

  'Why, a formal banquet, of course. I haven't worked it out yet, but -'

  'That's it!' Armbruster exclaimed. 'Let me host the banquet with you. By happy coincidence, I'm preparing a big banquet of my own. My son Alan is engaged to a lovely Southern belle from Kentucky – Cathleen Lester, the niece of two socialites in Chicago. They will be married at my home about the time of Prince Henry's arrival. I should like to have Prince Henry attend the wedding and the banquet and ball to follow. At such a sentimental event he should be most responsive. I can draw him aside and bring up the ambassadorship. How does that strike you, Mayor?'

  Mayor Harrison stood up, smiling broadly. 'I like it very much. It takes a great burden off my shoulders. I'm sure it can all be arranged, subject only to Prince Henry's approval. How's that?'

  'Capital! Splendid!'

  Shortly after lunch, Mayor Harrison summoned his immediate staff to a crucial meeting in his office.

  Harrison lay back in the tall chair behind his desk, faced by a semi-circle of aides. The only woman in the room was the attractive young secretary, Karen Grant, whom he had hired several months before the election.

  'It's about my major campaign promise,' Harrison began. 'I made many secondary promises to the public, and they will eventually be fulfilled. But my primary promise to the electorate, as you all know, was to introduce sweeping moral reforms in this city. All houses of ill repute in the Levee must be eliminated. Of these houses I focused on one in particular. I refer to the Everleigh Club. I am determined that the Everleigh Club must be my first target. The Everleigh Club is the one brothel known throughout the United States and Europe. I want to go after it immediately, shut it down, and prove to the voters that I meant what I said in my campaign. There is one problem.'

  Harrison halted, opened his humidor, and extracted a cigar. He clipped one end, put the cigar in his mouth, and waited as one of his aides jumped forward to light it.

  'Thank you, Evans,' the mayor said. He addressed the entire group once more. 'I have been informed that the Everleigh Club had been a full-fledged brothel, yet now the Everleigh sisters claim it is no longer a brothel. This information was conveyed to me early this morning. Miss Grant was in this office with me when the two aldermen from the First Ward so informed me.' Harrison turned to his secretary. 'Miss Grant, you have your notes at hand?'

  'I do, Mayor.'

  Karen Grant placed her note pad on the edge of the desk, picked a folder off the floor, and pulled out a sheet of paper.

  'Read aloud what transpired,' Harrison instructed her.

  Karen bent her head over the paper. 'Mayor Harrison met with Alderman John Coughlin and Alderman Michael Kenna, who stated that while they were supporters of the mayor, they were also long-time friends of Minna and Aida Ever-leigh. "We must tell you, Mayor," Alderman Coughlin said, "that the Everleigh Club has mended its ways. It has given up prostitution. This was a direct result of your reform campaign. The Club has converted itself into a fancy restaurant -nothing else." The mayor said, "I happen to know there are thirty women in the Club. What are they doing there?" Alderman Coughlin replied, "They are not prostitutes. They may have been at one time, but they are not prostitutes today. They are simply performers, dancers, singers, actresses, putting on a nightly floor show for restaurant diners." Alderman Coughlin stated that the Everleighs reap their profits from their expensive restaurant, with its floor show and two orchestras. "Since it is a legitimate restaurant, there would be no cause to shut it down," Coughlin said. "Alderman Kenna and I advise you to abandon the effort." The mayor thanked his aldermen a
nd dismissed them.'

  Harrison puffed on his cigar, then turned his attention to his aides.

  'Gentlemen,' Harrison resumed, 'I have thought about this information and I believe it to be false. I do not believe the Everleigh Club is merely a restaurant. I believe it continues to be a house of prostitution – the biggest, the richest, the most important one in our city – and I have every intention of proving that I am right and of shutting the brothel down. The one problem I am faced with is obtaining proof. How do I prove the Everleigh Club remains a house of ill repute? I must have real proof before I can lock its doors for ever and show the voting public that Mayor Carter H. Harrison keeps his campaign promises. That is why I have assembled all of you here – to solicit your suggestions about how I can obtain the necessary proof.'

  Mayor Harrison's eyes moved around the room.

  'Any suggestions, gentlemen?'

  Jim Evans held up his hand. 'Why not question the girls? Even offer them a little something? Surely one of them might talk.'

  Harrison shook his head. 'Useless. None of them will speak against the Everleighs. They're paid five or ten times what other prostitutes get. They won't risk losing their income.'

  'What about the servants?' asked Jim Evans.

  Again, the mayor shook his head. 'They're well paid also.'

  'Why don't we question some of the regular customers?' someone wondered aloud.

  'Negative,' Harrison replied. 'A sure strike-out. Customers enjoy the Everleigh Club. They want it to remain open. Even if one wanted to talk, he couldn't afford to be a witness in front of the police. He'd be worried about his wife or sweetheart or family finding out he frequented a brothel. No chance. Forget it.'

  'Why not try to locate ex-Everleigh girls and get one of them to talk?' said aide Gus Varney.

  'No good,' countered Harrison. 'Even if we could find them, they'd only be able to talk about the past, not about what is going on there today.' Harrison was briefly thoughtful. 'Something else just occurred to me. A better idea, if it can be made to work.'