The chief of police bobbed his head. ‘I agreed to this because you had some suspicion that Dr Holmes might be up to no good. However, you had no solid proof, Mr Pinkerton, that Holmes was a murderer. A scoundrel, yes, but no absolute evidence that he was a killer.’
‘You heard Bruce tell you what he was witness to,’ Pinkerton argued. ‘I say that’s more than enough evidence that he’s a murderer.’
Bruce broke in. ‘If Holmes lives, I’ll swear in court that he
planned to kill Karen and Cathleen. Until then, Chief, the rest of us would like to get right back to the Everleigh Club.’
The chief of police shook his head. ‘I’m afraid you can’t do that, Mr Lester,’ he said. ‘You took the law in your own hands when you attacked Dr Holmes. There is still not a shred of concrete evidence that Dr Holmes ever committed murder or ever intended to. Unless we can find such proof, you may be involved in a crime, young man. Your partner as well. That is, if Dr Holmes dies.’
‘The whole thing is absurd,’ said Bruce.
‘It’s anything but absurd,’ the chief countered. ‘If we can prove that Dr Holmes is indeed a murderer, you’ll have no problem.’ He surveyed the room. ‘But I don’t see any corpses around.’
Karen pushed forward. ‘When Cathleen and I were locked in here, I searched for some way to escape. There was none. But over there in the floor I did find what may be two trap doors. You’d better see where they lead.’
Chief of Police O’Neill beckoned to his three officers. ‘Captain Zubukovic, let the lady show you where she thinks she saw some trap doors. If they exist, remove them and find out where they take you.’
As Karen walked towards the chamber with the policemen, the chief turned to Bruce.
‘Unless they lead to real evidence that Dr Holmes is a murderer, you’re in trouble.’
While waiting for the outcome of the search down the trap doors, they all sat in the doctor’s office.
Pinkerton sat with Chief O’Neill, going through a file of notes on his investigation of Dr Holmes.
Bruce and Alan sat huddled with Karen and Cathleen, struggling to make conversation about the wedding, and about Minna and Aida and the restored Everleigh Club. The talk was mostly intermittent. Bruce and Alan were plainly worried
by the turn of events, and the unfairness of the chief’s interpretation of the law.
At one point Bruce addressed himself to the chief of police and to Pinkerton. ‘I wonder what’s happening?’ he asked.
‘Maybe nothing,’ said the chief. ‘Or maybe something. We should know any minute.’
The chief went back to Pinkerton. Bruce and Alan continued their conversation with Karen and Cathleen, trying as best they could to reassure the shaken women that they were really safe and could relax at last.
It was more than an hour before the three policemen, somewhat dusty and dirtied, finally reappeared. All three came out of the airtight room, crossed the central hall, and came into the office.
Everyone instantly fell silent. All eyes were on the police.
Chief O’Neill spoke first. ‘What did you find, Captain Zubukovic?’
‘Miss Grant was right,’ said Zubukovic. ‘There were two trap doors in the floor. One led to a narrow staircase that Dr Holmes obviously used to descend into a basement-level room. The other trap door opened on to a chute, a kind of slippery slide by which human bodies were dropped into that basement.’
‘Human bodies?’ repeated Chief O’Neill. ‘What gives you that idea?’ He added with emphasis, ‘I want facts, not fantasies.’
‘I have facts, Chief,’ said Zubukovic. ‘You want to hear what we found in the basement?’
‘Tell me,’ said the chief.
‘We found an operating table - blood has been washed off but some still exists in patches - upon which Dr Holmes apparently dismembered the bodies of his gassed victims. There is a vat with traces of quicklime. It looks as though Dr Holmes dipped his dismembered victims into it.’
Chief of Police O’Neill interrupted with annoyance. ‘All speculation, Captain. I told you I wanted facts.’
‘Then,’ Zubukovic resumed doggedly, ‘we found a huge furnace. A huge one. Big enough so I could step inside. I counted twenty-seven skulls, and the worst tangle of charred ribs, pelvic bones, thigh bones, shin bones and other human remains - it’s too gruesome to go any further.’
Chief of Police O’Neill was standing. ‘Twenty-seven human skulls,’ he echoed with disbelief. ‘Twenty-seven?’
‘Precisely,’ said Zubukovic. ‘That’s how many we sorted and counted. Most of them women, I’d guess. That doctor probably tricked them into coming here, then tried to take advantage of them. I imagine he gassed them whether he had his way or not, then dissolved the bodies, cut them up, and cremated the pieces. That’s the truth, Chief. You should see for yourself. Miss Lester and Miss Grant are lucky to be alive.’
Chief of Police O’Neill stood silently, contemplating what he had heard.
Suddenly the telephone on the desk rang. The chief seemed to rouse himself out of a state of shock. He stepped towards the desk to take up the telephone.
‘Officer Sorenson at the County Hospital,’ a voice announced.
The chief said, ‘This is O’Neill. What about Dr Holmes? Is he still alive or did he die?’
‘He’s alive, sir. A skull fracture. They can fix him up.’
‘They’d better,’ said the chief of police. ‘I want him in good shape when he’s tried and sentenced to the gallows.’
His narrowed eyes lingered on Cathleen and Karen. Then they shifted to Bruce and Alan.
His gaze holding on the two young men, the chief said loudly and distinctly, ‘We’ll put Holmes on trial as soon as he’s well enough. I’ll send in our forensic experts to identify the remains.’ He paused, and grinned. ‘You’re free, Bruce, to go to the Everleigh Club - in fact all of you are free. Minna and Aida will be relieved to see you. And, adding my thanks, so am I.’
Bruce drove Minna’s Ford to 2131 South Dearborn Street and parked it in the reserved place in front of the Everleigh Club.
While Alan helped Cathleen out of the car, Bruce assisted Karen to the sidewalk. Together they hurried up the steps leading into the Everleigh Club.
As they hastened through the Club’s entrance, they saw rainbows of flowers reflected in gleaming mirrors. Cathleen, Karen, Alan, and Bruce were met by Minna and Aida, who had stationed themselves in the foyer to await their return.
The moment that Minna set eyes upon the new arrivals, her face lit up with relief and joy.
She rushed forward to fling her arms around Cathleen, and then around Karen.
‘You’re alive, you’re safe!’ Minna exclaimed. ‘Aida and I were desperate when Mr Pinkerton told us about Dr Holmes’s background. We’d been waiting on pins and needles for some word that you were alive. Thank heavens Bruce telephoned.’
‘They’re alive,’ Bruce said, ‘but it was close, very close, I can tell you that.’
‘What happened?’ Aida wanted to know. ‘Did Dr Holmes make advances to you?’
‘Yes, he made advances to Karen and me,’ answered Cathleen, ‘and when we rejected him, he was ready to kill us. We were rescued at the last minute by Alan and Bruce. Tell my aunts about it, Alan.’
Alan gestured to Bruce. ‘I’m still too shaky to be very articulate. I think Bruce can do a better job of it.’
‘It was pretty awful, and it was nip and tuck with the girls’ lives. I’ll make it brief. Here is what happened.’
Quickly, Bruce recounted what had taken place at Holmes’s Castle, from the time he and Alan had come calling to the terrible moments when they had prevented Holmes from gassing Cathleen and Karen.
‘We knocked him unconscious,’ concluded Bruce, ‘and after we pulled the girls out of that death chamber of his, we
carried him into it, sealed it, and held him there until Chief of Police O’Neill and Pinkerton arrived. The chief was concerned that Alan and
I had taken the law into our own hands without proof - actual proof - that Dr Holmes had ever done harm to anyone.’
‘But then the police found proof, in the basement, that Dr Holmes was a lunatic killer,’ added Alan.
Bruce was nodding his head. ‘Aunt Minna, Aunt Aida, the police found the remains of twenty-seven bodies in his basement.’
Aida covered her face. ‘Twenty-seven bodies,’ she said, shuddering.
Minna was horrified and saddened. ‘And our three missing girls our Everleigh Club girls Fanny, Avis, Greta they must have been among his victims.’
Bruce sighed. ‘I’m afraid so, Aunt Minna.’
‘How gruesome,’ said Minna. ‘Wait here.’ She disappeared into the hallway briefly and returned with her head servant. ‘Edmund, would you find Chet Foley in there, the reporter from the Chicago Tribune. Then go out to my car and carry in the ladies’ luggage, and unpack it in their rooms upstairs. And see that Cathleen’s wedding dress is prepared. But get Mr Foley first.’
When Edmund was gone, Minna turned to Bruce.
‘I owe this young man a story. I wouldn’t permit him to write about the Everleigh Club when he first came here. We were in trouble then. Now I should make it up to him. Bruce, I want you to repeat to him everything you told us about Dr Holmes. What you saw and what you learned from Mr Pinkerton.’
When Edmund reappeared with a puzzled Foley, Minna introduced him around and then directed him to Bruce. ‘My nephew has a story for you, Chet, a genuine scoop. He’ll tell you the whole thing.’
Enthusiastically, Foley located the ever-present notebook in his pocket, took out a pencil, and waited.
Concisely, but without loss of detail, Bruce recounted their adventure with Dr Herman Holmes and what Pinkerton and the police had learned about him.
‘Twenty-seven bodies,’ Foley noted on paper, wagging his head. ‘It’s the most awful thing I’ve ever heard. But what a great story. Thank you, Bruce. I’d better call it in for the next edition. Minna, may I use your telephone?’
‘Make yourself at home,’ said Minna, waving the others to follow Aida into the Club.
Leaving last, Minna could overhear Foley dictating his story on the telephone. She halted momentarily, listening to Foley trying to explain Dr Holmes’s psyche. ‘The nerve, the calculation and the audacity of the man were unparalleled,’ she heard Foley dictate. ‘Murder was his natural bent. Sometimes he killed from sheer greed of gain; more often to gratify an inhuman thirst for blood. Not one of his crimes, as far as we know, was the outcome of a sudden burst of fury “hot blood” - as the codes say. All were deliberate, planned, and concluded with consummate skill. To Dr Holmes murder was indeed a fine art, and he revelled in the lurid glamour cast upon him by his abnormal genius. The field of victims was open to him, since he served as the physician of the Everleigh Club and its thirty beautiful girls. Captured, he will be tried and-‘
Minna listened no longer.
Hastening ahead, Minna caught up with Aida and the others as they entered her beloved Gold Room.
Once inside, Minna took command, as was her habit.
The room was crowded. Surrounding the prince of Prussia, who had arrived an hour earlier, were members of his entourage - braid and medals everywhere and at least a dozen of the Everleigh Club’s most attractive girls. The majority of them surrounded Prince Henry, resplendent in his uniform with its elegant high-collared jacket, relaxing on a gold sofa with women on either side of him and at his feet. The sighing, teasing, and flattery of the girls was mixed with the
sounds of toasts and music from the five-piece orchestra playing in a distant corner.
Deftly, Minna guided her party around the room, introducing Cathleen, Karen, Alan, and Bruce to members of the German entourage.
When she reached Prince Henry, Minna waited for his attention and then drew Cathleen forward. ‘Your Royal Highness …’ Minna began.
Prince Henry rose to his feet at once.
‘… I want you to meet another guest who is being honoured here tonight,’ Minna continued. ‘This is Miss Cathleen Lester, whose marriage ceremony to Alan Armbruster will be performed here in your presence shortly.’
‘I am honoured, most honoured,’ said Prince Henry, bending slightly to kiss the top of Cathleen’s outstretched hand.
‘Your Highness,’ Minna went on briskly, ‘my niece will be feted before you are. Ladies first, you know. After that we’ll proceed with the banquet in your honour.’
‘I am absolutely delighted,’ said Prince Henry. ‘This long-desired visit to the Everleigh Club - how exquisite it is, how magnificent its occupants is the climax of my tour of your country.’
Minna introduced the others to the prince, then ushered him back to his place of comfort on the sofa.
Turning away, Minna caught Cathleen by the arm and led her aside. ‘Time to put on your wedding gown,’ she whispered, ‘as quickly as possible.’
Cathleen hugged and kissed her and ran off.
Now, after the close call at Holmes’s Castle, Bruce Lester wanted - more than ever before - an interval of privacy with Karen Grant.
Taking her by the hand, he led her first into the Japanese Room and then the Blue Room, but both were filled with chattering male guests and Everleigh girls.
At last, arriving at the Moorish Room, Bruce saw that it was unoccupied and he drew Karen inside.
‘I want to talk to you,’ he told her.
He led her across the brilliant Oriental carpet and between smoking incense burners to a small sofa. He sat her down, and then seated himself close to her.
‘Karen,’ he said, ‘you’ve known ever since we met I made it no secret - that I’m in love with you.’
‘Oh, Bruce,’ she said, her voice catching, putting her arms around him and kissing him. ‘And you know I’m in love with you.’
Separating himself from her, Bruce said, ‘I’ve been in love with you from the start, but I didn’t realize how much until I almost lost you at Holmes’s place. Now I want to - I want to discuss us.’
‘I’m ready,’ said Karen.
‘I’ve wanted to ask you to marry me. I want to marry you more than anything ’
‘Bruce, dear -‘
‘No, hear me out, Karen. There are problems. You’re a big-city girl. I’m a country boy. You’re a working woman, living fairly well on your own, I gather. I’m a fellow who runs a small Kentucky farm - and a home for my half-paralysed father. All I have to my name is a small stud farm and my winnings from the Derby. Eventually, I want to plough that money back into stallions and mares. I’ll hope to breed more Derby winners, always a long shot. If you married me, I’d be taking you back to an old house in Kentucky. We’d live with my father, a dear man, but he does need some attention. You’d be isolated from city life down there. I don’t know if that’s the kind of life I can ask you to share with me.’
Karen emitted a sigh. ‘Bruce, how can you be so smart in so many ways, and be so dumb about this? I love you. How many times do I have to tell you? I want to live with you wherever you live, however you live, because I want to be with you now and for ever. Bruce, stop being a donkey and
tell me you will marry me, the sooner the better, right now, here and now.’
In those seconds all of Bruce’s reservations had fled. ‘You mean that?’
‘I’ll prove it. Let’s get married tonight. The minute that minister has finished marrying your sister and Alan, let’s grab him and make him marry us too.’ ‘Karen, that’s perfect!’
He rose to his feet, pulling her up with him, and embraced her, smothering her with kisses. ‘Come on,’ he said, ‘let’s find the minister.’
He tried to take her hand to leave the Moorish Room, but she remained firmly planted, refusing to go.
‘Not so fast,’ she said, ‘not yet.’
He stood before Karen. ‘Why not? What’s wrong?’
Karen smiled sweetly. ‘I don’t think you should marry a virgin. I
think on your wedding night you should enjoy an experienced woman. Don’t you?’
Confused, Bruce hesitated. ‘Well, really, I don’t know.’
‘I know,’ said Karen. ‘Believe me, Bruce, it would be better. No fumbling, no tension, if we’re both experienced. After that, from our wedding night on, it will get better and better.’
‘You mean that, don’t you?’
‘I mean it. I’m ready. I still have my bedroom. Don’t you want to make a virgin happy?’
He kissed her. ‘You bet I do.’ He took her hand. ‘Right now.’
Slipping away from the banquet guests slowly filling the Everleigh Club, Karen and Bruce made their way to her room.
Once inside, Karen locked the door. There was only one lamp shining dimly. The rest of the room was dark.
Without a word they began to undress.
He was the first to strip and to stand nude. Standing apart from him, she dropped the last of her clothes.
His eyes widened as he took her in. ‘My God, I’ve never seen anyone so beautiful.’
She stared at him. ‘I’ve never seen a man undressed before…’
He went to her and pressing his body against hers, he could feel her heart thumping.
Taking her hand, he led her to the bed.
‘You know what to do?’ he asked softly.
‘I think so.’
She lifted herself on to the bed, and settled on her back, frightened and thrilled.
Lying close, Bruce kissed her on the mouth, ran kisses down her cheek and neck, until his lips found her nipples.
Her nipples hardened and his tongue on them began to arouse her. As he moved above her body, her hand went to the back of his head. ‘Please - please oh, please, don’t wait,’ she gasped. ‘I can’t stand this. Please do it. Do it now.’
He guided his hardened penis downward, and slowly, slowly he entered her.
‘Ahhh,’ she said. ‘Ahhh - deeper, deeper.’
He went in all the way, going slowly.
Once he stopped, drew himself back, and glanced down at the bed sheet.
(1988) The Golden Room Page 23