The Darling Dahlias and the Naked Ladies

She wasn’t, of course, since she already knew this part of the story. “Go on,” she said impatiently. “Go on, please.”


He gave her a questioning look. “Well, anyway,” he continued, “the shooting meant that the two of them, Miss Jamison and Miss Lake, had to get out of town fast. The Cicero police are in the pockets of the Capone syndicate, and Treasury couldn’t risk letting the boys in blue get their hands on Miss Jamison. Luckily, she had already made arrangements to come here. She needed a safe refuge while she and the Feds—and I—worked out the details of her testimony on the Capone tax evasion case. When it looked as if she would be charged with murder, Treasury asked me to negotiate some sort of deal with the Illinois authorities. And meanwhile, to make sure that she stayed safely under wraps.”

“She didn’t,” Lizzy said. “And she wasn’t.”

Mr. Moseley’s eyebrows went up. “Didn’t what?”

“Didn’t stay under wraps. And she wasn’t safe. She—”

“What?” Mr. Moseley jumped out of his chair. He put both hands flat, palms down, on his desk, and leaned on them. “What did you say?”

“They found her,” Lizzy replied. “That is, Frankie Diamond found her.”

“Frankie Diamond?” Mr. Moseley asked. “He didn’t hurt her, did he? Don’t tell me he managed to—”

“No, he didn’t—but he tried. He showed up day before yesterday at Verna’s door, looking for information about Lorelei LaMotte. He even had a photo of her, which was taken in front of the Western Hotel. That was a tip-off for Verna, because she had read in one of her crime magazines that the Western was Capone’s headquarters. She suspected that he was up to no good and called Miss Jamison’s place in Cicero. Mrs. O’Malley told her that Diamond was a friend of the Blade. So—”

“Mrs. O’Malley?” he interrupted, pulling his brows together in a frown. “Then you gave Verna—”

“Yes,” Lizzy said staunchly. “I gave Verna the name and phone number out of the file. And it’s a darn good thing I did, too,” she added. “Otherwise, Miss Jamison would likely be dead right now.”

“Dead?” Mr. Moseley’s eyebrows flew up. “You mean, Frankie Diamond tried—”

“Exactly. To kill Miss Jamison.” Lizzy took a deep breath and pushed ahead. “Verna asked Bessie Bloodworth and me to shadow him, and there was an argument outside of Mann’s and Diamond started pushing me and Bessie Bloodworth around and Mr. Mann came out and threatened to tar and feather him because he suspected him of being a revenue agent. But Buddy—”

Mr. Moseley interrupted again. “Archie Mann suspects every stranger of being a revenue agent, Liz. He’s only right fifty percent of the time.”

Lizzy nodded and went on, hurrying to get it all out before she was interrupted again. “Buddy Norris rode up on his motorcycle and collared Diamond and put him on the train. But before he did that, Leona Ruth Adcock spilled the beans on where Miss Jamison was staying. So Diamond jumped off the train and came back to town and went to Miss Hamer’s house to try and shoot her through the kitchen window after it got dark. But Sally-Lou and DessaRae banged on pots and sang and Miss Hamer gave him the Rebel yell, which finished him off. Buddy Norris nabbed him and put him in jail, which is where he is right now.” Lizzy stopped, concerned that she might have mixed things up a bit or left out something important. “But of course,” she added, “Verna and Bessie and I had no idea about the tax case against Al Capone, or that Miss Jamison was a witness.”

“My god.” Mr. Moseley was staring at her. “You’re telling me that all this happened yesterday, while I was in Montgomery arranging Miss Jamison’s plea bargain? And that you were involved? You and the other . . . Dahlias?”

“Well, yes, I guess you’d have to say we were involved. You don’t have to worry, though. Miss Jamison is safe. Only she’s not a platinum blonde anymore. Beulah dyed her brown, and Miss Lake is wearing Beulah’s old red wig. Nobody will ever recognize either of them. And Frankie Diamond is in jail.”

Mr. Moseley was reaching for his jacket, thrusting his arms into it. “Diamond’s been booked? On what charge?”

“Attempted assault with a deadly weapon, attempted burglary, and trespassing. Oh, and disturbing the peace. And anything else that Deputy Norris was able to think of.”

Mr. Moseley was already on his way to the door. Liz got up and followed him.

“I’m going over to the jail, Liz. Telephone Sheriff Burns and tell him to meet me there, pronto.” He grabbed his hat from the coat tree and jammed it on his head. “I want to see that deputy, too. The kid deserves a medal. And there may be a reward, as well. Diamond is wanted on suspicion in a pair of murders last month in a Chicago whorehouse.”