“The hardware store?” Sam asked.
“Yes. Well, first the pool hall beside it; that’s where the hidden entrance is.”
Doris turned down a side street and parked. Alistair leapt out of the rumble seat and took on his human form in time to open the door for Sam.
“Thanks,” Sam said, looking a little flustered.
“Of course.” Alistair caught his hand and brought it to his lips for a courtly kiss.
Doris sighed. “Stop making eyes at each other. We’re not here to have fun.”
“Doris doesn’t approve of fun,” Alistair said.
“I don’t approve of you getting distracted, when we’re walking into the casino of a man who might have ordered Eldon killed,” she corrected. “And since when do you care about fun? You’re practically a hermit.”
“I am not,” he protested as she led the way to the pool hall.
“You spend all your time in The Pride’s office or your bedroom, you only go out into the sunlight if one of us drags you out, and we’ve had bets on how many days you go without talking to anyone but Wanda. And you only do that because you share the office with her.”
Alistair frowned. It wasn’t that Doris was wrong, but surely it hadn’t gotten that bad, had it?
He glanced at Sam, who was watching him with a worried expression. “Doris is exaggerating,” he said, though he wasn’t entirely sure that was true.
“Liar.” She stepped through the open door into the pool hall, and they followed.
The place wasn’t exactly fancy, but other well-dressed patrons were there also, making their way toward the back. If the police hadn’t been paid to look the other way, even the dimmest rookie could have figured out something was going on here.
The pool hall was doing a respectable business of men in more casual dress, gathered around the pool tables and drinking near beer. “No illegal alcohol or gambling on this side of the wall,” Alistair murmured to Sam. “The coppers are making a mint to sit around and do nothing, but every once in a while you get some politician or journalist looking to stir up trouble.”
“Does Ursino own both buildings?” Sam whispered back.
“That he does. One pays better than the other, of course. Though there’s also a real hardware store in the front.”
Near the back of the pool hall, in the wall shared with the hardware store, was a steel door. A man with a club stood casually beside it. A couple in evening dress approached and spoke with him, but he shook his head. The woman took some money out of her purse, but the guard said, “Sorry, lady, you ain’t going through that door without the right kind of pass.”
“Well fuck you, you big palooka,” she snapped, before storming away with her companion scurrying after.
Alistair glanced at Sam and saw a line of sweat on his brow. If the hex had been miscopied or didn’t work, they’d have to find another way inside. Reinhold had charged it earlier, so it must do something or else the magic wouldn’t have taken, but that didn’t mean the effect would be the right one.
Doris strolled confidently up to the guard, taking the copied hex from her purse as she did so. His eyes scanned her appreciatively, before he took the hex. “Haven’t seen you here before, doll. First time?”
“Yes,” she said, and left it at that.
Alistair almost wished Philip were with them to charm the guard. “We’ve heard a lot about the joint,” he said and tried to look enthusiastic about a night of gambling.
The guard slipped a hexlight out of his pocket and pressed the hex to it, murmuring the control phrase. The hexlight lit up, then shifted hue, flashing from blue to green to red and back in a specific sequence. Alistair held his breath and hoped it was the right one.
The guard put the light back in his pocket along with the spent hex and nodded. “Go on in, folks. Have a good night.”
“I’m sure we will,” Alistair said, and followed Doris through the steel door.
18
Sam tried not to stare, but it was impossible. As with The Pride, The Black Rabbit’s interior was radically different from its exterior. They passed from a dingy pool hall into a lavishly carpeted hallway lit by hexlights and electricity both. The lights glittered in the glass prisms dangling from the chandeliers above, and from the jewels adorning the necks of women and ties of men. Immediately after the coat check was a row of bookies, and beyond them an enormous bar that made the one at The Pride look tiny. Servers circulated with flutes of champagne, and one approached him.
“Complimentary champagne?” she asked with a smile. Sam tried not to stare, but her dress was so scanty she might have been performing in a burlesque.
“Thanks,” he stammered, and took a flute he had no intention of drinking.
Alistair and Doris did the same. Once the server had moved off, Sam said, “What’s the plan?”
“I’d like to know if there’s any way of getting into Ursino’s office to search it,” Doris said. “He might have some files that would give a hint about whether or not he had Eldon killed, and where the hex might be.”
“To that end, we need to get chips, wander a bit, and play some of the tables so no one realizes we’re casing the joint,” Alistair said. “We’ll stick together for now, but I want to chat with the staff and see if I can find a casual way of bringing up Eldon. Sam, if any other customers strike up a conversation with you, say your cousin is the one who mentioned The Black Rabbit to you. Make sure to use Eldon’s name.”
Sam nodded. He hadn’t realized Doris meant to try and find a way into Ursino’s office. That sounded dangerous.
The place was a bit of a maze, with different rooms dedicated to different games. Men and women crowded around tables offering poker, faro, and roulette. Shouts of triumph and loss cut through the din of laughter, chatting, and clinking glasses. Cigarette smoke filled the air, mingling with the smell of sweat and perfume.
“Ursino’s making more money than God,” Doris said, sounding impressed.
A cigarette girl in a pillbox hat approached, beaming at them. “Cigarettes? Gum? Peanuts?”
“Lucky Strikes, please,” Alistair said. He seemed so sophisticated it made Sam feel yet again like a country bumpkin.
He wasn’t certain what future they had—what future they even could have. Things were new and exciting right now, but how long would it be before Alistair got bored with him?
That was a problem for another time. Sam didn’t know how to play either faro or poker, so they went to the roulette room. The big room had multiple tables and was open to the story above. An upstairs balcony overlooked it, though there was no obvious stairway leading to the second floor.
“Ursino’s office must be up there,” Doris murmured with a glance at the balcony. “Probably likes to come out and look over his little kingdom.”
“The balcony is a weak point,” Alistair said, pausing to light a cigarette. “Philip could get up there in seconds.”
They went to one of the roulette tables. Anti-cheating hexes were inscribed on the green felt, matching the ones Sam had already noticed on the chips. They played for a few minutes; Doris won a small amount, Alistair broke even, and Sam promptly lost most of his chips.