Both Illinois senators were also in attendance to address the two thousand assembled guests. Ile Chicago Baron was superb bo, th in design and construction. Abel had wound up spending well over a million dollars on the hotel, and it looked as though every permy had been put to good use. 'Me public rooms were large and sumptuous with high stucco ceilings and decorations in pastel shades of green, pleasant and relaxing; the carpets were thick. The dark green embossed 'B' was discreet but ubiquitous, adorning everything from the flag that fluttered on the top of the forty - two storey building to the neat lapel of the most junior bellhop.
'This hotel already bears the hallmark of success,' said J. Hamilton Lewis, the senior senator from Illinois, 'because, my friends, it is the man, not the building, who will always be known as "The Chicago Baron".'Abcl beamed with undisguised pleasure as the two thousand guests roared their approval.
Abel's reply of acknowledgment was well turned and confidently delivered, and it earned him a standing ovation. He was beginning to feel very much at home among big businessmen and senior politicians. Zaphia hovered uncertainly in the back - round during the lavish celebration : the oc - casion was a little too much for her. She neither understood nor cared for success on Abel's scale; and even though she could now afford the most expensive clothes, she still looked unfashionable and out - of - place, and she was only too aware that it annoyed Abel. She stood by while Abel chatted with Henry Osborne.
'This must be the high point of your life,' Henry was saying, slapping Abel on the back.
'High point - I've just turned thirty,' said Abel. A camera flashed as he placed an arm round Henry's shoulder. Abel beamed, realising for the first time how pleasant it was to be treated as a public figure. 'I'm going to put Baron hotels right across the globe,' he said, just loud enough for the reporter to hear. 'I intend to be to America what Cesar Ritz was to Europe. Stick with me, Henry, and you'll enjoy the ride.'
23
At breakfast the next morning, Kate pointed to a small item on page seventeen of the Globe, reporting the opening of the Chicago Baron.
William smiled as he read the article. Kane and Cabot had been foolish not to listen when he had advised them to support the Richmond Group. It pleased him that his own judgment on Rosnovski had turned out to be right even though the bank had lost out on the deal. His smile broadened as he read the nickname 'Me Chicago Baron. Then, suddenly, he felt sick. He examined the accompanying photograph more closely, but there was no mistake, and the caption confirmed his first impression: 'AbelRosnovski, the chairman~ of the Baron Group talking with Mieczyslaw Szymczak, a governor of the Federal Reserve Board, and Alderman Henry Osborne!
William dropped the paper on to the breakfast table and thought for a moment. As soon as he arrived at his office, he called Thomas Cohen at Cohen, Cohen and Yablons.
'It's been a long time, Mx. Kane,' were Thomas Cohen's first words. 'I was very sorry to learn of the death of your friend, Matthew Lester. How are your wife and your son - Richard - isn't that his name F William always admired Thomas Cohen's instant recall of names and relationships.
'Yes, it is. They're both weU, thank you, Mr. Cohen!
'Well, what can I do for you this time, Mr. Kane?' Thomas also remembered that William could only manage about one sentence of small talk.
'I want to employ, through you, the services of a reliable investigator. I do not wish my name to be associated with this enquiry, but I need another run - down on Henry Osborne. Everything he's done since he left Boston, and in particular whether there is any connection between him and Abel Rosnovski of the Baron Group.'
There was a pause before the lawyer said, 'Yes.'
'Can you report to me in one week?'
'Two please, Mr. Kane, two,'said Mr. Cohen.
'Full report on my desk at the bank in two weeks, Mr. Cohen?'
'Two weeks, Mr. Kane.'
Thomas Cohen was as reliable as ever, and a full report was on Wilham's desk on the fifteenth morning. William read the dossier with care. There appeared to be no formal business connections between Abel Rosnovski and Henry Osborne. Rosnovski, it seemed, found Osborne useful as a political contact, but nothing more. Osborne himself had bounced from job to job since leaving Boston, ending up in the main office of the Great Western Casualty Insurance Company. In all probability, that was how Osborne had come in contact with Abel Rosnovski, as the old Chicago Richmond had always been insured by Great Western. When the hotel burned down, the insurance company had originally refused to pay the claim. A certain Desmond Pacey, the manager, had been sent to prison for ten years, after pleading guilty to arson, and there was some suspicion that Abel Ros - novski might himself have been involved. Nothing was proved, and the insurance company settled later for threequarters of a mfllion dollars.