THE CHICAGO CAPER

THE SCENE

S.P. Keasy’s Grill on 23^rd Street, near Coppone’s Chicago headquarters, is a typical Chicago greasy spoon with a limited number of tables, a fat and unpleasant waitress and a few customers.  Those present are perhaps unusually watchful and seated so that they command a view of the street.  The knowledgeable speakeasy patron, after a not from the waitress, will make for the phone booth at the back of the room.  Entering this with the apparent intention of making a call, the customer will wait patiently while a hidden observer “checks him out”.  If the customer resembles neither a  copy nor a G-man, he (or she) will shortly find the wall of the phone booth --- phone and all swinging back to give access to an entirely different scene.  Sawdust is scattered on the floor; beer and liquor are being served to customers seated at numerous small tables; the place is packed, and the band is playing Chicago jazz.  Welcome to S.P. Keasy’s place.

You are in the back room at S.P. Keasy’s.  It’s Friday, September 28, 1928, 7:00 pm.  The proprietor – “Boots” Legger – is a woman as unscrupulous and outspoken as they come.  She greeted you and each of the other guests with enthusiasm and conducted you to the back room where she and her “goils” have been most attentive.  It is here that we will learn da secret of  “Hal” Coppone’s whereabouts.

THE SUSPECTS

Molly M. Awbasterr

A society dame from New York, where the Awbsterrs are a prominent and respected family, Molly came to Chicago for the action and because, in her own words, “Chicago is a fun town”.  Molly is a flapper from the top of the feather in her hat to the tip of her satin shoes and she maintains an apartment on the top floor of Chicago’s most exclusive apartment-hotel.  She is a consummate shopper, driving herself about town in an elegant Packard DeLuxe Eight Sport Phaeton automobile.  Friends and acquaintances call her “The Moll”.

 

 Ernie (“Bet a Million”) G. Ambler

Chicago’s most colorful millionaire gambler, Ernie parlayed a small stake into a stock exchange fortune early in the decade.  He still actively plays the stock market, but his favorite game is poker and he can often be found at a table in the notorious back room of Chicago’s Green Tables, where they play the “richest game in town”.  Ernie is flamboyant, outspoken, always ostentatiously dressed, and never without his gold dice and Havana cigar.  It is said that he will be on almost anything.

 

“Silky” M. Adam  (otherwise known as Slinky)

Silky is a slinky and shady lady who owns and operates The Everlay Club, Chicago’s most prominent private establishment situated in the exclusive Luxington Gardens district.  Silky’s father, “Champagne” Charlie McCorker, founded the club years ago, and his daughter, christened Penelope McCorker – know to friends as “Poppy” – took over management at about the time she married prominent Chicago businessman U. Penn Adam.  After here husband’s unexpected death, the young and beautiful owner became known as “Silky” for the elegant silk gowns she was accustomed to wearing in the evenings.  Silky counts among the club’ members the wealthiest and most influential citizen of Chicago, who despite their busy schedules, often stop at the club for an hour or two simply to pass the time in the club’s elegant and relaxing atmosphere.

 

Eddie (“Socks”) R. Gyle Smooth, fashionable and cleaver, Eddie is an avid golfer and spends most afternoons on the links at the exclusive LakeView Country Club dressed elegantly in plus fours and argyle socks.  In the evenings he can be found at this exclusive gaming house in downtown Chicago, know simply as Green Tables, where the affluent, the trendy and the compulsive citizens of Chicago come to gamble.  Those close to Eddie  also know him as a deal maker and in certain circles as “Fast Deal Eddie”, although what he deals in and with whom he deals is never mentioned.

 

Malissa F. Orrthot (“Scoop”)

As a young reporter for the city’s leading paper, The Chicago Trumpet, Scoop quickly made a name for herself on the crime beat, later covering the political scene.  Her considerable beauty and lively charm have undoubtedly helped further her career, and she enjoys a broad circle of influential and powerful friends on both sides of the law.  She counts as a close friend and ally the editor-in-chief of the paper, Augustus Kohn – know affectionately to his staff as “Citizen Kohn.”  Recently through, Scoop has written a series of articles exposing corruption in government and, as a result, has antagonized several of the city’s most powerful figures.  Undaunted by threats against the paper and herself, Scoop has vowed to carry on the crusade “until I’ve exposed every crook in Chicago”.

 

S. Treighton Harrow

U.S. District Attorney and chief opponent to the criminal element in Chicago, Harrow is single handedly responsible for bringing to justice several of crime’s most despicable practitioners.  Foremost among those convicted through Harrow’s efforts are mob hit man Charlie “Golf Bag” Marconi (who carried a machine gun in his golf bag) and Maximillion Buccher, alias Max the Butcher, alias Max the Knife.  Amidst the corruption and complacency that characterize Chicago law enforcement, Harrow stands out as a shining example.  Harrow carries on a tradition set by his renowned trial attorney father, Clarence D Harrow.  Nobody knows his first name.

 

Anna Maria Carlotta Sassine (“Torchy”) Currently the featured singer at Eddie Gyle’s Green Tables, Torchy has also appeared in many of the exclusive night clubs of Chicago and has sung with many of the town’s top jazz bands.  While she brings to music an exuberance of style enjoyed by fans of the modern sound, it is her rendition of the more traditional blues melodies and so-called “torch songs” that have earned her the nickname “Torchy”.  Her smoldering beauty and sultry voice contribute to Torchy’s appeal, as does an extensive repertoire that includes the latest in Chicago jazz, as well as more traditional blues numbers.

 

Billy (“the Kid”) Thrower

Star pitcher for the Chicago Stock Kings major league baseball team, Billy was born to play baseball.  His grandfather was Bulford “Bull” thrower, famed for his dreaded “mud-ball”.  Termed “almost impossible to hit”, the pitch suffered the disadvantage of requiring a muddy field or, in the alternative, a well-endowed cow pasture.  Grandson Bill has carried on Bull’s tradition and in his first major league game struck out 11 batters.  He currently holds the league strikeout record.  Off the field, Billy is as fun-loving, hard-drinking, warm-hearted, lustful, brawling and hell-raising as a baseball player can be.  He won 22 games for the team last season and is on a faster pace this year.

THE SCOOP

After an evening of shady dealings, sordid affairs, deceptive conduct and too much to drink, the majority of the guests were pointing fingers at Harrow and Scoop.    Here’s what really happened:

 

Torchy was hired by Harrow to kill Coppone.  She entered the Everlay Club thru the alley.  She found what she was looking for, fired and ran.  Unfortunately for her – she killed the wrong man.	Billy had the same task at Torchy – to kill Hal Coppone.  He believed (by Harrow) that it was “kill or be killed”.   His pitching skills enabled him to throw a bomb into Coppone’s car as it was speeding by.  Fortunately for Billy, Coppone was not in the car.
Harrow’s plan was to take over Coppone’s gang.  He hired a professional assassin “Torchy” and also engaged Billy.  Harrow’s attempts to take out Coppone were failures.	Scoop felt she had to kill Coppone as he wouldn’t leave her alone.  Scoop devised a plan to be delivered to Coppone’s vault in a crate but she barely had time to crawl out of the crate before finding herself in the back of a delivery truck making it’s route through the bumpy streets of Chicago.
Socks was a friend of Coppone’s and had no interest in killing him.  He did devise a plan to allow Coppone to “disappear” with all his money for a % of the cash.   He booked passage to Italy for 4 steamer trunks and was to have the money delivered to Green Tables disguised as liquor.   Harrow raided the joint and foiled the plan.	Molly didn’t want to kill Coppone but she was afraid of him.  She did work with Socks to deliver him to the Everlay Club.  Molly parked her Packard in a dark alley and waited for Coppone’s MacFarlan to arrive.  Coppone quickly left the limousine and hid in Molly’s car.  Molly parked her car in front of The Everlay Club.  Coppone climbed through the bootleggers trap door in the floor of the car, opened the manhole cover and dropped down into his own tunnel system.  Silky and Socks met him and took him to a room on the third floor of The Everlay Club.
Ernie was involved in the conspiracy.  He was to find a “dead body” that looked like Coppone.  He persuaded Lambert “Lam” S. Lauter to go to the third floor of The Everlay Club where he met his death by Torchy.  Two crates were filled – one with Lam (dead) and one with Coppone (alive) – appearing to be crates of Liquor were delivered to the vault.  Ernie bet Coppone would not return to Chicago the next day and he would collect on his winnings.	Coppone made a last minute change to the plan.  He wanted a “goil”.  His goons resisted as no one was to know Coppone was in the vault.  He looked at Silky – she agreed to get in the crate with him and go to the vault.  Once in the vault, Silky shot Coppone with his own gun.  There were several crates in the vault.  She quickly emptied one of the crates – filled it with money and directed it to The Everlay Club using Coppone’s secret code.  She climbed into another crate labeled for shipment to Augustus Kohn and was loaded into the truck.  She quickly polished off the driver and guard and took a taxi to The Everlay Club.  Later in the morning, the well organized Coppone system delivered a crate to The Everlay Club --- the crate contained the Coppone fortune!

THE REAL SCOOP

Silky got away with the murder and laughed all the way to the bank, with Harrow……..

	Billy in fact turned out to be lewd and Torchy loved it.
	Rumor has it she’s given up singing and he’s given up baseball.

Molly and Socks ended up together.

...And Scoop and Eddie made quite the pair.

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