"So far, this saga of Annie Quincy is going just like we thought. The good reverend set her up as a domestic so's he could visit her without anyone knowing about it."
"The trysting place," Cynthia said absentmindedly as she began to prepare dinner.
"Now you've got a clue to where she stayed," Dean said to his stepfather. "All you have to do is find out what property 'Mrs. Cummings' owned a hundred years ago."
"If you do find out, I'm not sure I want to know," Cynthia said. "I'm more interested in live people and guests in Bird Song, not some revenant. We have enough to be concerned with today's problems without having to clutter my mind about the happenings of a century ago."
"How's the rest of your research coming?" Dean asked Fred.
"Claire spent most of the day hogging the microfilm machine at the library but me and Donnie managed an hour or two. We did some digging in old records at the museum as well. Most of what we found was info on the dance halls and clubs. Fascinating stuff."
"Did you find out where Annie worked?"
"No, but most of the business was done down on Second street, between Seventh Avenue and Eighth. Names like The Morning Star, The Monte Carlo, The Clipper, The Cottage and The Club were on the west side. Across the street, right behind the Western Hotel, you had The Bird Cage, The Bon Ton, The Temple of Music and then Ashenfelter's stables that Annie mentions hearing the men loading the pack animals. In between were the cribs, where the girls stayed. She must have lived close to the stables but there's no telling where she worked. It could have been in any one of the clubs."
"It sounds like sin was a very big business," Cynthia offered as she stirred a pot of fish chowder.
"Supply and demand," Dean answered. "The last century Ouray sold flesh, this century it's tee shirts."
"There were some mighty interesting characters," Fred said. "Like Loco Lil, the madam at the Bird Cage, piano players and the gamblers. They came from all over. The town was teeming with 'em."
Dean turned to Fred. "Who was this Vanoli guy Annie mentions?"
Fred took on the air of a learned professor as he explained. "You can't read about prostitution in Ouray without coming across the name Vanoli. John and an older brother Dominic owned a bunch of different places. In 1888 John shot and killed a man in one of his clubs, 'The 220.' He served eight months in jail. Vanoli's Gold Belt Theater was the place that got the most attention, but he owned The Roma that Annie mentions, plus saloons up in Red Mountain and I guess other places. He owned a bunch of 'female boarding houses,' as well. In 1895 he shot another guy, but this time he was acquitted."