She didn’t actually enter the saloon, of course. She slipped down the alley, found a nondescript door and knocked a coded knock. This put her in mind of her question to Anna about spirits knocking out messages, but then the sliding panel in the door opened, distracting her from her musings. A curious eye peered out, and then the door opened at once.

“Contessa!” the elderly man said with obvious pleasure, using the title of respect she had earned. “Come in, come in.”

“How are you, Spuds?” she asked.

Spuds, so called because his face resembled a dried-up potato, grinned. “I’m better for seeing you. I am guessing you’re here for the Old Man.”

“Good guess!”

“He’s out, but I expect him soon. Come in and say hello to the fellas.”

Spuds led her back to a large room where several men of various ages sat playing cards or reading the Daily Racing Form and arguing over upcoming races. Dan the Dude’s back room was where New York City con men gathered to tell one another lies and hopefully meet up with someone who had a job for them. She knew every man there, and they enjoyed a few minutes of conversation where they teased her about marrying a Mr. Bates, which was her new husband’s name but also what con artists called their marks.

After a while, Spuds went to answer another knock, and a silver-haired gentleman wearing a tailor-made suit came in. The Old Man was already smiling because Spuds had told him Elizabeth was waiting for him.

“Lizzie,” he said with mock consternation, “what are you doing talking to all these old reprobates?”

“You mean, when I could be talking to just one old reprobate?” she asked, making everyone laugh.

“Exactly. Come into my office before you are completely corrupted.”

Elizabeth followed him into his spartan office and waited while he dusted off the visitor’s chair with his snowy white handkerchief. When she was seated beside his desk and he was comfortably ensconced in his own chair, he said, “Does Gideon know you’re here?”

“Do you think I need my husband’s permission to visit my own father?”

He didn’t exactly roll his eyes, but he might as well have. “If you want to visit me, you invite me to dinner. If you want to see me on business, you come here. So, does Gideon know you’re planning another con?”

“Not yet,” she said shamelessly.

The Old Man groaned with feigned dismay.

“He’ll be only too happy about it when he finds out, though,” she said.

He didn’t seem so sure. “Who are you helping this time?”

“Anna Vanderslice.”

He blinked in surprise. “How has the lovely Miss Vanderslice gotten herself into a situation that requires her to be rescued?”

“She hasn’t. It’s her mother. She’s been going to séances.”