over one hundred thousand dollars. Tle turnover among the senior staff was very low; Abel's confidence in the future of die group was infectious.
Abel set himself the target of breaking even in 1932. He felt the only way he could achieve such a rapid improvement in profitability was to let every manager in the group take the responsibility for his own hotel with a share in the profits, much in the way that Davis Leroy had treated him when he had first come to the Chicago Richmond.
Abel moved from hotel to hotel, never letting up, and never staying in one particular place for more than three weeks at a time. He did not allow anyone, other than the faithful George, his surrogate eyes and ears in Chicago, to know at which hotel he might arrive next. For months he broke this exhausting routine only to visit Zaphia or Curds Fenton.
After a full assessment of the group's financial position Abel had to make some more unpleasant decisions. The most drastic was to close temporarily the two hotels, in Mobile and Charleston, which were losing so much money that he felt they would become a hopeless drain on the rest of the group's finances. The staff at the other hotels watched the axe fall and worked even harder. Every time he arrived back at his little office - in the Richmond annex in Chicago there would be a clutch of memos demanding immediate attention - burst pipes in washrooms, cockroaches in kitchens, flashes of temperament in dining rooms, and the inevitable dissatisfied customer who was threatening a law suit.
Henry Osborne re - entered Abel's life with a welcome offer of a settlement of $750,000 from Great Western Casualty, who could find no evidence to implicate Abel with Desmond Pacey in the fire at the Chicago Richmond.
Lieutenant O'Malley's evidence had proved very helpful on that point.
Abel realised he owed him more than a milk shake. Abel was happy to settle at what he considered was a fair price but Osborne suggested to him that he should hold out for a larger amount and give him a percentage of the difference. Abel, whose shortcomings had never included speculation, regarded him somewhat warily after that: if Osborne could so readily be disloyal to his own c9mpany, there was little doubt that he would have no qualms about ditching Abel when it suited him.
In the spring of 1932 Abel was somewhat surprised to receive a friendly letter from Melanie Leroy, more welcoming in tone than she had ever been in person. He was flattered, even excited, and called her to make a date for dinner at the Stevens, a decision he regretted the moment they entered the dining room for there, looking unsophisticated, tired and vulnerable, was Zaphia.
Melanie, in contrast, looked ravishing in a long mint green dress which indicated quite clearl~ what her body would be like if the mint were removed. Her eyes, perhaps taking courage from the dress, seemed greener and more captivating than ever.
,ieswonderful to see you looking so well, Abel,' she remarked as she took her seat in the centre of the dining room, 'and of course, everybody knows how well you are doing with the Richmond Group!
'Me Baron Group,'said Abel.
She flushed slightly. 'I didn!t realise you had changed the name.'
Tes, I changed it last year,' lied Abel. He had in fact de cided at that very moment that every hotel in the group would be known as a Baron hotel. He wondered why he had never thought of it before.
'An appropriate name,'said Melanie, smiling.
Zaphia set the mushroom soup in front of Melanie with a little thud that.
spoke volumes to Abel. Some of the soup nearly ended up on the mint green dress.
Toxere not working?' asked Abel, scribbling the words 'Baron Group' on the back of his menu.
'No, not at the moment, but things are looking up. a little. A woman with a liberal arts degree in this city has to sit around and wait for every man to be employed before she can hope to find a job.'
'If you ever want to work for the Baron Group,' said Abel, emphadsing the name slightly, 'you only have to let me know.'
'No, no,'said Melanie. 'I'm just fine.'
She quickly changed the subject to music and the theatre. Talking to her was an unaccustomed and pleasant challenge for Abel; she teased him, but with intelligence. She made him feel more confident in her company than he had ever been in the past. The dinner