[October 1931]

The three occupants of the home near Troy in upstate New York listened avidly to the daily reports of the trial for Tax Evasion of their one-time client, Al Capone. They knew more than most about the goings on of the Chicago Mob of the 1920’s. As transporters of illegal beer, they knew all the where and when and how much stuff was moved around. They knew to keep their mouths shut in the event of them being apprehended by one of the many arms of US Law Enforcement. They did have some information that might be used to broker a deal but otherwise, they would keep silent. They hoped that as a fairly minor cog in the big wheel of Prohibition Busting operations that went on in 1920's Chicago they'd slip through the net that the Feds were casting around.

There was a lot of gossip about the trial in Albany along with a lot of uninformed speculation. More than once did the trio have to bite their lip and keep quiet when the radio reports got it totally wrong.

Stella had started recording every business transaction in her diaries as soon as they decided to put an exit plan in place. The numbers of killings had made them nervous but getting the delivery contract for Capone’s Mob had kept them relatively safe from inter gang violence. The inherent protection provided by the Capone gang had been worth it despite the risks. Bugsy had also gotten delivery contracts with some other players on the Chicago scene. Bugsy played fair with all his suppliers and customers. They knew that he did not try to rip anyone off so he survived.

That protection would not stop a rival gang that wasn’t a client from tipping off the Police about a shipment. The increasing loss of product to the Law despite increased Mob protection was a worry to all of them.

All the time Stella was sitting in the background pretending to look pretty, she was making notes of what was going on around them. It was the perfect cover. Every two weeks, George would mail a package to their Lawyer in Albany. He had kept all the unopened packages in his safe until the girls had moved to Troy.

All that insurance data was safely buried in a waterproof cache near their cabin. They never knew when their past would catch up with them even this far from Chicago. The incident the previous year with the Johnson Brothers had brought their situation back into their minds.

“Who will they go after now that Big Al is locked up?” asked Stella the evening when they heard the verdict in the Tax Evasion trial.

“There will be a bit of limbo for a while but then they’d go after the next level mobsters.”

“Like we were?”

“Who knows eh? But we were never ‘Mobsters’ as we didn’t carry guns or threaten people but that might not dissuade the Feds from taking an interest. But, we’ve been out of the limelight for quite a while now. We never made the sort of money that the likes of Capone and Moran did. Selling the hooch was where the big bucks was made not in the trucking business.”

“I hope so. I really hope so,” said Stella with more than a tinge of sadness in her voice.

---

As winter drew closer, the Thomas Twins started making wood deliveries. They’d taken over the Johnson Brothers wood supply business. Both of them had been laid off in late 1929 from local Savings and Loan Company. They were only too glad to get some gainful employment.

The Police still had the Johnson Brothers Truck in their evidence compound. They’d seized it as proceeds of illegal operations. Luckily, it came up for Auction a week before Thanksgiving. The Girls had loaned the Thomas Twins the money to buy the truck. They got it for around twenty percent of its true value so everyone felt happy.

That loan was partially paid off when the Twins arrived with a full load of wood. That was more than enough to last the winter. They’d also done a deal with the Twins that any family with children that were unable to pay for wood for heating and cooking were to be given it and that they’d pay the balance. The scenes in downtown Albany whenever they went into town were growing more and more desperate by the week. So many men were literally begging for food. The newspapers told the same story from across the nation.

Two days before Thanksgiving George drove the two girls into town to try to get some supplies for the holiday. Most stores had closed but a few people with a Hog or even better a few Turkeys were willing to barter were in town hoping to make a few trades. Eggs, Chickens and wood changed hands and everyone went home happy. Despite this, Stella was unhappy. This poverty brought back too many memories of her childhood in a mining town in West Virginia.

Her family never had much real money. Her father was paid in ‘scrip’ that could only be redeemed at the company store for inferior goods at vastly inflated prices. She left home when she was twelve so that she would not be a burden on her parents. She went to work at a big house just over the border in Arkansas. It was not a happy experience. Her ‘master’ tried to rape her on her second night. She fought back and took the knife that her father had given her and stuck it right in his penis. Then she ran.

At first, she went back to West Virginia but she wasn’t safe. The man’s family ‘owned’ a lot of people. It was only too easy for some of them to come across the state line and take her back to stand justice. Her Grandfather on her Father’s side took her by train to St Louis where she simply walked into an orphanage and gave them a false name. At least there, she was safe from those back home.

The memories of her childhood and of wearing the same thin cotton dress for six months at a time came back to her every time they went into Albany. Ethel tried hard but it was tough going to keep Stella on the straight and narrow.

On this particular day, Ethel was going to treat Stella to Lunch in the ‘Grand Hotel’. It was hardly ‘Grand’ any longer and was only open because it was opposite the Railroad Depot. People with a few dollars in their pocket would rest up there while they waited for their connecting train.

They’d just finished eating when three policemen burst into the restaurant. At first the two girls froze but it was soon very clear that the officers were after another diner.

They hauled him out of his seat and quickly put the handcuffs on him. Both Stella and Ethel breathed sighs of relief as the man was virtually frogmarched out of the building.

Once they’d gone, there was a general buzz of conversation in the restaurant. Ethel and Stella listened intently to what was being said. They knew who the man was the instant the Police had hauled him out of his seat. He was Sean O’Flaherty or at least that was the name that he’d gone by when they’d dealt with him in Chicago in the past. He ran the Irish Gangs that controlled the Railroad Depot and the Docks. Most of the workers were of Irish descent so it was fruitless for the Italian Mob to wage war against them as they knew only too well that the saying ‘Blood is thicker than water’ held very true. The Bugsy Stallone Trucking Company dealt with both of them and had remained in business for as long as it had by not trying to pull a fast one with either their suppliers or customers. They were not aligned with any side so made an ideal organisation to move goods between the different organisations.

The girls knew that Sean had family in Boston so they guessed that he was in Albany waiting for the next train East.

When they finished their meal, they paid the bill and left the restaurant only to bump into Agent Gillespie. He was running up the steps to the hotel just as Stella emerged from the front door. They both collided and tumbled to the ground.

“Sorry,” breathed a breathless Agent.

“And so, you should be. You were not looking where you were going,” exclaimed Stella as she brushed herself off.

The Agent looked long and hard at her and was about to say something when he stopped.

Then he said,
“I am so sorry. I was looking for two Police Officers. Have you seen them?”

Stella smiled and said in her best West Virginia accent,

“Why Yes. I do believe that they arrested a man who was dining in the restaurant less than ten minutes ago.”

“Thank you Ma’am.”

The Agent tipped the hat that he’d now put back on his head and left in hurry.

Ethel stepped forward and gripped Stella’s arm.

“Steady love. Take deep breath. One breath at a time. In, Out. Slowly…”

Stella swore like only someone from West Virginia could. Thankfully she kept it quiet. Ethel knew that Stella wanted to scream.

George saved the day by arriving with their car.
Ethel quickly ushered Stella into the back and got in behind her.

“I got us a Turkey!” exclaimed George.

“Shut up and drive. Go west,” said Stella in a voice that told George that something was wrong, very wrong.

Once they’d left the city, George turned the car into a side road and drove out of sight of the main highway. Then he stopped.

Stella was still shaking. Ethel was holding her tight.

“Stella literally ran into Agent Gillespie as we came out of the Hotel. The Police just arrested Sean O’Flaherty. He was eating Lunch a few tables away from us,” said Ethel.

George swore.
“Did he recognise you?”

“I think that he may well have done. Even if he didn’t, Stella got an awful fright.”

Stella had managed to stop shaking.

“I’m sure he did. He was about to say something but stopped as he helped me to my feet. I’m sure he saw this.

Stella pulled back the cuff of her coat.

Both Ethel and George knew what she meant. Stella had gotten burned on the back of her wrist as a child. The shape of the burn was like a small horseshoe. Stella had been a person of interest to the Department in Chicago and had been taken ‘downtown’ a couple of times for questioning. She’d played the dumb blonde role perfectly and nothing had come of it but both times she was in custody, it was Agent Gillespie that had led the questioning. She’d said nothing and her pretending to know nothing was eventually believed.

“We could be in trouble,” said Ethel.
“If Gillespie can get Sean O’Flaherty arrested here then we are obviously at risk.”

Neither of the others were going to argue with Ethel on that.

“What do we do?” asked George.
“Do we make a run for it?”

“I think we will have to but not until tonight. The last thing we need is to be caught digging up our stash now is it?” replied Ethel.

George and Ethel both looked at Stella. For a bit she didn’t say anything.

Then she said,
“I’m done running. I like it here. We never did anything to attract a Federal Warrant. Sure, we hauled a load of hooch but we never took it across state or even city lines. That’s a state matter isn’t it? The O’Flaherty’s? That’s another matter entirely. It was common knowledge that they’d got a load of boats bringing in loads of stuff over the lake from Canada.”

Ethel sighed.
“That won’t stop them from hauling us in and making us sweat for a few days.”

What she’d said was right on the nail.

“I think we should go home and carry on as normal. If they come calling then we will have to deal with it,” said Stella.

“What about me?” asked Ethel.

“We’ve talked about this often enough. Ask for a Doctor. A woman Doctor before they do anything,” argued Stella.

Then she smiled,
“After asking for your lawyer naturally.”

Silence fell over the car. The decision had been made.

Several minutes later, Ethel said,
“Time to go home George. Drive slowly, as if nothing had happened.”

“Gotcha Miss Ethel.”

Then he started the engine and drove them home.

---

The next night, Thanksgiving, George drove Ethel back into Albany. George bought a ticket to New York and got on the last train of the day south. Ethel drove home. They hadn’t said a word while they were in town. The girls had persuaded George to go away for at least the time being. If nothing happened then he’d come back after Christmas.

They’d had the Turkey for lunch that day. There was not a lot to be thankful for with the threat of being arrested hanging over them but they tried to make their ‘last supper’ enjoyable as possible.

It was more than a week later that the Feds arrived. More than fifty agents all armed with tommy guns surrounded the house in the woods where the girls lived.

“Come out with your hands up Bugsy. The place is surrounded!” said Agent Gillespie using a ‘bull horn’.
One of the agents standing near him fired a burst into the air for good measure.

The door to the house opened and Stella stepped out with her hands raised. She’d put on her heavy winter coat as there had been several inches of snow on the ground for a couple of days. The air was cold. The agents breaths were clearly visible in the bright sunlight.

Stella stepped forward about ten yards and stopped.

Ethel followed her out of the house. She stood a couple of yards away from Stella.

Agent Gillespie shouted through the bull horn once more.

“Where’s the other one?”

Stella looked at Ethel who nodded back.

“He’s gone. He took off last week,” she shouted back.

Agent Gillespie said something to another agent. Then a wave of them came forward and quickly handcuffed the women. They were tossed into the back of a windowless van and driven away.

Some five hours later the van pulled up and the doors opened.

“Come on you two. Get yourself out of there,” shouted a man.

Two very, very cold women slowly got out of the van. The sound of a ship’s horn told them that they were probably in New York or failing that, Boston.

“Get inside!” shouted one of the guards.
They didn’t need to be asked again. The freezing wind was even worse than the back of the van which was unheated.

Once inside the women were separated. As they were shown into different rooms, the smiled at each other and were no doubt wondering when they were even going to see each other again.

---

“So, Bugsy. Living as a woman eh? That’s a good one,” said Agent Gillespie about an hour later.

Ethel was cold and tired and thirsty.

“Lawyer and a Doctor!”

“Now not Bugsy. Don’t do that to me. We have you bang to rights. Come clean and maybe I’ll put in a good word for you with the Judge.”

“Lawyer and a Doctor!” repeated Ethel.

“Why would you need a Doctor? We all know what’s under those clothes. Bugsy Stallone in all his finery!”
Agent Gillespie laughed.

“Don’t you look a sight! There is no way you’d pass in my eyes. I know you of old. Just your luck that we’d gone to Albany to arrest O’Flaherty. Chicago is a mere shadow of its former self especially since Big Al got sent to Federal Prison. He’s not so big now is he eh? Plus, he’s down to be shipped to Alabama any day now. That means the chain-gang for him. I’m looking forward to sending you down there to join him very shortly. It will be like old times eh? Capone and Stallone sharing a cell. Wonderful!”

Ethel could tell that Gillespie was enjoying this.

“Lawyer and a Doctor! If you can’t get me one then put me in front of a Judge. I’d love to know what FEDERAL Laws I’ve broken.”

The smile disappeared from Gillespie’s face.

“Don’t talk back to me. I make the law around here.”

Ethel raised an eyebrow.
“Really? I thought Congress and the Senate makes the laws. You are only here to uphold them, aren’t you?”

Gillespie reached over the table that separated them and slapped Ethel. A cut on her cheek started bleeding.

“Resisting arrest again! Tut-tut. You crooks never learn!”

“Lawyer and Doctor and put me in front of a Judge. I’m never gonna speak to you!”

“Persistent… I’ll give you that.”

Gillespie stood up and left Ethel alone with her cheek still bleeding.

He repeated the process with Stella and got exactly the same result. This frustrated the hell out of him so he tried again and failed.

It was late in the day so he got the girls sent to the cells with instructions for them not to have any contact with the outside world nor any food or drink. He would see how they reacted in the morning.

---

To his immense frustration, there was no change in their responses the next morning.

“Ok, have it your way. I can keep you here forever if I want to and at the moment, I’m minded to do just that. I’ll get you to talk one way or the other. Have it your way.”

Ethel glared at him.
“If you would actually ask a question then you might get an answer. But I’d need a lawyer here and I want to see a Doctor.”

“Oh! The fake woman has a voice.”

“You know what I want…. I want everything. I own you. You are nothing. Understand that?”

“You don’t own me. You are nothing. You are going to have to put me in front of a judge sooner or later then you will get what you deserve or are you planning on killing me? Why don’t you do it right now eh?”

Agent Gillespie fumed internally. There was no way this fake woman was going to get the upper hand with him.

Ethel carried on baiting Agent Gillespie for another ten minutes. In the end, he hit her really hard. This time, the force of the blow knocked her off the chair and she banged her head against the wall of the room.

“Shit!” exclaimed Agent Gillespie as Ethel remained motionless on the floor.

He ran from the room to get help.

It was more than ten minutes later that Agent Gillespie returned with two other agents. Ethel was still lying on the floor.

“Sorry Boss. We need a Doctor. She’s obviously unconscious and needs medical help.”

“Stop calling her a her. That is Bugsy Stallone in a dress.”

“Who?” asked one of the other agents.

“He ran hooch for Capone back in the twenties.”

“Never heard of him,” exclaimed the other one.

“He was a serious player in Chicago.”

“That’s why we’ve never heard of him. Are you sure he’s wanted here?”

“Of course, he’s wanted. He was part of Capones gang.”

“I’ll go and find a doctor. Doc Robbins was around earlier.”

Agent Gillespie thought for a moment. Then he said,

“Go on before I change my mind.”

The agent disappeared.

A little while later, the agent returned with a man who was carrying a medical bag.

The doctor bent down and examined Ethel. After a minute he sat up.

“This woman needs to be taken to Hospital. At least for observation.”

“She can’t. She’s under arrest.”

“On what charge Boss? There is nothing in the daily log about her or the other woman.”

Agent Gillespie looked at the agent with glaring eyes.

“What other woman?” asked the Doctor.

Agent Gillespie didn’t answer.

“She’s in the room next door.”

The Doctor stood up.

“Show me. This other woman can fill me in on her medical history.”

“Doc… That’s not a woman. That’s a man in a dress. He’s a fugitive from Chicago.”

The Doctor glared back at Agent Gillespie. He started to say something but stopped.

“I need to speak to this other woman now.”
Then he spoke to the second agent.
“Please go and organise an ambulance right away.”

“Those two are not going anywhere. They are under arrest.”

The Doctor ignored him and went into the next room where Stella was being held.

Once inside, he told the other agent to wait outside.
“Medical Confidentially and all that.”

With the door closed he sat next to Stella.

“Doc Robbins at your service. Tell me about your friend… Ethel I think her name is.”

“Why what’s happened?”

“Agent Gillespie lost his temper. I understand her name is Ethel? Anyway, she is lying on the floor unconscious. I think she will be fine but I want to take her into Hospital for treatment and at least overnight for observation.”

Stella thought for a moment.

“Is Agent Gillespie still saying that she is really a he?”

The doctor nodded.

“She isn’t a he.”

The doctor smiled.

“That’s what I thought. I saw her breasts when I examined her. Why is Agent Gillespie so convinced that she’s a man?”

Stella smiled.

“We ran a transport business in Chicago. Ethel lived and dressed as a man. If she hadn’t we would have got nowhere in business. He was known as Bugsy Stallone. I was his broad.”

The doctor laughed.
“You two should write a book… when the statute of limitations has run out naturally.

He stood up.
“I’ll see if I can get you two released. Agent Gillespie is in for a bit of a shock. Do you know what you are going to be charged with?”

“I have no idea at all. We were in Chicago. As far as I know, we have done nothing wrong outside of the City of Chicago so there really is no reason for the Feds to be holding us. Agent Gillespie was based in Chicago when we were operating so perhaps it is a case of sour grapes.”

The Doctor thought for a second. Then he said,
“Have you asked for a Lawyer?”

“Yes, many times. I’ve not had any food or drink since we were taken from our home.”

“Where is that home?”

“Troy. Not far from Albany.”

The doctor shook his head.

“Don’t quote me on this but it sounds like Agent Gillespie is doing this without proper authorisation.”

Then he stood up and rapped on the door.

“I’ll be back soon. I’ll make sure that Ethel is looked after at the Hospital.”

“Thanks Doc.”

“Oh, and don’t say anything to Gillespie. I’m sure that he knocked Ethel over despite his denials. He’s saying that she was resisting arrest. Her hands were still cuffed so this resisting charge is clearly bogus. Going after mobsters is one thing but beating the hell out of a woman is a bad move in my eyes.”

Once outside, the Doctor looked in on Ethel. She was starting to come around.

He comforted her until the ambulance team arrived.

“He’s going nowhere without handcuffs and one of my people at her side,” demanded Agent Gillespie.

“Ok but if your people get in the way of treatment then they will have to leave. Understand?”

“They are not going to let him out of their sight.”

The Doctor ignored him and watched as Ethel was transferred to a stretcher. Gillespie quickly handcuffed her and order one of his men to go with Ethel.

---

At the Hospital, another doctor examined Ethel and agreed with Doctor Robbins on the diagnosis of concussion.

“Take her to Ward Three,” the Hospital Doctor ordered.

“Excuse me Doc, that’s a man in a dress. His name is Bugsy Stallone,” said the Agent who had accompanied them to the Hospital.

The Doctor smiled.
“Who told you this?”

“My Boss. Special Agent Gillespie.”

“Well Agent, you are wrong. Two doctors have examined the patient and both agree that the patient is female. Perhaps you should report back on this?”

“I’m not to let him out of my sight.”

“Even so you can use the ‘john’?”

The agent didn’t answer but followed the orderlies who were taking Ethel to a female ward for observation.

When they’d gone, Doc Robbins went to a phone.

“Grammercy Two Two Nine Three please?” he said when the operator came on the line.

“William? Barney Robbins…”

“I’m fine and so is Mary. I’m calling because there are two Women being held at the Agency and they need legal representation. They were brought down from Troy yesterday. One is in Hospital suffering from concussion. To me, this is an agent trying to impress J. Edgar. You do know that he’s trying to make his operation Federal? They have no idea what they are going to be charged with and have been denied food and drinks.”

“Yeah, perhaps that might bring a little discipline and order to their operations.”

“William, you need to know that the Agent in charge is Gillespie.”

“Yes him. He has got it into his head that the one that is here in the hospital is really a man. Another doctor has examined her and agrees with me that she isn’t a man.”

“Apparently they ran a trucking business in Chicago but left well before the crash.”

“Good. I’ll leave things to you.”

The doctor hung up the phone and went about his business.

---

The man that the doctor had called soon swung into action. William Harcourt the Third was not a man to be trifled with. My mid-afternoon, a New York Federal Judge had ordered the release of Ethel and Stella. The Judge took all of ten seconds to consider the evidence or rather the total lack of it and the fact that there were no arrest warrants out for either Ethel or Bugsy in Chicago nor Illinois. Neither were they the subject of any ongoing investigation by Federal Agencies in Chicago.

Agent Gillespie was not pleased.

“You have not heard the last of this,” he said as Stella was released.

“Agent Gillespie, making threats against an innocent woman has been noted and may be used against you at a later date,” replied William Harcourt the Third.

“Are you threatening me?”

“No Agent Gillespie. I am not threatening you. I am merely stating something that should be obvious to you that Stella nor Ethel is not subject to any arrest warrants either here nor in the State of Illinois and that they are not subject to any current investigations again here nor in Illinois. At the moment, I have seen no reason for their arrests in the first place.”

The Judge paused.

“Before I made my decision, I took the evidence to Judge Smith and he agreed with me. I don’t want to have to go back to him and get my clients released again. If I have to then I’ll make sure that your boss knows all about it when he next has to testify to a congressional committee. Call it a promise of further action if…”

Agent Gillespie was clearly fuming with anger but didn’t respond.

“Come on Stella lets go and find Ethel.”

Stella did not need to be asked twice.

---

Ethel was released from Hospital late that afternoon with strict instructions to take it easy for a few days.

This was not Ethel’s style.

“We have to be getting home,” she said to Stella and William.

“Nonsense,” replied William.
“Both of you will be my guest for at least tonight. We can talk again in the morning after both of you have had a good meal and some sleep.”

Stella smiled and held Ethel’s hand.

“He’s right you know.”

“How can we pay for your services?” argued Ethel.
“We have no money with us. We were snatched from our home.”

William smiled.

“Don’t worry about that. This is all pro-bono. No charge.”

This seemed to placate Ethel for the time being.

Sleep for both of them was hard to come by that night. Despite being tired out, they had to sleep in separate rooms. This was the first time that they’d done that in over six years.

---

Ethel was much like her normal self the next day. After a hearty breakfast, William’s driver who by some coincidence was also called George drove them to Penn Station where they took a train north to Albany. William had refused any payment even for the train tickets.

Both of them responded by giving him a huge kiss. The poor man was really embarrassed.

“Before you go, one thing puzzles me,” said William.
“Were you this ‘Bugsy Stallone’ as that Fed kept insisting?”

Ethel smiled and nodded her head.

“My pa was going to get me married off to someone I’d never met and was more than twenty years older than me. He thought that my marrying this man would be good for his business when he got back from France. I tried running but somehow, he always found me. The last time I ran, I cut my hair, stole some male clothes from a washing line and jumped onto a freight train. That train took me to Memphis. I sort of just fell into living as a man and managed to make a few bucks driving trucks. After the war, that work dried up and what with all that Flu spreading everywhere, I headed for the hills. I met Stella here a few years later. We had a bit of money so we teamed up and headed for Chicago where it seemed that we could make a whole load more.”

William laughed.

“Did you know that Bugsy was not really a man?”

It was Stella’s turn to laugh.
“From that first night I did. At first, I was shocked but we decided to give it a go as a married couple, or what appeared as one. We bought into the trucking business and well, the rest is history.”
Then she looked at Ethel before saying,
“I know that many folk will condemn both of us to eternal damnation but I grew to love her and she loves me. It really hurt me to see her bind her chest every day and hide the fact that she was everything to me. But, we got lucky and are still here. Now we can grow old together appearing to be two spinsters living together and not caring about men.”

Even William’s wife saw the honesty in what she’d said. To their surprise, she gave the girls a hug. She also slipped a $10 note into Ethel’s hand. She whispered,

“This is for a Taxi home when you get to Albany.”

---

I was dark when the Taxi pulled up outside their home. It didn’t take long to realise that the place had been ransacked in their absence. Even the mattresses had been sliced open. Hardly a stick of furniture remained intact.

Once the girls had stopped cursing they cried. They’d worked so hard to make the place a home. Now it was destroyed. The front and rear doors had been left open and there was evidence of animal tracks on the porch.

This was verified when Stella found a Skunk in the bathroom. Thankfully, she shut the door before It could let off its stink.

That caused them to laugh. When they’d recovered, Stella said,

“That was a close call. Shall we look at George’s room?”

“I think we should. Hopefully they didn’t trash that as well.”

Their luck was in and there was no evidence that anyone had been in George’s room since he left it a week earlier. They spent the night there happy to be in each other’s arms again.

In the morning, Ethel said as they started to clear the mess from the kitchen. Every tin of food had been prized open and emptied onto the floor. At least one Bear had eaten most of it.

“I think we should get a rifle each or at least a shotgun. Then I can put a load into Agent Gillespie should he come calling again,” said Ethel as she looked at the mess.

“And go to jail for it?”

“I don’t care. That man needs seeing too.”

Then both of them realised what Ethel had said and burst out laughing.

“I’m sure that there are some bullock castration tools hanging on the wall in the barn,” said Stella.

They laughed and laughed. So much so, they failed to see that someone was standing in the doorway.

“What’s so funny?” said that someone.

The girls turned around and saw that it was George.

The girls literally ran to him and hugged him tight.

All was well with the world again.

To their intense relief, neither Agent Gillespie or and Feds returned to their home and after a while, the girls started to feel safe again but they decided never to eat at the Hotel again just in case.

Just before the following Christmas, they were listening to the news on the radio one evening and a there was a report about a raid and an arrest that had been carried out by none other than J. Edgar Hoover himself. The person arrested was identified as none other than Agent Gillespie. He was charged with corruption and murder. The last straw had been when he battered to death a man for getting in his way on the sidewalk right outside a Police Station.

Stella smiled at Ethel and said to George,
“I know that we should not celebrate the arrest and probable demise of anyone but I think some of that hooch you have buried behind the woodshed would be very appropriate just about now.”

[The End]

[authors note]
I hope you liked my little tale set in the era of Prohibition.
AFAIK, it is not one that has been covered before even though this is a different twist on many more conventional TG stories.