Chicago welcomed Clara immediately. A dashing innkeeper charmed her into his hotel.
Though cheap, the twisting corridors felt like squelched screams. If not for her neighbor Edith, Clara would have left.
The girls bonded over vaudeville dreams. “We’ll be seen far and wide,” Edith promised.
Tormented by nightmares of disemboweled women, Clara fled Chicago.
Weeks later, she returned to visit her friend. The innkeeper, H. H. Holmes, said Edith worked at the museum… but not a soul had heard of her.
As Clara exited, a glass display caught her eye; something about the articulated skeleton felt… familiar.
