Chapter 24

Birdie mails a welfare inquiry to the Heidelbergs so Meg knows she hasn’t been abandoned. At the post office she confronts Jack about being married; he admits he is seeking a divorce. Jack then shows Birdie Rory’s recent outgoing call list: business calls aside, there were calls to the Robert E. Lee Hotel in Jackson and six to Florsheim Shoes, plus multiple incoming calls from New Orleans. Using Jack’s office phone, Birdie calls Florsheim; owner Jimmy Watts pointedly claims not to know Rory but sounds evasive.

Back home, with food dwindling and bills mounting, Birdie presses for practical choices. Charlie proposes a radical plan: take in women boarders and run a dime-a-dance club with lessons—and discreetly sell whiskey from the cellar—to raise money fast. Frances recoils over propriety and worries about gossip, urging a direct search for Rory instead. Numbers and risks are debated: room rents, dance fees, lessons, and drink sales could approach needed sums, but legal and social risks loom.

After a long night of reflection, Birdie finds Mrs. Tartt and Charlie inventorying old dance floor crates in the barn. Despite Birdie’s warnings, Mrs. Tartt embraces hope and agrees to try the boardinghouse and dance club. Birdie, feeling responsible for bringing Charlie into the house, commits to stay and help manage the operation.

Meanwhile, Frances and Mrs. Tartt resolve to leave immediately for Jackson to search for Rory using the new leads: hotels (Robert E. Lee, King Edward), boardinghouses, filling stations, shops where Rory might have fenced goods, and Esther Royal. Birdie readies travel provisions, sends money to Mrs. Tartt’s sister, and reminds them to check Florsheim Shoes by name. As they depart, Charlie asks Birdie to send a telegram recruiting a prospective boarder.