The room had filled suddenly with detectives. They stood in front of the windows. A man in a checked cap with a face knobbed like a squash stood in front of the fireplace. They were pushing the women roughly into the back room. The men were herded in a little group near the door; detectives were taking their names. Ellen still sat on the couch. “... complaint phoned to headquarters,” she heard somebody say. Then she noticed that there was a phone on the little table beside the couch where she sat. She picked it up and whispered softly for a number.
“Hello is this the district attorney’s office?... I want to speak to Mr. Baldwin please.... George.... It’s lucky I knew where you were. Is the district attorney there? That’s fine ... no you tell him about it. There has been a horrible mistake. I’m at Hester Voorhees’; you know she has a dancing studio. She was presenting some dances to some friends and through some mistake the police are raiding the place ...”
The man in the derby was standing over her. “All right phoning wont do no good.... Go ’long in the other room.”
“I’ve got the district attorney’s office on the wire. You speak to him.... Hello is this Mr. Winthrop?... Yes O ... How do you do? Will you please speak to this man?” She handed the telephone to the detective and walked out into the center of the room. My I wish I hadnt taken my hat off, she was thinking.
From the other room came a sound of sobbing and Hester Voorhees’ stagy voice shrieking, “It’s a horrible mistake.... I wont be insulted like this.”
The detective put down the telephone. He came over to Ellen. “I want to apologize miss.... We acted on
insufficient information. I’ll withdraw my men immediately.”
“You’d better apologize to Mrs. Voorhees.... It’s her studio.”
“Well ladies and gents,” the detective began in a loud cheerful voice, “we’ve made a little mistake and we’re very sorry.... Accidents will happen ...”
Ellen slipped into the side room to get her hat and coat. She stood some time before the mirror powdering her nose. When she went out into the studio again everybody was talking at once. Men and women stood round with sheets and bathrobes draped over their scanty dancingclothes. The detectives had melted away as suddenly as they came. Oglethorpe was talking in loud impassioned tones in the middle of a group of young men.