The Windy City had an undeniable sense of life about it. It was evident in the bustle of dock workers hauling crates off ships at the piers, the tradesmen rushing through traffic to get to the meat packing plants and everything else that had come after, and even showed in the leisurely pace of the businessmen and investors whose bankrolls had swollen with the decades of growth the city had enjoyed since its last catastrophe. In time their catastrophe would come as well but after the city burned it inevitably grew back twice as tall just like the prairie that had grown across the rest of the Midwest. The city had come back once and it would sure as hell do it again as many times as it took.

The danger and excitement had long forged a place at the core of Albert's heart and when he found out that his employers were going to cut out a slice of it for themselves he wasted no time procuring a small space on State Street just down the street from the Balaban and Katz Chicago Theatre. It was a simple loft above a shop, but it had the space he needed for his bed and his books as well as establishments offering entertainment and culture everywhere you could look. It was a veritable palace to Albert and was a symbol of a great many of his dreams coming to fruition. The only thing left was to worm his way into a business in the city, but they were a proud and stubborn bunch and made it hard for folks from out of town to compete. Fortunately, even the most hard headed of them needed accountants and those were in short supply.

Albert had found one such opportunity in the form of Schmidt and Cooper Meat Packing. The partnership had been one born of necessity for both men and thus far had found an uneasy balance. Edgar Schmidt had come from a wealthy family and supplied the necessary capital but didn't have the temperament to handle the logistics of a large business. Wilhelm Cooper was a level headed planner with the connections and capabilities to make their venture successful but suffered from a lack of funds. Neither enjoyed the other's company or trusted their fellow entrepreneur much but Cooper dealt with the hot-head to fund his work and Schmidt tolerated his partner's fussiness since the money kept coming in. That said, Schmidt knew how easy it would be for his partner to take advantage of the situation and had been looking for a way to keep him honest.

Albert heard about the predicament from a "friend" and found his way to Edgar to offer his services as an unattached party. He made sure to let the DiCaprio name drop for the sake of boosting his chances and before long he was hired as Edgar's watchdog. His first act was to hire a few goons to keep an eye on the business and let him know if anything out of the ordinary popped up. He let the first few weeks pass quietly and established a baseline for his books knowing that sooner or later Wilhelm would give him something he could use to set the two against one another and leave an industry in need of a new face. As Edgar's mistrust of his partner eased into a comfortable grumble Albert began to worry that his marks were more capable than he had given them credit for, but Wilhelm unwittingly came through for him in the end.

A supply deal gone wrong for a mafia business downstate had resulted in the loss of a large quantity of meat, employees, and trucks that couldn't be officially recorded on the books. Wilhelm had recorded it as a loss to fire hoping that his partner would simply pay up as he always had, but Albert's hired men had caught wind of what really happened. He was almost giddy as he reported to his employer the next day and informed him of his partner's "embezzling". The forged withdrawal slips roused his anger but is was Albert's other evidence that tipped the scales to uncontrolled rage. It had cost Albert good money to buy one of the new Argus A 35mm cameras and even more to get a hired man that could use the thing competently, but the photos of Mr. Cooper meeting with men in pinstripe suits were absolutely priceless and convinced Edgar that his partner was not only stealing from him but planning to have him put six feet under to hide the crime.

A few days of waiting and an anonymous tip from one of his men to the FBN had ensured that the partners were out of business with one in the morgue and the other going to prison for the foreseeable future on murder charges. This left their warehouses for sale and an opening for a new face in the Chicago business scene. Knowing that his own finances would not yet be able to support an endeavor of that size he went back to his flat and caught up on some of his older accounts while considering who might be willing to go into business with him. The irony of this state of affairs was not lost on him, but Albert knew he had partners he had built trust with, unlike the men he had so recently known.

The new business could wait though. Kathleen was back in town and she'd surely want an update on her holdings soon. He spent an entire night sitting up to sort out the affairs he kept recorded in his longest ledger.  As he saw the sun rising up in his front window a thought struck him. If things went well in their next update, he could try to leverage the goodwill he'd built there on his new project and help them both come out ahead. God knows her business had kept him afloat through some hard times and it would be nice to repay some of that kindness with profits that could help build back her prestige.