NEW YORK CITY   MONDAY, AUGUST 23, 1926 Sorry,” Elsa whispered, though she knew full well the bird splayed on its back on the metal table was past feeling any pain. She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, then reached for the scalpel. Having already stuffed the bird’s throat with cotton, she separated the feathers down the midline of the breast. “Here we go.” “Talking to yourself again?” Her colleague approached before she had a chance to make the first incision. “Or are you talking to a dead bird while you skin it? Which is rather worse, if you ask me.” “No one asked you,” she teased. He grinned. At the age of twenty-eight, Archer Hamlin was two years older than Elsa and yet retained his schoolboy charm. She had proved immune to it, however, which made their camaraderie easy and light. He worked in the Department of Preparation, painting dioramas for habitat displays, but found reasons enough to visit her fifth-floor office. “Admit it,” he said. “You’re so lonely back here you’ve gone batty.” Batty? Never. Lonely? Maybe. Definitely. “Lauren left for Egypt last week,” she told him. “Your cousin and roommate, Lauren? Say, didn’t I…

After the Great Fire of 1871 destroyed Chicago’s business district and rendered 100,000 people homeless, the city lost no time in rebuilding. Within two years, the downtown area was completely reconstructed, and better than ever. But if you visit Chicago today, you’ll still be able to find glimpses of the Chicago my characters in Veiled in Smoke knew well. The Chicago Fire Academy The site of the blaze’s first sparks can be found at the Chicago Fire Academy, at the corner of DeKoven and Jefferson. Visitors are allowed inside to see the spot, and to see antique fire engines as well. Courthouse finial, Lincoln Park My characters, the Townsend family, lived across from Courthouse Square. The night of the fire, the bell in the Courthouse Cupola rang for five hours before it collapsed. Today, an urn-shaped finial from the courthouse’s roof can be seen in front of Lincoln Park Zoo. Thousands of Chicagoans fled north from the flames in October 8-9, 1871, many of them finally finding refuge in Lincoln Park. St. James Cathedral The Great Fire gutted St. James Cathedral at the corner of Wabash and Huron. All that was left were the stone walls, the bell tower, and…