Rising Action
Struggling to pick who would host the World Fair to top off The France Expedition was where it all started. It went back and forth for awhile but it really came down to Chicago and New York. The architects, planners and landscapers were then chosen by the World Fair committee after the votes selected Chicago as the home of the fair. This is when it was all in Daniel Burnhams hands--and his assistant John Root-- to help him plan what would be talked about for the next couple decades. While all this planning was being done of the fair, someone moved into town; Herman Webster Mudgett a.k.a Dr. H.H. Holmes. During the 1890's there was a shortage of cadavers in the hospitals and colleges. Everyone knew that if you were to donate a body of friend or family member that had passed away, you received a sum of money for the body. This is when Dr. Holmes knew that moving to Chicago right in time for the fair was genius. Just moving into town he took the job of a pharmacist. Eventually Holmes was known around town for his charm. Once he accumulated enough money to build his own business, he started making plans for The World Fair Hotel where he would accommodate the needs of his guests whether it was an overnight stay or needing medicine from his pharmacy on the lobby floor. All the while Holmes plan was just taking off; the fair was beginning to run into problem after problem. Mostly the weather was keeping the fair from staying on time but also the decline of a work ethic among the men. Even though there were many suspicious calls from families saying they hadn't heard anything from their daughters in awhile who had just moved into the city, the police weren't about to do anything about it just yet. Many would say they would smell gas in the hotel when they would get close to the basement level, others saying they found Holmes' politeness uncomfortable and even when Holmes called to have a crematorium be put in the lower level, the police still had nothing to say. Of course Holmes was a very conniving and clever man who had made millions off of arson and other frauds, and even then the police were not suspicious. Holmes had married many times but the real woman that created the most suspicion was Minnie Williams. With all the commotion being brought up from Holmes the fair was being opened.