Porter arrived at the bar, he was met by several perplexed-looking plainclothesmen at the front door. It seemed that the proprietor of The Cove was in possession of a liquor license entitling him to operate a bar called The Attic, all right, but no one on duty that night was able to tell the police where The Attic was located, or how one might gain entrance into the place. The rickety staircase had vanished, but "butches" continued to emerge from a door marked "Rest Rooms." Tho door opened into a common vestibule which contained doors opening into a ladies' room, a broom closet, and a men's room.

Porter remained for a while after the other men had left and observed the customers from a corner table in the back room. He noticed that more "butches" were leaving the rest room than were coming in through the front door. He scratched his head and made a mental note to report this phenomenon to his chief.

Back at City Hall, the mayor and his clean-up committee

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tearing their hair out, trying to pin dom the elusive entrance to The Attic. They decided to postpono their gay bar campaign until they could work out a new strategy. Meanwhile, business flourished at The Cove, with The Attic now grossing more receipts than the downstairs tavern and coffee house combined.

Coexistent with the mayor's campaign to rid New Boston of vice were the plans of the city urban renewal commission to raze four blocks of buildings in the heart of the waterfront district to make space for a proposed park and Statler Hotel. The Cove was located in one of the four condemned blocks.

IV

Ever since Mayor Wren had been in office, The Cove and other gay spots had been a thorn in his flesh. Sinco The Cove was going to have to vacate before the razing began, Wren decided that he would have a look at the place on the last night that it was to be open.

As he sat unobtrusively at a small corner table in the coffee house, Wren observed many of the gay customers

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