Chicago, 1924. It remains a mystery whether what occurred on the afternoon of May 21 actually contained the seeds of perfection. Or rather the absurdity of supposed infallibility, fed by the sharp intellect and writings of philosophers, especially Friedrich Nietzsche. Whether it was the pure joy of the act, a sporting joy in the kill and thrill, in the “thrill kill”. Whether it was an adventure, an experiment, madness anyway. Or whether it all came together, a toxic mixture, and it culminated fatally.
Whatever happened that day changed the city, the country and the justice system.
A case of the century.
And it’s no coincidence that it happened in Chicago, the most American of all metropolises, the Windy City on Lake Michigan. Crazy, brutal, rich, poor and, especially in these years, dissolute city that built up prosperity after the war. There is money in Chicago, Chicago is flourishing, and of course organized crime is flourishing with it. Al Capone moved from New York to Chicago. Gangsters are shot and dumped in front of hospitals; the police recorded 177 murders in the city in the first six months of the year, an average of almost one per day.
This is Chicago in the spring of 1924.
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