"The Lamia in the Penthouse" by Thorp McClusky

Published in Weird Tales, May 1952

ormolu, a.k.a. gilt bronze: a gilding technique of applying finely ground, high-carat gold–mercury amalgam to an object of bronze. The mercury is driven off in a kiln, leaving behind a gold coating.

Bellevue Hospital: the oldest public hospital in the United States (opened in 1736!), located in Manhattan at 462 First Avenue

Peavey-pusher: not the Peavey you know today as a manufacturer of audio equipment, that doesn't come along until 1965, well after this story was written. No, peavey here means a lumberman's lever that has a pivoting hooked arm and metal spike at one end, sometimes called a 'cant dog'.

Coeur d'Alene: a real city in Idaho. And because it is in the US, we give it an American pronunciation, not a French one :-P There is indeed a Coeur d'Alene River, and a Lake Coeur d'Alene, and Coeur d'Alene Mountains, and Coeur d'Alene River basin... And there's even an Ironman event in Coeur d'Alene!

Jezebel: the wife of Ahab, King of Israel, she replaced Yahwism with Baal and Asherah worship and was responsible for Naboth's death. She would end up being defenestrated and devoured by dogs, under Jehu's orders.

Lucrezia Borgia: an Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei, rumored to be a femme fatale, although actual evidence for this is largely lacking

Messalina: Valeria Messalina, third wife of Roman Emperor Claudius, cousin to Nero and Caligula, and reputed to be highly promiscuous

$5000: that's in 1952 dollars, which today would be worth in the ballpark of $60K.

serge: a durable twilled woolen or worsted fabric

phonebooks. HA! At least here in the US, printed phonebooks haven't been a thing for I don't even know how long, maybe a decade? Two decades? Certainly, you no longer get a printed copy delivered to your doorstep on an annual basis like we used to. I wonder if physical print copies could even be ordered at this point? Ahh, kids today, and those listening in the future, will have no idea what is going on with this. Yes, there was once a time when the phone company printed annually the names, phone numbers, and addresses of every person who had a telephone, and delivered the publication right to your doorstep. Everybody was constantly doxxed by the phone company all the time. The whole thing about doxxing on the internet seems so quaint when you remember those old days of phonebooks... (I also had reason a few days ago to contemplate how we used to pick up IRS forms at the post office, if they weren't otherwise mailed to you. Now you have to print your own forms if you want to do a physical paper return! Things that kids today will never relate to...)

The picture used is the illustration by Virgil Finlay for the story from Weird Tales