At the Mayflower, Client 9's Sinking Ship

Franklin Roosevelt liked the Mayflower, too, albeit for more legitimate pursuits; he is said to have written the line "We have nothing to fear but fear itself" in Room 776, one flight down from Spitzer's room, 871. (The New York Times discovered that Spitzer had booked the room under the name of George Fox, one of his donors.)

Client 9 was having a bit of a credit problem with the service, the court filing shows. His "package" -- cash payment -- hadn't arrived and, for obvious reasons, he preferred not to "do traditional wire transferring."

Just in time, the package arrived, and Spitzer, told that his visitor was Kristen, replied, "Great, okay, wonderful." The service "asked Client-9 whether he could give 'Kristen' 'extra funds' at this appointment in order to avoid payment issues in the future," the prosecution filing says.

In extensive detail, the prosecutors' filing notes the financial arrangements ("Client-9 would be paying for everything -- train tickets, cab fare from the hotel and back, mini bar or room service, travel time, and hotel") and the meeting logistics for Room 871 ("Client-9 explained that the door would not be visibly open, but if someone pushed it, the door would open").

By late afternoon yesterday, the Mayflower had stationed a security guard on the eighth floor to keep the scandal-minded at bay. Some of the camera-toting tourists had already dubbed it the "Spitzer Hotel." But Kristen and Client 9 were long gone. In their place, reporters arriving on the scene encountered a bit of fitting imagery for the New York governor: a meeting of the National Funeral Directors Association.

Staff writer Petula Dvorak contributed to this report.