Kelly is based on the character "Velma", who first appeared in the 1926 play, also called Chicago, who was in-turn inspired by the life of Belva Gaertner.
She is sent to the Cook County Jail where she hires the best soliciting lawyer, Billy Flynn, a master of turning cases into a media circus to free his clients.
The attention prompts an offer from the William Morris Agency to pay her more than fourteen times what she had made as her share of the proceeds from the double act with Veronica—once she is acquitted.
William Morris drops their offer, and Kelly remains resentful of Hart for the rest of the show, though she begrudgingly concedes that her act needs a partner and that Roxie fits the bill.
Law was found in the front seat of Belva's car with a bottle of gin and a gun beside him that had discharged three cartridges.
[1] Women who have portrayed Velma on the Broadway stage include: Chita Rivera, Caroline O'Connor, Bebe Neuwirth, Jasmine Guy, Reva Rice, Pia Douwes and Ute Lemper.
[citation needed] Prior to the 1975 debut of the stage musical, Kelly appeared in the earlier incarnations of Watkins' story.