this time she's not. Come on, pally, you and me are going up there to take a look around."
He went with me as meek as a lamb. As we rode in the elevator, he said feebly, "She's always been a nice girl. What do the police want with her?"
"Did I say the police want anything with her?" I asked, and scowled at him. "All I want to know is why the front door's open when she isn't there."
"Maybe she went out and forgot to shut it," he said after turning the matter over in his mind. I could see he was pleased with this idea.
"Now you're getting cute," I said as the elevator came to a creaking standstill. I was glad to get out of it. It didn't seem strong enough to haul one, let alone two people. "Did you see her go out?"
He said he hadn't seen her go out.
"Would you have seen her if she went?"
"Yes." He blinked, and his Adam's apple jumped a couple of notches. "My room overlooks the front entrance."
"Are you sure she didn't come out during the past ten minutes?"
No, he couldn't be sure about that. He had been cooking his lunch.
We went down the long corridor into the cul-de-sac and into Nurse Gurney's apartment. We went into each room, but she still wasn't in any of them.
"Not there," I said. "How else could she have left the building without using the front entrance?"
After staring blankly at the wall, he said there was no other way out.
I poked a finger towards the opposite apartment.
"Who's the fat woman who eats plums?"
This time his Adam's apple went for good.
"Plums?" he repeated and backed away. I guess he thought I was crazy.
"Yeah. Who is she?"
He looked at the door of Apartment 244, blinked, turned scared old eyes on me.
"In there, mister?"
"Yeah."
He shook his head.
"No one's in there. That apartment's to rent."
I felt a sudden chill run up my spine. I shoved past him and sank .my thumb into the bellpush. I could hear the bell ringing, but nothing happened; nobody came to the door.
"Got a pass key?"
He fumbled in his pocket, dragged out a key and handed it over.
"Ain't nobody in there, mister," he said. "Been empty for weeks."
I turned the lock, pushed open the door and went into a lobby just like Nurse Gurney's lobby. I went quickly from room to room. The place was as empty and as bare as Mrs. Hubbard's cupboard.
The bathroom window looked on to a fire-escape. I pushed up the window and leaned out. Below was an alley that led into Skyline Avenue. It would have been easy for a strong man to have carried a girl down the escape to a waiting car below.
Leaning far out I saw a plum stone on one of the iron steps. Pity she hadn't swallowed it. It might have choked her.
Chapter III
I
There was a time when I proudly imagined I had a well-furnished, impressive, non-gaudy, super-de-luxe office to work in. Between us, Paula and I had spent a lot of hard-earned money on the desk, the carpet, the drapes and the book-cases. We had even run to a couple of original water colours by a local artist who, to judge by his prices, considered himself in the Old Master class: probably he was, although it was a pretty close-kept secret. But all this was before I had a chance of seeing the other offices in Orchid Buildings. Some of them were smarter than mine, some were not, but those I had seen didn't make me wish to change mine until I walked into the office of Manfred Willet, the President of Glynn & Coppley, Attorneys at Law. Then I saw at a glance I would have to save many more dollars before I could hope to get anywhere near the super-de-luxe class. His office made mine look like an Eastside slum.
It was a big room, high ceilinged and oak panelled. A desk, big enough to play billiards on, stood at the far end of the room before three immense windows, stretching up to the ceiling. There were four or five lounging chairs and a big chesterfield grouped around a fireplace that could have been used as a hidey-hole for a small-sized elephant. The fitted carpet was thick enough to be
He went with me as meek as a lamb. As we rode in the elevator, he said feebly, "She's always been a nice girl. What do the police want with her?"
"Did I say the police want anything with her?" I asked, and scowled at him. "All I want to know is why the front door's open when she isn't there."
"Maybe she went out and forgot to shut it," he said after turning the matter over in his mind. I could see he was pleased with this idea.
"Now you're getting cute," I said as the elevator came to a creaking standstill. I was glad to get out of it. It didn't seem strong enough to haul one, let alone two people. "Did you see her go out?"
He said he hadn't seen her go out.
"Would you have seen her if she went?"
"Yes." He blinked, and his Adam's apple jumped a couple of notches. "My room overlooks the front entrance."
"Are you sure she didn't come out during the past ten minutes?"
No, he couldn't be sure about that. He had been cooking his lunch.
We went down the long corridor into the cul-de-sac and into Nurse Gurney's apartment. We went into each room, but she still wasn't in any of them.
"Not there," I said. "How else could she have left the building without using the front entrance?"
After staring blankly at the wall, he said there was no other way out.
I poked a finger towards the opposite apartment.
"Who's the fat woman who eats plums?"
This time his Adam's apple went for good.
"Plums?" he repeated and backed away. I guess he thought I was crazy.
"Yeah. Who is she?"
He looked at the door of Apartment 244, blinked, turned scared old eyes on me.
"In there, mister?"
"Yeah."
He shook his head.
"No one's in there. That apartment's to rent."
I felt a sudden chill run up my spine. I shoved past him and sank .my thumb into the bellpush. I could hear the bell ringing, but nothing happened; nobody came to the door.
"Got a pass key?"
He fumbled in his pocket, dragged out a key and handed it over.
"Ain't nobody in there, mister," he said. "Been empty for weeks."
I turned the lock, pushed open the door and went into a lobby just like Nurse Gurney's lobby. I went quickly from room to room. The place was as empty and as bare as Mrs. Hubbard's cupboard.
The bathroom window looked on to a fire-escape. I pushed up the window and leaned out. Below was an alley that led into Skyline Avenue. It would have been easy for a strong man to have carried a girl down the escape to a waiting car below.
Leaning far out I saw a plum stone on one of the iron steps. Pity she hadn't swallowed it. It might have choked her.
Chapter III
I
There was a time when I proudly imagined I had a well-furnished, impressive, non-gaudy, super-de-luxe office to work in. Between us, Paula and I had spent a lot of hard-earned money on the desk, the carpet, the drapes and the book-cases. We had even run to a couple of original water colours by a local artist who, to judge by his prices, considered himself in the Old Master class: probably he was, although it was a pretty close-kept secret. But all this was before I had a chance of seeing the other offices in Orchid Buildings. Some of them were smarter than mine, some were not, but those I had seen didn't make me wish to change mine until I walked into the office of Manfred Willet, the President of Glynn & Coppley, Attorneys at Law. Then I saw at a glance I would have to save many more dollars before I could hope to get anywhere near the super-de-luxe class. His office made mine look like an Eastside slum.
It was a big room, high ceilinged and oak panelled. A desk, big enough to play billiards on, stood at the far end of the room before three immense windows, stretching up to the ceiling. There were four or five lounging chairs and a big chesterfield grouped around a fireplace that could have been used as a hidey-hole for a small-sized elephant. The fitted carpet was thick enough to be
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