“She’ll be all right,” I said. “Kids run a high temperature over nothing in particular, and snap out of it.”
She nodded, “I know, but when it’s your kid, it’s different.”
“Any plans for her future, Carmen?”
She laughed bitterly. “I should make plans for her future. I can’t even figure my own.”
I said, “One more question about Evaline. Who was the big beefy guy about six feet tall with the black hair and grey eyes that had such a crush on her? He had a little mole on his cheek. She told me that if he happened to be in the place when I came back not to make any play for her but to pick one of the other girls and—”
Her eyes stared at me with the fascination of a bird watching a snake. Slowly she pushed her chair back. Her voice, hardly above a whisper, said, “So you know that, do you? Well, you know just too damn much.”
I said, “No. Honest. I—”
“And to think I didn’t spot you,” she said. “I thought I could tell a flatfoot as far as I could see him.”
“Don’t get me wrong, Carmen,” I said. “I’m not.”
She kept studying me as though I’d been a queer-looking fish in an aquarium. After a moment, she said, “By God, I don’t believe you are. And if you aren’t— Excuse me a minute. I’ll be right back.”
She got up and went into the women’s room. I saw her flash a high-sign to the hostess when she went in. In less than a minute the hostess went into the rest room. After a while the hostess came out and went over to talk with the manager. A few moments later, the manager came strolling casually by.
He paused at my table and looked at the two glasses and at Carmen’s empty place. “Being taken care of?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said.
He stood there at the table, looking me over. “One of the entertainers?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“She run out on you?”
“No. She’s putting a little powder on her nose.”
“Been gone long?”
“Not very.”
He said, “I have to keep an eye on these girls. They — well, you know. I thought you’d been sitting here some little time.”
“I have,” I said.
“I mean alone.”
I didn’t say anything.
He said, “You’ll understand that I’m trying to look out for your best interests. Let’s just take a look and see that your watch and wallet are all right.”
“They are,” I said.
He stood looking at me with eyes that drooped a little. He was a dark, dapper man with a close-clipped moustache. He wore a double-breasted grey suit, was a little above average height, and had supple hands with long, thin fingers. He said, “I’d like to have you make sure.”
“I am sure.”
He hesitated a moment. “I don’t seem to place you,” he said. “You aren’t one of the regular customers.”
“I’ve been here before.”
“When?”
“Oh, two or three months ago.”
“Have one of the girls at your table?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“You don’t remember her name, do you?”
I said, “No.”
“Carmen was over here, wasn’t she — tonight?”
“Yes.”
He drew up a chair, sat down, and said. “She’s a great girl, Carmen. Winthrop’s my name.” He shoved his hand across the table at me.
I shook his hand and said, “My name is Donald.”
He smiled and said, “I understand. Glad to know you, Donald. My first name is Bartsmouth. My friends call me Bart. How about another drink — this one on the house?”
I said, “That would be swell.”
He nodded to a waiter and said, “Fill the gentleman’s glass. I’ll take straight whisky. Did we treat you all right here before, Donald?”
“Yes.”
He said, “I try to run a place which keeps within the law, but the men who come here like action, and I like to see that they get it, as much as I can give them and keep open. You know, I have to depend on customer good will and word-of-mouth advertising.”
“That’s right.”
“How long ago did you say it was?”
“Two or three months.”
“I like to have my customers come back — oftener than that.”
“I’m out of San Francisco,” I said, “a travelling man.”
“Oh, I see. What line do you handle?”
“Office safes,” I said.
He thought a moment and then smacked his hand on the table. “By George,” he said, “that’s a coincidence! The safe in my office is an obsolete old bread box, and sometimes our cash receipts run rather high. I’ve been figuring on getting a new safe. There’s nothing I’d like better than to do business with a customer.”
“Thanks,” I said.
He said, “My business office is on the second floor. There’s a flight of stairs back of that door behind the cash register. How about coming up and taking a look at the safe?”
I said, “I wouldn’t want to run out on Carmen.”
“Oh, I can send word to Carmen.”
“No. I would prefer to handle it my way. Suppose I come up in about ten minutes? I think I’m going to get Carmen s telephone number.”
“I can give you her telephone number,” he said, “and see that she’s there when you call.”
“Thanks. I’d prefer to handle it my way — the personal touch, you know.”
The waiter brought our drinks. I said, “Here’s how,” and raised my glass. I didn’t drink it all, just sipped a bit off the top.
He thought for a minute, then pushed back his chair and gave me his hand again. “All right, I’ll be seeing you in about ten minutes. You climb the stairs. It’s the first door on the right. Just walk in.”
“Thanks. I will.”
His fingers were lean, hard, and strong. His smile was affable. He said, “If you have any trouble with Carmen, let me know.”
“Thanks. I don’t think I’ll have any.”
“Neither do I. Okay, Donald, be seeing you later.”
He started to walk away, then, after three steps, turned on his heel and came back. He said, “I’ll want a pretty elaborate safe, something that’s good. I suppose I can get a real good one for around two thousand dollars, can’t I?”
“A peach,” I said.
“That’s fine. You come up and look the place over and appraise my safe. I’ll want to turn it in for a trade, you know. But it’s an old bread box, and I won’t expect too much for it. I’ll be reasonable.”
“That’s fine.”
He walked over and said something to the hostess, then walked back of the cash register, pushed open the door, and went upstairs.
I got up and sauntered back towards, the kitchen. A waiter said, “The men’s room is over there to the left.”
I said, “Thanks,” and pushed my way out into the kitchen. A Negro cook looked up. I said, “Buddy, the wife just came in the front door. How do I get out?”
“You-all ain’t beating a check?” he asked.
“Twenty bucks says I’m not.”
“This way,” he told me, pocketing the bill.
I followed him past a range out through a narrow, smelly corridor, past the stench of a latrine which said, Employees Only, and out into an alley lined with garbage cans. I said to him, “It’s going to help a lot if you don’t know anything about this afterward.”
“Is you,” he asked, “tellin’ me?”
I swung around the alley, back to the street, and walked down to the parking place where I’d left the agency car.
Chapter Seven
It was well after midnight when I pulled into Santa Carlotta. The night had turned cold and I stopped in at an all-night restaurant for a cup of hot chocolate. From a telephone in the restaurant I rang Dr. Alftmont’s residence.