I wouldn’t get it from Della: I was sure of that. Then who else knew it beside Della? For
the first time I really began to bend
my brains on the problem. Reisner had known it, but he was dead. The firm who made the
safe would know it, but they wouldn’t part with the informarion. Would Louis know it? There
was a chance he might. I picked up the telephone and called his office.
“Louis? This is Ricca. I’ve got a problem. Mr. Van Etting is in my office. He wants to cash
a cheque in a hurry. Mrs. Wertham’s out. You wouldn’t know the combination of the safe?”
I did it well. My voice was business-like, but casual.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Ricca, but I do not know it,” Louis said, and from the sound of his voice he
would have told me if he had known it.
172
“Aw, hell!” I said. “What am I going to do? This guy’s getting in a rage.”
“Maybe you could reach Mrs. Wertham,” Louis said. “She may be at Bay Street.”
“I’ve already tried. She’s not around. You haven’t three thousand bucks in your office,
have you?”
He said he never kept big sums in his office.
“Okay, forget it, Louis. Sorry to have bothered you. I guess Mr. Van Etting will have to get
into a rage.”
I wasn’t disappointed. It had been a hunch, and it hadn’t come off. I was about to replace
the receiver when he said, “If Miss Doering had been with us she could have told you.”
Miss Doering? I stared at the opposite wall. Reisner’s secretary ! Della had given her the
sack. She had been furious with her for calling Hame when Reisner hadn’t shown up.
I gripped the receiver until my hand ached.
“Did Miss Doering know the combination ?”
“Why, yes, Mr. Ricca. When Mr. Reisner was out she took care of the money.”
“Well, she isn’t here,” I said, making out I wasn’t interested any more. “Never mind.
Forget it, Louis, and thanks.”
I hung up and sat thinking for a moment or so, then I grabbed the telephone again and got
through to the staff supervisor.
“This is Ricca. Can you give me Miss Doering’s address?”
She asked me to hold on. The minute I had to wait seemed like an hour.
“247c Coral Boulevard.”
“Got her phone number?”
Another wait.
“Lincoln Beach 18577.”
“Thanks,” I said, broke the connection, paused long enough to wipe the sweat off my face,
then got on the phone again.
173
“Get me Lincoln Beach 18577.”
I hadn’t had any previous dealings with Miss Doering. Della had handled her, and from
what she had told me, she had handled her pretty roughly. I had seen her, and she had seen
me. I had given her a smile now and then because she was a looker. I had no idea what she
thought of me, and I knew I couldn’t put this across over the telephone. I had to see her.
The line clicked and buzzed, then a woman said, “Hello?”
“Miss Doering?”
“I guess so.”
“This is Johnny Ricca. I want to see you. I could be with you in fifteen minutes. How about
it?”
There was a pause, then she said, “What about?”
“If I told you that I shouldn’t see you, and I want to see you. Okay for me to come over?”
