out of the curtains, you were at the bag. You might have been going for your lipstick, but if you had been you wouldn’t be so up-tight about it. So I say you were putting the hundred away for next time. Want to comment?”
“I say only that I am going to have you put out of this room.”
“Either you never really gave the bellhop the hundred—just let him see it and switched it at the last minute—or you got it back somehow. If I had to bet, that would be the way I’d go, because you keep insisting you gave it to him. Want to tell me what he did with it? No? When I’m flush, I usually tip bellhops about a dollar, and I’ve never yet seen one get out his wallet and put my buck in there—they don’t want you to see how much they’ve got. What most of them do is stick it in their front pants pocket. For somebody with magician’s fingers, it wouldn’t be much of a trick to get it out of there.”
The witch spit like a cat. “I do not do tricks!”
“Sure you do. We all do. What you mean is you don’t do them on stage or at parties to impress your friends, if you have any friends.”
“Not like you. You, I am certain, have many, many friends.”
Stubb pointed a finger. “Don’t sneer at me. I warn you, it’s the only thing I can’t take. You sneer at me, and sooner or later I’ll get you.”
“Yes, so many good friends, little man!”
He raised his fist, then let it drop. “You know, I’m glad you said that. It reminded me of something. Want to pass me that phone?”
“Hardly.”
“I think you’d better—”
The telephone rang. Stubb reached for it, but the witch was nearer and quicker. “Yes, this is she … . How did you discover … No, do not come; you will not be admitted.”
Stubb leaned toward the receiver and said loudly, “Come on up. I’ll let you in.”
“You fool! You damnable fool!”
“Don’t you think you should hang up before you call me names?”
The handset slammed down. “You are unendurable!”
“Sure. It’s part of my shtick to be unendurable when I want to be. I do bill collecting when I can’t get anything else. On the other hand, I can be as nice as pie when I’m on your side. Wasn’t I nice when I damn near broke my arm carrying your suitcase? Candy helped too. What’d you carry?”
The witch was calm again, but there was no blood in her dark face. “Are you such a fool as to think I cannot curse? I can, and though in the ordinary course of life I would not waste my efforts on such small prey, for you I will make an exception. Wait and see what I shall do!”
Stubb chuckled. “Going to curdle my milk? Madame S., I’m flat broke. I’m nearsighted, and there’s newspaper in these shoes, and I think I’m getting an ulcer. Anything you could do now would just put me in jail or the hospital, and either one would be a hell of a relief. Curse away, and meantime I’ll be cursing you, in my own inimitable fashion. Or would you rather have me working for you?”
In The Lobby
“I lost it,” Majewski declared.
Fuentes looked daggers at him as the house telephone rang.
The mystery fan said, “I’m not calling you a liar—there’s no evidence of that. Did I call you a liar?”
Majewski shook his head as the house telephone rang again.
“All I’m saying is seventy dollars of that money belongs to the woman in seven seventy-seven. You lost seventy dollars of her money. You’re going to have to make that up. Ten belongs to ’Cisco and ten to me. You’re going to have to make that up too.”
The house telephone rang yet again, rather pettishly.
“Damn right,” Fuentes said.
A sub-assistant manager called, “Joe, will you
“Yes, sir!” Majewski answered with unaccustomed smartness, and picked up the handset, happy to escape.
“This the bell captain?”
“Yes, sir,” said Majewski, who was not.
“Captain, I want you to do me a favor. Somewhere around there’s a young lady in a white raincoat. Garth. Gee, ay, are, tee, aich. Garth. Stout. Blond. Look around. You see her?”
Majewski glanced at the overstuffed vinyl furniture and the guests. “No, sir.”
“She’s probably in the lobby, but she might be in one of the bars, or even outside on the sidewalk. I’d try the street-level bar first. Could you have one of your boys find her and tell her to come up to room seven seven seven?”
“Yes, sir, I will, sir. If she’s not around, I’ll give you a ring, sir.”
“She’s around. You got pay booths. Look in them too. She might be making a call. Young, stout, blond, white raincoat, Garth. Got it?”
