Sam took a deep breath. “Okay, Dick. If you say so. I—I could use a little fun, I guess.”
Edie came back with Aubrey, and she winked at her brother. “You men go on downstairs and get a cab from the stand around the corner. Aubrey and I’ll be down by the time you bring it.”
Behind Sam’s back, as the men were putting on their coats, Richard gave Edith an inquiring look and she nodded.
Outside, there was a heavy fog; one could see only a few yards ahead. Sam insisted that Richard wait at the door for Edith and Aubrey while he went to bring the cab. The woman and girl came down just before Sam got back.
Richard asked, “Did you—?”
“Yes, Dick. I was going to throw them away, but I gave them away instead. That way they’re gone; he might have wanted to hunt in the rubbish and find them if I’d just thrown—”
“Gave them away? To whom?”
“Funniest thing, Dick. I opened the door and there was an old woman going by in the back hall. Don’t know which of the apartments she came from, but she must be a scrubwoman or something, although she looked like a witch really, but when she saw those dolls I had in my hands—”
“Here comes the cab,” Dick said. “You gave them to her?”
“Yes, it was funny. She said, ‘Mine? To Keep? Forever?’ Wasn’t that a strange way of asking it? But I laughed and said, ‘Yes, ma’am. Yours forev—”