“I put on act for the night man — told him I wanted to surprise you. He came up and let me in with the passkey...”
“Go on — surprise me.”
“Gerry,” Granquist’s eyes were big in the faint light; drops of rain glistened on her small dark hat, her dark close-fitting coat — “I’ve been in an awfully bad spot since you shot up Crotti’s camp. I got away this afternoon when Fenner came out to do business about his confession — Crotti didn’t know anything about it but he let Fenner think he did...”
“What do you mean, Crotti didn’t know about it?” Kells put his hand on her wrist.
“I got to your coat first — I’ve got Fenner’s confession and his certified check for twenty-five thou — and your cash...”
She clicked open a small handbag, took out a handful of crumpled papers and currency, dropped it on the bed. He looked down at it a little while and then he let his head fall back again against the pillow, bent it slightly sideways.
He said: “You’re a strange gal.” He put his hand on her wrist again, held it tightly.
She tried to speak. She got up and walked to the window and then back, sat down on the edge of the bed.
Kells asked: “Why do we have to leave here?”
“Because you haven’t Fenner’s protection any longer — he thinks Crotti has this” — she nodded at the stuff on the bed. “The whole layout is against you now — Crotti, Rose, Fenner, the Bellmann people...”