She met him at the door.
"Bless you," she said. "If you hadn't come today, I think I should have blown up in hysterics. You've no idea what it is to be stuck indoors with nothing to do but read and eat for twenty-four hours a day."
Simon set up the attache case on an easel which had never carried a canvas.
"And I've only been away since the night before last," he said. "The girl's starting to love me, that's what it is."
She offered him a cigarette, and took one herself.
"What's been happening?"
"Nothing much. Teal's been in again. Started by threatening, got the bird, tried to be cunning, got the bird, tried to be friendly, got the bird, tried to bribe me, got the bird, and went home. Now he's going to retire and start a poultry farm on that capital. Policemen disguised as gentlemen still follow me everywhere—"
"How can you be certain you've shaken them off?"
"When I can't hear their boots squeaking. I know I'm at least three blocks in the lead. Oh, and Records Office has been burgled."
She looked down at him in his chair.