He rang the bell and when the judas window slid back, he said, “I want Sam.”
Joe, the doorman, stared at him, hesitated, then opened the door.
“I’ll get him, Lieutenant,” he said.
Adams lit a cigarette and looked around the ornate lobby. The hat-check girl started towards him, suddenly recognized who he was and stopped abruptly as if she had seen a snake in her path. She went quickly into the Ladies’ room.
Adams was used to this kind of reception. It mildly amused him.
A red-head in a low-cut evening dress, wearing emerald green diamondshaped frame glasses, came out of the Ladies’ room, looked at him, began a professional smile which slipped off her heavily made-up lips as she caught Adams’ frozen stare.
She moved hurriedly down the stairs to the restaurant, brushing past Sam Darcy as he came up.
“Evening, Lieutenant,” Darcy said, his eyes wary. “We don’t often see you here. Anything I can do, or are you here for a little relaxation?”
“I’m on duty, Sam,” Adams said, looking the big negro over. He scarcely came up to the diamond in Darcy’s shirtfront, but the negro’s vastness didn’t appear to impress him. “I want to talk to you. Let’s go somewhere private.”
“Okay,” Darcy said reluctantly. “Come into my office.”