“Of course. It was cheap at the price.”
“Oh, Sean you shouldn’t have. I can’t have him taking money from you.”
“It’s done now. It’s the best thing that could happen. Now we’re both rid of him.”
“You don’t mean he’s gone already?”
“Yes. I’ve just come from the airport,” O’Brien lied glibly. “There was a hell of a scramble to get him on the plane.”
“He went without saying good-bye to me?” Gilda said, looking searchingly at O’Brien.
“There wasn’t time, but he scribbled a note.” O’Brien took an envelope from his billfold and gave it to her. “He tried to call you, but every telephone booth was engaged. You know what it’s like at an airport. So he wrote instead.”
She ripped open the envelope, read the note and then laid it down.
“Was it necessary for him to leave so quickly, Sean?”
“I think so,” he returned quietly. “He wanted to go, and I didn’t want him snarled up with the police.”