The smile widened.
‘Don’t bother with her. She’s not even up, but I am, and the safety catch’s off too. I’m all ready to fire.’
I raised my hat and gave her a courteous bow.
‘Madam, nothing would please me more than to pull the trigger, but I am committed elsewhere. Perhaps some other time? Regard me as food for your dreams, as I most certainly will regard you. Bear your disappointment as I am bearing mine, remembering that tomorrow is another day, and we too can have fun even if it is fun postponed.’
The smile went away and the green eyes hardened.
‘Awe hell, just another nut,’ she said, disgusted, and shut the door sharply in my face.
I blew out a little air, rapped on Gracie’s door and waited. A half a minute later I rapped again; this time much louder. Still nothing happened. No one opened the door.
I looked to right and left, put my hand on the doorknob and turned it gently. The door moved away from me as I pushed.
I looked into a room that was big enough to hold a bed, two armchairs, a wardrobe and a dressing-table fitted with a swinging mirror. There was no one in the room. The bed hadn’t been made, and the sheets hadn’t been changed, by the look of them, for probably six months. They were grey and crumpled and as uninviting as only dirty sheets can be. There was a film of dust on the mirror and cigarette ash on the carpet. From where I stood I could see bits of fluff under the bed. Not a clean room: a room that gave me an itchy feeling down my spine as I looked at it.
At the head of the bed was another door that probably led to the bathroom. I stared at it, wondering if she was in there and knocked sharply on the panel of the open bedroom door to see if anything happened. Nothing did, so I stepped inside, and in case the redhead opposite became curious, I closed the door.