‘Barratt’s room. Is he out?’
The small eyes grew round.
‘Yeah; he went out about an hour ago.’
‘What are you worrying about, then? It’s not as if he’s a friend of yours.’
‘I’d lose my job,’ he said thickly. ‘Sixty bucks wouldn’t keep me off the bread line for more than a week. It ain’t worth it.’
‘Well, all right, if that’s how you feel about it’ I pushed the bills into a neat pile, folded them and put them in my hip pocket. I wouldn’t want you to have a sleepless night.’
‘Now, wait a minute,’ he said, tilting his bowler hat to the back of his head and wiping a shiny forehead with his sleeve. ‘I ain’t fussy how I sleep. Make it another ten, and it’s yours.’
‘Sixty’s my top. Take it or leave it’
He struggled with his conscience, groaned, nodded his head.
‘The key’s hanging by the switchboard. Gimme the dough.’