He gave me the envelope and I signed. Then he stood there waiting to pick up something. He’d got a hope. If he thought I was giving him anything he was crazy. I only hoped he’d fall downstairs on his way out and break his neck. I started to shut the door.
“You won’t get any place in that sleepin’-suit,” he said, and made a dash down the corridor. Maybe he thought I’d give him a poke in his puss.
I went back to the bedroom and took a look in the long glass. The kid was right. That sleeping-suit was terrible. I sat on the bed and ripped open the envelope. Five crisp thousand-dollar bills spilt on my knees. No letter—just the dough. I sat and looked at them for a few minutes. That’s one thing I can always do—sit around, looking at money. Then I put the money back in the envelope and put the envelope on the table.
There was a catch in this, of course. I’d got to start right now and earn that dough. I wandered into the bathroom and took off the sleeping-suit. The cold prickle of the shower made me feel good. Once I got through with the wet part of getting up, I always tried my hand at singing. Maybe I wasn’t so good, but I’d got a lot of power. I wrapped the towel round my waist and shaved, then I wandered back into the bedroom with the idea of having a drink to help me on the final task of dressing.
Two things struck me as soon as I entered the bedroom. There was a heavy smell of scent hanging around that certainly hadn’t been there when I left the room, and the envelope had gone.
I moved quickly. Dropping the towel, I grabbed my dressing-gown and struggled into it, running into the sitting-room as I did so. The front door was ajar. I raced to the window and threw it up. The street was deserted. I thought I caught a glimpse of a yellow taxi flashing round the corner, but I wasn’t sure. If it was a taxi, it was moving like hell.
I went back to the bedroom and stood sniffing. I’m not one of those guys who can classify a smell quickly, but I knew this stuff all right. It was the kind of scent hot mammas used to get the boys running in circles.
Right then, I was running in circles. I was as mad as a blind man at a strip tease. I went over to the telephone with the idea of getting the cops, then a thought struck me and I sat down to think about it.
Those dollar notes had looked mighty nice, and now some dame had nicked them. I was feeling mighty sore.
After a few quick drags from the rye I felt better, and I got myself dressed. All the time I wondered what the devil I was going to do. The sooner I started in on this the better. I locked up the apartment and went downstairs for my breakfast.