“That’s quite all right. I hadn’t gone to bed yet. Don’t usually go to bed before midnight, although I try to finish with my office work by eight-thirty so I have a little time to relax. How about your partner, Mrs. Cool? What’s his name?”
“Donald Lam.”
“That’s right. Very interesting chap. Seemed to have a remarkably quick mind. I was very much interested in his reasoning on that carbon monoxide poisoning case. I knew some of the parties involved there. Some of the people were quite prominent in medical circles.”
“I know,” Bertha said.
“What’s become of him?”
“He’s in the Navy.”
“That’s splendid! But I suppose you miss him.”
Bertha said grimly, “I got along all right before he came to work for me, and I guess I can get along all right now.”
“You’ll keep the partnership alive?”
“It’ll be there when he comes back,” Bertha said. “Gosh. I hope nothing happens to the little bastard!”