“I can’t remember.”
“This bat lives there in the house all the time?”
“Yes. He’s very affectionate. When I come in, he always flutters up against my face and snuggles there for a while. I want pets. I like them. I can’t keep a dog or a cat.”
“Why not?”
“Because they can’t be self-supporting and I can’t wait on them. While I’m away, I’d have to leave them locked up in the house, and then the problem of feeding them, of giving a dog exercise, of letting a cat in and out. No, I have to have a pet that’s self-supporting. There was an old woodshed out in the back of the house, and this bat lived there. I finally got him tame, and now he stays in the house. I leave the door open, and he can fly in and out. It makes no difference whether I’m there or not. He can come and go and live hi, own life — support himself.”
Bertha switched the subject abruptly. “You told Bollman that I’d located Josephine Dell for you?”
“Yes.”
“Tell him you had her address?”
“I think so.”
“And you’re certain you told him about getting the bouquet and the music box?”