“Nice to have seen you,” the blonde said. “Come to the club sometime, Mr. Lam. I’d like to have you see my dance.”

“Thanks, I will.”

Bob Elgin walked to the door with me. I shook hands. The blonde’s impudently appraising eyes met mine over Elgin’s shoulder.

I took the lift down and went over to the clerk’s desk. “Do you,” I asked, “have any vacancies coming up?”

His smile was a weary attempt at being pleasant. “Not a thing,” he said.

I took out my note-case and picked out some notes. I started counting them casually. “Not a thing?” I asked.

He eyed the money avariciously. “Not a thing. Gosh, I’m sorry!”

I fingered through the money and said, “If I could get an advance tip on some apartment that was going to be vacated I…”

“Just a minute,” he said.

He moved over to the switchboard.