“She was the one who was in here yesterday?”
“Yes. She wanted to find out who did Belder’s barber work. I found out. I got fifty dollars for finding out. After that, all I had to do was to telephone a certain number. When someone answered the phone, I was to mention the name of the barber’s shop and then hang up.”
“You have that phone number?” Elsie asked.
“I have it — I checked it. It’s a pay station in a downtown drug-store. Someone was waiting there to pick up the information. Perhaps Carlotta’s mother.”
Elsie’s nod was sympathetic.
“But,” Bertha said, “I did a little thinking. I tried to figure it the way Donald Lam would. I said to myself, ‘Now why does she want to know Belder’s barber? What does Belder’s barber have to do with it?’ So I thought back about Belder, trying to place the last time I’d noticed him being all slicked up as though he had been to a barber’s shop, and I remembered it was Wednesday morning.”
“I went down to the barber shop and asked a few questions. The barber who ran the place remembered Belder had been in there, had been wearing an overcoat, and had forgotten and left it there when he walked out. It occurred to me Carlotta’s mother knew about that and wanted to search the overcoat. I beat her to it. I found something in the overcoat pocket that’s a clue.”
“What?” Elsie asked.
“I’m not saying,” Bertha said. “I’m not telling even you that, Elsie. Not that Bertha doesn’t think she can trust you, but it’s something she doesn’t dare tell anyone.”
“I understand,” Elsie said sympathetically.