Alta said, “I’ll do nothing of the sort. You may not realize it, but we’re paying you a hundred dollars a day, Mrs. Cool.”
“You mean the—” Bertha Cool heaved a sigh. She took quick stock of the situation, and said to me, “I’m going over to the agency office,” and turned to Alta and said, “At that rate, dearie, you can hire him by the month,” and jerked open the door of the private office.
Ashbury said, “See you later, Donald,” and to Bertha, “Just a minute, Mrs. Cool. I want to run down to your office and check up on a few points.”
I heard the sound of Ashbury’s chuckle, heard Bertha Cool slam the door shut so hard she jarred the glass partition, and then Alta Ashbury and I were in the office — alone.