“Watch out,” I warned. “She’s no one’s fool. Don’t guarantee any particular results.”
Bertha said into the transmitter, “Well, that will be fine, Mr. Hale. I’ll be very glad to do the best I can. Yes, I’ll take Donald with me. We’ll leave early in the morning, just as soon as she’s up. She doesn’t go to work until nine, and that means she’d leave the house about eight-thirty. We could be waiting to pick her up with a cab. What is it you want me to tell her?”
There was another interval during which the metallic sounds of the telephoned instructions were almost audible. Then Bertha said, “Very well, Mr. Hale, and I’ll let you know. Do you want me to wire you or... I see. All right. Well, thank you. Thank you very much. We think we’re pretty good, too... Yes, I told you he was short on weight, but long on brains. Well, good night, Mr. Hale — oh, wait a minute. When they ring you on my call, tell them the call is canceled. They have a great way of trying to put through two calls by trying to get you to talk on my call as well as on yours. I’ll ring up and cancel it, but don’t let them stick you by making you think it’s another call... All right, good-by.”
Bertha hung up the telephone, jiggled the receiver, said, “Hello, hello. Hello, Operator. This is Mrs. Cool in Mr. Lam’s room... Yes, that’s right, Mr. Lam’s room... No, I checked out and have my baggage in Mr. Lam’s room. That’s right. I had a call in for Mr. Hale at New York. Cancel it. That’s right. Cancel it... No, I just talked with him... Well, it was on his call... Oh, hell, cancel it and don’t go prying into — just cancel it!”
Bertha slammed up the receiver, turned to me, and said, “My God, the telephone company must ride these girls every time a call gets canceled. You’d think I was jerking the food out of their mouths. His plane was grounded somewhere. I didn’t get the name of the place. Where the hell do you suppose our food is? I—”
The waiter tapped discreetly on the door.
“Come in,” I said.
Bertha doesn’t like to talk when she’s eating. I let her go ahead and eat.
“What time do you want to try Roberta Fenn?” I asked when she pushed her plate back.
Bertha said, “I’ll get up and come to the hotel. I’ll be here at seven o’clock. You be in the lobby all ready to go. Now be certain you’re there. I don’t want to do any waiting around, with a taxicab meter clicking. The minute you see me drive up, hop out, and get in the car. Seven o’clock. Understand?”