“I have an idea.”
Her eyes shifted again. She pulled her lower lip in under her teeth, moved it slowly while she made biting motions. “Have you been employed to solve the murder?” she asked abruptly.
“No.”
“Would you — well, if you knew who did it, would you necessarily have to—”
“No.”
Abruptly she gave me her hand. “Mr. Lam,” she said, “I think you’re wonderful.”
“And you’ll do what I ask you to?”
“Yes.”
“All right, remember you’ve had this apartment as Mrs. Sidney Jannix. You don’t want to have any connection with this apartment. They must never be able to trace you to it. That would be fatal. Clean out of here. Ship your baggage or buy a ticket to San Francisco, check your baggage, and have the baggage checks in your purse. I suppose Whitewell gave you money enough to see you through, didn’t he?”
“Yes. He insisted that I accept that so that I could leave all of my own money behind when I left. That was a part of the stage setting.”