“This is rush work. I’ll be glad to pay extra but I need them right away.”
“Make it three hours, then,” replied the photographer.
“I’ll be back for them later,” nodded Flash.
He walked on two blocks to the Columbia Hotel. The lobby was crowded. In response to his inquiry for a single room, the clerk shook his head.
“We’ve been filled to overflowing ever since the train wreck. Folks coming to see their relatives in the hospital, you know. For a while we were selling cot space in the halls.”
“No chance then?”
“We did have a double room but it was assigned a few minutes ago. If you don’t object to sharing it, I could put you in there. The young man who occupies it isn’t much over your age, and is very respectable, sir.”
“How about him complaining?”
“He took it with the understanding he might be compelled to double up. The room has twin beds.”
“All right, I’ll take it,” decided Flash.