She pulled up a stocking and said: “You couldn’t have asked me that in the first place, could you? I’m Vern Eng—”
“Cut it out!”
She stared at me. “I was only going to say I’m Vern Engdahl’s partner. We’ve got a little business deal cooking and I wanted to talk to you about this proposition.”
Arthur squawked: WHATS ENGDAHL UP TO NOW Q Q SAM IM WARNING YOU I DONT LIKE THE LOOK OF THIS THIS WOMAN AND ENGDAHL ARE PROBABLY DOUBLECROSSING US
I said: “All right, Arthur, relax. I’m taking care of things. Now start over, you. What’s your name?”
She finished putting on her shoe and stood up. “Amy.”
“Last name?”
She shrugged and fished in her purse for a cigarette. “What does it matter? Mind if I sit down?”
“Go ahead,” I rumbled. “But don’t stop talking!”
“Oh,” she said, “we’ve got plenty of time to straighten things out.” She lit the cigarette and walked over to the chair by the window. On the way, she gave the luggage a good long look.