She met my eyes and clamped her chin shut. I said, “Kick through, Bertha. There s more to this than you realize. He wants me to work on his case. You’ll be in a fix if you and I part company now.”

“We’re not going to part company, lover.”

“That’s what you think.”

She thought things over for a while, and then said, “A thousand dollars.”

“I thought so. Now, I want you to come with me.”

“Where?”

“We’re going to call on Evaline Harris,” I said.

“Oh, that jane.”

“Uh-huh.”

“You could do more with her alone, Donald,”