I nodded to Bertha. She looked at me rather peculiarly, heaved to her feet, and gave Dr. Alftmont her hand. “Don’t worry,” she said. “It’ll be all right.”
“I wish I could share your confidence.”
“It’s all right. You’re in our hands. We’ll take care of you.”
I said, “Wait fifteen minutes,” to Dr. Alftmont and walked down the corridor with Bertha Cool. Neither of us said anything in the corridor. In the elevator I said, “How did you come up?”
“I hired a car with a driver.”
I said, “We’ll talk in the agency car. It’s downstairs.”
We walked out across the strip of dark sidewalk, and Bertha Cool sagged the car over on its noisy springs as she eased herself into the pile of junk. I started the motor, drove down a couple of blocks, and parked in front of an all-night restaurant where we wouldn’t attract so much attention. “What did you tell him?” I asked.
“Enough to let him know that we control the situation.”
I said, “Where did you leave your car?”
“In the middle of the next block,” she said. “The driver’s waiting. I told him not to wait in front of the office.”