I thanked her, and Bertha Cool and I walked into the elevator. A coloured elevator boy shot us up to the fourth floor. The Key West was an apartment that had just a touch of swank. The service was quietly efficient.
We walked down to 43A, and I knocked on the door.
Almost immediately we heard motion on the other side of the door, and I said to Bertha Cool, “Today’s the day all right. She’s up and ready. Probably she’s due to drive up to Santa Carlotta and be there by afternoon. They’ll let the story break this evening.”
The door opened then. The woman I’d seen in Oakview stood on the threshold. She stared at me frowning, then suddenly recognition dawned on her face. I noticed that she wasn’t wearing spectacles.
“Good morning, Mrs. Lintig,” I exclaimed cordially. “You’ll remember me. I’m from the Blade in Oakview. A friend of yours, Sergeant Harbet, told me he thought you’d have a story ready for me.”
She frowned and said, “I didn’t know he wanted it published in Oakview. I didn’t— Do you know Sergeant Harbet?”
“Sure,” I said. “We’re old buddies.”
She said dubiously, “Well, come in.”
I said, “This is Bertha Cool, Mrs. Lintig.”
Bertha Cool flashed her diamonds, and Mrs. Lintig smiled all over her face. “So pleased to meet you, Mrs. Cool. Won’t you come in?”