“Mrs. Lintig up yet?” I asked.
“I don’t think so. She hasn’t come down yet.”
I thanked him and went down the street to the Blade office. Marian Dunton came out from behind the partition, and said, “Why, hello — what about it? Good Lord, what happened to your eye?”
I said, “I stubbed my toe. I tried to get you twenty-five bucks. I couldn’t make it stick. What’s she doing here?”
“Apparently just visiting friends. Remember, I warned you.”
“Visiting friends after all this time, and in a hotel?”
“That’s right.”
“How does she look?”
“I understand she shows her age. Mrs. Purdy, the mother of one of her old friends, has seen her, and says she looks terrible. Her hair’s turned white, and she’s put on a lot of weight. Mrs. Purdy says she told her she hasn’t had a happy moment since Dr. Lintig ran away.”
“It’s been twenty-one years,” I said.