“You know what this means?”
“You tell me,” he smiled.
“It means the break; I won’t play A Single Woman!” she snapped.
“That’s the best guess you’ve made yet,” he laughed. “You win. Good night and—good-bye.”
XVI
NINETY MINUTES
Commandeering Alison’s taxicab with the promise of an extra tip, Staff jumped in and shut the door. As they swung into Fourth Avenue, he caught a glimpse of Ismay’s slight figure standing on the corner, his pose expressive of indecision and uncertainty; and Staff smiled to himself, surmising that it was there that the thief had left his motor-car to be confiscated by Iff.
Three blocks north on Fourth Avenue, and they swung west into Thirty-third Street: a short course quickly covered, but yet not swiftly enough to outpace Staff’s impatience. He had the door open, his foot on the step, before the taxicab had begun to slow down preparatory to stopping beside the car waiting in the shadow of the big hotel.