“Who was it?”
“Well, if you got to know, it was Pop Cleaver.”
Markham’s head jerked slightly.
“What did you do then?”
“Nothing, Mr. Markham—nothing at all. I didn’t think much about it, y’ understand. I knew Pop was chasing after the Canary, and I just supposed he’d been calling on her. But I didn’t want Pop to see me—none of his business where I spend my time. So I waited quietly till he went out——”
“By the side door?”
“Sure.—Then I went out the same way. I was going to leave by the front door, because I knew the side door was always locked at night. But when I saw Pop go out that way, I said to myself I’d do the same. No sense giving your business away to a telephone operator if you haven’t got to—no sense at all. So I went out the same way I came in. Picked up a taxi on Broadway, and went——”
“That’s enough!” Again Vance’s command cut him short.
“Oh, all right—all right.” Mannix seemed content to end his statement at this point. “Only, y’ understand, I don’t want you to think——”
“We don’t.”