I said, “You don’t dare to ditch it all, Sandra. You’d better leave some money, a hundred or two, in the money belt so they won’t realize you’ve slipped one over on them. As far as the rest is concerned, you can do either one of two things. You can either trust it to me, knowing that I may go south with it; or you can split it up in a lot of letters, address those letters to yourself at general delivery, and drop them in the mail chute. You’d better do something quick.”

It took her about five seconds to make up her mind. During those five seconds she stood staring at me, her head slightly on one side. I stood still. She looked at me and I met her look. Then she unsnapped buttons at the side of her skirt, slipped it down and fumbled with buckles—it wasn’t exactly a money belt. It was a money corset. She handed it to me. I couldn’t get it around me. I loosened my belt, shoved it down along my back, and pinched my belt tight.

“God knows why I’m doing this,” she said. “I’m putting myself absolutely in your power. I’m stripping myself of everything.”

I said, “Just one thing—Give Alma a square deal and I’ll give you a square deal. I’m doing this for her.”

“Not for me?” she asked, pushing out her lips in a little pout.

“No,” I said. “For Alma.”

“Oh, Donald, I thought it was because you—”

“Well, think again,” I said, and stepped out into the corridor, pulling the door shut behind me.

I’d got as far as the head of the stairs when she opened the door and screamed, “Donald, come back here!”

I went down the stairs in a rush. I heard her scream and run after me. I must have beat her to the lobby by a matter of seconds. I started through the door. A car was parked in front of the place with two men seated in it. They weren’t the two plain-clothes men who had been there earlier. The way in which they looked up as I came out showed what they were.

I pretended not to see them, crossed to an automobile, got in, and stepped on the starter, leaning forward as I did so, so that my head was lowered almost below the line of the windows.

She came dashing out to the street, looking up and down, her face showing puzzled bewilderment as she saw I was nowhere in sight. She started to run toward the corner. The officers exchanged glances. One of them climbed leisurely from the car. “Looking for something?” he asked.

She turned to look at him—and knew.

“I thought I heard someone yell fire,” she said. “—Is there a fire?”

The officer said, “You’re dreaming, sister.”