No Business of Mine

“Come on,” I said, signalling the waiter, “let’s get out of here. If you two fellows haven’t anything better to do, amuse yourselves; Crystal is going to amuse me — alone.”

“Give me five minutes, precious,” she said, getting to her feet. “I’m going to powder my nose and then I’ll be very amusing.”

When she had gone Ullman glanced at his watch, got to his feet.

“I’ve got to write this story,” he said. “You two guys keep each other company. Say good-bye to Miss Godwin for me, will you? So long and thanks for the details.”

Bix made a move to follow him, but I grabbed his arm.

“Listen, lug,” I said, “you stick around where I can see you. I want you to stay right here until Crystal comes back, then I want you to fade quietly away.”

“What makes you think she cares for you, you sap?” Bix demanded heatedly. “Why, I’ll have her eating out of my hand if I can get her alone for two minutes.”

“It may surprise you to know she’s not that kind of a girl,” I said with dignity. “Moreover, she eats off a plate, and if you start anything I don’t like I’ll make you think the war’s started again.”

We sat glowering at each other for half an hour, then we both became uneasy.

“Now I wonder where she’s got to,” I said, looking towards the grill-room door. “No sign of her. She can’t be powdering her nose all this time.”

I saw suspicion and alarm in Bix’s eyes.

“You don’t think that rat...?” he began.

I jumped to my feet, made a dash into the lobby with Bix on my heels. There was no sign of her out there. I went up to the hall-porter, asked him if he had seen her.

“Miss Godwin left about twenty minutes ago, sir,” he said, “with Mr. Ullman. I believe Mr. Ullman was saying something about showing her his Press cuttings.”

“And I was going to show her my tattoo marks,” Bix wailed.

I tapped him on the chest. “It was the bags under that rat’s eyes and his talk about his mother that did it,” I said savagely. “The girl’s dissolute.”

“I like ’em that way, don’t you?” Bix asked, leading me towards the bar.

I said I did.