“This” was a crisp hundred-dollar bill which he held out to her, standing up with a slight bow to do so.
Lucy looked at the bill, horrified. “And leave you here alone in Michael Shayne’s office?”
“But my dear Miss Hamilton,” he soothed her. “To allow you to go on and keep your engagement. There can be no harm in my remaining to answer the telephone.”
Lucy said, “My salary is quite adequate.” She bit her underlip and glanced at her watch. “I said ten minutes. If you will excuse me.…” She unlatched the gate in the low railing and swept past him into Shayne’s private office, leaving the door open behind her.
She crossed to the window and stood looking down at the late afternoon traffic on Flagler Street while she fought to regain her composure, and then turned when she sensed that she was no longer alone.
The man stood on the threshold, hat pressed against his chest and an apologetic smile on his face.
“I regret that I have offended you in my eagerness to reach Michael Shayne. If I knew any other way to contact him.…”
“Why don’t you call the Peralta residence yourself?”
His smile faded. He said shortly, “I am the best judge of the manner in which this should be handled. If you would relax and sit down.…”
Lucy looked at her watch again. She said, “His appointment was for four-thirty and he is always very prompt. Something important must have detained him. I think I shall have to ask you to leave now, and I will close up the office.”
He took a small, short-barrelled gun from the side pocket of his coat and gestured toward the swivel chair behind Michael Shayne’s desk.
“You will sit there, Miss Hamilton. We will wait for the telephone call, and you will proceed as instructed when it comes.”
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Murder in Haste Page 21
