"Eric."
"Yes, sir."
"We cannot reach Dr. Mariassy. She has ostensibly retired and left orders at the hotel desk to the effect that she is not to be disturbed. Without causing comment, it wasn't possible to determine by phone whether the voice that gave the orders was male or female."
"Oh, Jesus!" I said. "I knew I should have gone straight to her. Well, to hell with the meet-cute act, I'm on my way."
VIII
OLIVIA MARIASSY had a room on the third floor, two below mine. I used the stairs. Nobody seemed interested in where I was going. Nobody seemed to be hanging around the corridor in front of number 310, either. I had the feeling I was in the clear, but I didn't take time to make sure. I just went right up to the door and knocked.
A feminine voice responded promptly. "Who is it?"
I drew a long breath. I guess I'd been really worried. After a moment of relief, I started to get angry. Our tame scientist was still alive and, from the calm sound of her voice, unharmed, but apparently she expected me to shout my name and business through the panels; and what the hell was the idea of having the desk refuse to call her, anyway?
"The password is flattop," I said softly, "like in aircraft carrier."
''Oh.''
There was a little pause; then the door opened. She was still fully dressed in her tweed suit. Her only concession to the lateness of the hour was that she'd unbuttoned her jacket. She was fastening it up again primly as she stood there. She even had her shoes on, although I would have been willing to bet she hadn't had them on a minute earlier. No woman, no matter how intellectual and proper, sits and reads late at night in high heels.
That's what she'd been doing when I knocked: reading. A light burned over the big chair in the corner, and she was holding a fat book with her forefinger marking the place. The title, I noted, was The Algebra of Infinity, whatever that might mean.
Standing there facing me she looked, I thought, like a not unhandsome spinster librarian about to ask me sternly why I couldn't get into the habit of returning my books on time.
"What are you doing here?" was what she really asked. "I mean, is this wise, Mr. Corcoran? After all, we're not supposed to be acquainted yet, are we? That abortive incident in the bar hardly constituted an adequate introduction."
"Are you all right?" I asked, watching her face. "Are you alone in there?"
She looked startled first and then indignant. "Alone? Of course I'm alone! What do you mean?"
I relaxed. It was obvious from her behavior that nobody was holding a gun on her from a hidden corner and telling her what to say. I pushed past her. The room was empty. So were the closet and bathroom. I came back to face her and reached out to shove the hail door closed.
"Now," I said, "what's the big idea, Doc?"
"I don't understand."
"I mean the phone bit. We tried to reach you. No go. Somebody had told the desk you didn't want to be disturbed. Naturally, knowing that under the circumstances
– particularly after the bar scene-you'd be much too smart to cut yourself off from us, in fact you'd be waiting for me to call, we got just a little concerned."
Her hand went to her mouth, ingenue fashion. It was an oddly girlish gesture for a woman with her severe appearance. "Why, I never thought! I guess I'm not a very good secret agent, Mr. Corcoran. I'm terribly sorry. I just well, it was a personal matter. Somebody with whom I didn't want to speak."
"Personal," I said. "This is a hell of a time for personal matters, Doc."
"People with medical degrees rarely like to be called Doc, Mr. Corcoran." She was her stiff, precise self once more. "And you are hardly in a position to criticize, after the way you left our business unfinished this evening to chase after that child in pink-leaving me, I must porn out, in a very humiliating position. I remember your saying on the ship that you ran after women, but I didn't realize it was compulsive!"
I stared at her. "You don't think I went off with the kid for fun, for God's sake!"
"What else could I think?" Her voice was cold. "An I must say I'm disappointed in your taste, Mr. Corcoran That shiny little dress, so tight, so short, so bare. Why do the little tarts all feel it's charming to overflow their clothes like that, all arms and legs and naked shoulders?'
I said, "Never mind my taste, or hers. That little tart as you call her, has just been beat up and raped because of us. You might keep it in mind while you criticize her clothes. You might also keep it in mind the next time your feel like shutting off your phone for personal reasons This isn't a friendly rubber of bridge, you know. Just what were your personal reasons?"
"I told you. Just somebody I didn't want bothering m with calls." She wasn't thinking of this at all. She was looking at me with shock and disbelief. "Raped?"
"It's a technical term for sexual intercourse achieved by violence. Just who is this guy you don't want to talk to?"
"Never mind," she said evasively. "It's a private matter. It has nothing to do with this. Why was the girl. raped?"
"Apparently as a gesture of spite and defiance," I said "I was using her to create a diversion and somebody say through it and took this way of telling me what he though of my tricks. Anyway, that's one explanation. There may be others."
Olivia was frowning. "Then you didn't leave me jus because-" She stopped.
"Just because I suddenly got hot pants for the kid? Not exactly," I said. "We were being watched, Doc, by a man who wasn't buying what we were selling. I thought I could confuse the issue, but the idea backfired."
"Then… then I owe you an apology."
"I'd rather have some dope on this guy who's been pestering you on the phone."
She shook her head. "I assure you, it's completely irrelevant, Mr. Corcoran. You say we are being watched? Well, that's what we hoped, isn't it? That was the reason for the great dramatic effort. So you've already identified the man we're after?"
"Yes, I've identified him," I said grimly. "The only trouble is, he's identified me, too. He's behaving very peculiarly, however, so until we get him figured out we'll go right on with the show as if nothing had happened." I looked at her for a moment. It was obvious that she had no intention of answering questions and we were wasting time, so I said, "I'm leaving now. The sooner I get out of here the better; maybe we can still salvage this act. You will lock your door and call the desk right away and tell them to put through any calls. Then you will give me twenty minutes to check around outside and get set to watch over you properly. If I call in the meantime and tell you to stay put, you will stay put come hell or high water. You will not open to anyone who doesn't give this knock." I rapped lightly on the back of a chair, three and two. "You will not leave this room for anyone who gives you instructions over the phone, regardless of who they claim to be. If it takes a week, you'll wait right here until somebody comes along who gives the proper knock. You've got water in the bathroom and people have lived for months without food, I'm told. Do I make myself clear?"
She licked her lips. "All right, Mr. Corcoran. And if you don't call, what do I do when the twenty minutes are up?"
I told her. She didn't like it, but my shocking news and the fact that she'd misjudged me had apparently rattled her, and she didn't protest very hard. I went out and waited until I heard the lock set behind me; then I went down to a pay phone and called Mac to let him know no female scientists had been lost or damaged. I told him how the situation stood. Then I made a check of the premises and found no sign of Kroch, which didn't necessarily mean anything. He seemed to be good at leaving no sign when he didn't want any left.