Lee gulped. It was much more than he had intended to pay, but he already knew he wanted the prints more than he had wanted anything else for many months.

"OK. Would a check be OK?"

"Well, I don't know. You don't have it in cash?"

"Not quite. I think I have only about twenty-two or so."

"Oh, that'll be OK, I guess. Twenty-two'll be OK."

Lee stood up and began extracting bills from his wallet. A sharp double rap sounded on the wall and a female voice said, "You all through for the day, honey?"

Both were startled and looked at each other quickly. "Who's that?" Lee asked.

"Christ, I don't know. Some dame. Must be drunk."

"You know her?"

"Hell, no." There might have been a flush under the deep tan, but it was hard to tell in the lowering light of evening. Thorsen turned to wave his arm at the room and say, "This is the craziest hotel. Nutty people. Anything happens." He laughed the nervous laugh again. Lee had the money in his hand and Thorsen reached out and took it in a rapid but natural gesture. "That envelope is kind of old, but it's the best one I have. You can put the pix in it." It was split along one side, but Lee stuffed the prints into it and started for the door. "Well, goodbye, Mr. Thorsen. Thank you very much."

"Sure. You bet. Anytime. I'll probably be through again this time next year. I'll drop you a line, let you know just when. OK?"

"Yes. Fine."

Thorsen opened the door. "Good luck on your lifting." The grin was a little more onesided now than when he had admitted Lee.

"Thanks."

The door closed and Lee hurried down the hall to the elevator. He pushed the buzzer at once. The single, unshaded bulb in the hall was swaying slightly and his shadow wavered in a blob on the elevator doors. Lee put his face close to the glass and peered down. A yellow light was coming up. The cables were moving in the shaft. Suddenly, at the thought of the prints under his arm and the wheezing, suspicious old man, Lee knew that he couldn't endure the long ride down. He looked around desperately. A stairway-good. Probably he could get out of the place before the old man came back down. He ran to it, opened the door and stepped down.

The carpet, rotten with age and neglect, slipped away from the stair and Lee flung his arms frantically to keep his balance. The envelope dropped, burst completely and the pictures scattered down the stairs all the way to the next landing. He held onto the wall till his heart slowed down a little, and then bent to start retrieving the pictures.

He stopped abruptly at the sound of the elevator door rattling open. Lee held his breath as he heard the old man hobble into the hall. He knew he should grab up the rest of the pictures and tear down the stairs, but fear plastered him to the wall. Apparently the old man's curiosity was short-lived because soon the door clanged shut and Lee heard the cage start down. As he began to pick up the prints again, he heard a door open, a few steps, a knock. Another door opened and immediately there came the sound of a hard, sharp slap and a woman's shriek. "You stupid bitch. You just about lost me that last one." The voice was clearly Thorsen's. "I didn't mean . . . I didn't know," the woman's voice blubbered.

"You didn't know-I'll show you how to know." The door closed but Lee could hear severai more blows and the woman's muted cries. There was a pause and the door re-opened. "Shut up that bawling. Wash your face. Put on something that doesn't make you look like a whore. We're going out to eat and there isn't much time. Another one's coming at eight." The steps again and the slam of another door.

Shaking, Lee gathered up the rest of the pictures and scrambled tensely down the stairs. Near the bottom he stuffed the pictures under his coat. Then, in as casual a manner as he could muster and not looking back at all, he stepped down the long lobby to the street. He almost ran then, but remembered the prints in time and merely walked fast and kept one arm pressed to his side to hold them in place. The trembling was still with him and the sweat on his forehead was cold in the evening air. Jerry's warning words came back and Lee laughed shakily at how things had turned out. Immediately, however, he bit his lip, and the sting of disappointment at Thorsen made his eyes fill. But, then he caught sight of his stiff, awkward posture in a window and laughed again.

By the time he reached the lounge, he was laughing and crying in sputters and the tears had brimmed over. Jerry caught sight of him at once and stood up. "Lee! Lee! What's wrong? Are you laughing or crying? Lee!"

*

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