The Chinese Doll

Chapter 20

Dr. Elizabeth Saari pushed open the door without knocking and stood on his threshold.

“Chuck,” she asked him, “will you carry the suitcases down to the car for me? Mother stuffed everything she won’t need for the next two months into them. She just called me at this hour of the night! She wants me to bring them over to the hotel.”

He stood up, pulled a sheet of paper from the typewriter, scribbled his signature on it, and placed it in an envelope.

“That I will,” he answered wearily, “if you’ll do me a favor in return.”

“Name it.”

“Drive me down to the train. I want this to go out tonight.”

“Gladly. Oh, Chuck — hadn’t you better open that telegram? It might be important.”

He shook his head. “It isn’t, now. It’s from Rothman, the detective in Croyden. It will tell me that he has checked on you all the way back to your kindergarten days, and has found you perfectly wonderful.”