THERE WERE A FEW ends to tie up.
After subduing Kaufmann, Hill rang the police. Detective Murdoch arrived quickly. Kaufmann was carted off by two delightfully rough constables. Among other things, to my mind, Kaufmann had as good as confessed to attacking Ida Gilmore.
“I intend to nail the bastard,” said Jack.
I let Mr. Gilmore tell most of the story.
Kaufmann must have followed him when he left his house and, unsuspecting, Mr. Gilmore had let him into the office. Kaufmann had immediately attacked him and tied him to the chair. He had started on his rant about money and the Jews. We weren’t sure what would have transpired, probably what he’d threatened, but I had arrived at that point.
Here, Mr. Gilmore had been forced to stop for a moment in his narrative to regain his composure. “Charlotte be-haved with the utmost calm and courage. I would be dead if it weren’t for her.”
Unfortunately, I had a delayed reaction just about then, and I started shaking uncontrollably. All three men were very kind, and after a little blubbering I was all right.
All of this took a while to sort out. Eventually, Mr. Gilmore was taken to the hospital to ensure there were no serious injuries sustained from Kaufmann’s beating. I refused to go. I was fine. Hill would have none of it.
I agreed, however, to go back to the Paradise.
Although he almost started a riot among the men waiting outside, Hill insisted on turning out the “Closed” sign.He promised them all a free lunch the following day, gave them each a chit to demonstrate his sincerity, and drew the blinds.
Eric and Wilf were in the kitchen. I wouldn’t have minded if Pearl had vanished, but she was there. She gaped at me with wide eyes, but, for whatever peculiar reasons of her own, she suddenly became very solicitous. She made me sit down and even lifted my feet onto another chair.
Eric immediately offered me soup, which I refused. I wasn’t hungry. In fact, I felt as if I’d never eat again. He paused briefly, then hurried over to the icebox.
“I know what you need.”
He took out a plate. “Bread-and-butter pudding. Sweets always help after a shock.”
He placed it in front of me.
Somewhat listlessly, I picked up the spoon. The others watched intently. But it wasn’t the quality of the dessert that they were interested in. It was my welfare. The feeling of being so cared about made me a bit teary again. I ate some of the pudding. Eric was right. I ate some more. And some more. When I polished off the last bit, I thought for a minute they might all do a dance. Pearl actually let out a whoop. Eric immediately went and got another slice. I ate that too.
Finally, I started to feel as if I were returning to the human race. Wilf went to make a pot of tea.
“Thank God you did, but I never asked you why you were coming to the office,” I asked Hilliard.
He winked. “I had your wages.”
I saw the other two men smile at each other, and even I sensed there was more to it than that. I had a warm glow in my stomach that didn’t just come from big helpings of bread-and-butter pudding.
“You certainly seemed to know what you were doing.”
“Army training. You never forget.” He grinned at me. “You seemed to know what you were doing yourself.”
“Instinct.”
WE MUST HAVE GONE over things again, as people do after situations like these, but after an hour I was ready to fall over with exhaustion.
“I’ll walk you home,” said Hilliard.
“No, thanks. I’ll be fine.” Besides, there was one more task I had to finish, and I had to do it now.
After some wrangling, Hilliard agreed to get a taxicab for me. I promised I’d come back after a rest.
“Where to, madam?” the taxi driver asked.
I gave him my address. Pearl, together with the three men, was standing on the sidewalk. They gave me a send-off fit for royalty. I waved goodbye and waited until the taxi had turned the corner.
I leaned forward and tapped the driver on the shoulder.
“I’ve changed my mind. Take me to the General Hospital.”
“Feeling all right, are we, madam?” he asked in alarm.
“Quite all right, thank you. There’s somebody I want to see.”
I wanted to talk to Katia Kaufmann while I had the chance.