B Is for Burglar

phone.
    I checked the list I'd made of neighboring apartments and tried the telephone number of a Robert Perreti, who apparently lived right next door. No answer. I tried the number for the neighbor on the other side, dutifully letting the phone ring ten times as the telephone company advises us. At long last, someone answered – a very old someone by the sound of her.
    "Yes?" She sounded as if she were feeble and might want to weep. I found myself speaking loudly and carefully as though to the hearing-impaired.
    "Mrs. Ochsner?"
    "Yes."
    "My name is Kinsey Millhone. I'm calling from California and I'm trying to reach the woman who's staying next door to you in apartment 315. Do you happen to know if she's in? I've just called and I let the phone ring about thirty times with no luck."
    "Do you have a hearing problem?" she asked me. "You're speaking very loudly, you know."
    I laughed, bringing my tone down into a normal range. "I'm sorry," I said. "I wasn't sure how well you could hear."
    "Oh, I can hear perfectly. I'm eighty-eight years old and I can't walk a step without help, but there's nothing wrong with my ears. I counted every one of those thirty rings through the wall and I thought I'd go crazy if it went on much longer."
    "Has Pat Usher stepped out? I was just on the line to the building manager and he said she was there."
    "Oh, she's there all right. I know she is because she slammed the door not moments ago. What was it you wanted, if it's not too impertinent of me to ask?"
    "Well, actually I'm trying to locate Elaine Boldt, but I understand she didn't make it down this year."
    "That's true and I was awfully disappointed. She's part of a bridge foursome when Mrs. Wink and Ida Rittenhouse are here and we count on her. We haven't been able to play a hand since last Christmas and it's made Ida very cranky if you want to know the truth."
    "Do you have any idea where Mrs. Boldt might be?"
    "No, I don't and I suspect the woman in there is on her way out. The condominium bylaws don't permit sublets and I was surprised that Elaine agreed to it. We've complained aplenty to the association and I believe Mr. Makowski has asked her to vacate. The woman has her back up, of course, claiming her agreement with Elaine covers through the end of June. If you want to have a conversation with her yourself, you'd do well to get down here soon. I saw her bringing up some cartons from the liquor store and I believe... well, I should say / hope she's packing up even as we speak."
    "Thanks. I may do that. You've been a big help. If I get down there, I'll stop by."
    "I don't suppose you play bridge, do you, dear? We've been reduced to playing hearts now for the last six months and Ida's developing quite a mean mouth. Mrs. Wink and I can't take too much more of this."
    "Well, I've never played but maybe I could give it a try," I said.
    "A penny a point," she said brusquely, and I laughed.
    I put in a call to Tillie. She sounded out of breath, as though she'd had to run for the phone.
    "Hi, Tillie," I said. "It's me again. Kinsey."
    "I just got back from the market," she panted. "Hang on until I catch my breath. Whew! What can I do for you?"
    "I think I better go ahead and take a look at Elaine's apartment."
    "Why? What's going on?"
    "Well, the people in Florida say she's not there, so I'm hoping we can figure out where else she might have gone. If I come back over there, could you let me in?
    "I guess so. I'm not doing anything except unloading groceries and that won't take but two shakes."
    When I reached the condominium again, I called her on the intercom and she buzzed me through and then met me at the elevator door with a key to Elaine's apartment. I told her the details of my conversation with Elaine's building manager down in Florida, filling her in as we rode up to the second floor.
    "You mean nobody down there has seen her at all? Well, something's wrong then," she said. "Definitely. I know she left and I know she fully intended to go down to Florida. I was looking out the window when the cab pulled up out front and gave a toot and she got in. She had on her good fur coat and that fur turban that matched. She was traveling at night, which she didn't like to do, but then she wasn't feeling good and she thought the change in climate might help."
    "She was sick?"
    "Oh, you know. Her sinuses were acting up and she'd had that awful head cold or allergy or whatever it was. I don't mean to criticize, but she was a bit of a