Daisy finished the letter to Belinda, then handwrote a brief note to Mrs. Fletcher, who would undoubtedly object to a typed personal letter. So would Daisy’s mother, to whom she next composed a note almost as brief. The Dowager Lady Dalrymple would complain about its brevity but would be equally displeased if forced to wade through pages of Daisy’s handwriting. Somewhat longer letters to her sister and Lucy, her former housemate, left her satisfied with having done her duty by all.
In none of her epistles had she mentioned the murder. She had managed almost to forget it herself, for over an hour.
Feeling rather an ass, she rang down to the switchboard and asked to be put through to Lambert’s room. “I’m going downstairs,” she told him, “to see if they have any postage stamps at the desk and leave some letters to be posted, and then I’m going to pop in to see the Misses Cabot. Idon’t need an escort, but I promised to let you know.”
“But what if they don’t have stamps?” Lambert said in alarm. “You mustn’t go out looking for a post office.”
“I’ll send Stanley.”
“Who?”
“The buttons. Bellhop.”
“O.K. I guess. I’ll meet you down below at the elevator.”
“It’s really not necessary,” Daisy protested, but he had rung off.
He was waiting for her, when she stepped out of Kevin’s lift. “I came down the stairs,” he panted, “to get here before you.”
Daisy sighed.
He accompanied her to the Cabots’, where Miss Cabot was much too tenderhearted to make him wait outside. Daisy told Miss Genevieve about Mr. Thorwald being hauled off to police headquarters.
“As long as he has his lawyer with him,” Miss Genevieve assured her, “he won’t come to any harm.”
Daisy wondered just what sort of harm her editor might come to if he had gone without his lawyer. The police in America seemed to be quite as dangerous as the criminals. She wasn’t sure whether to be more afraid of Gilligan or the suppositious assassin who might or might not be after her.
Miss Genevieve eagerly agreed to be with Daisy in the lobby when she met Pascoli. “Not that I believe you have anything to fear from him,” she added.
“Nor do I,” Daisy agreed.
“Better safe than sorry,” Lambert said firmly.
“Oh yes,” said Miss Cabot, “so very true!”
“Poppycock,” Miss Genevieve snorted. “If everyone thought like that, we’d still be living in caves. Or at least walking everywhere, instead of riding in trains and automobiles.”
“Oh dear, those newfangled automobiles, so dangerous! Papa would never set foot in one.”
“But you have frequently travelled with me in a motor taxicab, sister and have come to no harm,” Miss Genevieve pointed out. “Now, what I could bear to do is go up in an airplane. Have you ever flown in an airplane, Mrs. Fletcher?”
“No, but Alec has promised to take me up one day. He was a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps in the War. He fliesan aeroplane now and then to preserve his skills. My stepdaughter, Belinda, has flown with him more than once, I believe, much against her grandmother’s will.”
“Oh dear!” Miss Cabot shuddered. “A little girl up in the air, it doesn’t bear thinking of.”
“Have you ever flown?” Daisy asked Lambert.
“Who, me? In one of those kites? Oh boy, not hardly! An airship, now, that’s different. You can understand why a dirigible stays up, helium being lighter than air. That’s where the future of flight is, you betcha.”
“Oh dear, it’s simply not natural. If God had intended us to fly before we get to heaven, he would certainly have given us wings here below instead of trains.”
Daisy blinked and decided this curious proposition was not worth refuting. “I’m quite looking forward to it,” she said, “if Alec ever has time to take me when we get home. The view must be breathtaking.”
“As long as you don’t do it while I’m trying to take care of you,” said Lambert.
“That’ll soon be over,” Daisy reminded him. No doubt he’d be almost as happy as she would when Alec arrived.
They stayed with the Cabot sisters until it was time to go down to the lobby. Miss Genevieve, struggling to her feet, suggested she should be the one to give Pascoli information on the case, assuming that was really what he came for.
