Eleven
HUMPHREY BOGART AND Claude Raines are walking off into the foggy night, Bogey uttering the iconic line, “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," when Helen’s phone rings.
I stretch. “Are you going to have to go out?” I say, yawning.
“Depends on who—Oh! It’s Gladys,” she says.
“She knows we have a date, right?”
“I told her, so I doubt she’d call if it wasn’t important,” Helen says as she answers the phone.
“Hey, honey, what’s up?” Helen says lightly. I can’t hear what Gladys is saying, but she sounds like a hysterical chipmunk.
“What? Gladys, honey, slow—just slow—honey, I can’t understand you. Take a deep breath.” She pauses. “OK, now tell me what happened.”
Whatever Gladys says causes Helen to slip into full-bore detective mode.
“Where are you righ
