Doris Rives was waiting on the street level when Melroy reached the new Federal Building, in what had formerly been the Greenwich Village district of Manhattan, that evening. She had a heavy brief case with her, which he took.
“I was afraid I’d keep you waiting,” she said. “I came down from the hotel by cab, and there was a frightful jam at Fortieth Street, and another one just below Madison Square.”
“Yes, it gets worse every year. Pardon my obsession, but nine times out of ten—ninety-nine out of a hundred—it’s the fault of some fool doing something stupid. Speaking about doing stupid things, though—I did one. Forgot to take that gun out of my overcoat pocket, and didn’t notice that I had it till I was on the subway, coming in. Have a big flashlight in the other pocket, but that doesn’t
