started with floor seventeen and went on up that way, so all the hotel rooms could have windows.
“I don’t sleep well in chairs,” May said, getting to her feet.
“Well, you didn’t mean to,” Dortmunder said.
“Doesn’t help,” she decided, and went off to the bathroom, while Dortmunder crossed to the room’s only window and drew the heavy drapes open partway. The window wouldn’t open, so he pressed his forehead against the cool glass in order to look as straight down as possible.
They had an inside room, meaning no city vistas but also no traffic noise, and the view below, just visible with your forehead flat against the windowpane, was the glass roof of the lobby. Earlier this evening, that glass dome had been very brightly lit, but now it was dim, as though some sort of fire had been banked down there.
12:53.
Dortmunder crossed to the door to once again study the floor plan in its little frame. He leaned in close, peering, figuring it out.
The floor plan was mostly little rectangles of numbered rooms, with a central corridor. In the middle of each of the three sides was a cluster of service elements: staircase, elevators, ice machine, and unmarked rooms that would be storage for linens and cleaning supplies. Of course, Max Fairbanks’s apartment didn’t show on this simple floor plan, but Dortmunder already knew it was above the theater and below the hotel and that it faced onto Broadway. So the service cluster on the Broadway side must be the one that contained the special elevator. Dortmunder’s room was around on the south side, so when Andy got here they’d —
The door whacked Dortmunder sharply on the nose. He stepped back, eyes watering, and Andy himself came in, saying, “I hope I’m not early.”
“You’re not early,” Dortmunder said, massaging his nose.
Andy peered at him, concerned. “John? You sound like you got a cold.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Maybe the air–conditioning,” Andy suggested. “You know, these buildings, it’s all recycled air, it could be you —”
“It’s nothing!”
May came out of the bathroom, looking more awake. “Hi, Andy,” she said. “Right on time.”
“Maybe a minute early,” Dortmunder said. His nose was out of joint.
May said, “A minute early is right on time.”
“Thank you, May.”
Dortmunder, seeing no future in remaining irritated, let his nose alone and said, “We got this little floor plan here,” and showed Andy the chart on the door. He explained where they were, and where the service elevator to the apartment should be, and Andy said, “Can it be that easy?”
“Probably not,” Dortmunder said.
“Well, let’s go look at it anyway,” Andy said.
May said, “John, where’s the control?”
“The what?”
“For the TV,” she said. “The remote control. I thought I’d watch television while you’re away, but I can’t find the control.”
“Maybe it’s in the bed,” Dortmunder said.
“Maybe it’s under the bed,” Andy said.
They all looked, and didn’t find it. May said, “This is only one room and it isn’t that large a room and it doesn’t have that many things in it. So we have to be able to find the control.”
Andy said, “Are you sure you ever had a control?”
“ Yes. That’s how I turned it on in the first place. And, John, you were changing channels one time.”
“So it ought to be in the bed,” Dortmunder said.
“Or under the bed,” Andy said.
They all looked again and still didn’t find it, until Andy went into the bathroom and said, “Here it is,” and came out with the control in his hand. “It was next to the sink,” he said.
“I’m not even going to ask,” May said, taking it from him. “Thank you, Andy.”
“Sure.”
Dortmunder, who didn’t believe he was the one who had carried the control into the bathroom in the first place, but who saw no point in starting an argument, said, “Can we go now?”
“Sure,”
“I don’t sleep well in chairs,” May said, getting to her feet.
“Well, you didn’t mean to,” Dortmunder said.
“Doesn’t help,” she decided, and went off to the bathroom, while Dortmunder crossed to the room’s only window and drew the heavy drapes open partway. The window wouldn’t open, so he pressed his forehead against the cool glass in order to look as straight down as possible.
They had an inside room, meaning no city vistas but also no traffic noise, and the view below, just visible with your forehead flat against the windowpane, was the glass roof of the lobby. Earlier this evening, that glass dome had been very brightly lit, but now it was dim, as though some sort of fire had been banked down there.
12:53.
Dortmunder crossed to the door to once again study the floor plan in its little frame. He leaned in close, peering, figuring it out.
The floor plan was mostly little rectangles of numbered rooms, with a central corridor. In the middle of each of the three sides was a cluster of service elements: staircase, elevators, ice machine, and unmarked rooms that would be storage for linens and cleaning supplies. Of course, Max Fairbanks’s apartment didn’t show on this simple floor plan, but Dortmunder already knew it was above the theater and below the hotel and that it faced onto Broadway. So the service cluster on the Broadway side must be the one that contained the special elevator. Dortmunder’s room was around on the south side, so when Andy got here they’d —
The door whacked Dortmunder sharply on the nose. He stepped back, eyes watering, and Andy himself came in, saying, “I hope I’m not early.”
“You’re not early,” Dortmunder said, massaging his nose.
Andy peered at him, concerned. “John? You sound like you got a cold.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Maybe the air–conditioning,” Andy suggested. “You know, these buildings, it’s all recycled air, it could be you —”
“It’s nothing!”
May came out of the bathroom, looking more awake. “Hi, Andy,” she said. “Right on time.”
“Maybe a minute early,” Dortmunder said. His nose was out of joint.
May said, “A minute early is right on time.”
“Thank you, May.”
Dortmunder, seeing no future in remaining irritated, let his nose alone and said, “We got this little floor plan here,” and showed Andy the chart on the door. He explained where they were, and where the service elevator to the apartment should be, and Andy said, “Can it be that easy?”
“Probably not,” Dortmunder said.
“Well, let’s go look at it anyway,” Andy said.
May said, “John, where’s the control?”
“The what?”
“For the TV,” she said. “The remote control. I thought I’d watch television while you’re away, but I can’t find the control.”
“Maybe it’s in the bed,” Dortmunder said.
“Maybe it’s under the bed,” Andy said.
They all looked, and didn’t find it. May said, “This is only one room and it isn’t that large a room and it doesn’t have that many things in it. So we have to be able to find the control.”
Andy said, “Are you sure you ever had a control?”
“ Yes. That’s how I turned it on in the first place. And, John, you were changing channels one time.”
“So it ought to be in the bed,” Dortmunder said.
“Or under the bed,” Andy said.
They all looked again and still didn’t find it, until Andy went into the bathroom and said, “Here it is,” and came out with the control in his hand. “It was next to the sink,” he said.
“I’m not even going to ask,” May said, taking it from him. “Thank you, Andy.”
“Sure.”
Dortmunder, who didn’t believe he was the one who had carried the control into the bathroom in the first place, but who saw no point in starting an argument, said, “Can we go now?”
“Sure,”
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