No good; it lacked spontaneity. The men were rising, their backs to
Dan, stepping out of the skeletal frame. In the dim light it now
looked like nothing more than a rough frame built of steel pipe, with
a cluster of levers in a console before the two seats. And the thieves
looked ordinary enough: Two men in gray coveralls, one slender and
balding, the other shorter and round-faced. Neither of them noticed
Dan, sitting rigid on the cot. The thin man placed a lantern on the
table, twiddled a knob. A warm light sprang up. The visitors looked at
the stacked shelves.
"Looks like the old boy's been doing all right," the shorter man said.
"Fathead's gonna be pleased."
"A very gratifying consignment," his companion said. "However, we'd
best hurry, Manny. How much time have we left on this charge?"
"Plenty. Fifteen minutes anyway."
The thin man opened a package, glanced at a painting.
"Ah, magnificent. Almost the equal of Picasso in his puce period."
Manny shuffled through the other pictures in the stack.
"Like always," he grumbled. "No nood dames. I like nood dames."
"Look at this, Manny! The textures alone--"
Manny looked. "Yeah, nice use of values," he conceded. "But I still
prefer nood dames, Fiorello."
"And this!" Fiorello lifted the next painting. "Look at that gay play
of rich browns!"
"I seen richer browns on Thirty-third Street," Manny said. "They was
popular with the sparrows."
"Manny, sometimes I think your aspirations--"
"Whatta ya talkin? I use a roll-on." Manny, turning to place a painting
in the cage, stopped dead as he caught sight of Dan. The painting
clattered to the floor. Dan stood, cleared his throat. "Uh...."
"Oh-oh," Manny said. "A double-cross."
"I've--ah--been expecting you gentlemen," Dan said. "I--"
"I told you we couldn't trust no guy with nine fingers on each hand,"
Manny whispered hoarsely. He moved toward the cage. "Let's blow,
Fiorello."
"Wait a minute," Dan said. "Before you do anything hasty--"
"Don't start nothing, Buster," Manny said cautiously. "We're plenty
tough guys when aroused."
"I want to talk to you," Dan insisted. "You see, these paintings--"
"Paintings? Look, it was all a mistake. Like, we figured this was the
gent's room--"
"Never mind, Manny," Fiorello cut in. "It appears there's been a leak."