"I've seen him. I dunno what he is, I dunno what you are, lady, but I
figure that you and Caroline Smith and everybody else in this house is
under the thumb of the gent that smiles."

Her eyes darkened with a shadow of alarm. "Go on," she said curtly.

"I'm not going on to guess about what you all are. All I know is what
I'm here trying to do. I'm not working for myself. I'm working for a
partner."

She started. "That's the second man, the one who stopped her on the
street today?"

"You're pretty well posted," replied Ronicky. "Yes, that's the one. He
started after Caroline Smith, not even knowing her name--with just
a picture of her. We found out that she lived in sight of the East
River, and pretty soon we located her here."

"And what are you hoping to do?"

"To find her and talk to her straight from the shoulder and tell her
what a pile Bill has done to get to her--and a lot of other things."

"Can't he find her and tell her those things for himself?"

"He can't talk," said Ronicky. "Not that I'm a pile better, but I
could talk better for a friend than he could talk for himself, I
figure. If things don't go right then I'll know that the trouble is
with the gent with the smile."