“Who inside can vouch for you?”

Grollman groaned when he realized that the only person in the building who knew who him was Dr Walker’s secretary.

“Dr Lance. Do you know him?”

“Oh sure. He’s the guy who thinks Bubbles is a virgin.”

“Yeah that’s the one.”

“How does he know you.”

“I work for him.”

“So he’ll vouch for you.”

“Well, yes and no.”

“Whadda you mean, ‘yes and no’?'”

“He hasn’t met me yet. That’s why I was in the basement. I was supposed to meet him in the cafeteria, but he was gone by the time I got there.”

“So how’s he gonna identify you?”

“Take me to him, he will.”

OK, but if he can’t you’re in the county jail.”

“What for?”

“Stealing bedpans. We’ve lost hundreds of the suckers to you assholes.”

If Grollman had realized how easy it was to find Milton Lance he would have gone after the bedpans a lot sooner, because it took his captor about two minutes to get him to Lance’s office where oddly enough Dr Lance was.

Milt’s office was about the size of a broom closet, but it was well lit. Its owner was sitting on a folding chair behind a card table. He was reading “The Story of O” with such concentration that he did not notice Grollman and his arresting officer in the doorway. The doorway was as far into the office as they could get.

“Milt, do you know this guy?”

Lance looked up, but went right back to his book. “Never saw him before in my life.”

“That’s true Dr Lance, uh Milt. I’m Richard Grollman the new fellow from Chicago.”

“The guy who’s in the army?” He didn’t take his eyes off of the book.

“Yeah.”

“You don’t eat breakfast?”

It took Grollman a few beats to get the connection. “I couldn’t find the cafeteria and I wasn’t told about the meeting.”

“Then how did you know to go to the cafeteria?”

“The sandpaper lady told me just a little while ago.”

Lance took an eye off the book for a few seconds and studied him as though he might hold more interest than a rock.