Lunchtime read: Trouble is my business

A different voice in this story with the house detective in a hotel being the lead character rather than Dalmas. As a result the action is confined to the hotel, its guests, staff and grounds. It makes for a tight story that Chandler sets up to have various possible endings.

Highlights from I’ll be Waiting

* A house detective in a hotel takes a shine to a female guest who reveals she is waiting for a man to arrive who she ended up putting in prison for four years and she is hoping for an opportunity for reconciliation

* After talking to her the detective is called to the door to meet someone named Al who tells him to get the girl out of the hotel because the man she is waiting for owes money to some criminals who want to collect their debt

* Instead of warning the woman the detective discovers that the man she is waiting for has turned up and is in the room next to her so he heads up there to warn him and give him the chance to escape

* After heading back down stairs and checking with the garage attendant that the man has escaped he settles back into the radio room where the woman, who cannot sleep has reappeared, but he is called to the phone to be told that Al knew he would give the man a chance and they have tracked him down

More tomorrow…