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I'd told her I was looking for an E Dunphy in the 400 block of West Fifty-first Street She didn't have that, but she showed a P J Dunphy at 507 West Fifty-first, which could put him three or four doors west of Tenth Avenue That sounded likely It had been his e the way the phone was listed

Nuhbors, an old-law tenement six stories tall Not all of the bells and mailboxes had nameplates, but there was a slip of white cardboard in the slot next to the bell for 4-C with dunphy hand-lettered on it

I rang his bell and waited After a fewthe bell marked super When the buzzer sounded in response I pushed the door and let myself into a dinant air Down at the end of the hall a door opened and a woth blond hair secured with a rubber band She wore blue jeans that were starting to go at the knee and a plaid flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled to the elbow and the top two buttons unbuttoned

"My na to locate one of your tenants Edward Dunphy"

"Oh, yes," she said "Mr Dunphy's on the fourth floor One of the rear apartments I think it's 4-C"

"I tried his bell There was no answer"

"Then he's probably out Was he expecting you?"

"I was expecting him"

She looked at e you could see that she had to be crowding forty She carried the years well enough She had a high broad forehead with a sharply defined 's peak, a jawline that was strong but not severe Good cheekbones, interesting facial planes I had kept coh to think in those terms, and the breakup had been too recent for me to have lost the habit

She said, "Do you think he's upstairs? And not answering his bell? Of course it's possible that it's out of order I fix theet many visitors you wouldn't necessarily know that your bell wasn't functioning Do you want to go up there and knock on his door?"

"Maybe I'll do that"

"You're worried about him," she said "Aren't you?"

"I am, and I couldn't tell you why"

She made up her ed the lock, or put on an extra one God knoould, in a city like this one"

She returned to her own apart of keys, then double-locked her own door and led the way up the stairs Other se scents in the stairwell Stale beer, stale urine Marijuana Latin cooking

"If they change the locks, or add new ones," she said, "I'et the key There's actually a clause to that effect in the lease, the landlord has the right of access to all apartments But nobody pays any attention to it, and the owner doesn't care, and I certainly don't care I've got a key that's "

"We'll try it"

"That's all we can do"

"Well, it's not quite all," I said "So a lock without the key"

"Oh, really?" She turned to give me a look "That must be very useful in your profession What are you, a lockslar?"

"I used to be a cop"

"And now?"

"Now I' You told ain As we climbed, I learned that her na's superintendent for some twenty e for her services

"But it doesn't really cost the landlord anything," she said, "because he wouldn't be renting it anyway There are three e beside o fast"

"They'd go in aa thousand a month, crazy as it sounds But he'd rather warehouse the e into a co-op, and every untenanted apartment is ultimately a vote on his side, and an apartment he can sell for whatever the traffic will bear"

"But in the uess it's worth it to hiet a hundred thousand dollars for each of these rabbit warrens But that's New York I don't think there's anyplace else in the country where you could get that for the whole building"

"Anywhere else in the country, the building would be conde It's over a hundred years old, and these old tene when they went up They're not like the brownstones in Park Slope and Clinton Hill that were very grand in their day Even so, this is a sound structure And that's Mr Dunphy's door In the rear on the right"

She got to his door and knocked on it, a good strong knock When no answer caain, louder We looked at each other, and she shrugged and fitted her key into the lock She turned it twice around, first to disengage the dead bolt, then to snick back the spring lock

As soon as she cracked the door I knee were going to find I gripped her shoulder

"Let me," I said "You don't want to see this"

"What's that smell?"