Scared to death [antikvár]

ONE/It was a filthy night, one of those nightswhen it seems as though New York could hardly be called a habitable city. Full of rain and sleet and wind, the streets were cheerless canyons, and all those who could were staying resolutely indoors. An occasional car moved cautiously along the treacherous pavements. Occasional- pedestrians slipped and skittered in wild dashes from shelter to shelter. Even the patrolmen in their ample waterproofs loitered, whenever they could, in sheltered doorways. There was no protection against the weather. The streets were littered with the twisted skeletons of umbrellas that had been abandoned where the wind had caught and wrecked them. It was a devilish wind that came in sharp gusts. It was only in the intervals between gusts that the rain and sleet were falling. Whenever the wind came, it drove rain and sleet in horizontal ribbons before it.We were snug enoughInspector Schmidt and Iin the nice weather-tight front seat of the inspector's car. We were snug, but I can't say we were comfortable. Schmitty was doing the driving and even he respected those sleet-glazed pavements. He was11