One man with a bushy mustache opened his door just as Phil was about to knock. He pushed by Phil quickly with a “ Hi” and a friendly nod, and clattered down the stairs. As the man passed the manager's door, it opened and the manager came out. “ Hi Al,” he said. “ Hi Arnie,” Al called as he disappeared from the courtyard.

Arnie the apartment manager remained outside. His head turned slowly in an arc around the courtyard as if searching for Phil hiding on the landing above. Phil shrank back in the shadows and held his breath. Then Arnie went back into his apartment.

A woman came to one of the doors, finally. Phil talked to her, making up what he was going to say as he went along. “ I'd love for you to meet my husband,” she said after a pause. The couple stood in their doorway chatting with him. “ An awful lot of single girls do live here,” they both acknowledged, though they didn't offer any suggestions. The man thought kind of a cute blond lived back in the direction from which Phil had come. When he said this, his wife, a brunette, gave him a long slow look. They didn't invite Phil inside.

At last, he risked crossing to the opposite side of the courtyard where he would be in full view of the manager's searching eyes. A small card table stood outside the manager's office with a deck of cards and three glasses sitting on it. Phil knew he did not have long to continue his quest before the manager reappeared.

“ I'm new to the apartment,” Phil told the tall angular brunette who answered his next knock. For a while, they talked through her partially closed door. She shut the door for an instant while she fumbled with the chain, but opened it again quickly to invite him in.