midnight before
Impatiently we awaited the arrival of the men from Kennedy 's laboratory , while we made Mrs. Godwin as comfortable as possible in a room at the hotel . In one of the parlours Kennedy was improvising a laboratory as best he could . Meanwhile , Kahn had arrived , and together we were seeking those whose connection with , or interest in , the case made necessary their presence . It was well along toward midnight before the hasty conference had been gathered ; besides Mrs. Godwin , Salo Kahn , and ourselves , the three Elmores , Kilgore , and Hollins . Strange though it was , the room seemed to me almost to have assumed the familiar look of the laboratory in New York . There was the same clutter of tubes and jars on the tables , but above all that same feeling of suspense in the air which I had come to associate with the clearing up of a case . There was something else in the air , too .