noon
`` And not only the heat was intense ; the humidity , I assume , was also high . '' `` Very , '' Malone said , thinking back . He shivered again . `` In Washington , '' O'Connor said , `` it was noon . Here it is nine o'clock , and hardly as warm . The atmosphere is quite arid , and about twenty degrees below that obtaining in Washington . '' Malone thought about it , trying to ignore the chills .