Five
o'clock
It was always possible , of course , Malone thought , that he would fall asleep and dream of an answer . That kind of thing kept happening to detectives in books . Or else a strange man in a black trenchcoat would sidle up to him and hand him a slip of paper . The words : `` Five o'clock , watch out , the red snake , doom , '' would be written on the paper and these words would provide him with just the clues he needed to solve the whole case . Or else he would go and beat somebody up , and the exercise would stimulate his brain and he would suddenly arrive at the answer in a blinding flash . Wondering vaguely if a blinding flash were anything like a dungeon , because people kept being in them and never seemed to come out , Malone sighed . Detectives in books were great , wonderful people who never had any doubts or worries .