noon
Bentley now sat unmoving , his eyes unblinking , as he saw the naked man stagger over to the traffic officer . The color drained from his face . He looked at his watch . It was exactly noon . Even without further consideration Bentley knew that this gruesome apparition had some direct connection with the newspaper story he had just read . - - - Unobtrusively , trying to make it seem a preoccupied action , he folded the newspaper again and thrust it down at the end of the seat cushion . But Ellen was watching him , a haunting fear gradually coming into her eyes .