three o'clock in the afternoon
Then , as she turned again toward Avenue A , she suddenly remembered the package of detective stories for which she had promised to call at the shop where there was a spray of lilacs and a much-loved invalid woman . `` I guess I 'll give up the detective game , '' she thought , as she hurried along , `` but I 'll enjoy reading the stories just the same . '' Half an hour later she had changed her mind and had decided that she really was a very fine detective indeed . It was three o'clock in the afternoon when Bobs entered the musty book shop on the East Side and found the place unoccupied . However , the tinkling of a bell sounded in the back room and the little old man shuffled in . His expression was troubled , and when Roberta inquired for his invalid wife , he replied that she was n't so well . `` Poor Marlitta , '' he said , and there was infinite tenderness in his voice , `` she 's yearning to go back to the home country where our children are and their children , and the doctor thinks it might make her strong once again to be there , but the voyage costs money , and Marlitta would rather die here than not go honest . ''