noon exactly
He must n't show any signs that would excite her , especially when he did n't yet understand what had caused his own instant perturbation . Had Ellen looked at him she might have seen merely the calm face of a man mildly interested in the news of the day , but she was looking out at the Fifth Avenue shops . Bentley was staring again at the newspaper story : `` An evil genius signing his ` manifestoes ' with the strange cognomen of ` Mind Master ' gives the authorities of New York City twelve hours in which to take precautions . To prove that he is able to make good his mad threats he states that at noon exactly , to-day , he will cause the death of the chief executive of a great insurance company whose offices are in the Flatiron Building . After that , at regular stated periods , warnings to be issued in each case ten hours in advance , he will steal the brains of the twenty men whose names are hereto appended : '' -LRB- There followed then a list of names , all of which were known to Bentley . -RRB- He understood why the story had startled him , too . `` Mind Master ! ''