noon
In a convenient doorway he wrote a note to Chick , on the back of the scrap of paper which Jones had given him , and sealed it in an envelope . Then he sent Gaspard with it to Chick , who was on the lookout in the undertaker 's room , where the body lay . Having dispatched this message , Nick changed his disguise and kept watch over the establishment of Allen , Morse & Jones . Nothing of importance happened until a little after noon , when a reply came from Chick . Translated from the detective 's cipher , it read as follows : `` The address is that of a good flat house . Jones lives there with his wife . `` They have been there only about two months .