Twenty minutes past four
the detective asked . `` Wait and see . '' Bending forward , the little man examined the gilt clock on the manager 's desk . `` Twenty minutes past four , '' he announced : `` I give you ten minutes to find some one to make a charge against me -- Shaynon , Mrs. What 's - her-name , or either of yourselves , if you like the job . If you fail to produce a complainant by half-past four precisely , out of here I go -- and I 'm sorry for the man who tries to stop me . '' The detective took a chair , crossed his legs , and produced a cigar which he began to trim with tender care . The manager , anxiously pacing the floor , after another moment or so paused at the door , fidgeted , jerked it open , and with a muffled `` Pardon ! ''