noon
Our information was that he used some of the bogus bills in paying off his gang . Now , it is n't going outside my mission to investigate his death -- if you do n't object . '' `` I would be glad to have you take hold of it , '' Brainerd replied . `` We ca n't bring the authorities here before noon , at the earliest , and in the mean time you can perhaps clear it all up . '' The eagerly curious men had crowded close to this brief dialogue , and had heard the latter part of it . O'Reagan became instantly an important personage , upon whose smallest word or movement they hung expectantly , and nobody showed a keener interest than Gerald Heath . The detective first examined the body .