six in the
morning
Tom Abbott was a lawyer , like his father before him , and his grandfather in the fifties . It was one of the oldest firms in San Francisco , but she recalled his frequent and bitter allusions to the necessity of sitting up nights these days if a man wanted to keep out of the poorhouse . And at least this young man did not look like an idler or a wastrel . No man could have so clear a skin and be so well-groomed at six in the morning if he drank or gambled . Alexander Groome had done both and she knew the external seals . `` Is Aileen Lawton a friend of yours ? '' she asked sharply .