noon
`` Yes ? '' he said . Teal , red-faced and apparently masticating a stick of gum , said : `` I got C. I. D. Commander Gideon to follow up on that matter , Mr. Malone . As you know , it 's after noon here -- '' `` And they 're all out to lunch , '' Malone said . `` As a matter of fact , '' Teal went on , `` they seem to have disappeared entirely . On vacation , that sort of thing . It is rather difficult attempting any full-scale tracing job just now ; our men are terribly overworked .