“I presume she can verify not only the occasion but the time,” Mason said.
“Certainly. She works in an office where they go by the clock. Her lunch hour is from twelve to one. She has to be back at her desk promptly at one o’clock.”
“I see,” Mason said, “and after that?”
“After that,” Mattern said, “I went back to Mr. Tidings’ office. There were some matters to take up with the manager of the building, and I rang up the manager’s secretary and asked for an appointment as near one-thirty as was convenient.”
“You got one?”
“Yes, at one-twenty-five. I talked with the manager of the building for fifteen minutes. I had told his secretary that my business would not take longer than that, and I remember looking at my watch and commenting to her as I went out that it had been fifteen minutes on the dot.”
“And then?” Mason asked.
“Then,” Mattern said, “I went down to a jewelry store to see about buying a new wrist watch. A chap whom I know works there, and I looked at wrist watches for nearly half an hour.”
“He’ll remember the occasion?”
“Oh, yes.”