"I have. A desperate situation demands a desperate remedy. I've lost all conscience. That's why I agreed to protect you if you'd protect me."
"Go ahead."
"Culver is your friend."
"We're closer than a chord in G."
"Then you must wire him—"
"I have—"
"—not to come."
"What!" J. Wallingford Speed started as if a wasp had stung him.
"You must wire him at once not to come. I don't care what excuse you give, but stop him. Stop him!"
Speed reached for a pillar; he felt that the porch was spinning slowly beneath his feet.