At a quarter-past two, Mannering telephoned the hospital again; for the first time, he put down the receiver feeling that the deepest of the anxieties was really over. “She is really doing very well,” the Day Sister had said. “By tomorrow, I think you’ll be able to see her, but not for very long.” “That’s fine,” Mannering had answered. “That’s wonderful.” He put down the receiver, and went to the window, and looked at the distant Thames; it was shimmering; and his eyes were glistening, too. He turned away at last, but didn’t go out. During the afternoon, Bristow telephoned, was carefully formal, said that the project had the approval of the Assistant Commissioner and the co-operation of Hodderbum, White and Hodderburn. It was thought by the solicitors, Bristow said, that he had better go to Brook House as a private inquiry agent, ostensibly employed by them to try to find why Garfield had been attacked, not as a member of the firm.
