- Thornhill arrives late for his meeting. One of his business associates says Thornhill "may be slow in starting, but there's nobody faster down the homestretch."
- Thornhill says he's distracted because although he's just told his secretary to call his mother, he's realized too late that in fact his mother's not home. She's playing bridge with friends.
- He decides to send her a telegram and gestures for the bellboy just as the bellboy is paging a "Mr. George Kaplan."
- Two men lurking around think that Thornhill has identified himself as Kaplan. Oops.
- Thornhill excuses himself from the meeting and gets up to follow the bellboy, but not without asking for a double martini. No wonder his mother's worried.
- After he's shown where he can send a telegram, Thornhill's intercepted by the two lurkers, who hustle him into a car waiting outside.
- Thornhill asks if the men are joking, but they threaten him with weapons pointed at his back and force him into the car.