At teatime John Hume came to the barrier at Castle Buildings, Stormont. The SDLP leader doesn't give much away. The question asked of every politician throughout this week was asked again: Is there a deal? "Watch my thumb," said Mr Hume.
Day five and tempers were rather frayed in the press tent and inside Castle Buildings. Reporters were getting wound up about colleagues stealing their chairs, phones and table space - a hanging offence - and obtaining reliable information.
Politicians had to endure the arm-twisting of Tony and Bertie. Their message: "For God's sake, do the deal, do the deal." Or strong words - several thousand of them - to that effect.
Steady nerves were required in the press marquee, where with each passing rumour, spin or briefing reporters were becoming more and more fevered and befuddled. Steady nerves were required, too, in the hothouse negotiating rooms of Castle Buildings.
Unionists didn't seem to be impressed, but mostly everyone else was with the Sinn Fein and Gen de Chastelain documents.
No, the Shinners didn't say specifically, unconditionally, unequivocally that there would be IRA decommissioning, but how close can you get without physically being slipped an AK47?
And so the arguments played throughout the day. There it was in black and white, a virtual commitment to guns and bombs being decommissioned. Couldn't unionists read between the lines?
The precise words unionists were demanding may not have been put down on paper, but if the IRA didn't deliver then the line would be: "The Provos welshed on the deal". But as the former Presbyterian moderator, Dr John Dunlop, has explained in the past: "Catholics can read between the lines, Protestants just read the lines".
Equally, no one likes politicians who break their word, even if the words are somewhat misty.
Gerry Adams defined the unionist position as their just not wanting a Catholic about the place. Unionists responded that being a pretty literal-minded lot they required stronger assurances than there "could", "can" or "should" be IRA disarmament.
The argument went to and fro throughout the day. Our necks were suffering more strain than Wimbledon watchers. One minute, optimism, the next pessimism, another minute "it's a deal", five minutes later "imminent collapse". As one unionist said, "Spin city".
It all came to a head around 8 p.m. Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern, looking better than the hacks after five days of painstaking and difficult negotiations, emerged from Castle Buildings. There was no deal as such, but a "way forward", they told us.
Gerry Adams, who like David Trimble also has a rather fractious constituency to contend with, indicated that nonetheless he could lead republicans to the promised land of peace, democracy and the ballot box minus the Armalite.
David Trimble, treading gingerly in a semantic minefield, said he still required "must" and "will" instead of "could", "can", or "should". However, he wasn't rejecting the deal as such, at least not yet. He'd test it with his people, just the way the Provos do.
There's two weeks to decide. That's when the executive may or not be formed. "I do believe there will be decommissioning," said Gerry Adams last night. Will David ever believe his words will translate into actions? John Hume is keeping his thumb down for the moment. But there's still a chance.