midnight
Going into the reading-room he wrote a report of the day 's occurrences and then calling a messenger , sent it to head-quarters addressed to Mr. Barnes . This done he felt entitled to hurry home for a short sleep -- short , because he knew it would be his duty to be on the watch again the next day , and until he received further instructions from Mr. Barnes . Mr. Barnes had immediately after his arrival obtained the requisition papers for which he had telegraphed , and which he found awaiting him . With these he had returned to Boston the same day , and obtaining his prisoner succeeded in catching the midnight train once more , arriving in New York with the loss of but a single day from the new case which so absorbed all his interest . Thus the morning after that on which the jewel robbery had been discovered he entered his offices quite early , having delivered his prisoner at police head-quarters . When he read Wilson 's letter , the only sign which he gave of dissatisfaction was a nervous pull at one corner of his moustache . He read the paper through three times , then tore it carefully into tiny pieces , doing it so accurately that they were all nearly of the same size and shape .