about
noon
`` It 's almost unbelievable ! '' `` I took him for a white man , '' said the detective , earnestly . `` I accepted his parole for twenty-four hours . The twenty-four hours expired about noon to-day , but since he played that trick on Stokes last night and went out of his chambers , he has vanished utterly . '' Innes stood up excitedly . `` Your ideas may be all wrong , Wessex ! '' he cried .