midnight before
How on earth had those people managed to efface themselves in that amazing manner ? They had all apparently vanished off the face of the earth . And there was that bulky package too , that Field believed contained the body of Sir Charles . It was long past midnight before Field left the house , having taken precautions not to disturb anything , but even those precautions might have been in vain . For all he knew to the contrary , the place might be watched by its late occupants who were laughing in their sleeves . `` No use staying here any longer , Macklin , '' he said disgustedly . `` I shall have to go back on my tracks once more .