five o'clock in the afternoon
Here , as Weber did not yet know the short cut through the outhouses , he had time to make sure that the trapdoor was in perfect working order , and that there was no reason why they should discover the existence of a secret cupboard at the back of the alcove , behind the curtains of the bed . Once inside the passage , he went up the first staircase , followed the long corridor contrived in the wall , climbed the ladder leading to the boudoir , and , perceiving that this second trapdoor fitted the woodwork so closely that no one could suspect anything , he closed it over him . A few minutes later he heard the noise of men making a search above his head . And so , on the twenty-fourth of May , at five o'clock in the afternoon , the position was as follows : Florence Levasseur with a warrant out against her , Gaston Sauverand in prison , Marie Fauville in prison and refusing all food , and Don Luis , who believed in their innocence and who alone could have saved them , Don Luis was being blockaded in his own house and hunted down by a score of detectives . As for the Mornington inheritance , there could be no more question of that , because the legatee , in his turn , had set himself in open rebellion against society . `` Capital ! '' said Don Luis , with a grin .