midnight
His sense of location told him that it was the door of the spare bedroom next but one to the study . He felt his way silently and softly along the wall , and as he did so his hand touched the electric switch . Should he turn the light on and alarm the house ? Whoever was there had `` broken and entered '' after midnight , and was therefore outside the law . No , he would not do that . If what he had seen was true , the intruders believed that their mission was a sacred one . No doubt the man was armed , and perhaps the woman also , and what would a knife-stab mean to them on such a desperate quest ?