about ten o'clock
He had seen many men flinch when brought unexpectedly into the presence of their murdered victim . He knew that many in a fit of passion , or even in cold blood , might have the nerve to take human life . Few resisted a shudder when shown the ghastly , mutilated , perhaps decomposing corpse . When he left the hotel that morning it was about ten o'clock . Whilst he had been convinced by Mr. Mitchel that the button found at the scene of the murder was not one of the original set , or rather that it could not be proven that it had been , he was equally satisfied , that the fact that it presented a portrait of Miss Remsen was significant . Thus , after all , it was possible that Mr. Mitchel had murdered the woman , or at least he had visited the apartment . In either case , supposing that he knew the woman was dead , it would be idle to take him up three flights of stairs to confront him with the body , for that would give him ample premonition of what was about to occur , and he would readily control his countenance .