a quarter past seven
They were new marks , for there was no dust over them ; they had merely had time to dry and cake the dust they had fallen on . _ Now , there had been no rain since a sharp shower just after seven o'clock last night _ . At that time you , by your own statement , were in the place . You left at eight , and the rain was all over at ten minutes or a quarter past seven . The trap-door , you also told me , had not been opened for months . The thing was plain . You , or somebody who was here when you were , had opened that trap-door during , or just before , that shower .