one o'clock in
the afternoon
We merely knew not what to expect , which was exactly why we wanted to have him with us ; his type of mind is , perhaps , the most solidly comforting sort that any mystery-bound person can have at his side . By the time these five had gathered , Jerome had neither returned nor telephoned . There was not the slightest trace of Rhamda Avec ; no guessing as to whether he had seen the ad . It was then one o'clock in the afternoon . Only six hours ago ! It does n't seem possible . So there were eight of us -- three women and five men -- who went upstairs and quietly inspected the all but lifeless form of Ariadne and afterwards gathered in the library below .