about eight in the evening
`` I have been asked to look into this case myself , and before I definitely decline I should like to hear your version of the matter . '' Accordingly , we three presently gathered in my chambers , and Wessex , with one eye on the clock , outlined the few facts at that time in his possession respecting the missing girl . Two days before the news of the disappearance had been published broadcast under such headings as I have already indicated , a significant scene had been enacted in the gamekeeper 's cottage . Molly Clayton , a girl whose remarkable beauty had made her a central figure in numerous scandalous stories , for such is the charity of rural neighbours , was detected by her stepfather , about eight in the evening , slipping out of the cottage . `` Where be ye goin ' , hussy ? '' he demanded , grasping her promptly by the arm . `` For a walk ! ''