three o'clock in the morning
He thought of the Prefect of Police , of the meeting that was to take place at Fauville 's house on the Boulevard Suchet . The meeting had begun . The police were watching the house . And this reminded him of the sheet of paper found by Weber in the eighth volume of Shakespeare 's plays , and of the sentence written on it , which the Prefect had read out : `` Bear in mind that the explosion is independent of the letters , and that it will take place at three o'clock in the morning . '' `` Yes , '' thought Don Luis , accepting M. Desmalions 's reasoning , `` yes , in ten days ' time . As there have been only three letters , the fourth will appear to-night ; and the explosion will not take place until the fifth letter appears -- that is in ten days from now . '' He repeated : `` In ten days -- with the fifth letter -- in ten days -- '' And suddenly he gave a start of fright .