midnight
He had a dull , uninterested way of asking questions which suggested the impulse of a vacuous mind to `` keep the talk going , '' rather than any desire to secure the information asked for . Indeed , when he asked a question and it was not promptly answered , he always hastened to say : `` Oh , it 's of no consequence , and it 's none of my business . '' But before he quitted the presence of the man to whom the question had been put , Joe Arnold usually had his answer . To this man , when he came by the midnight train , Duncan said : `` I must know who are the stockholders in the Quentin mine -- both those of record and those whose names do not appear on the stock books . If possible I must know also what each stockholder actually paid for his shares . You must hurry . I must have this information by noon to-morrow .