five o'clock
He took it up , scrutinised it , passed it to his neighbour , he to the next man , and so on until the ingot , going from hand to hand , was transferred to the end of a dark entry ; nor did it return to its place for half an hour . Meanwhile , the cashier had not so much as raised his head . But in the present instance things had not gone so smoothly . The package of notes not being found when five o'clock sounded from the ponderous clock in the `` drawing office , '' the amount was passed to the account of profit and loss . As soon as the robbery was discovered , picked detectives hastened off to Liverpool , Glasgow , Havre , Suez , Brindisi , New York , and other ports , inspired by the proffered reward of two thousand pounds , and five per cent . on the sum that might be recovered . Detectives were also charged with narrowly watching those who arrived at or left London by rail , and a judicial examination was at once entered upon .