half past eight o'clock
Crass and the other men were also gone ; they had hurried off to return to work , and after a moment 's hesitation Hunter decided that it did not matter much about the certificate . Crass had arranged the business with the landlady and he could get the paper from her later on . Having come to this conclusion , he dismissed the subject from his mind : he had several prices to work out that afternoon -- estimates from some jobs the firm was going to tender for . That evening , after having been home to tea , Crass and Sawkins met by appointment at the carpenter 's shop to take the coffin to the mortuary , where Misery had arranged to meet them at half past eight o'clock . Hunter 's plan was to have the funeral take place from the mortuary , which was only about a quarter of an hour 's walk from the yard ; so tonight they were just going to lift in the body and get the lid screwed down . It was blowing hard and raining heavily when Crass and Sawkins set out , carrying the coffin -- covered with a black cloth -- on their shoulders . They also took a small pair of tressels for the coffin to stand on .