seven
o'clock
He had been , as a matter of fact , seeking him in thoughtless humour -- moved solely by the gregarious instinct in man , which made him want to discuss the amazing events of the evening with the one who , next to himself and Sara Law , was most vitally concerned with them . He consulted a telephone book without finding that Drummond had any private residence connection , and then tried at random one of the clubs of which they had been members in common in the days when Hugh Whitaker was a human entity in the knowledge of the town . Here he had better luck -- luck , that is , in as far as it put an end to his wanderings for the night ; he found a clerk who remembered his face without remembering his name , and who , consequently , was not unwilling to talk . Drummond , it seemed , had lived at the club ; he had dined alone , that evening , in his room ; had ordered his motor car from the adjacent garage for seven o'clock ; and had left at about that hour with a small hand-bag and no companion . Nothing further was known of his actions save the police report . The car had been found stationary on Washington Bridge , and deserted , Drummond 's motor coat and cap on the driver 's seat . Bystanders averred that a man had been seen to leave the car and precipitate himself from the bridge to the stream below .