twenty minutes to twelve
The mystery , he repeated , would have been no less in the case of any other opponent than Captain Tremayne ; indeed , in the case of some other opponent it might even have been deeper . It must be remembered , after all , that the place was one to which the accused had free access at all hours . And it was clearly proven that he availed himself of that access on the night in question . Evidence had been placed before the court showing that he had come to Monsanto in a curricle at twenty minutes to twelve at the latest , and there was abundant evidence to show that he was found kneeling beside the body of the dead man at ten minutes past twelve -- the body being quite warm at the time and the breath hardly out of it , proving that he had fallen but an instant before the arrival of Mullins and the other witnesses who had testified . Unless Captain Tremayne could account to the satisfaction of the court for the manner in which he had spent that half-hour , Major Swan did not perceive , when all the facts of motive and circumstance were considered , what conclusion the court could reach other than that Captain Tremayne was guilty of the death of Count Jeronymo de Samoval in a single combat fought under clandestine and irregular conditions , transforming the deed into technical murder . Upon that conclusion the major sat down to mop a brow that was perspiring freely . From Lady O'Moy in the background came faintly , the sound of a half-suppressed moan .