noon
But Eve had not divined his purpose . Mr. Prohack walked straight to Bruton Street , where Oswald Morfey 's Japanese flat was situated . Mr. Prohack had never seen this flat , though his wife and daughter had been invited to it for tea -- and had returned therefrom with excited accounts of its exquisite uniqueness . He had decided that his duty was to inform Ozzie of the mysterious disappearance of Sissie as quickly as possible ; and , as Ozzie 's theatrical day was not supposed to begin until noon , he hoped to catch him before his departure to the beck and call of the mighty Asprey Chown . The number in Bruton Street indicated a tall , thin house with four bell-pushes and four narrow brass-plates on its door-jamb . The deceitful edifice looked at a distance just like its neighbours , but , as the array on the door-jamb showed , it had ceased to be what it seemed , the home of a respectable Victorian family in easy circumstances , and had become a Georgian warren for people who could reconcile themselves to a common staircase provided only they might engrave a sound West End address on their notepaper . The front-door was open , disclosing the reassuring fact that the hall and staircase were at any rate carpeted .