midday
The lottery was drawn every five days in different localities , at Bordeaux , Lyons , Lille , Strasburg , and Paris . The Paris lottery was drawn on the twenty-fifth of each month , and the lists closed on the twenty-fourth , at midnight . Philippe studied all these points and set himself to watch . He came home at midday ; the Descoings had gone out , and had taken the key of the _ appartement _ . But that was no difficulty . Philippe pretended to have forgotten something , and asked the concierge to go herself and get a locksmith , who lived close by , and who came at once and opened the door . The villain 's first thought was the bed ; he uncovered it , passed his hands over the mattress before he examined the bedstead , and at the lower end felt the pieces wrapped up in paper .