nine o'clock
He did n't believe for an instant that she had meant to run away with the Cadogan collar ; and he hoped fervently that she had n't been involved in any serious trouble by the qualified thing . Furthermore , he candidly wished he might be permitted to help extricate her , if she were really tangled up in any unpleasantness . Such , at all events , was the general tone of his meditations throughout dinner and his homeward stroll down Fifth Avenue from Forty-fourth Street , a stroll in which he cast himself for the part of the misprized hero ; and made himself look it to the life by sticking his hands in his pockets , carrying his cane at a despondent angle beneath one arm , resting his chin on his chest -- or as nearly there as was practicable , if he cared to escape being strangled by his collar -- and permitting a cigarette to dangle dejectedly from his lips ... . He arrived in front of his lodgings at nine o'clock or something later . And as he started up the brownstone stoop he became aware of a disconsolate little figure hunched up on the topmost step ; which was Mr. Iff . The little man had his chin in his hands and his hat pulled down over his eyes . He rose as Staff came up the steps and gave him good evening in a spiritless tone which he promptly remedied by the acid observation : `` It 's a pity you would n't try to be home when I call .