twenty minutes to twelve
`` That is the rule , '' said Sir Terence , `` and rightly so , for , as in the present instance , the prisoner 's own statement may make it necessary . '' The president gave way , thereby renewing Miss Armytage 's terrors and shaking at last even the prisoner 's calm . Sergeant Flynn was the first of the witnesses recalled at Sir Terence 's request , and it was Sir Terence who took up his re-examination . `` You said , I think , that you were standing in the guardroom doorway when Captain Tremayne passed you at twenty minutes to twelve on the night of the 28th ? '' `` Yes , sir . I had turned out upon hearing the curricle draw up . I had come to see who it was . ''