ten o'clock
The stranger 's reference to `` the next contract '' strengthened the surmise that the documents in the envelope were connected with a South American trade concession . Alcatrante had plainly concluded that his interests and those of the Japanese were identical . He must have communicated with the strange Japanese the first thing in the morning . That would account for his failure to call at the Père Marquette at ten o'clock . Learning that the bill had been taken from Orme , and that the coveted documents were in the possession of the Japanese , he had no object in keeping his appointment . As for Poritol , he had become a figure of minor importance . But Orme did not let these questions long engage him , for he had made a discovery .