twelve o'clock
`` Surely Mr. Dundas must have been able to prove an -- an -- do n't you call it an alibi ? '' asked Lisa . `` He did n't try to , '' replied Lord Bob . `` He 's simply refused , up to the present , to tell what he was doing between twelve o'clock and the time he was found , except to say that he walked for a good while before going to the house where Girard afterwards found him . Of course he denies killing the man : says the fellow had stolen something from him , on the boat crossing from Dover to Calais yesterday , and that after applying to the detective , he got a note from the thief , offering to give the thing back if he would call and name a reward . Says he found the room already ransacked and the fellow dead , when he arrived at the address given him ; that he was searching for his property when Girard appeared on the scene . '' `` Could n't he have shown the note sent by the thief ? ''