midnight
The relation could not fail to leave a most unpleasant impression upon Richard , and Inspector Val decided to suppress it for the nonce . `` I 'll keep it a year and a day , '' thought Inspector Val ; `` then I 'll tell him . '' Richard adopted the counsel of Inspector Val , and did not accompany that gentleman of secrets to Grant Place . It was the half hour after midnight when Inspector Val climbed the Warmdollar steps , and strenuously pulled the bell . The latter appurtenance was one of those old-fashioned knob-and-wire tocsins , and its clangorous voice was calculated to arouse , not only the house whereof it was a fixture , but the neighborhood round about . Inspector Val 's second pull at this ancient engine brought Mr. Warmdollar , something bleary and stupid to be sure , but wide awake for Mr. Warmdollar . Once inside the hallway , Inspector Val told Mr. Warmdollar that he was a police agent , showed that ex-representative the gold badge glimmering beneath his coat , and concluded by informing him that all might not be well in the San Reve 's room .