nine o'clock
The first two were travelling in a tram that went across K. 's route , but Kaminer sat on the terrace of a café and leant curiously over the wall as K. came over . All of them seemed to be looking at him , surprised at seeing their superior running ; it was a kind of pride that made K. want to go on foot , this was his affair and the idea of any help from strangers , however slight , was repulsive to him , he also wanted to avoid asking for anyone 's help because that would initiate them into the affair even if only slightly . And after all , he had no wish at all to humiliate himself before the committee by being too punctual . Anyway , now he was running so that he would get there by nine o'clock if at all possible , even though he had no appointment for this time . He had thought that he would recognise the building from a distance by some kind of sign , without knowing exactly what the sign would look like , or from some particular kind of activity outside the entrance . K. had been told that the building was in Juliusstrasse , but when he stood at the street 's entrance it consisted on each side of almost nothing but monotonous , grey constructions , tall blocks of flats occupied by poor people . Now , on a Sunday morning , most of the windows were occupied , men in their shirtsleeves leant out smoking , or carefully and gently held small children on the sills .