about ten o'clock
Cy Briggs , who had run the store for forty years , and had never had a robbery or fire or anything to disturb the regular order of things , was so flustered that he had not yet been able to find out the extent of his loss . One or two of the cooler heads were going over the stock with him , while the others clustered on the broad porch in front and waited for developments , keeping up a constant buzz of questions and conjectures . No one had heard any unusual noise the night before . The village constable , who constituted the entire police force of Oldtown , had made his usual round about ten o'clock , and , as a matter of form , had tried the door . But it had been securely fastened as usual , and there had been nothing to rouse his suspicion . Apart from two or three traveling men who had come in with Jed Muggs , and were now staying at the one hotel , nobody had seen any outsiders . The whole thing was a mystery , and this was increased by the discovery that while the door had been found open , showing that the thieves had come out that way , they must have found some other means of entrance .