midnight
`` You 're sure ? You 're sure ? ... Yes , of course you are ! ... Well , when Madame Mergy wakes , tell her from me that I will bring her back her son this evening , before midnight . This evening , before midnight : it 's a solemn promise . '' With these words , Lupin hurried out of the house and , stepping into his car , shouted to the driver : `` Go to Paris , Square Lamartine , Daubrecq the deputy 's ! '' Lupin 's motor-car was not only an office , a writing-room furnished with books , stationery , pens and ink , but also a regular actor 's dressing-room , containing a complete make-up box , a trunk filled with every variety of wearing-apparel , another crammed with `` properties '' -- umbrellas , walking-sticks , scarves , eye-glasses and so on -- in short , a complete set of paraphernalia which enabled him to alter his appearance from top to toe in the course of a drive .