about eight o’clock
`` Possibly , but strychnine is a fairly rapid drug in its action . The symptoms appear from one to two hours after it has been swallowed . It is retarded under certain conditions , none of which , however , appear to have been present in this case . I presume Mrs. Inglethorp took the coffee after dinner about eight o'clock , whereas the symptoms did not manifest themselves until the early hours of the morning , which , on the face of it , points to the drug having been taken much later in the evening . '' `` Mrs. Inglethorp was in the habit of drinking a cup of cocoa in the middle of the night . Could the strychnine have been administered in that ? '' `` No , I myself took a sample of the cocoa remaining in the saucepan and had it analysed .