ten in the evening
`` DIED FOR DUTY . BOLD AND BLOODY CRIME AT NIGHT ON THE CENTRAL RAILROAD . '' That was the heading to the article announcing the assassination of the express messenger . The train on which the deed had been committed , had left Chicago at ten in the evening , and at one o'clock , when the train was halted at a station , the deed was discovered . Arnold Nicholson was found with his skull crushed and his body terribly beaten , while , in the bloody hands of the dead , was clutched a tuft of red hair . This went to show that one of the messenger 's assailants was a man with florid locks . Leaving Nell and Mr. Elliston together , Dyke Darrel hastened to the station .