11 o'clock
Crime always seems impossible in retrospect . By what sheer madness of the moment could he have shut up the bar on the night in question , and shut Judge Pepperleigh , the district judge in Missinaba County , outside of it ? The more so inasmuch as the closing up of the bar under the rigid license law of the province was a matter that the proprietor never trusted to any hands but his own . Punctually every night at 11 o'clock Mr. Smith strolled from the desk of the `` rotunda '' to the door of the bar . If it seemed properly full of people and all was bright and cheerful , then he closed it . If not , he kept it open a few minutes longer till he had enough people inside to warrant closing . But never , never unless he was assured that Pepperleigh , the judge of the court , and Macartney , the prosecuting attorney , were both safely in the bar , or the bar parlour , did the proprietor venture to close up .