about nine o'clock
Certainly , a dozen times before , he had reached his lodgings by most circuitous routes , and never known through which streets he had come . But why -LRB- he always asked -RRB- should such a really fateful meeting have taken place in the market -LRB- through which there was no need to go -RRB- , and happen , too , at exactly such a time and at a moment of his life when his mind was in the state it was , and the event , in these circumstances , could only produce the most definite and decided effect upon his fate ? Surely he was the instrument of some purpose ! It was about nine o'clock as he stood in the Haymarket . All the dealers had closed their establishments or cleared away their goods and gone home . About this place , with its tattered population , its dirty and nauseous courtyards and numerous alleys , Raskolnikoff dearly loved to roam in his aimless wanderings . He attracted no notice there .