about seven in the evening
The man hunt was about to begin . The Cité Frochot is shut in by low stone walls , topped by grating round which creepers intertwine . The entry to its main thoroughfare , shaded by trees and lined with small private houses , is not supposed to be public , and a porter 's lodge to the right of the entrance is intended to enforce its private character . It was about seven in the evening . As the fine spring day drew to a close , Fandor reached the square of the Cité . For an hour past the journalist had been wholly engaged in keeping track of the famous Loupart , who , after leaving the saloon , had sauntered up the Rue des Martyrs , his hands in his pockets and a cigarette in his mouth . Fandor allowed him to pass at the corner of the Rue Claude , and from there on kept him in view .