seven o’clock
And presently , laying his pipe aside , he took up a telephone which stood upon the dressing table and rang up a garage with which he had an account . `` Hello , is that you , Mason ? '' he said . `` Have the racer to meet me at seven o'clock , half-way along Pall Mall . '' Never for a moment did he relax his vigilance . Observing every precaution when he left The Chancery Agency , he spent the intervening time at one of his clubs , from which , having made an early dinner , he set off for Pall Mall at ten minutes to seven . A rakish-looking gray car resembling a giant torpedo was approaching slowly from the direction of Buckingham Palace .