midnight
Some delay was inevitable . The magistrate 's signature might not be obtained until next morning . If Holmes would call about nine he could go down with Lestrade and see it acted upon . So ended the day , save that near midnight our friend , the sergeant , called to say that he had seen flickering lights here and there in the windows of the great dark house , but that no one had left it and none had entered . We could but pray for patience and wait for the morrow . Sherlock Holmes was too irritable for conversation and too restless for sleep . I left him smoking hard , with his heavy , dark brows knotted together , and his long , nervous fingers tapping upon the arms of his chair , as he turned over in his mind every possible solution of the mystery .