one o'clock
I 'm going right ahead with my plans for marrying Teresa Olivano anyhow , in spite of you and the Earl and your dodgasted cuff-buttons . '' And Uncle J. Edmund Tooter said no more for the remainder of the luncheon . When the meal was over , and Inspector Letstrayed seemed somewhat more overcome than usual , the party dispersed , and Holmes and I took a walk through the rooms on the first floor , -- `` just for fun , '' as he put it . It was then a little after one o'clock . As we were going through the kitchen , where the now subdued La Violette greeted us with a silent bow , Holmes 's eagle eye caught sight of Uncle Tooter 's coat-tail just disappearing behind the cellar-door . With a whispered warning to me and a quiet seizure of my arm , Holmes tiptoed after him , softly opened the cellar-door , and as Tooter 's steps died away along the cement floor of the cellar , we went inside , locked the door , and I stationed myself on the top step , while Holmes went down . Holmes quietly hid behind a large beer-barrel at the foot of the stairs , while I could hear old man Tooter rattling several bottles at the other end of the cellar , and talking to himself the while .