about two o’clock
in the morning
There it was in great black type : TERRIBLE TRAGEDY IN THE FLAT OF A WELL-KNOWN ACTRESS ! AUSTEN ABBOTT SHOT DEAD ! ARREST OF CAPTAIN SOTHERST Beyond the inevitable shock which is always associated with the taking of life , and the unusual position of the people concerned in it , there was little in the brief account of the incident to excite the imagination . A policeman on the pavement outside the flat in which Miss Shaw and her mother lived fancied that he heard , about two o'clock in the morning , the report of a revolver shot . As nothing further transpired , and as the sound was very indistinct , he did not at once enter the building , but kept it , so far as possible , under observation . About twenty minutes later , a young gentleman in evening dress came out into the street , and the policeman noticed at once that he was carrying a small revolver , which he attempted to conceal . The constable thereupon whistled for his sergeant , and accompanied by the young gentleman -- who made no effort to escape -- ascended to Miss Shaw 's rooms , where the body of Austen Abbott was discovered lying upon the threshold of the sitting room with a small bullet mark through the forehead .