nine o'clock
In choosing a weapon , I wished to select one that would implicate Ferruci rather than myself , in case there was any trouble over the matter ; so I chose for my purpose a stiletto which hung by a parti-coloured ribbon on the walls of the library at Berwin Manor . I fancied that the stiletto , having been bought in Florence , and Ferruci coming from Florence , he , if anyone -- should any of these facts come to light -- would be credited with giving it to Clear . `` I took this stiletto from Berwin Manor some time before Christmas , and , bringing it up to town , I left it , on the day before Christmas , on the table in Clear 's sitting-room . That was at nine o'clock in the night , and that was when I last saw him alive . Who killed him I know no more than any one else . `` On Christmas Eve I was ill , and wrote to Lydia to come up . She met me at the Pegalls ' , but as I felt ill , I left there at six o'clock , and Lydia stayed with the family all night .