six o’clock
`` I am very sorry , my lord , '' stammered the detective . `` Oh , do n't mention it . I am sure you have done all that could be done with the very ineffective clues which unfortunately are our only possession , but you are quite wrong in thinking it was the Princess herself who attended the ball , and I do n't blame your assistant for refusing to bolster up an impossible case . We will consider the search ended , and if you will kindly let me have your bill at the Diplomatic Club before six o'clock to-night , I will send you a cheque . Good afternoon , Mr. Taylor . '' As Jennie rapidly hurried away from the office of Mr. Cadbury Taylor , there arose in her mind some agitation as to what the detective would think of her sudden flight . She was convinced that , up to the moment of leaving him so abruptly , he had not the slightest suspicion she herself , to whom he was then talking , was the person he had been searching for up and down Europe .