nine o’clock at night
That pretence I have carried out with the thoroughness of the true artist . Thank you , Watson , you must help me on with my coat . When we have finished at the police-station I think that something nutritious at Simpson 's would not be out of place . '' His Last Bow : The War Service of Sherlock Holmes It was nine o'clock at night upon the second of August -- the most terrible August in the history of the world . One might have thought already that God 's curse hung heavy over a degenerate world , for there was an awesome hush and a feeling of vague expectancy in the sultry and stagnant air . The sun had long set , but one blood-red gash like an open wound lay low in the distant west . Above , the stars were shining brightly , and below , the lights of the shipping glimmered in the bay .