midnight
The Government are not anxious that the scandal should be made public , eh ? '' he cried bitterly . `` I have merely told you my instructions , '' was the detective 's response , as , with a quick , foreign gesture , he displayed on his left hand a curious old engraved amethyst set in a ring -- probably an episcopal ring of ages long ago . `` At midnight I have an appointment at the cross-roads , half-a-mile away , with Inspector Watts of Scotland Yard , who holds a warrant for your arrest and extradition to France . If you are still alive when we call , then you must stand your trial -- that is all . Trial will mean exposure , and -- '' `` And my exposure will mean the downfall and ruin of those political thieves now in power -- eh ? '' cried Poland .