twelve o'clock
`` I do n't mean to sound brutal , but we must let it stand as it is . Enter the reports of witnesses and declare the man officially dead . Here is one case , at least , Mr. Warden , when there 's no doubt about a man being dead . '' However , shortly after twelve o'clock that night -- and the night being particularly black with an overcast sky -- Bartley Wagg opened the iron door of the big chimney and called forth Frank Vaniman and led him out through the little door at the side of the carriage entrance . There was a conveyance waiting there , a good-sized van , drawn by a solid-looking horse . Mr. Wagg lifted the flap of the van 's cover . `` Crawl in ! ''