a quarter to five
See you in the morning ! '' Pressing a bell with one hand and lifting up a telephone receiver with the other , the Chief immersed himself again in his work . He appeared to have forgotten Miss Mackwayte 's very existence . At a quarter to five that evening , Barbara unlatched the front gate of the Mill House and walked up the drive . She had come on foot from the station and the exercise had done her good . It had been a deliciously soft balmy afternoon , but with the fall of dusk a heavy mist had come creeping up from the sodden , low-lying fields and was spreading out over the neglected garden of Mr. Bellward 's villa as Barbara entered the avenue . The damp gloom of the place , however , depressed her not at all .