4:20
Directly after taking to Dulcie the buckle he had found and obtaining her permission to absent himself for the afternoon , he had walked to Holt Stacey , and there caught the 4:05 train to Newbury . He had exchanged the time of day with the ticket-collector at Newbury , who had taken the half of his ticket . The return half had afterwards been found in the dead man 's pocket . Where he had been , or what he had done , between 4:20 -- from the time he left Newbury station , on foot -- and 6:10 , when he had looked in at the `` Dog and Clown '' and had a drink and a chat with the landlord , was unknown . He had not told the landlord why he was in Newbury , or said anything concerning his movements in that town . The fact of his having bought a return ticket showed that he had intended to return to Holt Stacey by train . But he had not gone back by train .