eight o'clock
I had plenty to think of when I was cooking Mr. Reynolds ' supper : the chance that I might have Mr. Ladley again , and the woman at Horner . For it had come to me like a flash , as Mr. Graves left , that the `` Horn -- '' on the paper slip might have been `` Horner . '' After all , there was nothing sensational about Mr. Ladley 's return . He came at eight o'clock that night , fresh-shaved and with his hair cut , and , although he had a latch-key , he rang the door-bell . I knew his ring , and I thought it no harm to carry an old razor of Mr. Pitman 's with the blade open and folded back on the handle , the way the colored people use them , in my left hand . But I saw at once that he meant no mischief . `` Good evening , '' he said , and put out his hand .