eight o'clock
By Jove ! the invention of the Whispers was certainly a clever mode of preserving the secret , for nobody cares deliberately to court disaster and death , especially among a superstitious populace like the villagers here and the Hungarian peasantry . '' Both Gabrielle and her lover expressed their astonishment , the latter remarking how cleverly the weird legend of the Whispers invented by Sir Henry had been made to fit historical fact . * * * * * When the eight o'clock train from Stirling stopped at Auchterarder Station that evening , a tall , well-dressed man alighted , and inquired his way to the police-station . The porter knew by his accent that he was a Londoner , but did not dream that he was `` a gentleman from Scotland Yard . '' Half an hour later , after a chat with the rural inspector , the pair went along to the cell behind the small village police-station in order that the stranger should read over to the prisoner the warrant he had brought with him from London -- the application of the French police for the arrest and extradition of Felix Gerlach , _ alias _ Krail , _ alias _ Benoist , for the wilful murder of Edna Mary Bryant in the Forest of Pontarmé , near Chantilly . The inspector had related to the London detective the dramatic scene up at Glencardine that day , and the officer of the Criminal Investigation Department walked along to the cell much interested to see what manner of man was this , who was even more bold and ingenious in his criminal methods than many with whom his profession brought him daily into contact .