midnight
The room was empty . Nick was at first amazed , and then he reflected that it was quite possible that some disclosure of the prisoner had led Chick to accompany him in search of evidence . He passed out into the laboratory . It was darker at this hour of dawn than at midnight with the moonlight in it . The sheeted figure still lay upon the slab . Was it a body obtained in the usual way , under the sanction of the law , or had it a criminal history ? Nobody knew better than Nick the secrets that may lurk in the dissecting-room .