six o'clock
He , too , seemed greatly perplexed . They spent part of the afternoon in asking about old Langernault 's habits , hoping to receive some useful clue from the people who had known him . But their efforts led to nothing . At six o'clock , as they were about to start , Don Luis found that the car had run out of petrol and sent Mazeroux in a trap to the outskirts of Alençon to fetch some . He employed the delay in going to look at the Old Castle outside the village . He had to follow a hedged road leading to an open space , planted with lime trees , where a massive wooden gate stood in the middle of a wall . The gate was locked .