midnight
`` This is the fifth time I have called , '' replied the victim . `` I wish to speak to M. Derville . '' `` On business ? '' `` Yes , but I can explain it to no one but -- '' `` M. Derville is in bed ; if you wish to consult him on some difficulty , he does no serious work till midnight . But if you will lay the case before us , we could help you just as well as he can to -- '' The stranger was unmoved ; he looked timidly about him , like a dog who has got into a strange kitchen and expects a kick . By grace of their profession , lawyers ' clerks have no fear of thieves ; they did not suspect the owner of the box-coat , and left him to study the place , where he looked in vain for a chair to sit on , for he was evidently tired . Attorneys , on principle , do not have many chairs in their offices .