eight o'clock
If it had been gold , instead of brass or iron , that bit of metal would have taken no additional value in Mr. Taggett 's eyes . On leaving Mrs. Spooner 's he held it tightly clasped in his fingers until he reached an unfrequented street , where he halted a moment in the shadow of a building to inspect the paper , which he had half forgotten in his satisfaction at having obtained the key . A stifled cry rose to Mr. Taggett 's lips as he glanced over the crumpled note-sheet . It contained three lines , hastily scrawled in lead-pencil , requesting Richard Shackford to call at the house in Welch 's Court at eight o'clock on a certain Tuesday night . The note had been written , as the date showed , on the day preceding the Tuesday night in question -- the night of the murder ! For a second or two Mr. Taggett stood paralyzed . Ten minutes afterwards a message in cipher was pulsing along the wires to New York , and before the sun went down that evening Richard Shackford was under the surveillance of the police .