a
quarter past seven
`` Ring up 700 Stanning '' -- he repeated his instructions to himself `` and ask for Mr. Elias . Assistance 'll be with you within fifteen minutes afterwards . '' By the clock on the mantelpiece it was a quarter to seven . If aid arrived promptly , with a car they could be at the Dyke Inn by a quarter past seven . The telephone gave no sign of life . Desmond impatiently jerked the receiver hook up and down . This time , at least , he would not fail , he told himself .