Six SEVEN DIALS AGAIN

Six SEVEN DIALS AGAIN

Bundle stared at him. And very slowly the world, which for the last threequarters of an hour had been upside down, shifted till it stood once morethe right way up. It was quite two minutes before Bundle spoke¹, but whenshe did it was no longer the panic-stricken girl but the real Bundle, cool,efficient and logical.
“How could he be shot?” she said.
“I don’t know how he could,” said the doctor dryly. “But he was. He’s gota rifle bullet in him all right. He bled internally, that’s why you didn’t no-tice anything.”
Bundle nodded.
“The question is,” the doctor continued, “who shot him? You sawnobody about?”
Bundle shook her head.
“It’s odd,” said the doctor. “If it was an accident, you’d expect the fellowwho did it would come running to the rescue—unless just possibly hedidn’t know what he’d done.”
“There was no one about,” said Bundle. “On the road, that is.”
“It seems to me,” said the doctor, “that the poor lad must have been run-ning—the bullet got him just as he passed through the gate and he camereeling on to the road in consequence. You didn’t hear a shot?”
Bundle shook her head.
“But I probably shouldn’t anyway,” she said, “with the noise of the car.”
“Just so. He didn’t say anything before he died?”
“He muttered a few words.”
“Nothing to throw light on the tragedy?”
“No. He wanted something—I don’t know what—told to a friend of his.
Oh! Yes, and he mentioned Seven Dials.”
“H’m,” said Doctor Cassell. “Not a likely neighbourhood for one of hisclass. Perhaps his assailant came from there. Well, we needn’t worryabout that now. You can leave it in my hands. I’ll notify the police. Youmust, of course, leave your name and address, as the police are sure towant to question you. In fact, perhaps you’d better come round to the po-lice station with me now. They might say I ought to have detained you.”
They went together in Bundle’s car. The police inspector² was a slow-speaking man. He was somewhat overawed by Bundle’s name and ad-dress when she gave it to him, and he took down her statement with greatcare.
“Lads!” he said. “That’s what it is. Lads practising! Cruel stupid, themyoung varmints are. Always loosing off at birds with no consideration foranyone as may be the other side of a hedge.”
The doctor thought it a most unlikely solution, but he realized that thecase would soon be in abler hands and it did not seem worthwhile tomake objections.
“Name of deceased?” asked the sergeant³, moistening his pencil.
“He had a card case on him. He appeared to have been a Mr. RonaldDevereux, with an address in the Albany.”
Bundle frowned. The name Ronald Devereux awoke some chord of re-memberance. She was sure she had heard it before.
It was not until she was halfway⁴ back to Chimneys in the car that itcame to her. Of course! Ronny Devereux. Bill’s friend in the Foreign Of-fice. He and Bill and—yes—Gerald Wade⁵.
As this last realization⁶ came to her, Bundle nearly went into the hedge.
First Gerald Wade — then Ronny Devereux. Gerry Wade’s death mighthave been natural — the result of carelessness — but Ronny Devereux’ssurely bore a more sinister⁷ interpretation⁸.
And then Bundle remembered something else. Seven Dials! When thedying man had said it, it had seemed vaguely⁹ familiar. Now she knewwhy. Gerald Wade had mentioned Seven Dials in that last letter of hiswritten to his sister on the night before his death. And that again connec-ted up with something else that escaped her.
Thinking all these things over, Bundle had slowed down to such a soberpace that nobody would have recognized her. She drove the car round tothe garage and went in search of her father.
Lord Caterham was happily reading a catalogue of a forthcoming sale ofrare editions and was immeasurably astonished to see Bundle.
“Even you,” he said, “can’t have been to London and back in this time.”
“I haven’t been to London,” said Bundle. “I ran over a man.”
“What?”
“Only I didn’t really. He was shot.”
“How could he have been?”
“I don’t know how he could have been, but he was.”
“But why did you shoot him?”
“I didn’t shoot him.”
“You shouldn’t shoot people,” said Lord Caterham in a tone of mild re-monstrance. “You shouldn’t really. I daresay some of them richly deserveit—but all the same it will lead to trouble.”
“I tell you I didn’t shoot him.”
“Well, who did?”
“Nobody knows,” said Bundle.
“Nonsense,” said Lord Caterham. “A man can’t be shot and run overwithout anyone having done it.”
“He wasn’t run over,” said Bundle.
“I thought you said he was.”
“I said I thought I had.”
“A tyre burst, I suppose,” said Lord Caterham. “That does sound like ashot. It says so in detective stories.”
“You really are perfectly¹⁰ impossible, Father. You don’t seem to have thebrains of a rabbit.”
“Not at all,” said Lord Caterham. “You come in with a wildly impossibletale about men being run over and shot and I don’t know what, and thenyou expect me to know all about it by magic.”
Bundle sighed wearily.
“Just attend,” she said. “I’ll tell you all about it in words of one syllable¹¹.”
“There,” she said when she had concluded. “Now have you got it?”
“Of course. I understand perfectly now. I can make allowances for yourbeing a little upset, my dear. I was not far wrong when I remarked to youbefore starting out that people looking for trouble usually found it. I amthankful,” finished Lord Caterham with a slight shiver, “that I stayedquietly here.”
He picked up the catalogue again.
“Father, where is Seven Dials?”
“In the East End somewhere, I fancy. I have frequently observed busesgoing there—or do I mean Seven Sisters? I have never been there myself,I’m thankful to say. Just as well, because I don’t fancy it is the sort of spot Ishould like. And yet, curiously¹² enough, I seem to have heard of it in someconnection just lately.”
“You don’t know a Jimmy Thesiger, do you?”
Lord Caterham was now engrossed¹³ in his catalogue once more. He hadmade an effort to be intelligent on the subject of Seven Dials. This time hemade hardly any effort at all.
“Thesiger,” he murmured vaguely. “Thesiger. One of the YorkshireThesigers?”
“That’s what I’m asking you. Do attend, Father. This is important.”
Lord Caterham made a desperate effort to look intelligent without reallyhaving to give his mind to the matter.
“There are some Yorkshire Thesigers,” he said earnestly. “And unless Iam mistaken some Devonshire Thesigers also. Your Great Aunt Selinamarried a Thesiger.”
“What good is that to me?” cried Bundle.
Lord Caterham chuckled¹⁴.
“It was very little good to her, if I remember rightly.”
“You’re impossible,” said Bundle, rising. “I shall have to get hold of Bill.”
“Do, dear,” said her father absently as he turned a page. “Certainly. Byall means. Quite so.”
Bundle rose to her feet with an impatient sigh.
“I wish I could remember what that letter said,” she murmured, more toherself than aloud. “I didn’t read it very carefully. Something about a joke,that the Seven Dials business wasn’t a joke.”
Lord Caterham emerged suddenly from his catalogue.
“Seven Dials?” he said. “Of course. I’ve got it now.”
“Got what?”
“I know why it sounded so familiar. George Lomax has been over. Tred-well failed for once and let him in. He was on his way up to town. It seemshe’s having some political party at the Abbey next week and he got awarning letter.”
“What do you mean by a warning letter?”
“Well, I don’t really know. He didn’t go into details. I gather it said ‘Be-ware’ and ‘Trouble is at hand,’ and all those sort of things. But anyway itwas written from Seven Dials, I distinctly remember his saying so. He wasgoing up to town to consult Scotland Yard about it. You know George?”
Bundle nodded. She was well-acquainted with that public-spirited Cab-inet Minister, George Lomax, His Majesty’s permanent Under Secretary ofState for Foreign Affairs, who was shunned¹⁵ by many because of his invet-erate habit of quoting from his public speeches in private. In allusion¹⁶ tohis bulging¹⁷ eyeballs, he was known to many—Bill Eversleigh among oth-ers—as Codders.
“Tell me,” she said, “was Codders interested at all in Gerald Wade’sdeath?”
“Not that I heard of. He may have been, of course.”
Bundle said nothing for some minutes. She was busily engaged in tryingto remember the exact wording of the letter she had sent on to LoraineWade, and at the same time she was trying to picture the girl to whom ithad been written. What sort of a girl was this to whom, apparently¹⁸, GeraldWade was so devoted¹⁹? The more she thought over it, the more it seemedto her that it was an unusual letter for a brother to write.
“Did you say the Wade girl was Gerry’s half sister?” she asked suddenly.
“Well, of course, strictly²⁰ speaking, I suppose she isn’t—wasn’t, I mean—his sister at all.”
“But her name’s Wade?”
“Not really. She wasn’t old Wade’s child. As I was saying, he ran awaywith his second wife, who was married to a perfect blackguard. I supposethe Courts gave the rascally²¹ husband the custody²² of the child, but he cer-tainly didn’t avail himself of the privilege. Old Wade got very fond of thechild and insisted that she should be called by his name.”
“I see,” said Bundle. “That explains it.”
“Explains what?”
“Something that puzzled me about that letter.”
“She’s rather a pretty girl, I believe,” said Lord Caterham. “Or so I’veheard.”
Bundle went upstairs thoughtfully. She had several objects in view. Firstshe must find this Jimmy Thesiger. Bill, perhaps, would be helpful there.
Ronny Devereux had been a friend of Bill’s. If Jimmy Thesiger was afriend of Ronny’s, the chances were that Bill would know him too. Thenthere was the girl, Loraine Wade. It was possible that she could throwsome light on the problem of Seven Dials. Evidently Gerry Wade had saidsomething to her about it. His anxiety that she should forget the fact had asinister suggestion.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

3 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

4 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

5 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

6 realization   

n.实现；认识到，深刻了解

参考例句：

• We shall gladly lend every effort in our power toward its realization.我们将乐意为它的实现而竭尽全力。
• He came to the realization that he would never make a good teacher.他逐渐认识到自己永远不会成为好老师。

7 sinister   

adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的

参考例句：

• There is something sinister at the back of that series of crimes.在这一系列罪行背后有险恶的阴谋。
• Their proposals are all worthless and designed out of sinister motives.他们的建议不仅一钱不值，而且包藏祸心。

8 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

9 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。

10 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

11 syllable   

n.音节；vt.分音节

参考例句：

• You put too much emphasis on the last syllable.你把最后一个音节读得太重。
• The stress on the last syllable is light.最后一个音节是轻音节。

12 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

13 engrossed   

adj.全神贯注的

参考例句：

• The student is engrossed in his book.这名学生正在专心致志地看书。
• No one had ever been quite so engrossed in an evening paper.没人会对一份晚报如此全神贯注。

14 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

15 shunned   

v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was shunned by her family when she remarried. 她再婚后家里人都躲着她。
• He was a shy man who shunned all publicity. 他是个怕羞的人，总是避开一切引人注目的活动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 allusion   

n.暗示，间接提示

参考例句：

• He made an allusion to a secret plan in his speech.在讲话中他暗示有一项秘密计划。
• She made no allusion to the incident.她没有提及那个事件。

17 bulging   

膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱

参考例句：

• Her pockets were bulging with presents. 她的口袋里装满了礼物。
• Conscious of the bulging red folder, Nim told her,"Ask if it's important." 尼姆想到那个鼓鼓囊囊的红色文件夹便告诉她：“问问是不是重要的事。”

18 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

19 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

20 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

21 rascally   

adj. 无赖的，恶棍的 adv. 无赖地，卑鄙地

参考例句：

• They said Kelso got some rascally adventurer, some Belgian brute, to insult his son-in-law in public. 他们说是凯尔索指使某个下贱的冒险家，一个比利时恶棍，来当众侮辱他的女婿。
• Ms Taiwan: Can't work at all, but still brag and quibble rascally. 台湾小姐：明明不行，还要硬拗、赖皮逞强。

22 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。