Zero Hour
　　I
　　It was chilly¹ on the water and Kay hugged the little fur jacket she was wearing closer round her.
　　The launch chugged down the river below Gull's Point, and then swung round into the little bay that divided Gull's Point from the frowning mass of Stark² Head.
　　Once or twice a question began to be asked, but each time Superintendent³ Battle held up a large hand rather like a cardboard ham, intimating that the time had not come yet. So the silence was unbroken save for the rushing of the water past them. Kay and Ted⁴ stood together looking down into the water. Nevile was slumped⁵ down, his legs stuck out. Mary Aldin and Thomas Royde sat up in the bows. And one and all glanced from time to time curiously⁶ at the tall, aloof⁷ figure of MacWhirter by the stern. He looked at none of them, but stood with his back turned and his shoulders hunched⁸ up.
　　Not until they were under the frowning shadow of Stark Head did Battle throttle⁹ down the engine and begin to speak his piece. He spoke¹⁰ without self-consciousness and in a tone that was more reflective than anything else.
　　"This has been a very odd case - one of the oddest I've ever known, and I'd like to say something on the subject of murder generally. What I'm going to say is not original - actually I overheard young Mr. Daniels, the K.C., say something of the kind, and I wouldn't be surprised if he'd got it from someone else - he'd a trick of doing that!
　　"It's this! When you read the account of a murder - or, say, a fiction story based on murder - you usually begin with the murder itself. That's all wrong. The murder begins a long time beforehand. A murder is the

分享到：