XXXIII

Battle Explains

Superintendent Battle settled down to explain. He spoke comfortably and cosily.

“I didn’t suspect him myself for a long time. The first hint of it I had was when I heard what Mr. Devereux’s last words had been. Naturally, you took them to mean that Mr. Devereux was trying to send word to Mr. Thesiger that the Seven Dials had killed him. That’s what the words seemed to mean on their face value. But of course I knew that that couldn’t be so. It was the Seven Dials that Mr. Devereux wanted told⁠—and what he wanted them told was something about Mr. Jimmy Thesiger.

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