登陆注册
15299400000096

第96章

`Come in here, then.' And he led the way into the parlour.

The door was hardly shut when Mrs Verloc, jumping up from the chair, ran to it as if to fling it open, but instead of doing so fell on her knees, with her ear to the keyhole.The two men must have stopped directly they were through, because she heard plainly the Chief Inspector's voice, though she could not see his finger pressed against her husband's breast emphatically.

`You are the other man, Verloc.Two men were seen entering the park.'

And the voice of Mr Verloc said:

`Well, take me now.What's to prevent you? You have the right.'

`Oh, no! I know too well who you have been giving yourself away to.

He'll have to manage this little affair all by himself.But don't you make a mistake, it's I who found you out.'

Then she heard only muttering.Inspector Heat must have been showing to Mr Verloc the piece of Stevie's overcoat, because Stevie's sister, guardian, and protector heard her husband a little louder.

`I never noticed that she had hit upon that dodge.'

Again for a time Mrs Verloc heard nothing but murmurs, whose mysteriousness was less nightmarish to her brain than the horrible suggestions of shaped words.Then Chief Inspector Heat, on the other side of the door, raised his voice:

`You must have been mad.'

And Mr Verloc's voice answered, with a sort of gloomy fury:

`I have been mad for a month or more, but I am not mad now.It's all over.It shall all come out of my head, and hang the consequences.'

There was a silence, and then Private Citizen Heat murmured:

`What's coming out?'

`Everything,' exclaimed the voice of Mr Verloc, and then sank very low.

After a while it rose again.

`You have known me for several years now, and you've found me useful, too.You know I was a straight man.Yes, straight.'

This appeal to old acquaintance must have been extremely distasteful to the Chief Inspector.

His voice took on a warning note.

`Don't you trust so much to what you have been promised.If I were you I would clear out.I don't think we will run after you.'

Mr Verloc was heard to laugh a little.

`Oh, yes; you hope the others will get rid of me for you - don't you?

No, no; you don't shake me off now.I have been a straight man to those people too long, and now everything must come out.'

`Let it come out, then,' the indifferent voice of Chief Inspector Heat assented.`But tell me now how did you get away?'

`I was making for Chesterfield Walk,' Mrs Verloc heard her husband's voice, `when I heard the bang.I started running then.Fog.I saw no one till I was past the end of George Street.Don't think I met anyone till then.'

`So easy as that!' marvelled the voice of Chief Inspector Heat.`The bang startled you, eh?'

`Yes; it came too soon,' confessed the gloomy, husky voice of Mr Verloc.

Mr Verloc pressed her ear to the keyhole; her lips were blue, her hands cold as ice, and her pale face, in which the two eyes seemed like two black holes, felt to her as if it were enveloped in flames.

On the other side of the door the voices sank very low.She caught words now and then sometimes in her husband's voice, sometimes in the smooth tones of the Chief Inspector.She heard this last say:

`We believe he stumbled against the root of a tree?'

There was a husky, voluble murmur, which lasted for some time, and then the Chief Inspector, as if answering some inquiry, spoke emphatically:

`Of course.Blown to small bits: limbs, gravel, clothing, bones, splinters - all mixed up together.I tell you they had to fetch a shovel to gather him up with.'

Mrs Verloc sprang suddenly from her crouching position, and stopping her ears, reeled to and fro between the counter and the shelves on the wall towards the chair.Her crazed eyes noted the sporting sheet left by the Chief Inspector, and as she knocked herself against the counter she snatched it up, fell into the chair, tore the optimistic, rosy sheet right across in trying to open it, then flung it on the floor.On the other side of the door, Chief Inspector Heat was saying to Mr Verloc, the secret agent:

`So your defence will be practically a full confession?'

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 时空走廊的主人

    时空走廊的主人

    一个大三的学生,得到一个名为时空走廊的东西。时空走廊其实是个宝物库的名字,宝物的定义是稀少的有特别价值的东西。这样宝具啊、功法、动物、植物都在其范围之内。但刚刚得到时空走廊的叶倾,只能兑换四样东西,而这个时候的时空走廊仅仅只有1000多件藏品,而且只能从兑换适合自己的。叶倾的任务是为时空走廊中的藏品寻找合适的主人,然后把宝物给他,之后收集能量到其他世界收集宝物。如此循环,这样才有使用其他宝物的资格。那么,叶倾和他散布的宝物在个个世界会掀起怎样的腥风血雨?敬请期待!
  • 一曦之间:恋上你的拽

    一曦之间:恋上你的拽

    他们在深秋认识,她以为,他是个内敛不会说话的男生,她以为,她与他的交集只会像现在这般平淡。她是个叛逆少女,网恋、逃课什么都做,他是个拽到让人怀疑人生!酷到让人怀疑世界!炫到让人的世界观可以崩塌的那种!第n次见面时,她说:“姓尹的,再烦我信不信本姑娘把你带坏?就是很.色很.色的那种坏!”第10n次见面,她高高在上的说:“我喜欢你!对没错就是你!”我喜欢你,不是因为你长得好不好看,只是单纯的喜欢你,想把全世界都送给你的喜欢而已!我知道你不信,其实我也不信,但现在我信了!
  • 吴亦凡之梦想星空

    吴亦凡之梦想星空

    本文已完结,亲们可以下载汤圆创作可以看我的另外作品
  • 从天而降的女主角

    从天而降的女主角

    本故事讲述,男主角滕子煜和宰父乐苦寻女主角未果时,突然一个女孩从天而降,当他们看清女孩秀美的脸庞时,他们认定这是老天爷送给他们的女主角。然而,当女孩醒来时,却忘记了过去的一切,于是他们踏上了为女孩寻找身世的旅程,但女孩的身世就像是一个死胡同,好像她真的是从石头缝里蹦出来的,毫无踪迹可寻。当很多事情错综复杂的交织在一起时,他们以为终于有了关于女孩身世的线索,却意外的引出了一个惊天的秘密……
  • 九鼎沧澜学院

    九鼎沧澜学院

    重生异世大陆,不过却还要上学。从零开始的修炼,却异常强势。大陆风云再起,叱咤九鼎唯我沧澜
  • 深南大道,爱向何处

    深南大道,爱向何处

    讲述深圳一群青年男女打拼的故事,在生活的压力下,爱情是退让给事业,还是变质?爱与欲望的挣扎,灵魂与肉体的分裂……
  • TFBOYS的初恋很倾心

    TFBOYS的初恋很倾心

    “做我女朋友怎么样?”某男“让我思考一下啦”某女“算了,还是不要啦”某女某男情绪低落“但我愿意你做我的男朋友”某女又说道俊宝为梦雪的无名指上戴上那洁白的象征-----戒指(这是小殇第一次写小说,不喜勿喷。小说里三只的形象请勿上升真人,如果想吐槽,就吐槽我吧,别吐槽三只!!)
  • 繁花一世倾城

    繁花一世倾城

    繁花,一世。蝶舞,倾城。少年,那年春天,许诺过的誓言你还记得吗?
  • 南迁录

    南迁录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 春天之金达莱

    春天之金达莱

    随着时间的推移,世界上已经几乎没有战争了,然后人们心中的火焰却仍未扑灭......自己的妹妹一个不小心碰到了人,没想到却改变了她们的一生,神秘的TDB,各式各样的装备,一个个职业选手,仿佛战场一样的竞技,这真的只是娱乐吗?又或者背后有什么阴谋?敬请关注《立体机制》。