Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[imchongjun]

Hello, teachers.
I'd like to ask what Walter, the caretaker, means by "I'll go at once--" in the following passage. It seems to me that there are two possible interpretations:
(1) Walter was going to dump the newspaper.
(2) There had been a ring at the door, and Walter was going down to the first floor to see the visitor.
But I am not quite sure. I appreciate any comments from you!!
Thanks!!

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A constable came forward carrying newspapers in his hand.

"What is it?" Bray asked.

"The Daily Mail, sir," said the constable. "The issues of July twenty-seventh, twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth and thirtieth."

Bray took the papers in his hand, glanced at them and tossed them contemptuously into a waste-basket. He turned to Walters.

"Sorry, sir," said Walters; "but I was so taken aback! Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. I'll go at once--"

"No," replied Bray sharply. "Never mind. I'll attend to it--"

There was a knock at the door. Bray called "Come!" and a slender boy, frail but with a military bearing, entered.

"Hello, Walters!" he said, smiling. "What's up? I-"

He stopped suddenly as his eyes fell upon the divan where Fraser-Freer lay. In an instant he was at the dead man's side.

(chapter 3 of Agony Column by E. D. Biggers)

[CP]

No, I don't think he's going to dump the newspapers, because someone is dead and that's the important thing. And the knock on the door comes later, so he isn't going to go answer that.

I think he started to say that he will go at once to the police station or the doctor's office or something like that, but Bray cuts him off to say he'll do it himself.

Please let us know whether the butler did it -- killed the guy, I mean.
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[imchongjun]

Thank you for your reply. Yes, your answer makes sense.

By the way, the murderer of the story turns out to be ... Bray, the detective. The text is available from Project Gutenberg. I think this a very clever mystery.

[CP]

The detective! What a scoundrel! It'll go hard on him in chokey (prison), won't it?
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb