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Fourteen,THIRD VISITOR,Superintendent ¹ Battle arrived at Wallingford about six o’clock. It was his intention to learn asmuch as he could from innocent local gossip before interviewing Miss Anne Meredith.,It was not difficult to glean ² such information as there was. Without committing himselfdefinitely to any statement, the superintendent nevertheless gave several different impressions ofhis rank and calling in life.,At least two people would have said confidently that he was a London builder come down to seeabout a new wing to be added to the cottage, from another you would have learned that he was“one of these weekenders wanting to take a furnished cottage, ” and two more would have saidthey knew positively ³, and for a fact, that he was a representative of a hardcourt tennis firm.,The information that the superintendent gathered was entirely ⁴ favourable ⁵.,“Here for years? Oh, no, not that long. Just over two years. September quarter they come in. Mr.,Pickersgill they bought it from. Never used it much, he didn’t, after his wife died.
”,Superintendent Battle’s informant had never heard they came from Northumberland. London,he thought they came from. Popular in the neighbourhood, though some people were old-fashioned and didn’t think two young ladies ought to be living alone. But very quiet, they were.,None of this cocktail-drinking weekend lot. Miss Rhoda, she was the dashing one. Miss Meredithwas the quiet one. Yes, it was Miss Dawes what paid the bills. She was the one had got the money.,The superintendent’s researches at last led him inevitably ⁶ to Mrs. Astwell—who “did” for theladies at Wendon Cottage.,He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话 。,The little information that we could glean about them was largely contradictory.我们能够收集到的有关它们的少量信息大部分是自相矛盾的
。