Happy Life near the Railway Learn English through story level 2

dunstanthwaite looked at the railway

crossing

and decided that it was time for john

dunn to die

it was a very suitable place for a

murder

there were trees all around

and they hid the trains which came so

fast along the railway line

the nearest house was thwaite’s own

and this was also hidden by the trees

people and traffic did not use the

crossing very often

and the big gates were kept locked

there was a small gate used by

passengers going to the station

but at night

it was always quiet

thwaite

was a worried man

he had to use sleeping powders to help

him sleep

but after tonight

things were going to be different

the time had come to stop the blackmail

the time had come

for john dunn

to die

it all began

five years earlier

thwaite worked in the offices of a large

company

and his only money was the money that

the company paid him

it was not much but it was enough

then he met the beautiful miss hilda

lorraine

and asked her to marry him

she came from an important family who

was supposed to be very rich but in fact

they had less money than thwaite had

thought

he learned that he would have to pay for

the wedding himself

and he did not have enough money for the

expensive kind of wedding that miss

lorraine wanted

so

thwaite

stole a thousand pounds by changing the

figures in the company’s books

he planned to put the money back after

he was married

but someone discovered

that it was missing

thwaite kept quiet

another man was thought to be the thief

and he lost his job

thwaites still said

nothing but john dunn

worked in the same office

he worked closely with wait

and guest thwaites crime

he searched through the company’s books

until he found what he was looking for

then

he went to thwait

sorry to have to ask you mr thwaite

he said

i need a hundred pounds

for my son

he’s in a bit of trouble you see

but you don’t have a son

said thwaite

done

just smiled

it wasn’t a very nice smile

a hundred pounds

he said again

and then thwaite knew that he was being

blackmailed

he paid done 100 pounds and dunn said

nothing more for a year

during that time thwaite got married

then the day came when dunn asked him

for more money

250 pounds

he said to thwaite i can’t pay

began thwaite

but he did

either he paid

or he went to prison

it went on for five years

and each time

dunn wanted more money

thwaite found it difficult to live on

the money that he was left with

his wife liked expensive things

an expensive house

an expensive car

visits to expensive restaurants

she also discovered that some of the

money her husband was paid each year

seemed to disappear

he tried to lie about it

but he knew that she thought he was

paying to keep another woman

oh how he hated john dunn

something must happen

and then

he remembered the railway crossing

it was not a new idea

weeks before he had thought about what

could happen there

the idea came when the doctor gave him

some powders to help him sleep

he thought about giving dunn enough of

them to kill him

but then

he got a better idea

although he was afraid

thwaite slowly realized that murder was

the only answer to his problem

then dunn

asked for more money

500 pounds

mr thwaite

dunn told him

500

said thwaite

why not ask for the moon

you’ll get neither one nor the other

500

repeated done calmly

it was then that thwaite decided to

murder the other man

he pretended to think about the money

for a moment

then he said

come to my house tomorrow night

and we’ll talk

he remembered his wife was going to be

away in london all night

and

bring those papers from the office which

you want me to look at

all right

said done

the following evening thwaite put 200

pounds in his pocket

then he put one half of his sleeping

powders into a whiskey bottle

there was only enough whiskey for two

glasses

but there was an unopened bottle next to

it

next he put a hammer into one pocket of

his overcoat

and a torch

into the other pocket

the coat was outside the door of his

study

lastly he moved the hands on his watch

and on the study clock forward

by 10 minutes

those extra 10 minutes

would give him his alibi

thwaite knew that he must be extra

careful

he knew that people at the office

thought there was some secret between

him and dunn

a secret that thwaite didn’t want anyone

to know

if dunn is killed

he thought

they’ll wonder

if it was really an accident

or if i murdered him but if his plan

went well

the police would believe that he hadn’t

left the house

thwaite sat down to wait for john dunn

he thought about what he was going to do

murder

he could almost see his hand holding the

hammer above done

could hear the awful sound of it

crashing down onto the man’s head

he could see dunn’s dead body

dead

all except the eyes

which looked at thwaite

followed him

everywhere he went

he tried to calm himself

he remembered why he was doing this

when don was dead

his problems were over

half an hour later

don arrived

jane opened the door

jame was the servant who lived in the

house with thwaite and his wife

she brought dunn into the study

thwaite smiled in a friendly way

oh good

you’ve brought those papers for me to

see done

thank you

after jane left the two men looked at

each other

give me the papers thwaite said

i’ll look at them now that you’ve

brought them

fifteen minutes later

he gave the papers back to dunn

and sat back in his chair

now

about that other matter

he got up

but why not have a drink first

no thank you

said done

he looked afraid

what are you afraid of

said wait

he gave don the opened whiskey bottle

and two glasses

we can both drink the same whiskey if

you like

here

you do it

after a moment

dunn put whiskey into each glass

then he waited until thweight drank

before he drank his own

thwaite watched him

how long before the other man began to

feel sleepy

thwaite needed all of one’s sleeping

powder to make him sleep

but done

did not usually take them

listen done said wait

i haven’t got 500 pounds

but i can give you this

he took the money from his pocket

and put it on the table

done counted it

200

he said with a laugh

are you trying to be funny

i’m not saying it will be the last

said thwaite

take it now and be pleased that you’ve

got it

done

shook his head

500

mr thwaite

i’ve told you

i can’t do it

said thwaite

and i won’t do it

you can tell everyone what i did i don’t

care anymore

it’s been five years

and i’ve done a lot of good work for the

company during that time

i saved them a lot more than a thousand

pounds

i’ll sell this house and pay them back

i’ll take my punishment then i’ll go and

live in another country and give myself

a new name

and your wife

said done

my wife will leave the country first

thwaite told him

she’ll wait for me to come out of prison

it won’t be more than two or three years

so you can take the 200 pounds or you

can do your worst

the powder in the whiskey was beginning

to make dunn sleepy

he looked stupidly at thwaite

and thwaite began to worry

had he given the other man too much

he looked at the clock there was not

much time left

will you take it or leave it

asked wait

500

said done in a heavy voice

i want

five

hundred

you can go and do your worst

said thwaite

done held out a shaking hand

come on pay me

sweat began to worry again

are you feeling all right done

i have some more whiskey

he opened the other bottle and put some

whiskey in dunn’s glass

dun drank it

and it seemed to make him feel better

that was strange

he said

i didn’t feel very well

but i feel a little better now

if you’re going to catch your train you

must go

seth waite

tell me tomorrow what you finally decide

to do

take the 200 with you

dun thought for a moment

then picked up the money

he looked at his watch

then looked at the study clock

your clock is wrong

he said

i have ten more minutes

wrong

seth wait

he looked at his own watch

it’s your watch that’s wrong

look at mine

dunn looked

and seemed unable to understand it

he stood up

and almost fell back again

thwaite hid a smile

this

was how he wanted dunn to be

you’re not feeling well

he said

i’ll take you to the station

wait until i get my coat

now that the time was here

thwaite felt cool

and calm

he put on his coat

feeling the hammer in the pocket

then went back into the study

we’ll go out this way

he said

there was a side door from the study

into the garden

thwaite closed it silently

and it locked automatically behind him

it was his plan to return that way

go in quietly again

and then to change the clock and his

watch back to the right time

then he would shout good night

and close the front door very loudly

pretending that somebody had left just

then

next he would call jane

and ask for some coffee

making sure that she saw the clock

then

if the police asked her later

jane could say that thwaite did not

leave the house

and the dunn went to catch his train

at the right time

it was a dry night

but very dark

a train carrying freight went slowly by

thwaite smiled to himself

there were plenty of freight trains at

that time of the night

he needed one of them to hide his crime

for him

he planned to hit done on the head with

the hammer then put his body on the

railway line

a freight train

would do the rest

slowly the two men walked on

thwaite holding dunn’s arm a light wind

moved among the trees

thwaite gently pushed the half asleep

down forwards

he put his hand into his pocket

for the hammer

and stopped

his keys

they were still inside the house

and he could not get back in without

them

he would have to ring the front doorbell

his alibi was destroyed

it was a bad mistake

everything was wrong now

he couldn’t go on with the murder

most murderers make mistakes

thoughthwaite

trying to calm himself

i’ve been the same

but he was shaking with fear as he

thought about the mistake

suddenly he could not walk another step

with dunn

good night

he said to the other man

and before they reached the crossing

he turned

and walked back to the house

for ten minutes thwaite walked up and

down outside until he began to feel calm

again

then he rang the bell

a few moments later

jane opened the door

thank you jane he said

i went to see mr dunn over the crossing

and i forgot my keys

he went to bed a happier man

he was not a murderer

when he was eating his breakfast the

next morning

he decided what to do

i’ll tell them at the office that i

stole the thousand pounds

he said to himself

i’ll take my punishment

and then i can have some peace again

it suddenly seemed so easy

until jane came in

have you heard the news sir

she said

mr dunn was killed by a train on the

crossing last night

a man who was working on the railway

line found him this morning

wait

slowly went white

jane was looking at him strangely

what was she thinking

what story did he tell her the night

before

he couldn’t remember

done killed

he said

how terrible jane

i’ll go down

the body was in a small railway building

near the line

there was a policeman outside

a sad accident mr thwaite

the policeman said

you knew the man didn’t you sir

he worked in my office

replied thwaite

he was with me last night discussing

business

i suppose this happened on his way home

it’s terrible

it’s very sad sir

said the policeman

but accidents will happen

i know that

said wait

but i wish he hadn’t drunk so much of my

whiskey

i was going to walk with him to the

station

the policeman looked closely at thwaite

and did you sir

no

said wait the cold night air seemed to

make him feel better

i turned back before the crossing

the policeman said no more

but later that day two more policemen

came to the office

have they talked to jane

one earthwaite

again he told them

i left done before we reached the

railway crossing

they wrote down what he said to them

then went away

next day

they came back

there were things that thwaite could not

explain to them

why did the whiskey bottle contain what

was left of a sleeping powder

why was the study clock

wrong by 10 minutes

at dinner time earlier on the same

evening jane had noticed that it was

right

and why

was a hammer found in his overcoat

pocket

then the police found papers in dunn’s

house

the handwriting on them was duns

it told the story of thwaite

and the thousand pounds

and it told how thwaite was a thief

the police then discovered that money

taken from thwaite’s bank account over

the last five years

always appeared a few days later

in dunn’s bank book

lastly

the time of death was known to be 10 30

pm

because dunn’s blood was found on the

train that went through the railway

crossing at that time

it was also

seven minutes before jane opened the

front door to let thwaite back in

at first

thwaite had no answers to all their

questions

finally

on his last morning

he told them the true story

then he went to his death

bravely

you