That evening, Lady Coote, Gerry, and her husband play bridge together. Meanwhile, the others gather in Gerry’s room to place the “alarum” clocks. After a heated debate, they decide to set the clocks at intervals so that they will go off throughout the morning. However, Pongo points out that Gerry will hear them when he goes into his room. Instead, they decide to stay up until Gerry goes to sleep. Then, they gather outside his room, and Pongo goes in and sets up all of the clocks.

The next morning, the group waits with anticipation for Gerry, but he never appears. In the afternoon, Tredwell comes downstairs to announce that a servant has found Gerry dead in his room. Tredwell calls Dr. Cartwright, who informs them that Gerry had an empty bottle of chloral on his nightstand. Dr. Cartwright pulls Ronny and Jimmy aside and asks them if Gerry has ever experienced suicidal ideation, but they are both adamant that they never noticed anything amiss with Gerry. When Ronny asks about “foul play,” Dr. Cartwright states that there will be an investigation. The question makes Jimmy suspicious of Ronny.

Jimmy and Ronny decide to drive to Gerry’s home to inform his sister, Loraine, about Gerry’s death. On the way, Ronny tells Jimmy that he has something that he needs to share about Gerry. However, he then hesitates, insisting that it is private information that he isn’t sure he should reveal it. Jimmy advises him against sharing it. They arrive at Loraine’s house and break the news to her.

Back at Chimneys, Jimmy and Ronny go to Gerry’s room to see his body. On the way out, Jimmy notes that all of the clocks have been rearranged into a line. He also notices that one is missing; there are now only seven.

Lord Caterham, the owner, returns to Chimneys. He decries the fact that there is an inquiry into Gerry’s death, noting how “inconsiderate” it is that another person has died there. The last death occurred four years prior. Lord Caterham is convinced that the last death and this one were both deaths by suicide. MacDonald appears and tells Lord Caterham, his wife, and his daughter, Bundle, about the clocks being rearranged. Tredwell has interviewed all the staff, and they all insisted that they didn’t move the clocks; Lord Caterham notes how unhelpful they are. Bundle learns that Gerry died in her room.

That night, Bundle lies in bed in her room, contemplating the clocks. She has learned that the missing eighth clock was found on the lawn, and she wonders who would throw it out the window. Since her friend, Bill, was there, she decides to write a letter to him and ask him what he thinks. However, when she goes to her desk for paper, the drawer is stuck. Inside, she finds a crumpled letter written by Gerry and dated the day before he died. In the letter, he writes to Loraine, telling her to “forget” about the “Seven Dials business” and insisting that it’s not something she should be “mixed up in” (30). Reading the letter gives Bundle an ominous feeling.

Two weeks later, Bundle is bored on the estate, so she decides to go into town. As she drives, she sees a man stumble out from the hedge by the side of the road. She swerves to miss him, but when he collapses, she stops and goes to him. He says the words “Seven Dials,” then utters Jimmy’s name before becoming unresponsive. Panicking, Bundle is convinced that she killed him, so she puts him into her car and drives to Dr. Cassell. However, after examining the body, Dr. Cassell informs her that the man died of a gunshot wound.

After talking with Dr. Cassell and a police inspector, who identify the dead man as Ronny Devereux, Bundle drives home. She makes the connection that Ronny and Jimmy were at Chimneys with her friend, Bill, so she decides to speak to him about it. She also vaguely remembers that Gerry’s letter to Loraine mentioned Seven Dials.

Bundle tells her father what has happened, then asks him about the Seven Dials. He initially thinks it’s a section of London, but then he remembers a recent conversation with Cabinet Minister George Lomax, who works with Ronny, Gerry, and Bill. Codders had mentioned a political meeting that he had to attend, and the Seven Dials warned him against holding it. Bundle decides to continue to investigate, starting first with Bill.

Bundle calls Bill. She obliquely mentions Ronny, but Bill does not know that he is dead, so Bundle decides against telling him. Instead, she asks for Jimmy’s address.

Bundle drives to see Jimmy. His butler leads her into a sitting room, where she finds another woman already there. After a moment of consideration, Bundle realizes that the woman must be Loraine. They introduce themselves to each other. Loraine explains that she has been investigating Gerry’s death with Ronny’s help, but after Ronny became unreachable, she decided to speak with Jimmy instead. After Gerry’s death, Bundle sent Loraine the last letter he wrote, and Loraine has been investigating the Seven Dials ever since. She is convinced that someone killed him.

Jimmy comes into the sitting room and recognizes Loraine; she introduces him to Bundle. They tell him of Ronny’s death. Loraine then shows him the last letter that Gerry wrote. She explains that the thing Gerry wanted her to forget was a letter she accidentally opened; this letter bore the header Seven Dials,” then listed several names and dates. When Gerry realized that she had seen it, he told her it was a secret organization similar to the “mafia.” Now, the three deduce that the Seven Dials organization is a danger to them, but after some hesitation, they all agree to continue investigating Gerry’s death.