Complicity and Moral Ambiguity

Mrs. Bunting suspects the lodger is The Avenger but chooses to protect him out of financial need and a strange attachment, refusing to betray him to the police, highlighting the conflict between self-preservation, loyalty, and civic duty.

Mrs. Bunting's internal denial and her relief that the police have no clues suggest her complicity in protecting the lodger, despite her suspicions.

Mrs. Bunting's determination to serve the lodger herself, despite her fears, suggests a troubling complicity in protecting him.

Mrs. Bunting's search of the lodger's room and her concealment of the accident reveal her growing complicity in protecting a potential murderer, torn between duty and fear.

Mrs. Bunting's secret knowledge about Mr. Sleuth and her efforts to deflect suspicion (e.g., insisting the killer is a sailor from the Docks) place her in a morally ambiguous position.