无人生还 24

时间：2024-02-23 00:38:24

（单词翻译:单击）

Four
I
T here was a moment’s silence. A silence of dismay and bewilderment. Then the judge’s small
clear voice took up the thread once more.
“We will now proceed to the next stage of our inquiry1. First however, I will just add my
own credentials2 to the list.”
He took a letter from his pocket and tossed it on to the table.
“This purports3 to be from an old friend of mine, Lady Constance Culmington. I have not
seen her for some years. She went to the East. It is exactly the kind of vague incoherent letter
she would write, urging me to join her here and referring to her host and hostess in the vaguest
of terms. The same technique, you will observe. I only mention it because it agrees with the
other evidence—from all of which emerges one interesting point. Whoever it was who enticed4
us here, that person knows or has taken the trouble to find out a good deal about us all. He,
whoever he may be, is aware of my friendship for Lady Constance—and is familiar with her
epistolary style. He knows something about Dr. Armstrong’s colleagues and their present
whereabouts. He knows the nickname of Mr. Marston’s friend and the kind of telegrams he
sends. He knows exactly where Miss Brent was two years ago for her holiday and the kind of
people she met there. He knows all about General Macarthur’s old cronies.”
He paused. Then he said:
“He knows, you see, a good deal. And out of his knowledge concerning us, he has made
certain definite accusations5.”
Immediately a babel broke out.
General Macarthur shouted:
“A pack of dam’ lies! Slander6!”
Vera cried out:
“It’s iniquitous7!” Her breath came fast. “Wicked!”
Rogers said hoarsely8:
“A lie—a wicked lie … we never did—neither of us….”
Anthony Marston growled9:
“Don’t know what the damned fool was getting at!”
The upraised hand of Mr. Justice Wargrave calmed the tumult10.
He said, picking his words with care:
“I wish to say this. Our unknown friend accuses me of the murder of one Edward Seton. I
remember Seton perfectly11 well. He came up before me for trial in June of the year 1930. He
was charged with the murder of an elderly woman. He was very ably defended and made a
good impression on the jury in the witness-box. Nevertheless, on the evidence, he was certainly
guilty. I summed up accordingly, and the jury brought in a verdict of Guilty. In passing
sentence of death I concurred12 with the verdict. An appeal was lodged13 on the grounds of
misdirection. The appeal was rejected and the man was duly executed. I wish to say before you
all that my conscience is perfectly clear on the matter. I did my duty and nothing more. I passed
sentence on a rightly convicted murderer.”
Armstrong was remembering now. The Seton case! The verdict had come as a great
surprise. He had met Matthews, KC on one of the days of the trial dining at a restaurant.
Matthews had been confident. “Not a doubt of the verdict. Acquittal practically certain.” And
then afterwards he had heard comments: “Judge was dead against him. Turned the jury right
round and they brought him in guilty. Quite legal, though. Old Wargrave knows his law. It was
almost as though he had a private down on the fellow.”
All these memories rushed through the doctor’s mind. Before he could consider the
wisdom of the question he had asked impulsively14:
“Did you know Seton at all? I mean previous to the case.”
The hooded15 reptilian16 eyes met his. In a clear cold voice the judge said:
“I knew nothing of Seton previous to the case.”
Armstrong said to himself:
“The fellow’s lying—I know he’s lying.”

第四章
1
房间里顿时一片寂静，由于慌张和茫然失措导致的寂静。过了很久，法官终于打破沉
默，声音虽小但吐字清晰。
“现在，我们进入下一步的询问。但是，在此之前，我也要做一份陈述证明。”
他从口袋里掏出一封信，放在桌上。
“写信人自称是我的一个老朋友，叫康斯坦斯·卡尔明顿。我很多年没见到她了。她去
了东方。信的风格倒是完全像她以往那样：措辞含糊，前言不搭后语。她要我到这里来，
提起了这里的这位欧文先生和他太太，但话说得一样含糊。你们都看得出来，像给你们的
信一样，用的是同一种手段。我之所以提到此事，是因为这封信同其他证据吻合。总而言
之，耐人寻味的一点是，无论把大家召集至此的人究竟是谁，他肯定对我们了如指掌，或
者说费尽心机地打听到了不少有关我们的事情。不管他是谁，反正他知道我同康斯坦斯夫
人是朋友，甚至熟悉她写信的风格。他知道阿姆斯特朗医生的同行，以及他们的近况。他
知道马斯顿先生朋友的绰号以及他拍电报的习惯。他也的确知道布伦特小姐两年前在哪里
度过假，遇到了哪些人。就连麦克阿瑟将军的那些老战友，他也都知道。
他停顿片刻，接着说：“他简直无所不知！然后，他根据了解的信息，针对每个人提出
了具体的指控。”
话音未落便激起一阵喧哗。
麦克阿瑟将军喊叫起来：
“纯属胡说八道，这是诽谤！”
维拉也大叫着：
“不可理喻！”她呼吸急促，“居心不良！”
罗杰斯喘着粗气说：
“这是胡编乱造，胡编的！我们谁也没干过……没干过那种事……”
安东尼·马斯顿咆哮起来：
“我就不明白了，这个浑蛋想干什么？”
瓦格雷夫法官高举起手，平息骚动。
他一字一句地说：
“我想先说一说自己的问题。我被这位不知名的朋友指控，说我谋杀了一个叫爱德华·
塞顿的人。塞顿这个人我当然记得很清楚。一九三〇年六月，他被指控谋杀了一位老妇
人，就站在我面前受审，凭借三寸不烂之舌打动了陪审团。但是，事实无误，罪证确凿，
他肯定是有罪的，再能言善辩也没用。我秉公执法，陪审团后来也认定他有罪，他被判处
死刑。之后他不服判决，提起上诉，可是证据不足，上诉自然被驳回，最后他被如期处决
了。当着大家的面，我想把话说清楚，在这件事情上，我恪守本职，问心无愧。绝对没有
任何过错和触犯法律的地方。我处决的人，是一个证据确凿的杀人犯。”
阿姆斯特朗记起来了！没错，就是塞顿那桩案子！当时的审判结果让所有人大吃一
惊。记得在审案期间，有一天他在饭馆吃饭时遇见了法律顾问马修斯。马修斯很有把握地
告诉他：“基本上可以肯定，塞顿会被无罪释放，证据确凿，没有问题。”后来他又听到了
各种议论：“法官执意与被告作对，操纵陪审团，结果是被告判处死刑。当然，法律流程上
找不出任何破绽。说到底，这件案子完全是法官公报私仇，加害被告。”
这件案子的前前后后一下子涌上阿姆斯特朗心头，他还没想清楚，嘴就比脑子快了一
步，开口问道：
“你以前不认识塞顿吗？我的意思是，在审理这件案子之前，你不认识塞顿吗？”
法官耷拉着眼皮，眼神诡异地望着他，语气冰冷、态度坚决地回答道：
“在审理这桩案子之前，我和塞顿这个人素不相识。”
阿姆斯特朗医生心想：
这个老东西在撒谎——我再清楚不过了，他分明是在撒谎。


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 inquiry nbgzF     
n.打听，询问，调查，查问
参考例句：
  • Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
  • The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。
2 credentials credentials     
n.证明，资格，证明书，证件
参考例句：
  • He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
  • Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。
3 purports 20883580d88359dbb64d1290d49113af     
v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的第三人称单数 )
参考例句：
  • She purports to represent the whole group. 她自称代表整个团体。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The document purports to be official but is really private. 那份文件据称是官方的，但实际上是私人的。 来自辞典例句
4 enticed e343c8812ee0e250a29e7b0ccd6b8a2c     
诱惑，怂恿( entice的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • He enticed his former employer into another dice game. 他挑逗他原来的老板再赌一次掷骰子。
  • Consumers are courted, enticed, and implored by sellers of goods and services. 消费者受到商品和劳务出售者奉承，劝诱和央求。
5 accusations 3e7158a2ffc2cb3d02e77822c38c959b     
n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名
参考例句：
  • There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
  • He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。
6 slander 7ESzF     
n./v.诽谤，污蔑
参考例句：
  • The article is a slander on ordinary working people.那篇文章是对普通劳动大众的诋毁。
  • He threatened to go public with the slander.他威胁要把丑闻宣扬出去。
7 iniquitous q4hyK     
adj.不公正的；邪恶的；高得出奇的
参考例句：
  • Many historians,of course,regard this as iniquitous.当然，许多历史学家认为这是极不公正的。
  • Men of feeling may at any moment be killed outright by the iniquitous and the callous.多愁善感的人会立即被罪恶的人和无情的人彻底消灭。
8 hoarsely hoarsely     
adv.嘶哑地
参考例句：
  • "Excuse me," he said hoarsely. “对不起。”他用嘶哑的嗓子说。
  • Jerry hoarsely professed himself at Miss Pross's service. 杰瑞嘶声嘶气地表示愿为普洛丝小姐效劳。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
9 growled 65a0c9cac661e85023a63631d6dab8a3     
v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说
参考例句：
  • \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 tumult LKrzm     
n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹
参考例句：
  • The tumult in the streets awakened everyone in the house.街上的喧哗吵醒了屋子里的每一个人。
  • His voice disappeared under growing tumult.他的声音消失在越来越响的喧哗声中。
11 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地
参考例句：
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
12 concurred 1830b9fe9fc3a55d928418c131a295bd     
同意（concur的过去式与过去分词形式）
参考例句：
  • Historians have concurred with each other in this view. 历史学家在这个观点上已取得一致意见。
  • So many things concurred to give rise to the problem. 许多事情同时发生而导致了这一问题。
13 lodged cbdc6941d382cc0a87d97853536fcd8d     
v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属
参考例句：
  • The certificate will have to be lodged at the registry. 证书必须存放在登记处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Our neighbours lodged a complaint against us with the police. 我们的邻居向警方控告我们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
14 impulsively 0596bdde6dedf8c46a693e7e1da5984c     
adv.冲动地
参考例句：
  • She leant forward and kissed him impulsively. 她倾身向前，感情冲动地吻了他。
  • Every good, true, vigorous feeling I had gathered came impulsively round him. 我的一切良好、真诚而又强烈的感情都紧紧围绕着他涌现出来。
15 hooded hooded     
adj.戴头巾的；有罩盖的；颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的
参考例句：
  • A hooded figure waited in the doorway. 一个戴兜帽的人在门口等候。
  • Black-eyed gipsy girls, hooded in showy handkerchiefs, sallied forth to tell fortunes. 黑眼睛的吉卜赛姑娘，用华丽的手巾包着头，突然地闯了进来替人算命。 来自辞典例句
16 reptilian tWfxx     
adj.（像）爬行动物的；（像）爬虫的；卑躬屈节的；卑鄙的n.两栖动物；卑劣的人
参考例句：
  • The chick is ugly and almost reptilian in its appearance. 这只小鸡长得很丑，看起来几乎像个爬行动物。 来自辞典例句
  • Being from Orion do Zetas contain DNA from the Reptilian race? 齐塔人是从猎户座而来，DNA来自爬虫族吗？ 来自互联网

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