空幻之屋19

时间：2024-12-31 10:06:09

（单词翻译:单击）

Twelve
I
“Half past two,” said Lady Angkatell.
She was in the drawing room, with Midge and Edward. From behind the closed door of Sir
Henry’s study came the murmur1 of voices. Hercule Poirot, Sir Henry and Inspector2 Grange were
in there.
Lady Angkatell sighed:
“You know, Midge, I still feel one ought to do something about lunch. It seems, of course, quite
heartless to sit down round the table as though nothing had happened. But after all, M. Poirot was
asked to lunch—and he is probably hungry. And it can’t be upsetting to him that poor John
Christow has been killed like it is to us. And I must say that though I really do not feel like eating
myself, Henry and Edward must be extremely hungry after being out shooting all the morning.”
Edward Angkatell said: “Don’t worry on my account, Lucy, dear.”
“You are always considerate, Edward. And then there is David—I noticed that he ate a great
deal at dinner last night. Intellectual people always seem to need a good deal of food. Where is
David, by the way?”
“He went up to his room,” said Midge, “after he had heard what had happened.”
“Yes—well, that was rather tactful of him. I daresay it made him feel awkward. Of course, say
what you like, a murder is an awkward thing—it upsets the servants and puts the general routine
out—we were having ducks for lunch—fortunately they are quite nice eaten cold. What does one
do about Gerda, do you think? Something on a tray? A little strong soup, perhaps?”
“Really,” thought Midge, “Lucy is inhuman3!” And then with a qualm she reflected that it was
perhaps because Lucy was too human that it shocked one so! Wasn’t it the plain unvarnished truth
that all catastrophes4 were hedged round with these little trivial wonderings and surmises5? Lucy
merely gave utterance6 to the thoughts which most people did not acknowledge. One did remember
the servants, and worry about meals. And one did, even, feel hungry. She felt hungry herself at
this very moment! Hungry, she thought, and at the same time, rather sick. A curious mixture.
And there was, undoubtedly7, just plain awkward embarrassment8 in not knowing how to react to
a quiet, commonplace woman whom one had referred to, only yesterday, as “poor Gerda” and
who was now, presumably, shortly to be standing9 in the dock accused of murder.
“These things happen to other people,” thought Midge. “They can’t happen to us.”
She looked across the room at Edward. “They oughtn’t,” she thought, “to happen to people like
Edward. People who are so very unviolent.” She took comfort in looking at Edward. Edward, so
quiet, so reasonable, so kind and calm.
Gudgeon entered, inclined himself confidentially10 and spoke11 in a suitably muted voice.
“I have placed sandwiches and some coffee in the dining room, my lady.”
“Oh, thank you, Gudgeon!”
“Really,” said Lady Angkatell as Gudgeon left the room. “Gudgeon is wonderful: I don’t know
what I should do without Gudgeon. He always knows the right thing to do. Some really substantial
sandwiches are as good as lunch—and nothing heartless about them, if you know what I mean!”
“Oh, Lucy, don’t.”
Midge suddenly felt warm tears running down her cheek. Lady Angkatell looked surprised,
murmured:
“Poor darling. It’s all been too much for you.”
Edward crossed to the sofa and sat down by Midge. He put his arm round her.
“Don’t worry, little Midge,” he said.
Midge buried her face on his shoulder and sobbed12 there comfortably. She remembered how nice
Edward had been to her when her rabbit had died at Ainswick one Easter holidays.
Edward said gently: “It’s been a shock. Can I get her some brandy, Lucy?”
“On the sideboard in the dining room. I don’t think—”
She broke off as Henrietta came into the room. Midge sat up. She felt Edward stiffen13 and sit
very still.
What, thought Midge, does Henrietta feel? She felt almost reluctant to look at her cousin—but
there was nothing to see. Henrietta looked, if anything, belligerent14. She had come in with her chin
up, her colour high, and with a certain swiftness.
“Oh, there you are, Henrietta,” cried Lady Angkatell. “I have been wondering. The police are
with Henry and M. Poirot. What have you given Gerda? Brandy? Or tea and aspirin15?”
“I gave her some brandy—and a hot-water bottle.”
“Quite right,” said Lady Angkatell approvingly. “That’s what they tell you in First Aid classes
—the hot-water bottle, I mean, for shock—not the brandy; there is a reaction nowadays against
stimulants16. But I think that is only a fashion. We always gave brandy for shock when I was a girl
at Ainswick. Though, really, I suppose, it can’t be exactly shock with Gerda. I don’t know really
what one would feel if one had killed one’s husband—it’s the sort of thing one just can’t begin to
imagine—but it wouldn’t exactly give one a shock. I mean, there wouldn’t be any element of
surprise.”
Henrietta’s voice, icy cold, cut into the placid17 atmosphere.
She said: “Why are you all so sure that Gerda killed John?”
There was a moment’s pause—and Midge felt a curious shifting in the atmosphere. There was
confusion, strain and, finally, a kind of slow watchfulness18.
Then Lady Angkatell said, her voice quite devoid19 of any inflection:
“It seemed—self-evident. What else do you suggest?”
“Isn’t it possible that Gerda came along to the pool, that she found John lying there, and that she
had just picked up the revolver when—when we came upon the scene?”
Again there was that silence. Then Lady Angkatell asked:
“Is that what Gerda says?”
“Yes.”
It was not a simple assent20. It had force behind it. It came out like a revolver shot.
Lady Angkatell raised her eyebrows21, then she said with apparent irrelevancy22:
“There are sandwiches and coffee in the dining room.”
She broke off with a little gasp23 as Gerda Christow came through the open door. She said
hurriedly and apologetically:
“I—I really didn’t feel I could lie down any longer. One is—one is so terribly restless.”
Lady Angkatell cried:
“You must sit down—you must sit down at once.”
She displaced Midge from the sofa, settled Gerda there, put a cushion at her back.
“You poor dear,” said Lady Angkatell.
She spoke with emphasis, but the words seemed quite meaningless.
Edward walked to the window and stood there looking out.
Gerda pushed back the untidy hair from her forehead. She spoke in a worried, bewildered tone.
“I—I really am only just beginning to realize it. You know I haven’t been able to feel—I still
can’t feel—that it’s real—that John—is dead.” She began to shake a little. “Who can have killed
him? Who can possibly have killed him?”
Lady Angkatell drew a deep breath—then she turned her head sharply. Sir Henry’s door had
opened. He came in accompanied by Inspector Grange, who was a large, heavily built man with a
down-drooping, pessimistic moustache.
“This is my wife—Inspector Grange.”
Grange bowed and said:
“I was wondering, Lady Angkatell, if I could have a few words with Mrs. Christow—”
He broke off as Lady Angkatell indicated the figure on the sofa.
“Mrs. Christow?”
Gerda said eagerly:
“Yes, I am Mrs. Christow.”
“I don’t want to distress24 you, Mrs. Christow, but I would like to ask you a few questions. You
can, of course, have your solicitor25 present if you prefer it—”
Sir Henry put in:
“It is sometimes wiser, Gerda—”
She interrupted:
“A solicitor? Why a solicitor? Why should a solicitor know anything about John’s death?”
Inspector Grange coughed. Sir Henry seemed about to speak. Henrietta put in:
“The inspector only wants to know just what happened this morning.”
Gerda turned to him. She spoke in a wondering voice:
“It seems all like a bad dream—not real. I—I haven’t been able to cry or anything. One just
doesn’t feel anything at all.”
Grange said soothingly26:
“That’s the shock, Mrs. Christow.”
“Yes, yes—I suppose it is. But you see it was all so sudden. I went out from the house and
along the path to the swimming pool—”
“At what time, Mrs. Christow?”
“It was just before one o’clock—about two minutes to one. I know because I looked at that
clock. And when I got there — there was John, lying there — and blood on the edge of the
concrete.”
“Did you hear a shot, Mrs. Christow?”
“Yes,—no—I don’t know. I knew Sir Henry and Mr. Angkatell were out shooting. I—I just saw
John—”
“Yes, Mrs. Christow?”
“John—and blood—and a revolver. I picked up the revolver—”
“Why?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Why did you pick up the revolver, Mrs. Christow?”
“I—I don’t know.”
“You shouldn’t have touched it, you know.”
“Shouldn’t I?” Gerda was vague, her face vacant. “But I did. I held it in my hands.”
She looked down now at her hands as though she was, in fancy, seeing the revolver lying in
them.
She turned sharply to the inspector. Her voice was suddenly sharp—anguished.
“Who could have killed John? Nobody could have wanted to kill him. He was—he was the best
of men. So kind, so unselfish — he did everything for other people. Everybody loved him,
Inspector. He was a wonderful doctor. The best and kindest of husbands. It must have been an
accident—it must—it must!”
She flung out a hand to the room.
“Ask anyone, Inspector. Nobody could have wanted to kill John, could they?”
She appealed to them all.
Inspector Grange closed up his notebook.
“Thank you, Mrs. Christow,” he said in an unemotional voice. “That will be all for the present.”
Hercule Poirot and Inspector Grange went together through the chestnut27 woods to the
swimming pool. The thing that had been John Christow but which was now “the body” had been
photographed and measured and written about and examined by the police surgeon, and had now
been taken away to the mortuary. The swimming pool, Poirot thought, looked curiously28 innocent.
Everything about today, he thought, had been strangely fluid. Except John Christow—he had not
been fluid. Even in death he had been purposeful and objective. The swimming pool was not now
preeminently a swimming pool, it was the place where John Christow’s body had lain and where
his lifeblood had welled away over concrete into artificially blue water.
Artificial—for a moment Poirot grasped at the word. Yes, there had been something artificial
about it all. As though—
A man in a bathing suit came up to the inspector.
“Here’s the revolver, sir,” he said.
Grange took the dripping object gingerly.
“No hope of fingerprints29 now,” he remarked, “but luckily it doesn’t matter in this case. Mrs.
Christow was actually holding the revolver when you arrived, wasn’t she, M. Poirot?”
“Yes.”
“Identification of the revolver is the next thing,” said Grange. “I should imagine Sir Henry will
be able to do that for us. She got it from his study, I should say.”
He cast a glance round the pool.
“Now, let’s have that again to be quite clear. The path below the pool comes up from the farm
and that’s the way Lady Angkatell came. The other two, Mr. Edward Angkatell and Miss
Savernake, came down from the woods—but not together. He came by the left-hand path, and she
by the right-hand one which leads out of the long flower walk above the house. But they were both
standing on the far side of the pool when you arrived?”
“Yes.”
“And this path here, beside the pavilion, leads on to Podder’s Lane. Right—we’ll go along it.”
As they walked, Grange spoke, without excitement, just with knowledge and quiet pessimism30.
“Never like these cases much,” he said. “Had one last year—down near Ashridge. Retired31
military man, he was—distinguished career. Wife was the nice quiet, old-fashioned kind, sixty-
five, grey hair—rather pretty hair with a wave in it. Did a lot of gardening. One day she goes up to
his room, gets out his service revolver, and walks out into the garden and shoots him. Just like
that! A good deal behind it, of course, that one had to dig out. Sometimes they think up some fool
story about a tramp! We pretend to accept it, of course, keep things quiet whilst we’re making
inquiries32, but we know what’s what.”
“You mean,” said Poirot, “that you have decided33 that Mrs. Christow shot her husband.”
Grange gave him a look of surprise.
“Well, don’t you think so?”
Poirot said slowly: “It could all have happened as she said.”
Inspector Grange shrugged34 his shoulders.
“It could have — yes. But it’s a thin story. And they all think she killed him! They know
something we don’t.” He looked curiously at his companion. “You thought she’d done it all right,
didn’t you, when you arrived on the scene?”
Poirot half- closed his eyes. Coming along the path… Gudgeon stepping… Gerda Christow
standing over her husband with the revolver in her hand and that blank look on her face. Yes, as
Grange had said, he had thought she had done it… had thought, at least, that that was the
impression he was meant to have.
Yes, but that was not the same thing.
A scene staged—set to deceive.
Had Gerda Christow looked like a woman who had just shot her husband? That was what
Inspector Grange wanted to know.
And with a sudden shock of surprise, Hercule Poirot realized that in all his long experience of
deeds of violence he had never actually come face to face with a woman who had just killed her
husband. What would a woman look like in such circumstances? Triumphant35, horrified36, satisfied,
dazed, incredulous, empty?
Any one of these things, he thought.
Inspector Grange was talking. Poirot caught the end of his speech.
“— Once you get all the facts behind the case, and you can usually get all that from the
servants.”
“Mrs. Christow is going back to London?”
“Yes. There’s a couple of kids there. Have to let her go. Of course, we keep a sharp eye on her,
but she won’t know that. She thinks she’s got away with it all right. Looks rather a stupid kind of
woman to me….”
Did Gerda Christow realize, Poirot wondered, what the police thought — and what the
Angkatells thought? She had looked as though she did not realize anything at all. She had looked
like a woman whose reactions were slow and who was completely dazed and heartbroken by her
husband’s death.
They had come out into the lane.
Poirot stopped by his gate. Grange said:
“This your little place? Nice and snug37. Well, good-bye for the present, M. Poirot. Thanks for
your cooperation. I’ll drop in some time and give you the lowdown on how we’re getting on.”
His eye travelled up the lane.
“Who’s your neighbour? That’s not where our new celebrity38 hangs out, is it?”
“Miss Veronica Cray, the actress, comes there for weekends, I believe.”
“Of course. Dovecotes. I liked her in Lady Rides on Tiger, but she’s a bit highbrow for my taste.
Give me Hedy Lamarr.”
He turned away.
“Well, I must get back to the job. So long, M. Poirot.”

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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 murmur EjtyD     
n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言
参考例句：
  • They paid the extra taxes without a murmur.他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。
  • There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall.大厅里有窃窃私语声。
2 inspector q6kxH     
n.检查员，监察员，视察员
参考例句：
  • The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
  • The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。
3 inhuman F7NxW     
adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的
参考例句：
  • We must unite the workers in fighting against inhuman conditions.我们必须使工人们团结起来反对那些难以忍受的工作条件。
  • It was inhuman to refuse him permission to see his wife.不容许他去看自己的妻子是太不近人情了。
4 catastrophes 9d10f3014dc151d21be6612c0d467fd0     
n.灾祸( catastrophe的名词复数 )；灾难；不幸事件；困难
参考例句：
  • Two of history's worst natural catastrophes occurred in 1970. 1970年发生了历史上最严重两次自然灾害。 来自辞典例句
  • The Swiss deposits contain evidence of such catastrophes. 瑞士的遗址里还有这种灾难的证据。 来自辞典例句
5 surmises 0de4d975cd99d9759cc345e7fb0890b6     
v.臆测，推断( surmise的第三人称单数 )；揣测；猜想
参考例句：
  • The detective is completely correct in his surmises. 这个侦探所推测的完全正确。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • As the reader probably surmises, a variety of interest tables exists. 正如读者可能推测的那样，存在着各种各样的利息表。 来自辞典例句
6 utterance dKczL     
n.用言语表达，话语，言语
参考例句：
  • This utterance of his was greeted with bursts of uproarious laughter.他的讲话引起阵阵哄然大笑。
  • My voice cleaves to my throat,and sob chokes my utterance.我的噪子哽咽，泣不成声。
7 undoubtedly Mfjz6l     
adv.确实地，无疑地
参考例句：
  • It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
  • He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。
8 embarrassment fj9z8     
n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫
参考例句：
  • She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
  • Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。
9 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的
参考例句：
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
10 confidentially 0vDzuc     
ad.秘密地，悄悄地
参考例句：
  • She was leaning confidentially across the table. 她神神秘秘地从桌子上靠过来。
  • Kao Sung-nien and Wang Ch'u-hou talked confidentially in low tones. 高松年汪处厚两人低声密谈。
11 spoke XryyC     
n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说
参考例句：
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
12 sobbed 4a153e2bbe39eef90bf6a4beb2dba759     
哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说
参考例句：
  • She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。
  • She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。
13 stiffen zudwI     
v.(使)硬，(使)变挺，(使)变僵硬
参考例句：
  • The blood supply to the skin is reduced when muscles stiffen.当肌肉变得僵硬时，皮肤的供血量就减少了。
  • I was breathing hard,and my legs were beginning to stiffen.这时我却气吁喘喘地开始感到脚有点僵硬。
14 belligerent Qtwzz     
adj.好战的，挑起战争的；n.交战国，交战者
参考例句：
  • He had a belligerent aspect.他有种好斗的神色。
  • Our government has forbidden exporting the petroleum to the belligerent countries.我们政府已经禁止向交战国输出石油。
15 aspirin 4yszpM     
n.阿司匹林
参考例句：
  • The aspirin seems to quiet the headache.阿司匹林似乎使头痛减轻了。
  • She went into a chemist's and bought some aspirin.她进了一家药店，买了些阿司匹林。
16 stimulants dbf97919d8c4d368bccf513bd2087c54     
n.兴奋剂( stimulant的名词复数 )；含兴奋剂的饮料；刺激物；激励物
参考例句：
  • Coffee and tea are mild stimulants. 咖啡和茶是轻度兴奋剂。
  • At lower concentrations they may even be stimulants of cell division. 在浓度较低时，它们甚至能促进细胞分裂。 来自辞典例句
17 placid 7A1yV     
adj.安静的，平和的
参考例句：
  • He had been leading a placid life for the past eight years.八年来他一直过着平静的生活。
  • You should be in a placid mood and have a heart-to- heart talk with her.你应该心平气和的好好和她谈谈心。
18 watchfulness 2ecdf1f27c52a55029bd5400ce8c70a4     
警惕，留心； 警觉（性）
参考例句：
  • The escort and the universal watchfulness had completely isolated him. 护送和普遍一致的监视曾经使他完全孤立。
  • A due watchfulness on the movements of the enemy was maintained. 他们对敌人的行动还是相当警惕的。
19 devoid dZzzx     
adj.全无的，缺乏的
参考例句：
  • He is completely devoid of humour.他十分缺乏幽默。
  • The house is totally devoid of furniture.这所房子里什么家具都没有。
20 assent Hv6zL     
v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可
参考例句：
  • I cannot assent to what you ask.我不能应允你的要求。
  • The new bill passed by Parliament has received Royal Assent.议会所通过的新方案已获国王批准。
21 eyebrows a0e6fb1330e9cfecfd1c7a4d00030ed5     
眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
  • His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。
22 irrelevancy bdad577dca3d34d4af4019a5f7c2d039     
n.不恰当，离题，不相干的事物
参考例句：
23 gasp UfxzL     
n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说
参考例句：
  • She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
  • The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。
24 distress 3llzX     
n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛
参考例句：
  • Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
  • Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。
25 solicitor vFBzb     
n.初级律师，事务律师
参考例句：
  • The solicitor's advice gave me food for thought.律师的指点值得我深思。
  • The solicitor moved for an adjournment of the case.律师请求将这个案件的诉讼延期。
26 soothingly soothingly     
adv.抚慰地，安慰地；镇痛地
参考例句：
  • The mother talked soothingly to her child. 母亲对自己的孩子安慰地说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He continued to talk quietly and soothingly to the girl until her frightened grip on his arm was relaxed. 他继续柔声安慰那姑娘，她那因恐惧而紧抓住他的手终于放松了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
27 chestnut XnJy8     
n.栗树，栗子
参考例句：
  • We have a chestnut tree in the bottom of our garden.我们的花园尽头有一棵栗树。
  • In summer we had tea outdoors,under the chestnut tree.夏天我们在室外栗树下喝茶。
28 curiously 3v0zIc     
adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地
参考例句：
  • He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
  • He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。
29 fingerprints 9b456c81cc868e5bdf3958245615450b     
n.指纹( fingerprint的名词复数 )v.指纹( fingerprint的第三人称单数 )
参考例句：
  • Everyone's fingerprints are unique. 每个人的指纹都是独一无二的。
  • They wore gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints behind (them). 他们戴着手套，以免留下指纹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
30 pessimism r3XzM     
n.悲观者，悲观主义者，厌世者
参考例句：
  • He displayed his usual pessimism.他流露出惯有的悲观。
  • There is the note of pessimism in his writings.他的著作带有悲观色彩。
31 retired Njhzyv     
adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的
参考例句：
  • The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
  • Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。
32 inquiries 86a54c7f2b27c02acf9fcb16a31c4b57     
n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听
参考例句：
  • He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
  • I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
33 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的
参考例句：
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
34 shrugged 497904474a48f991a3d1961b0476ebce     
vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）
参考例句：
  • Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
  • She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
35 triumphant JpQys     
adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的
参考例句：
  • The army made a triumphant entry into the enemy's capital.部队胜利地进入了敌方首都。
  • There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.她的声音里带有一种极为得意的语气。
36 horrified 8rUzZU     
a.(表现出)恐惧的
参考例句：
  • The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
  • We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。
37 snug 3TvzG     
adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房
参考例句：
  • He showed us into a snug little sitting room.他领我们走进了一间温暖而舒适的小客厅。
  • She had a small but snug home.她有个小小的但很舒适的家。
38 celebrity xcRyQ     
n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望
参考例句：
  • Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
  • He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

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