赫尔克里·波洛的丰功伟绩04

时间：2024-12-31 10:16:07

（单词翻译:单击）

III
It was the habit of Hercule Poirot to leave nothing untested.
Though on the face of it it seemed unlikely that Miss Carnaby was anything but the foolish
and rather muddle-headed woman that she appeared to be, Poirot nevertheless managed to
interview a somewhat forbidding lady who was the niece of the late Lady Hartingfield.
“Amy Carnaby?” said Miss Maltravers. “Of course, remember her perfectly1. She was a good
soul and suited Aunt Julia down to the ground. Devoted2 to dogs and excellent at reading aloud.
Tactful, too, never contradicted an invalid3. What’s happened to her? Not in distress4 of any kind, I
hope. I gave her a reference about a year ago to some woman—name began with H—”
Poirot explained hastily that Miss Carnaby was still in her post. There had been, he said, a
little trouble over a lost dog.
“Amy Carnaby is devoted to dogs. My aunt had a Pekinese. She left it to Miss Carnaby when
she died and Miss Carnaby was devoted to it. I believe she was quite heartbroken when it died. Oh
yes, she’s a good soul. Not, of course, precisely5 intellectual.”
Hercule Poirot agreed that Miss Carnaby could not, perhaps, be described as intellectual.
His next proceeding6 was to discover the Park Keeper to whom Miss Carnaby had spoken on
the fateful afternoon. This he did without much difficulty. The man remembered the incident in
question.
“Middle-aged lady, rather stout—in a regular state she was—lost her Pekinese dog. I knew
her well by sight—brings the dog along most afternoons. I saw her come in with it. She was in a
rare taking when she lost it. Came running to me to know if I’d seen any one with a Pekinese dog!
Well, I ask you! I can tell you, the Gardens is full of dogs—every kind—terriers, Pekes, German
sausage-dogs—even them Borzois—all kinds we have. Not likely as I’d notice one Peke more
than another.”
Hercule Poirot nodded his head thoughtfully.
He went to 38 Bloomsbury Road Square.
Nos. 38, 39 and 40 were incorporated together as the Balaclava Private Hotel. Poirot walked
up the steps and pushed open the door. He was greeted inside by gloom and a smell of cooking
cabbage with a reminiscence of breakfast kippers. On his left was a mahogany table with a sad-
looking chrysanthemum7 plant on it. Above the table was a big baize-covered rack into which
letters were stuck. Poirot stared at the board thoughtfully for some minutes. He pushed open a
door on his right. It led into a kind of lounge with small tables and some so-called easy chairs
covered with a depressing pattern of cretonne. Three old ladies and one fierce-looking old
gentleman raised their heads and gazed at the intruder with deadly venom8. Hercule Poirot blushed
and withdrew.
He walked farther along the passage and came to a staircase. On his right a passage branched
at right angles to what was evidently the dining room.
A little way along this passage was a door marked “Office.”
On this Poirot tapped. Receiving no response, he opened the door and looked in. There was a
large desk in the room covered with papers but there was no one to be seen. He withdrew, closing
the door again. He penetrated9 to the dining room.
A sad-looking girl in a dirty apron10 was shuffling11 about with a basket of knives and forks with
which she was laying the tables.
Hercule Poirot said apologetically:
“Excuse me, but could I see the Manageress?”
The girl looked at him with lacklustre eyes.
She said:
“I don’t know, I’m sure.”
Hercule Poirot said:
“There is no one in the office.”
“Well, I don’t know where she’d be, I’m sure.”
“Perhaps,” Hercule Poirot said, patient and persistent12, “you could find out?”
The girl sighed. Dreary13 as her day’s round was, it had now been made additionally so by this
new burden laid upon her. She said sadly:
“Well, I’ll see what I can do.”
Poirot thanked her and removed himself once more to the hall, not daring to face the
malevolent14 glare of the occupants of the lounge. He was staring up at the baize-covered letter rack
when a rustle15 and a strong smell of Devonshire violets proclaimed the arrival of the Manageress.
Mrs. Harte was full of graciousness. She exclaimed:
“So sorry I was not in my office. You were requiring
rooms?”
Hercule Poirot murmured:
“Not precisely. I was wondering if a friend of mine had been staying here lately. A Captain
Curtis.”
“Curtis,” exclaimed Mrs. Harte. “Captain Curtis? Now where have I heard that name?”
Poirot did not help her. She shook her head vexedly.
He said:
“You have not, then, had a Captain Curtis staying here?”
“Well, not lately, certainly. And yet, you know, the name is certainly familiar to me. Can you
describe your friend at all?”
“That,” said Hercule Poirot, “would be difficult.” He went on: “I suppose it sometimes
happens that letters arrive for people when in actual fact no one of that name is staying here?”
“That does happen, of course.”
“What do you do with such letters?”
“Well, we keep them for a time. You see, it probably means that the person in question will
arrive shortly. Of course, if letters or parcels are a long time here unclaimed, they are returned to
the post office.”
Hercule Poirot nodded thoughtfully.
He said:
“I comprehend.” He added: “It is like this, you see. I wrote a letter to my friend here.”
Mrs. Harte’s face cleared.
“That explains it. I must have noticed the name on an envelope. But really we have so many
ex-Army gentlemen staying here or passing through—Let me see now.”
She peered up at the board.
Hercule Poirot said:
“It is not there now.”
“It must have been returned to the postman, I suppose. I am so sorry. Nothing important, I
hope?”
“No, no, it was of no importance.”
As he moved towards the door, Mrs. Harte, enveloped16 in her pungent17 odour of violets,
pursued him.
“If your friend should come—”
“It is most unlikely. I must have made a mistake. . . .”
“Our terms,” said Mrs. Harte, “are very moderate. Coffee after dinner is included. I would
like you to see one or two of our bed-sitting rooms. . . .”
With difficulty Hercule Poirot escaped.

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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 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。
2 devoted xu9zka     
adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的
参考例句：
  • He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
  • We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
3 invalid V4Oxh     
n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的
参考例句：
  • He will visit an invalid.他将要去看望一个病人。
  • A passport that is out of date is invalid.护照过期是无效的。
4 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。
5 precisely zlWzUb     
adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地
参考例句：
  • It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
  • The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。
6 proceeding Vktzvu     
n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报
参考例句：
  • This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
  • The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。
7 chrysanthemum Sbryd     
n.菊，菊花
参考例句：
  • Each mourner wore a black armband and a white paper chrysanthemum.每个吊唁的人都佩带着黑纱和一朵白纸菊花。
  • There are many species of chrysanthemum.菊花品种很多。
8 venom qLqzr     
n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨
参考例句：
  • The snake injects the venom immediately after biting its prey.毒蛇咬住猎物之后马上注入毒液。
  • In fact,some components of the venom may benefit human health.事实上，毒液的某些成分可能有益于人类健康。
9 penetrated 61c8e5905df30b8828694a7dc4c3a3e0     
adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式
参考例句：
  • The knife had penetrated his chest. 刀子刺入了他的胸膛。
  • They penetrated into territory where no man had ever gone before. 他们已进入先前没人去过的地区。
10 apron Lvzzo     
n.围裙；工作裙
参考例句：
  • We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
  • She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。
11 shuffling 03b785186d0322e5a1a31c105fc534ee     
adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式
参考例句：
  • Don't go shuffling along as if you were dead. 别像个死人似地拖着脚走。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • Some one was shuffling by on the sidewalk. 外面的人行道上有人拖着脚走过。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
12 persistent BSUzg     
adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的
参考例句：
  • Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
  • She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。
13 dreary sk1z6     
adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的
参考例句：
  • They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
  • She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。
14 malevolent G8IzV     
adj.有恶意的，恶毒的
参考例句：
  • Why are they so malevolent to me?他们为什么对我如此恶毒？
  • We must thwart his malevolent schemes.我们决不能让他的恶毒阴谋得逞。
15 rustle thPyl     
v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声
参考例句：
  • She heard a rustle in the bushes.她听到灌木丛中一阵沙沙声。
  • He heard a rustle of leaves in the breeze.他听到树叶在微风中发出的沙沙声。
16 enveloped 8006411f03656275ea778a3c3978ff7a     
v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • She was enveloped in a huge white towel. 她裹在一条白色大毛巾里。
  • Smoke from the burning house enveloped the whole street. 燃烧着的房子冒出的浓烟笼罩了整条街。 来自《简明英汉词典》
17 pungent ot6y7     
adj.（气味、味道）刺激性的，辛辣的；尖锐的
参考例句：
  • The article is written in a pungent style.文章写得泼辣。
  • Its pungent smell can choke terrorists and force them out of their hideouts.它的刺激性气味会令恐怖分子窒息，迫使他们从藏身地点逃脱出来。

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