赫尔克里·波洛的丰功伟绩13

时间：2024-12-31 10:19:35

（单词翻译:单击）

IV
It was a very short time afterwards that Hercule Poirot found himself sitting opposite to the
woman who certainly must know more about the circumstances that had given rise to the rumours1
than anyone else.
Nurse Harrison was still a handsome woman nearing forty. She had the calm serene3 features
of a Madonna with big sympathetic dark eyes. She listened to him patiently and attentively4. Then
she said slowly:
“Yes, I know that there are these unpleasant stories going about. I have done what I could to
stop them, but it’s hopeless. People like the excitement, you know.”
Poirot said:
“But there must have been something to give rise to these rumours?”
He noted5 that her expression of distress6 deepened. But she merely shook her head
perplexedly.
“Perhaps,” Poirot suggested, “Doctor Oldfield and his wife did not get on well together and it
was that that started the
rumour2?”
Nurse Harrison shook her head decidedly.
“Oh no, Doctor Oldfield was always extremely kind and patient with his wife.”
“He was really very fond of her?”
She hesitated.
“No—I would not quite say that. Mrs. Oldfield was a very difficult woman, not easy to please
and making constant demands for sympathy and attention which were not always justified7.”
“You mean,” said Poirot, “that she exaggerated her condition?”
The nurse nodded.
“Yes—her bad health was largely a matter of her own imagination.”
“And yet,” said Poirot gravely, “she died. . . .”
“Oh, I know—I know. . . .”
He watched her for a minute or two; her troubled perplexity—her palpable uncertainty8.
He said: “I think—I am sure—that you do know what first gave rise to all these stories.”
Nurse Harrison flushed.
She said:
“Well—I could, perhaps, make a guess. I believe it was the maid, Beatrice, who started all
these rumours and I think I know what put it into her head.”
“Yes?”
Nurse Harrison said rather incoherently:
“You see, it was something I happened to overhear—a scrap9 of conversation between Doctor
Oldfield and Miss Moncrieffe—and I’m pretty certain Beatrice overheard it too, only I don’t
suppose she’d ever admit it.”
“What was this conversation?”
Nurse Harrison paused for a minute as though to test the accuracy of her own memory, then
she said:
“It was about three weeks before the last attack that killed Mrs. Oldfield. They were in the
dining room. I was coming down the stairs when I heard Jean Moncrieffe say:
“ ‘How much longer will it be? I can’t bear to wait much longer.’
“And the doctor answered her:
“ ‘Not much longer now, darling, I swear it.’ And she said again:
“ ‘I can’t bear this waiting. You do think it will be all right, don’t you?’ And he said: ‘Of
course. Nothing can go wrong. This time next year we’ll be married.’ ”
She paused.
“That was the very first inkling I’d had, M. Poirot, that there was anything between the doctor
and Miss Moncrieffe. Of course I knew he admired her and that they were very good friends, but
nothing more. I went back up the stairs again—it had given me quite a shock—but I did notice that
the kitchen door was open and I’ve thought since that Beatrice must have been listening. And you
can see, can’t you, that the way they were talking could be taken two ways? It might just mean
that the doctor knew his wife was very ill and couldn’t live much longer—and I’ve no doubt that
that was the way he meant it—but to any one like Beatrice it might sound differently—it might
look as though the doctor and Jean Moncrieffe were—well—were definitely planning to do away
with Mrs. Oldfield.”
“But you don’t think so, yourself?”
“No—no, of course not. . . .”
Poirot looked at her searchingly. He said:
“Nurse Harrison, is there something more that you know? Something that you haven’t told
me?”
She flushed and said violently:
“No. No. Certainly not. What could there be?”
“I do not know. But I thought that there might be—something?”
She shook her head. The old troubled look had come back.
Hercule Poirot said: “It is possible that the Home Office may order an exhumation10 of
Mrs. Oldfield’s body!”
“Oh no!” Nurse Harrison was horrified11. “What a horrible thing!”
“You think it would be a pity?”
“I think it would be dreadful! Think of the talk it would create! It would be terrible—quite
terrible for poor Doctor Oldfield.”
“You don’t think that it might really be a good thing for him?”
“How do you mean?”
Poirot said: “If he is innocent—his innocence12 will be proved.”
He broke off. He watched the thought take root in Nurse Harrison’s mind, saw her frown
perplexedly, and then saw her brow clear.
She took a deep breath and looked at him.
“I hadn’t thought of that,” she said simply. “Of course, it is the only thing to be done.”
There were a series of thumps13 on the floor overhead. Nurse Harrison jumped up.
“It’s my old lady, Miss Bristow. She’s woken up from her rest. I must go and get her
comfortable before her tea is brought to her and I go out for my walk. Yes, M. Poirot, I think you
are quite right. An autopsy14 will settle the business once and for all. It will scotch15 the whole thing
and all these dreadful rumours against poor Doctor Oldfield will die down.”
She shook hands and hurried out of the room.

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1 rumours ba6e2decd2e28dec9a80f28cb99e131d     
n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传
参考例句：
  • The rumours were completely baseless. 那些谣传毫无根据。
  • Rumours of job losses were later confirmed. 裁员的传言后来得到了证实。
2 rumour 1SYzZ     
n.谣言，谣传，传闻
参考例句：
  • I should like to know who put that rumour about.我想知道是谁散布了那谣言。
  • There has been a rumour mill on him for years.几年来，一直有谣言产生，对他进行中伤。
3 serene PD2zZ     
adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的
参考例句：
  • He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
  • He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多，只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。
4 attentively AyQzjz     
adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神
参考例句：
  • She listened attentively while I poured out my problems. 我倾吐心中的烦恼时，她一直在注意听。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She listened attentively and set down every word he said. 她专心听着，把他说的话一字不漏地记下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 noted 5n4zXc     
adj.著名的，知名的
参考例句：
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
6 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。
7 justified 7pSzrk     
a.正当的，有理的
参考例句：
  • She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
  • The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。
8 uncertainty NlFwK     
n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物
参考例句：
  • Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
  • After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。
9 scrap JDFzf     
n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废
参考例句：
  • A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
  • Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。
10 exhumation 3e3356144992dae3dedaa826df161f8e     
n.掘尸，发掘；剥璐
参考例句：
  • The German allowed a forensic commission including prominent neutral experts to supervise part of the exhumation. 德国人让一个包括杰出的中立专家在内的法庭委员会对部分掘墓工作进行监督。 来自辞典例句
  • At any rate, the exhumation was repeated once and again. 无论如何，他曾经把尸体挖出来又埋进去，埋进去又挖出来。 来自互联网
11 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。
12 innocence ZbizC     
n.无罪；天真；无害
参考例句：
  • There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
  • The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。
13 thumps 3002bc92d52b30252295a1f859afcdab     
n.猪肺病；砰的重击声( thump的名词复数 )v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的第三人称单数 )
参考例句：
  • Normally the heart movements can be felt as distinct systolic and diastolic thumps. 正常时，能够感觉到心脏的运动是性质截然不同的收缩和舒张的撞击。 来自辞典例句
  • These thumps are replaced by thrills when valvular insufficiencies or stenoses or congenital defects are present. 这些撞击在瓣膜闭锁不全或狭窄，或者有先天性缺损时被震颤所代替。 来自辞典例句
14 autopsy xuVzm     
n.尸体解剖；尸检
参考例句：
  • They're carrying out an autopsy on the victim.他们正在给受害者验尸。
  • A hemorrhagic gut was the predominant lesion at autopsy.尸检的主要发现是肠出血。
15 scotch ZZ3x8     
n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的
参考例句：
  • Facts will eventually scotch these rumours.这种谣言在事实面前将不攻自破。
  • Italy was full of fine views and virtually empty of Scotch whiskey.意大利多的是美景，真正缺的是苏格兰威士忌。

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