赫尔克里·波洛的丰功伟绩55

时间：2024-12-31 11:28:03

（单词翻译:单击）

II
Inspector1 Wagstaffe was interested.
“The Veratrino cup? Yes, I remember all about it. I was in charge of the business this end. I
speak a bit of Italiano, you know, and I went over and had a powwow with the Macaronis. It’s
never turned up from that day to this. Funny thing, that.”
“What is your explanation? A private sale?”
Wagstaffe shook his head.
“I doubt it. Of course it’s remotely possible . . . No, my explanation is a good deal simpler.
The stuff was cached—and the only man who knew where it was is dead.”
“You mean Casey?”
“Yes. He may have cached it somewhere in Italy, or he may have succeeded in smuggling2 it
out of the country. But he hid it and wherever he hid it, there it still is.”
Hercule Poirot sighed.
“It is a romantic theory. Pearls stuffed into plaster casts—what is the story—the Bust3 of
Napoleon, is it not? But in this case it is not jewels—it is a large, solid gold cup. Not so easy to
hide that, one would think.”
Wagstaffe said vaguely4:
“Oh, I don’t know. It could be done, I suppose. Under the floorboards—something of that
kind.”
“Has Casey a house of his own?”
“Yes—in Liverpool.” He grinned. “It wasn’t under the floorboards there. We made sure of
that.”
“What about his family?”
“Wife was a decent sort of woman—tubercular. Worried to death by her husband’s way of
life. She was religious—a devout5 Catholic—but couldn’t make up her mind to leave him. She died
a couple of years ago. Daughter took after her—she became a nun6. The son was different—a chip
off the old block. Last I heard of him he was doing time in America.”
Hercule Poirot wrote in his little notebook. America. He said: “It is possible that Casey’s son
may have known the hiding place?”
“Don’t believe he did. It would have come into the fences’ hands by now.”
“The cup might have been melted down.”
“It might. Quite possible, I should say. But I don’t know—its supreme7 value is to collectors
—and there’s a lot of funny business goes on with collectors—you’d be surprised! Sometimes,”
said Wagstaffe virtuously8, “I think collectors haven’t any morals at all.”
“Ah! Would you be surprised if Sir Reuben Rosenthal, for instance, were engaged in what
you describe as ‘funny business?’ ”
Wagstaffe grinned.
“I wouldn’t put it past him. He’s not supposed to be very scrupulous9 where works of art are
concerned.”
“What about the other members of the gang?”
“Riccovetti and Dublay both got stiff sentences. I should imagine they’ll be coming out about
now.”
“Dublay is a Frenchman, is he not?”
“Yes, he was the brains of the gang.”
“Were there other members of it?”
“There was a girl—Red Kate she used to be called. Took a job as lady’s maid and found out
all about a crib—where stuff was kept and so on. She went to Australia, I believe, after the gang
broke up.”
“Anyone else?”
“Chap called Yougouian was suspected of being in with them. He’s a dealer10. Headquarters in
Stamboul but he has a shop in Paris. Nothing proved against him—but he’s a slippery customer.”
Poirot sighed. He looked at his little notebook. In it was written: America, Australia, Italy,
France, Turkey. . . .
He murmured:
“I’ll put a girdle round the earth—”
“Pardon?” said Inspector Wagstaffe.
“I was observing,” said Hercule Poirot, “that a world tour seems indicated.”
III
It was the habit of Hercule Poirot to discuss his cases with his capable valet, George. That is to
say, Hercule Poirot would let drop certain observations to which George would reply with the
worldly wisdom which he had acquired in the course of his career as a gentleman’s gentleman.
“If you were faced, Georges,” said Poirot, “with the necessity of conducting investigations11 in
five different parts of the globe, how would you set about it?”
“Well, sir, air travel is very quick, though some say as it upsets the stomach. I couldn’t say
myself.”
“One asks oneself,” said Hercule Poirot, “what would Hercules have done?”
“You mean the bicycle chap, sir?”
“Or,” pursued Hercule Poirot, “one simply asks, what did he do? And the answer, Georges, is
that he travelled energetically. But he was forced in the end to obtain information—as some say—
from Prometheus—others from Nereus.”
“Indeed, sir?” said George. “I never heard of either of those gentlemen. Are they travel
agencies, sir?”
Hercule Poirot, enjoying the sound of his own voice, went on:
“My client, Emery Power, understands only one thing—action! But it is useless to dispense12
energy by unnecessary action. There is a golden rule in life, Georges, never do anything yourself
that others can do for you.
“Especially,” added Hercule Poirot, rising and going to the bookshelf, “when expense is no
object!”
He took from the shelf a file labelled with the letter D and opened it at the words “Detective
Agencies—Reliable.”
“The modern Prometheus,” he murmured. “Be so obliging, Georges, as to copy out for me
certain names and addresses. Messrs Hankerton, New York. Messrs Laden13 and Bosher, Sydney.
Signor Giovanni Mezzi, Rome. M. Nahum, Stamboul. Messrs Roget et Franconard, Paris.”
He paused while George finished this. Then he said:
“And now be so kind as to look up the trains for Liverpool.”
“Yes, sir, you are going to Liverpool, sir?”
“I am afraid so. It is possible, Georges, that I may have to go even further. But not just yet.”

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1 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。
2 smuggling xx8wQ     
n.走私
参考例句：
  • Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
  • The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。
3 bust WszzB     
vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部
参考例句：
  • I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
  • She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。
4 vaguely BfuzOy     
adv.含糊地，暖昧地
参考例句：
  • He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
  • He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。
5 devout Qlozt     
adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness)
参考例句：
  • His devout Catholicism appeals to ordinary people.他对天主教的虔诚信仰感染了普通民众。
  • The devout man prayed daily.那位虔诚的男士每天都祈祷。
6 nun THhxK     
n.修女，尼姑
参考例句：
  • I can't believe that the famous singer has become a nun.我无法相信那个著名的歌星已做了修女。
  • She shaved her head and became a nun.她削发为尼。
7 supreme PHqzc     
adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的
参考例句：
  • It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
  • He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
8 virtuously a2098b8121e592ae79a9dd81bd9f0548     
合乎道德地，善良地
参考例句：
  • Pro31:29 Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. 箴31:29说，才德的女子很多，惟独你超过一切。
9 scrupulous 6sayH     
adj.审慎的，小心翼翼的，完全的，纯粹的
参考例句：
  • She is scrupulous to a degree.她非常谨慎。
  • Poets are not so scrupulous as you are.诗人并不像你那样顾虑多。
10 dealer GyNxT     
n.商人，贩子
参考例句：
  • The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
  • The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。
11 investigations 02de25420938593f7db7bd4052010b32     
（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究
参考例句：
  • His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
  • He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。
12 dispense lZgzh     
vt.分配，分发；配(药)，发(药)；实施
参考例句：
  • Let us dispense the food.咱们来分发这食物。
  • The charity has been given a large sum of money to dispense as it sees fit.这个慈善机构获得一大笔钱，可自行适当分配。
13 laden P2gx5     
adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的
参考例句：
  • He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
  • Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

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