赫尔克里·波洛的丰功伟绩62

时间：2024-12-31 11:30:50

（单词翻译:单击）

VI
In the small hours of the morning the telephone rang. Poirot picked up the receiver.
Japp’s voice said:
“You asked me to ring you.”
“Yes, indeed. Eh bien?”
“No dope—we got the emeralds.”
“Where?”
“In Professor Liskeard’s pocket.”
“Professor Liskeard?”
“Surprises you, too? Frankly1 I don’t know what to think! He looked as astonished as a baby,
stared at them, said he hadn’t
the faintest idea how they got in his pocket, and dammit I believe he was speaking the truth!
Varesco could have slipped them into his pocket easily enough in the black out. I can’t see a man
like old Liskeard being mixed up in this sort of business. He belongs to all these high-falutin’
societies, why he’s even connected with the British Museum! The only thing he ever spends
money on is books, and musty old secondhand books at that. No, he doesn’t fit. I’m beginning to
think we’re wrong about the whole thing—there never has been any dope in that Club.”
“Oh, yes there has, my friend, it was there tonight. Tell me, did no one come out through
your secret way?”
“Yes, Prince Henry of Scandenberg and his equerry—he only arrived in England yesterday.
Vitamian Evans, the Cabinet Minister (devil of a job being a Labor2 Minister, you have to be so
careful! Nobody minds a Tory politician spending money on riotous3 living because the taxpayers4
think it’s his own money—but when it’s a Labor man the public feel it’s their money he’s
spending! And so it is in a manner of speaking.) Lady Beatrice Viner was the last—she’s getting
married the day after tomorrow to the priggish young Duke of Leominster. I don’t believe any of
that lot were mixed up in this.”
“You believe rightly. Nevertheless, the dope was in the Club and someone took it out of the
Club.”
“Who did?”
“I did, mon ami,” said Poirot softly.
He replaced the receiver, cutting off Japp’s spluttering noises, as a bell trilled out. He went
and opened the front door. The Countess Rossakoff sailed in.
“If it were not that we are, alas5, too old, how compromising this would be!” she exclaimed.
“You see, I have come as you told me to do in your note. There is, I think, a policeman behind me,
but he can stay in the street. And now, my friend, what
is it?”
Poirot gallantly6 relieved her of her fox furs.
“Why did you put those emeralds in Professor Liskeard’s pocket?” he demanded. “Ce n’est
pas gentille, ce que vous avez fait là!”
The Countess’s eyes opened wide.
“Naturally, it was in your pocket I meant to put the emeralds!”
“Oh, in my pocket?”
“Certainly. I cross hurriedly to the table where you usually sit—but the lights they are out and
I suppose by inadvertence I put them in the Professor’s pocket.”
“And why did you wish to put stolen emeralds in my pocket?”
“It seemed to me—I had to think quickly, you understand—the best thing to do!”
“Really, Vera, you are impayable!”
“But, dear friend, consider! The police arrive, the lights go out (our little private arrangement
for the patrons who must not be embarrassed) and a hand takes my bag off the table. I snatch it
back, but I feel through the velvet7 something hard inside. I slip my hand in, I find what I know by
touch to be jewels and I comprehend at once who has put them there!”
“Oh you do?”
“Of course I do! It is that salaud! It is that lizard8, that monster, that double-faced, double-
crossing, squirming adder9 of a pig’s son, Paul Varesco.”
“The man who is your partner in Hell?”
“Yes, yes, it is he who owns the place, who puts up the money. Until now I do not betray him
—I can keep faith, me! But now that he double-crosses me, that he tries to embroil10 me with the
police—ah! now I will spit his name out—yes, spit it out!”
“Calm yourself,” said Poirot, “and come with me into the next room.”
He opened the door. It was a small room and seemed for a moment to be completely filled
with DOG. Cerberus had looked outsize even in the spacious11 premises12 of Hell. In the tiny dining
room of Poirot’s service flat there seemed nothing else but Cerberus in the room. There was also,
however, the small and odoriferous man.
“We’ve turned up here according to plan, guv’nor,” said the little man in a husky voice.
“Dou dou!” screamed the Countess. “My angel Dou dou!”
Cerberus beat the floor with his tail—but he did not move.
“Let me introduce you to Mr. William Higgs,” shouted Poirot, above the thunder of
Cerberus’s tail. “A master in his profession. During the brouhaha tonight,” went on Poirot,
“Mr. Higgs induced Cerberus to follow him up out of Hell.”
“You induced him?” The Countess stared incredulously at the small ratlike figure. “But how?
How?”
Mr. Higgs dropped his eyes bashfully.
“ ’Ardly like to say afore a lady. But there’s things no dogs won’t resist. Follow me anywhere
a dog will if I want ’im to. Of course you understand it won’t work the same way with bitches—
no, that’s different, that is.”
The Countess Rossakoff turned on Poirot.
“But why? Why?”
Poirot said slowly:
“A dog trained for the purpose will carry an article in his mouth until he is commanded to
loose it. He will carry it if needs be for hours. Will you now tell your dog to drop what he holds?”
Vera Rossakoff stared, turned, and uttered two crisp words.
The great jaws13 of Cerberus opened. Then, it was really alarming, Cerberus’s tongue seemed
to drop out of his mouth. . . .
Poirot stepped forward. He picked up a small package encased in pink, spongebag rubber. He
unwrapped it. Inside it was a packet of white powder.
“What is it?” the Countess demanded sharply.
Poirot said softly:
“Cocaine. Such a small quantity, it would seem—but enough to be worth thousands of
pounds to those willing to pay for it . . . Enough to bring ruin and misery14 to several hundred
people. . . .”
She caught her breath. She cried out:
“And you think that I—but it is not so! I swear to you it is not so! In the past I have amused
myself with the jewels, the bibelots, the little curiosities—it all helps one to live, you understand.
And what I feel is, why not? Why should one person own a thing more than another?”
“Just what I feel about dogs,” Mr. Higgs chimed in.
“You have no sense of right or wrong,” said Poirot sadly to the Countess.
She went on:
“But drugs—that no! For there one causes misery, pain, degeneration! I had no idea—no
faintest idea—that my so charming, so innocent, so delightful15 little Hell was being used for that
purpose!”
“I agree with you about dope,” said Mr. Higgs. “Doping of greyhounds—that’s dirty, that is!
I wouldn’t never have nothing to do with anything like that, and I never ’ave ’ad!”
“But you say you believe me, my friend,” implored16 the Countess.
“But of course I believe you! Have I not taken time and trouble to convict the real organizer
of the dope racket. Have I not performed the twelfth Labor of Hercules and brought Cerberus up
from Hell to prove my case? For I tell you this, I do not like to see my friends framed—yes,
framed—for it was you who were intended to take the rap if things went wrong! It was in your
handbag the emeralds would have been found and if any one had been clever enough (like me) to
suspect a hiding place in the mouth of a savage17 dog—eh bien, he is your dog, is he not? Even if he
has accepted la petite Alice to the point of obeying her orders also! Yes, you may well open your
eyes! From the first I did not like that young lady with her scientific jargon18 and her coat and skirt
with the big pockets. Yes, pockets. Unnatural19 that any woman should be so disdainful of her
appearance! And what does she say to me—that it is fundamentals that count! Aha! what is
fundamental is pockets. Pockets in which she can carry drugs and take away jewels—a little
exchange easily made whilst she is dancing with her accomplice20 whom she pretends to regard as a
psychological case. Ah, but what a cover! No one suspects the earnest, the scientific psychologist
with a medical degree and spectacles. She can smuggle21 in drugs, and induce her rich patients to
form the habit, and put up the money for a nightclub and arrange that it shall be run by someone
with—shall we say, a little weakness in her past! But she despises Hercule Poirot, she thinks she
can deceive him with her talk of nursery governesses and vests! Eh bien, I am ready for her. The
lights go off. Quickly I rise from my table and go to stand by Cerberus. In the darkness I hear her
come. She opens his mouth and forces in the package, and I—delicately, unfelt by her, I snip22 with
a tiny pair of scissors a little piece from her sleeve.”
Dramatically he produced a sliver23 of material.
“You observe—the identical checked tweed—and I will give it to Japp to fit it back where it
belongs—and make the arrest—and say how clever once more has been Scotland Yard.”
The Countess Rossakoff stared at him in stupefaction. Suddenly she let out a wail24 like a
foghorn25.
“But my Niki—my Niki. This will be terrible for him—” She paused. “Or do you think not?”
“There are a lot of other girls in America,” said Hercule Poirot.
“And but for you his mother would be in prison—in prison—with her hair cut off—sitting in
a cell—and smelling of disinfectant! Ah, but you are wonderful—wonderful.”
Surging forward she clasped Poirot in her arms and embraced him with Slavonic fervour.
Mr. Higgs looked on appreciatively. The dog Cerberus beat his tail upon the floor.
Into the midst of this scene of rejoicing came the trill of a bell.
“Japp!” exclaimed Poirot, disengaging himself from the Countess’s arms.
“It would be better, perhaps, if I went into the other room,” said the Countess.
She slipped through the connecting door. Poirot started towards the door to the hall.
“Guv’nor,” wheezed26 Mr. Higgs anxiously, “better look at yourself in the glass, ’adn’t you?”
Poirot did so and recoiled27. Lipstick28 and mascara ornamented29 his face in a fantastic medley30.
“If that’s Mr. Japp from Scotland Yard, ’e’d think the worst—sure to,” said Mr. Higgs.
He added, as the bell pealed31 again, and Poirot strove feverishly32 to remove crimson33 grease
from the points of his moustache: “What do yer want me to do—’ook it too? What about this ’ere
’Ell ’Ound?”
“If I remember rightly,” said Hercule Poirot, “Cerberus returned to Hell.”
“Just as you like,” said Mr. Higgs. “As a matter of fact I’ve taken a kind of fancy to ’im . . .
Still, ’e’s not the kind I’d like to pinch—not permanent—too noticeable, if you know what I mean.
And think what he’d cost me in shin of beef or ’orseflesh! Eats as much as a young lion, I expect.”
“From the Nemean Lion to the Capture of Cerberus,” murmured Poirot. “It is complete.”
VII
A week later Miss Lemon brought a bill to her employer.
“Excuse me, M. Poirot. Is it in order for me to pay this? Leonora, Florist34. Red Roses. Eleven
pounds, eight shillings and sixpence. Sent to Countess Vera Rossakoff, Hell, 13 End St, WC1.”
As the hue35 of red roses, so were the cheeks of Hercule Poirot. He blushed, blushed to the
eyeballs.
“Perfectly in order, Miss Lemon. A little—er, tribute—to—to an occasion. The Countess’s
son has just become engaged in America—to the daughter of his employer, a steel magnate. Red
roses are—I seem to remember, her favourite flower.”
“Quite,” said Miss Lemon. “They’re very expensive this time of year.”
Hercule Poirot drew himself up.
“There are moments,” he said, “when one does not economize36.”
Humming a little tune37, he went out of the door. His step was light, almost sprightly38.
Miss Lemon stared after him. Her filing system was forgotten. All her feminine instincts were
aroused.
“Good gracious,” she murmured. “I wonder . . . Really—at his age! . . . Surely not. . . .”

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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 frankly fsXzcf     
adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说
参考例句：
  • To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
  • Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。
2 labor P9Tzs     
n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦
参考例句：
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。
3 riotous ChGyr     
adj.骚乱的；狂欢的
参考例句：
  • Summer is in riotous profusion.盛夏的大地热闹纷繁。
  • We spent a riotous night at Christmas.我们度过了一个狂欢之夜。
4 taxpayers 8fa061caeafce8edc9456e95d19c84b4     
纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
  • She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。
5 alas Rx8z1     
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)
参考例句：
  • Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！
  • Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。
6 gallantly gallantly     
adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地
参考例句：
  • He gallantly offered to carry her cases to the car. 他殷勤地要帮她把箱子拎到车子里去。
  • The new fighters behave gallantly under fire. 新战士在炮火下表现得很勇敢。
7 velvet 5gqyO     
n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的
参考例句：
  • This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
  • The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。
8 lizard P0Ex0     
n.蜥蜴，壁虎
参考例句：
  • A chameleon is a kind of lizard.变色龙是一种蜥蜴。
  • The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect.蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。
9 adder izOzmL     
n.蝰蛇；小毒蛇
参考例句：
  • The adder is Britain's only venomous snake.蝰蛇是英国唯一的一种毒蛇。
  • An adder attacked my father.一条小毒蛇攻击了我父亲。
10 embroil 4jLz6     
vt.拖累；牵连；使复杂
参考例句：
  • I was reluctant to embroil myself in his problems.我不愿意卷入到他的问题中去。
  • Please do not embroil me in your squabbles.请别把我牵连进你们的纠纷里。
11 spacious YwQwW     
adj.广阔的，宽敞的
参考例句：
  • Our yard is spacious enough for a swimming pool.我们的院子很宽敞，足够建一座游泳池。
  • The room is bright and spacious.这房间很豁亮。
12 premises 6l1zWN     
n.建筑物，房屋
参考例句：
  • According to the rules,no alcohol can be consumed on the premises.按照规定，场内不准饮酒。
  • All repairs are done on the premises and not put out.全部修缮都在家里进行，不用送到外面去做。
13 jaws cq9zZq     
n.口部；嘴
参考例句：
  • The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
  • The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。
14 misery G10yi     
n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦
参考例句：
  • Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
  • He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。
15 delightful 6xzxT     
adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的
参考例句：
  • We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
  • Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。
16 implored 0b089ebf3591e554caa381773b194ff1     
恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • She implored him to stay. 她恳求他留下。
  • She implored him with tears in her eyes to forgive her. 她含泪哀求他原谅她。
17 savage ECxzR     
adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人
参考例句：
  • The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
  • He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。
18 jargon I3sxk     
n.术语，行话
参考例句：
  • They will not hear critics with their horrible jargon.他们不愿意听到评论家们那些可怕的行话。
  • It is important not to be overawed by the mathematical jargon.要紧的是不要被数学的术语所吓倒.
19 unnatural 5f2zAc     
adj.不自然的；反常的
参考例句：
  • Did her behaviour seem unnatural in any way?她有任何反常表现吗？
  • She has an unnatural smile on her face.她脸上挂着做作的微笑。
20 accomplice XJsyq     
n.从犯，帮凶，同谋
参考例句：
  • She was her husband's accomplice in murdering a rich old man.她是她丈夫谋杀一个老富翁的帮凶。
  • He is suspected as an accomplice of the murder.他涉嫌为这次凶杀案的同谋。
21 smuggle 5FNzy     
vt.私运；vi.走私
参考例句：
  • Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
  • She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。
22 snip XhcyD     
n.便宜货，廉价货，剪，剪断
参考例句：
  • He has now begun to snip away at the piece of paper.现在他已经开始剪这张纸。
  • The beautifully made briefcase is a snip at ?74.25.这个做工精美的公文包售价才74.25英镑，可谓物美价廉。
23 sliver sxFwA     
n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开
参考例句：
  • There was only one sliver of light in the darkness.黑暗中只有一点零星的光亮。
  • Then,one night,Monica saw a thin sliver of the moon reappear.之后的一天晚上，莫尼卡看到了一个月牙。
24 wail XMhzs     
vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸
参考例句：
  • Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里，一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
  • One of the small children began to wail with terror.小孩中的一个吓得大哭起来。
25 foghorn Yz6y2     
n..雾号（浓雾信号）
参考例句：
  • The foghorn boomed out its warning.雾角鸣声示警。
  • The ship foghorn boomed out.船上的浓雾号角发出呜呜声。
26 wheezed 282f3c14e808036e4acb375c721e145d     
v.喘息，发出呼哧呼哧的喘息声( wheeze的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • The old organ wheezed out a tune. 那架老风琴呜呜地奏出曲子。 来自辞典例句
  • He wheezed out a curse. 他喘着气诅咒。 来自辞典例句
27 recoiled 8282f6b353b1fa6f91b917c46152c025     
v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回
参考例句：
  • She recoiled from his touch. 她躲开他的触摸。
  • Howard recoiled a little at the sharpness in my voice. 听到我的尖声，霍华德往后缩了一下。 来自《简明英汉词典》
28 lipstick o0zxg     
n.口红，唇膏
参考例句：
  • Taking out her lipstick,she began to paint her lips.她拿出口红，开始往嘴唇上抹。
  • Lipstick and hair conditioner are cosmetics.口红和护发素都是化妆品。
29 ornamented af417c68be20f209790a9366e9da8dbb     
adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • The desk was ornamented with many carvings. 这桌子装饰有很多雕刻物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She ornamented her dress with lace. 她用花边装饰衣服。 来自《简明英汉词典》
30 medley vCfxg     
n.混合
参考例句：
  • Today's sports meeting doesn't seem to include medley relay swimming.现在的运动会好象还没有混合接力泳这个比赛项目。
  • China won the Men's 200 metres Individual Medley.中国赢得了男子200米个人混合泳比赛。
31 pealed 1bd081fa79390325677a3bf15662270a     
v.（使）（钟等）鸣响，（雷等）发出隆隆声( peal的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • The bells pealed (out) over the countryside. 钟声响彻郊野。 来自辞典例句
  • A gun shot suddenly pealed forth and shot its flames into the air. 突然一声炮响，一道火光升上天空。 来自辞典例句
32 feverishly 5ac95dc6539beaf41c678cd0fa6f89c7     
adv. 兴奋地
参考例句：
  • Feverishly he collected his data. 他拼命收集资料。
  • The company is having to cast around feverishly for ways to cut its costs. 公司迫切须要想出各种降低成本的办法。
33 crimson AYwzH     
n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色
参考例句：
  • She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
  • Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。
34 florist vj3xB     
n.花商；种花者
参考例句：
  • The florist bunched the flowers up.花匠把花捆成花束。
  • Could you stop at that florist shop over there?劳驾在那边花店停一下好不好？
35 hue qdszS     
n.色度；色调；样子
参考例句：
  • The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。
  • The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。
36 economize Sr3xZ     
v.节约，节省
参考例句：
  • We're going to have to economize from now on. 从现在开始，我们不得不节约开支。
  • We have to economize on water during the dry season. 我们在旱季不得不节约用水。
37 tune NmnwW     
n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整
参考例句：
  • He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
  • The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。
38 sprightly 4GQzv     
adj.愉快的，活泼的
参考例句：
  • She is as sprightly as a woman half her age.她跟比她年轻一半的妇女一样活泼。
  • He's surprisingly sprightly for an old man.他这把年纪了，还这么精神，真了不起。

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