命案目睹记44

时间：2025-10-20 07:29:49

（单词翻译:单击）

III

It was 3 a.m. when Dr. Quimper drove his car into the garage, closed the

doors and came in pulling the front door behind him rather wearily. Well,

Mrs. Josh Simpkins had a fine healthy pair of twins to add to her present

family of eight. Mr. Simpkins had expressed no elation over the arrival.

“Twins,” he had said gloomily. “What’s the good of they? Quads now,

they’re good for something. All sorts of things you get sent, and the Press

comes round and there’s pictures in the paper, and they do say as Her

Majesty sends you a telegram. But what’s twins except two mouths to feed

instead of one? Never been twins in our family, nor in the missus’s either.

Don’t seem fair, somehow.”

Dr. Quimper walked upstairs to his bedroom and started throwing off

his clothes. He glanced at his watch. Five minutes past three. It had proved

an unexpectedly tricky business bringing those twins into the world, but

all had gone well. He yawned. He was tired—very tired. He looked appre-

ciatively at his bed.

Then the telephone rang.

Dr. Quimper swore, and picked up the receiver.

“Dr. Quimper?”

“Speaking.”

“This is Lucy Eyelesbarrow from Rutherford Hall. I think you’d better

come over. Everybody seems to have taken ill.”

“Taken ill? How? What symptoms?”

Lucy detailed them.

“I’ll be over straight away. In the meantime…” He gave her short sharp

instructions.

Then he quickly resumed his clothes, flung a few extra things into his

emergency bag, and hurried down to his car.

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