命案目睹记52

时间：2025-10-20 07:34:51

（单词翻译:单击）

Twenty-three
The streamlined secretary brought Harold Crackenthorpe his usual after-
noon cup of tea.
“Thanks, Miss Ellis, I shall be going home early today.”
“I’m sure you ought really not to have come at all, Mr. Crackenthorpe,”
said Miss Ellis. “You look quite pulled down still.”
“I’m all right,” said Harold Crackenthorpe, but he did feel pulled down.
No doubt about it, he’d had a very nasty turn. Ah, well, that was over.
Extraordinary, he thought broodingly, that Alfred should have suc-
cumbed and the old man should have come through. After all, what was
he—seventy-three—seventy-four? Been an invalid1 for years. If there was
one person you’d have thought would have been taken off, it would have
been the old man. But no. It had to be Alfred. Alfred who, as far as Harold
knew, was a healthy wiry sort of chap. Nothing much the matter with him.
He leaned back in his chair sighing. That girl was right. He didn’t feel up
to things yet, but he had wanted to come down to the office. Wanted to get
the hang of how affairs were going. Touch and go. All this—he looked
round him—the richly appointed office, the pale gleaming wood, the ex-
pensive2 modern chairs, it all looked prosperous enough, and a good thing
too! That’s where Alfred had always gone wrong. If you looked prosper-
ous, people thought you were prosperous. There were no rumours3 going
around as yet about his financial stability. All the same, the crash couldn’t
be delayed very long. Now, if only his father had passed out instead of Al-
fred, as surely, surely he ought to have done. Practically seemed to thrive
on arsenic4! Yes, if his father had succumbed—well, there wouldn’t have
been anything to worry about.
Still, the great thing was not to seem worried. A prosperous appearance.
Not like poor old Alfred who always looked seedy and shiftless, who
looked in fact exactly what he was. One of those small-time speculators,
never going all out boldly for the big money. In with a shady crowd here,
doing a doubtful deal there, never quite rendering5 himself liable to pro-
secution but going very near the edge. And where had it got him? Short
periods of affluence6 and then back to seediness and shabbiness, once
more. No broad outlook about Alfred. Taken all in all, you couldn’t say Al-
fred was much loss. He’d never been particularly fond of Alfred and with
Alfred out of the way the money that was coming to him from that old cur-
mudgeon, his grandfather, would be sensibly increased, divided not into
five shares but into four shares. Very much better.
Harold’s face brightened a little. He rose, took his hat and coat and left
the office. Better take it easy for a day or two. He wasn’t feeling too strong
yet. His car was waiting below and very soon he was weaving through
London traffic to his house.
Darwin, his manservant, opened the door.
“Her ladyship has just arrived, sir,” he said.
For a moment Harold stared at him. Alice! Good heavens, was it today
that Alice was coming home? He’d forgotten all about it. Good thing Dar-
win had warned him. It wouldn’t have looked so good if he’d gone upstairs
and looked too astonished at seeing her. Not that it really mattered, he
supposed. Neither Alice nor he had any illusions about the feeling they
had for each other. Perhaps Alice was fond of him—he didn’t know.
All in all, Alice was a great disappointment to him. He hadn’t been in
love with her, of course, but though a plain woman she was quite a pleas-
ant one. And her family and connections had undoubtedly7 been useful.
Not perhaps as useful as they might have been, because in marrying Alice
he had been considering the position of hypothetical children. Nice rela-
tions for his boys to have. But there hadn’t been any boys, or girls either,
and all that had remained had been he and Alice growing older together
without much to say to each other and with no particular pleasure in each
other’s company.
She stayed away a good deal with relations and usually went to the Rivi-
era in the winter. It suited her and it didn’t worry him.
He went upstairs now into the drawing room and greeted her punctili-
ously.
“So you’re back, my dear. Sorry I couldn’t meet you, but I was held up in
the City. I got back as early as I could. How was San Raphael?”
Alice told him how San Raphael was. She was a thin woman with sandy-
coloured hair, a well-arched nose and vague, hazel eyes. She talked in a
well-bred, monotonous8 and rather depressing voice. It had been a good
journey back, the Channel a little rough. The Customs, as usual, very try-
ing at Dover.
“You should come by air,” said Harold, as he always did. “So much sim-
pler.”
“I dare say, but I don’t really like air travel. I never have. Makes me
nervous.”
“Saves a lot of time,” said Harold.
Lady Alice Crackenthorpe did not answer. It was possible that her prob-
lem in life was not to save time but to occupy it. She inquired politely after
her husband’s health.
“Emma’s telegram quite alarmed me,” she said. “You were all taken ill, I
understand.”
“Yes, yes,” said Harold.
“I read in the paper the other day,” said Alice, “of forty people in a hotel
going down with food poisoning at the same time. All this refrigeration is
dangerous, I think. People keep things too long in them.”
“Possibly,” said Harold. Should he, or should he not mention arsenic?
Somehow, looking at Alice, he felt himself quite unable to do so. In Alice’s
world, he felt, there was no place for poisoning by arsenic. It was a thing
you read about in the papers. It didn’t happen to you or your own family.
But it had happened in the Crackenthorpe family….
He went up to his room and lay down for an hour or two before dress-
ing for dinner. At dinner, tête-à-tête with his wife, the conversation ran on
much the same lines. Desultory9, polite. The mention of acquaintances and
friends at San Raphael.
“There’s a parcel for you on the hall table, a small one,” Alice said.
“Is there? I didn’t notice it.”
“It’s an extraordinary thing but somebody was telling me about a
murdered woman having been found in a barn, or something like that.
She said it was at Rutherford Hall. I suppose it must be some other Ruther-
ford10 Hall.”
“No,” said Harold, “no, it isn’t. It was in our barn, as a matter of fact.”
“Really, Harold! A murdered woman in the barn at Rutherford Hall—
and you never told me anything about it.”
“Well, there hasn’t been much time, really,” said Harold, “and it was all
rather unpleasant. Nothing to do with us, of course. The Press milled
around a good deal. Of course we had to deal with the police and all that
sort of thing.”
“Very unpleasant,” said Alice. “Did they find out who did it?” she added,
with rather perfunctory interest.
“Not yet,” said Harold.
“What sort of woman was she?”
“Nobody knows. French, apparently11.”
“Oh, French,” said Alice, and allowing for the difference in class, her
tone was not unlike that of Inspector12 Bacon. “Very annoying for you all,”
she agreed.
They went out from the dining room and crossed into the small study
where they usually sat when they were alone. Harold was feeling quite ex-
hausted by now. “I’ll go up to bed early,” he thought.
He picked up the small parcel from the hall table, about which his wife
had spoken to him. It was a small neatly13 waxed parcel, done up with me-
ticulous exactness. Harold ripped it open as he came to sit down in his
usual chair by the fire.
Inside was a small tablet box bearing the label, “Two to be taken
nightly.” With it was a small piece of paper with the chemist’s heading in
Brackhampton. “Sent by request of Doctor Quimper” was written on it.
Harold Crackenthorpe frowned. He opened the box and looked at the
tablets. Yes, they seemed to be the same tablets he had been having. But
surely, surely Quimper had said that he needn’t take anymore? “You won’t
want them, now.” That’s what Quimper had said.
“What is it, dear?” said Alice. “You look worried.”
“Oh, it’s just—some tablets. I’ve been taking them at night. But I rather
thought the doctor said don’t take anymore.”
His wife said placidly14: “He probably said don’t forget to take them.”
“He may have done, I suppose,” said Harold doubtfully.
He looked across at her. She was watching him. Just for a moment or
two he wondered—he didn’t often wonder about Alice—exactly what she
was thinking. That mild gaze of hers told him nothing. Her eyes were like
windows in an empty house. What did Alice think about him, feel about
him? Had she been in love with him once? He supposed she had. Or did
she marry him because she thought he was doing well in the City, and she
was tired of her own impecunious15 existence? Well, on the whole, she’d
done quite well out of it. She’d got a car and a house in London, she could
travel abroad when she felt like it and get herself expensive clothes,
though goodness knows they never looked like anything on Alice. Yes, on
the whole she’d done pretty well. He wondered if she thought so. She
wasn’t really fond of him, of course, but then he wasn’t really fond of her.
They had nothing in common, nothing to talk about, no memories to
share. If there had been children—but there hadn’t been any children—
odd that there were no children in the family except young Edie’s boy.
Young Edie. She’d been a silly girl, making that foolish, hasty war-time
marriage. Well, he’d given her good advice.
He’d said: “It’s all very well, these dashing young pilots, glamour16, cour-
age, all that, but he’ll be no good in peace time, you know. Probably be
barely able to support you.”
And Edie had said, what did it matter? She loved Bryan and Bryan loved
her, and he’d probably be killed quite soon. Why shouldn’t they have
some happiness? What was the good of looking to the future when they
might well be bombed any minute. And after all, Edie had said, the future
doesn’t really matter because some day there’ll be all grandfather’s
money.
Harold squirmed uneasily in his chair. Really, that will of his grand-
father’s had been iniquitous17! Keeping them all dangling18 on a string. The
will hadn’t pleased anybody. It didn’t please the grandchildren and it
made their father quite livid. The old boy was absolutely determined19 not
to die. That’s what made him take so much care of himself. But he’d have
to die soon. Surely, surely he’d have to die soon. Otherwise—all Harold’s
worries swept over him once more making him feel sick and tired and
giddy.
Alice was still watching him, he noticed. Those pale, thoughtful eyes,
they made him uneasy somehow.
“I think I shall go to bed,” he said. “It’s been my first day out in the City.”
“Yes,” said Alice, “I think that’s a good idea. I’m sure the doctor told you
to take things easily at first.”
“Doctors always tell you that,” said Harold.
“And don’t forget to take your tablets, dear,” said Alice. She picked up
the box and handed it to him.
He said good night and went upstairs. Yes, he needed the tablets. It
would have been a mistake to leave them off too soon. He took two of
them and swallowed them with a glass of water.

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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 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。
2 pensive 2uTys     
a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的
参考例句：
  • He looked suddenly sombre,pensive.他突然看起来很阴郁，一副忧虑的样子。
  • He became so pensive that she didn't like to break into his thought.他陷入沉思之中,她不想打断他的思路。
3 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。
4 arsenic 2vSz4     
n.砒霜，砷；adj.砷的
参考例句：
  • His wife poisoned him with arsenic.他的妻子用砒霜把他毒死了。
  • Arsenic is a poison.砒霜是毒药。
5 rendering oV5xD     
n.表现，描写
参考例句：
  • She gave a splendid rendering of Beethoven's piano sonata.她精彩地演奏了贝多芬的钢琴奏鸣曲。
  • His narrative is a super rendering of dialect speech and idiom.他的叙述是方言和土语最成功的运用。
6 affluence lx4zf     
n.充裕，富足
参考例句：
  • Their affluence is more apparent than real.他们的富有是虚有其表。
  • There is a lot of affluence in this part of the state because it has many businesses.这个州的这一部分相当富有，因为它有很多商行。
7 undoubtedly Mfjz6l     
adv.确实地，无疑地
参考例句：
  • It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
  • He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。
8 monotonous FwQyJ     
adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的
参考例句：
  • She thought life in the small town was monotonous.她觉得小镇上的生活单调而乏味。
  • His articles are fixed in form and monotonous in content.他的文章千篇一律，一个调调儿。
9 desultory BvZxp     
adj.散漫的，无方法的
参考例句：
  • Do not let the discussion fragment into a desultory conversation with no clear direction.不要让讨论变得支离破碎，成为没有明确方向的漫谈。
  • The constables made a desultory attempt to keep them away from the barn.警察漫不经心地拦着不让他们靠近谷仓。
10 Ford KiIxx     
n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过
参考例句：
  • They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
  • If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。
11 apparently tMmyQ     
adv.显然地；表面上，似乎
参考例句：
  • An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
  • He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
12 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。
13 neatly ynZzBp     
adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地
参考例句：
  • Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
  • The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。
14 placidly c0c28951cb36e0d70b9b64b1d177906e     
adv.平稳地，平静地
参考例句：
  • Hurstwood stood placidly by, while the car rolled back into the yard. 当车子开回场地时，赫斯渥沉着地站在一边。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • The water chestnut floated placidly there, where it would grow. 那棵菱角就又安安稳稳浮在水面上生长去了。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说
15 impecunious na1xG     
adj.不名一文的，贫穷的
参考例句：
  • He is impecunious,does not know anyone who can lend mony.他身无分文，也不认识任何可以借钱的人。
  • They are independent,impecunious and able to tolerate all degrees of discomfort.他们独立自主，囊中羞涩，并且能够忍受各种不便。
16 glamour Keizv     
n.魔力，魅力；vt.迷住
参考例句：
  • Foreign travel has lost its glamour for her.到国外旅行对她已失去吸引力了。
  • The moonlight cast a glamour over the scene.月光给景色增添了魅力。
17 iniquitous q4hyK     
adj.不公正的；邪恶的；高得出奇的
参考例句：
  • Many historians,of course,regard this as iniquitous.当然，许多历史学家认为这是极不公正的。
  • Men of feeling may at any moment be killed outright by the iniquitous and the callous.多愁善感的人会立即被罪恶的人和无情的人彻底消灭。
18 dangling 4930128e58930768b1c1c75026ebc649     
悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口
参考例句：
  • The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 结果，那颗牙就晃来晃去吊在床柱上了。
  • The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子们坐在一堵高墙上，摇晃着他们的双腿。
19 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的；有决心的
参考例句：
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

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