伯特伦旅馆之谜31
时间：2026-01-04 08:02:14
（单词翻译:单击）
Chapter Twenty-three
Richard Egerton looked again at the official card in front of him, then up
into the Chief-Inspector’s face.
“Curious business,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” said Chief-Inspector Davy, “a very curious business.”
“Bertram’s Hotel,” said Egerton, “in the fog. Yes it was a bad fog last
night. I suppose you get a lot of that sort of thing in fogs, don’t you? Snatch
and grab—handbags—that sort of thing?”
“It wasn’t quite like that,” said Father. “Nobody attempted to snatch any-
thing from Miss Blake.”
“Where did the shot come from?”
“Owing to the fog we can’t be sure. She wasn’t sure herself. But we think
—it seems the best idea—that the man may have been standing in the
area.”
“He shot at her twice, you say?”
“Yes. The first shot missed. The commissionaire rushed along from
where he was standing outside the hotel door and shoved her behind him
just before the second shot.”
“So that he got hit instead, eh?”
“Yes.”
“Quite a brave chap.”
“Yes. He was brave,” said the Chief-Inspector. “His military record was
very good. An Irishman.”
“What’s his name?”
“Gorman. Michael Gorman.”
“Michael Gorman.” Egerton frowned for a minute. “No,” he said. “For a
moment I thought the name meant something.”
“It’s a very common name, of course. Anyway, he saved the girl’s life.”
“And why exactly have you come to me, Chief-Inspector?”
“I hoped for a little information. We always like full information, you
know, about the victim of a murderous assault.”
“Oh, naturally, naturally. But really, I’ve only seen Elvira twice since she
was a child.”
“You saw her when she came to call upon you about a week ago, didn’t
you?”
“Yes, that’s quite right. What exactly do you want to know? If it’s any-
thing about her personality, who her friends were or about boyfriends, or
lovers’ quarrels—all that sort of thing—you’d do better to go to one of the
women. There’s a Mrs. Carpenter who brought her back from Italy, I be-
lieve, and there’s Mrs. Melford with whom she lives in Kent.”
“I’ve seen Mrs. Melford.”
“Oh.”
“No good. Absolutely no good at all, sir. And I don’t so much want to
know about the girl personally—after all, I’ve seen her for myself and I’ve
heard what she can tell me—or rather what she’s willing to tell me—”
At a quick movement of Egerton’s eyebrows he saw that the other had
appreciated the point of the word “willing.”
“I’ve been told that she was worried, upset, afraid about something, and
convinced that her life was in danger. Was that your impression when she
came to see you?”
“No,” said Egerton, slowly, “no, I wouldn’t go as far as that; though she
did say one or two things that struck me as curious.”
“Such as?”
“Well, she wanted to know who would benefit if she were to die sud-
denly.”
“Ah,” said Chief-Inspector Davy, “so she had that possibility in her mind,
did she? That she might die suddenly. Interesting.”
“She’d got something in her head but I didn’t know what it was. She also
wanted to know how much money she had—or would have when she was
twenty-one. That, perhaps, is more understandable.”
“It’s a lot of money I believe.”
“It’s a very large fortune, Chief-Inspector.”
“Why do you think she wanted to know?”
“About the money?”
“Yes, and about who would inherit it.”
“I don’t know,” said Egerton. “I don’t know at all. She also brought up
the subject of marriage—”
“Did you form the impression that there was a man in the case?”
“I’ve no evidence—but—yes, I did think just that. I felt sure there was a
boyfriend somewhere in the offing. There usually is! Luscombe—that’s
Colonel Luscombe, her guardian, doesn’t seem to know anything about a
boyfriend. But then dear old Derek Luscombe wouldn’t. He was quite up-
set when I suggested that there was such a thing in the background and
probably an unsuitable one at that.”
“He is unsuitable,” said Chief-Inspector Davy.
“Oh. Then you know who he is?”
“I can have a very good guess at it. Ladislaus Malinowski.”
“The racing motorist? Really! A handsome daredevil. Women fall for
him easily. I wonder how he came across Elvira. I don’t see very well
where their orbits would meet except—yes, I believe he was in Rome a
couple of months ago. Possibly she met him there.”
“Very possibly. Or could she have met him through her mother?”
“What, through Bess? I wouldn’t say that was at all likely.”
Davy coughed.
“Lady Sedgwick and Malinowski are said to be close friends, sir.”
“Oh yes, yes, I know that’s the gossip. May be true, may not. They are
close friends—thrown together constantly by their way of life. Bess has
had her affairs, of course; though, mind you, she’s not the nymphomaniac
type. People are ready enough to say that about a woman, but it’s not true
in Bess’s case. Anyway, as far as I know, Bess and her daughter are prac-
tically not even acquainted with each other.”
“That’s what Lady Sedgwick told me. And you agree?” Egerton nodded.
“What other relatives has Miss Blake got?”
“For all intents and purposes, none. Her mother’s two brothers were
killed in the war—and she was old Coniston’s only child. Mrs. Melford,
though the girl calls her ‘Cousin Mildred,’ is actually a cousin of Colonel
Luscombe’s. Luscombe’s done his best for the girl in his conscientious old-
fashioned way—but it’s difficult…for a man.”
“Miss Blake brought up the subject of marriage, you say? There’s no pos-
sibility, I suppose, that she may actually already be married—”
“She’s well under age—she’d have to have the assent of her guardian
and trustees.”
“Technically, yes. But they don’t always wait for that,” said Father.
“I know. Most regrettable. One has to go through all the machinery of
making them Wards of Court, and all the rest of it. And even that has its
difficulties.”
“And once they’re married, they’re married,” said Father. “I suppose, if
she were married, and died suddenly, her husband would inherit?”
“This idea of marriage is most unlikely. She has been most carefully
looked after and….” He stopped, reacting to Chief-Inspector Davy’s cynical
smile.
However carefully Elvira had been looked after, she seemed to have suc-
ceeded in making the acquaintance of the highly unsuitable Ladislaus Ma-
linowski.
He said dubiously, “Her mother bolted, it’s true.”
“Her mother bolted, yes—that’s what she would do—but Miss Blake’s a
different type. She’s just as set on getting her own way, but she’d go about
it differently.”
“You don’t really think—”
“I don’t think anything—yet,” said Chief-Inspector Davy.
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