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III
General Macarthur broke out suddenly. He exclaimed:
Something must be done about it. This fellow Owen whoever he is—”
Emily Brent interrupted. She said sharply:
“That’s just it, who is he?”
him. He said:
“That is exactly what we must go into very carefully. I should suggest that you get your
wife to bed first of all, Rogers. Then come back here.”
“Yes, sir.”
Dr. Armstrong said:
“I’ll give you a hand, Rogers.”
Marston said:
“Don’t know about you, sir, but I could do with a drink.”
Lombard said:
“I agree.”
Tony said:
He went out of the room.
He returned a second or two later.
“Found them all waiting on a tray outside ready to be brought in.”
He set down his burden carefully. The next minute or two was spent in dispensing6 drinks.
General Macarthur had a stiff whisky and so did the judge. Every one felt the need of a
Dr. Armstrong reentered the room.
do with one.”
Several of the men refilled their glasses. A moment or two later Rogers reentered the room.
court of law.
The judge said:
“Now then, Rogers, we must get to the bottom of this. Who is this Mr. Owen?”
Rogers stared.
“He owns this place, sir.”
“I am aware of that fact. What I want you to tell me is what you yourself know about the
man.”
Rogers shook his head.
“I can’t say, sir. You see, I’ve never seen him.”
There was a faint stir in the room.
General Macarthur said:
“You’ve never seen him? What d’yer mean?”
“We’ve only been here just under a week, sir, my wife and I. We were engaged by letter,
through an agency. The Regina Agency in Plymouth.”
Blore nodded.
“Old established firm,” he volunteered.
Wargrave said:
“Have you got that letter?”
“The letter engaging us? No, sir. I didn’t keep it.”
“Go on with your story. You were engaged, as you say, by letter.”
“Yes, sir. We were to arrive on a certain day. We did. Everything was in order here. Plenty
of food in stock and everything very nice. Just needed dusting and that.”
“What next?”
“Nothing, sir. We got orders—by letter again—to prepare the rooms for a house party, and
then yesterday by the afternoon post I got another letter from Mr. Owen. It said he and Mrs.
Owen were detained and to do the best we could, and it gave the instructions about dinner and
coffee and putting on the gramophone record.”
The judge said sharply:
“Surely you’ve got that letter?”
“Yes, sir, I’ve got it here.”
He produced it from a pocket. The judge took it.
“H’m,” he said. “Headed Ritz Hotel and typewritten.”
With a quick movement Blore was beside him.
He said:
“If you’ll just let me have a look.”
“Coronation machine. Quite new—no defects. Ensign paper—the most widely used make.
You won’t get anything out of that. Might be fingerprints12, but I doubt it.”
Wargrave stared at him with sudden attention.
The old judge said with a slight start:
suggestive point.”
He looked round at the others and thrusting his neck forward like an angry tortoise, he
said:
“I think the time has come for us all to pool our information. It would be well, I think, for
everybody to come forward with all the information they have regarding the owner of this
house.” He paused and then went on: “We are all his guests. I think it would be profitable if
each one of us were to explain exactly how that came about.”
There was a moment’s pause and then Emily Brent spoke with decision.
summer resort two or three years ago. I took the name to be either Ogden or Oliver. I am
acquainted with a Mrs. Oliver and also with a Miss Ogden. I am quite certain that I have never
met, or become friendly with any one of the name of Owen.”
Mr. Justice Wargrave said:
“You have that letter, Miss Brent?”
“Yes, I will fetch it for you.”
She went away and returned a minute later with the letter.
The judge read it. He said:
“I begin to understand … Miss Claythorne?”
Vera explained the circumstances of her secretarial engagement.
The judge said:
“Marston?”
Anthony said:
an idea the old horse had gone to Norway. Told me to roll up here.”
Again Wargrave nodded. He said:
“Dr. Armstrong?”
“I was called in professionally.”
“I see. You had no previous acquaintanceship with the family?”
“No. A colleague of mine was mentioned in the letter.”
The judge said:
“To give verisimilitude … Yes, and that colleague, I presume, was momentarily out of
touch with you?”
“Well—er—yes.”
Lombard, who had been staring at Blore, said suddenly:
“Look here, I’ve just thought of something—”
The judge lifted a hand.
“In a minute—”
“But I—”
“We will take one thing at a time, Mr. Lombard. We are at present inquiring into the
causes which have resulted in our being assembled here tonight. General Macarthur?”
Pulling at his moustache, the General muttered:
here—hoped I’d excuse informal invitation. Haven’t kept the letter, I’m afraid.”
Wargrave said: “Mr. Lombard?”
Lombard’s brain had been active. Was he to come out in the open, or not? He made up his
mind.
I’ve torn up the letter.”
Mr. Justice Wargrave turned his attention to Mr. Blore. His forefinger23 stroked his upper lip
and his voice was dangerously polite.
He said:
“Just now we had a somewhat disturbing experience. An apparently24 disembodied voice
spoke to us all by name, uttering certain precise accusations against us. We will deal with those
recited was that of William Henry Blore. But as far as we know there is no one named Blore
amongst us. The name of Davis was not mentioned. What have you to say about that, Mr.
Davis?”
Blore said sulkily:
“Cat’s out of the bag, it seems. I suppose I’d better admit that my name isn’t Davis.”
“You are William Henry Blore?”
“That’s right.”
“I will add something,” said Lombard. “Not only are you here under a false name, Mr.
Blore, but in addition I’ve noticed this evening that you’re a first-class liar17. You claim to have
you’ve never set foot in South Africa in your life.”
All eyes were turned on Blore. Angry suspicious eyes. Anthony Marston moved a step
“Now then, you swine,” he said. “Any explanation?”
“You gentlemen have got me wrong,” he said. “I’ve got my credentials29 and you can see
them. I’m an ex-CID man. I run a detective agency in Plymouth. I was put on this job.”
Mr. Justice Wargrave asked:
“By whom?”
“This man Owen. Enclosed a handsome money order for expenses and instructed me as to
what he wanted done. I was to join the house party, posing as a guest. I was given all your
names. I was to watch you all.”
“Any reason given?”
Blore said bitterly:
“Mrs. Owen’s jewels. Mrs. Owen my foot! I don’t believe there’s any such person.”
Again the forefinger of the judge stroked his lip, this time appreciatively.
“Your conclusions are, I think, justified,” he said. “Ulick Norman Owen! In Miss Brent’s
clear—Una Nancy—in either case you notice, the same initials. Ulick Norman Owen—Una
Nancy Owen — each time, that is to say, U. N. Owen. Or by a slight stretch of fancy,
UNKNOWN!”
Vera cried:
“But this is fantastic—mad!”
The judge nodded gently.
He said:
“Oh, yes. I’ve no doubt in my own mind that we have been invited here by a madman—
probably a dangerous homicidal lunatic.”
3
麦克阿瑟将军突然大喊大叫：
“这件事简直荒唐透顶，荒唐透顶！怎么能由着他胡乱指责我们？我得给他点儿颜色看
看。这个叫欧文的人，我不管他是谁——”
埃米莉·布伦特打断了他，语气尖刻地说：
“关键就在这里。他是谁？”
法官又插话了。多年的法官生涯让他说起话来极富威严：
“我们确实应该把这个问题弄清楚。罗杰斯，我建议你先把你妻子送回房去，安顿她躺
下，然后再回来。”
“遵命，先生。”
阿姆斯特朗医生说：
“我来帮你。”
罗杰斯太太浑身无力地靠在两个男人身上，步履蹒跚地走出了房间。他们走后，安东
尼·马斯顿提议：
“你们要不要来一杯，各位？我可得喝点儿什么了。”
隆巴德答道：
“我也来一杯。”
安东尼说：
“我去拿酒。”
他走出房间。
转眼他就回来了，说：
“酒就在门口的盘子里放着，等着我把它端进来呢。”
他小心翼翼地把盘子放下，接着把酒倒进几个杯子。麦克阿瑟将军挑了杯烈性威士
忌，法官也照样拿了一杯威士忌。大家都需要一点儿酒精刺激。只有埃米莉·布伦特没有喝
酒，只要了一杯水。
阿姆斯特朗回到客厅里。
“她没事了，”他说，“我给了她一片镇静剂。这是什么？啊，酒！给我来一杯！”
几位男士又添了些酒。过了一会儿，罗杰斯回来了。
下面的程序由瓦格雷夫法官主持。
这间客厅变成了临时法庭。
瓦格雷夫法官开口问道：
“好吧，罗杰斯，我们必须把事情搞清楚。你告诉我，欧文先生到底是谁？”
罗杰斯瞪大了眼睛。
“他是这幢房子的主人，先生。”
“这一点我知道。我要你把自己对这个人的了解告诉我。”
罗杰斯摇摇头。
“我说不出来，先生。要知道，我从来没有见过他。”
房间里顿时响起一阵轻微的骚动。
麦克阿瑟将军说：
“从来没见过他？这么说是什么意思？”
“我们来到这座岛上还不到一个星期，先生，我是说我和我妻子。他写信联系职业介绍
所，雇用了我们，就是普莱茅斯那家‘女王职业介绍公司’。”
布洛尔点头表示他听说过这家公司。
“那家公司有些年头了。”他主动介绍。
瓦格雷夫问：
“信还在吗？”
“你是指介绍所的信吗？没有了，先生。我没留着。”
“继续说吧。他们雇你来干活儿，按照你的话说，是写信雇的？”
“是的，先生。他在信上规定了我们要在哪一天到达，然后我们就来了。这里的一切都
已经安排好了。厨房里储存了很多食品，家里的装饰品也都是高级货，我们只需要把屋子
打扫干净就行了。”
“然后呢？”
“然后就没了，先生。我们都是按照信上的指示办的。他让我们收拾好房间，准备迎接
客人。昨天下午，欧文先生来信说，他和他夫人临时有事不能来了，让我们尽量招待好客
人。他把晚饭、咖啡之类的事都做了详细说明，并安排我们放唱片。”
法官厉声问：
“那封信一定还在吧？”
“还在，先生。在这里。”
说着，他从衣兜里掏出一封信。法官把信接了过来。
“嗯，”他说，“落款地址是丽兹饭店。信上的字是用打字机敲上去的。”
布洛尔三步并作两步走到他身边，说：
“让我看看。”
他一把将信纸抽过去，把信的内容从上到下扫了一遍，然后轻声说：
“用的是皇冠牌打字机，是新的一款，看不出什么问题。用的信纸是普通信纸。光从这
些看，发现不了什么线索，没准儿会有指纹，但也很难说。”
瓦格雷夫突然刻意打量起他来。
安东尼·马斯顿站在布洛尔身旁探出头去看这封信。他说：
“签名真够花哨的。尤利克·诺尔曼·欧文。很特别。”
老法官微微一震，说：
“谢谢你，马斯顿先生。在你的提醒下，我注意到一个既有趣、又耐人寻味的问题。”
他把脖子伸得老长，环视周围的人，样子好像一只发怒的乌龟。他说：
“我觉得大家应该把手上的信息汇总一下，把各自对这幢房子主人的了解都说出
来。”他停了一下，然后继续说，“我们都是他的客人。我认为每个人都把自己被邀请来的
经过说明白，这样做会好一些。”
话音落下，一阵沉默。接着，埃米莉·布伦特下定决心，开口了。
“整个事情的过程的确有些古怪，”她说，“我收到一封信，署名看不清楚，大概是一位
我两三年前在某个避暑度假村见过的女人写来的。我猜她不是姓奥尔顿，就是姓奥利弗。
我认识一个奥利弗夫人，也认识一位奥尔顿小姐，但我完全肯定，我从来没见过，也没有
结交过任何叫欧文的人。”
瓦格雷夫法官问：
“你带了那封信吗，布伦特小姐？”
“我带来了。这就去给你拿来。”
她离开房间，不到一分钟就把信拿来了。
法官看了信，然后说：
“我开始明白了……维拉小姐？”
维拉把她被欧文雇来当秘书的经过也讲了一遍。
法官说：
“马斯顿，你呢？”
安东尼答道：
“我收到的是电报。是我一个好朋友发来的，他的名字是巴杰尔·巴克莱。当时我觉得
很意外，因为我以为这个老家伙已经搬到挪威去了，他这次却请我到这儿来玩。”
瓦格雷夫又点了点头，说：
“阿姆斯特朗医生呢？”
“我是应邀来出诊的。”
“明白了。你以前认识这家人吗？”
“不认识。信里面提到了我的一位同行。”
法官说：
“让信看上去更可信……当然，我估计你跟这位同行最近也没有什么来往吧？”
“这……嗯……还真没有。”
隆巴德一直盯着布洛尔，突然对他说：
“等等，我刚想起来——”
法官举起了一只手。
“等等！”
“我觉得——”
“隆巴德先生，我们一个个来。现在我们正在试图弄清楚大家今晚是怎么聚到这里来
的。麦克阿瑟将军，你说说？”
将军捻着胡须，喃喃道：
“有人给我写了一封信——就是这个姓欧文的家伙写的——提到了我的一些老熟人，说
他们也要来这儿。说这是一封便函，不够隆重，希望我别介意。信我没留着。”
瓦格雷夫说：
“隆巴德先生？”
隆巴德心乱如麻。说实话？还是继续瞒着他们？他拿定了主意。
“我也是一样，”他说，“收到一封信，邀请我来，还提起了我认识的朋友。肯定是上当
了。信我给撕了。”
瓦格雷夫法官转向布洛尔，手指轻拍上嘴唇，语气礼貌得令人不安。
他说：
“刚刚，我们大家经历了令人不安的指控。一个莫名其妙的声音对我们指名道姓地提出
了具体的控诉。我们现在就来理一理思路。但是在此之前，有一个细节我很想先搞清楚：
在指控里提到的那些名字当中，有一个是威廉·亨利·布洛尔。据我所知，我们中间并没有一
个人叫布洛尔，但是戴维斯的名字却没有提到过。这个问题，戴维斯先生，你打算怎么解
释呢？”
布洛尔脸色一沉，说：
“真倒霉，被你给发现了。看来我必须承认我不姓戴维斯了！”
“那你是威廉·亨利·布洛尔？”
“没错。”
“我还要补充几点，”隆巴德说，“你到这儿来，不但用了假名，我还发现你是个一级骗
子。你自称来自南非纳塔尔港，而我恰恰对南非和纳塔尔了如指掌。我敢发誓，你这辈子
根本就没去过南非。”
所有的目光一下子都转向布洛尔，目光中充满了怀疑和愤怒。安东尼·马斯顿向前跨了
一步，走近布洛尔，双手不自觉地攥起来。
“行啊，你这个笨蛋，”他说，“还有什么好说的吗？”
布洛尔仰起脸，咬紧牙关。
“各位先生，你们误会了。”他说，“我带着证件呢，给你们看。我本来是刑事调查局的
警察。现在在普莱茅斯开了一家侦探事务所。我是受了委托，来办公事的。”
瓦格雷夫法官先生问：
“谁的委托？”
“欧文啊！欧文先生给我寄了一大笔钱作为酬金，让我装成普通客人来参加这次宴会。
他把你们的名字都告诉我了，要我把你们每一个人都盯紧了。”
“他说这样做的原因了吗？”
布洛尔苦着脸说：
“就是为了欧文夫人的珠宝啊！欧文夫人算个鬼！现在我才不信有这么个人呢！”
法官又开始拍打自己的上嘴唇了，但这次他神情泰然。
“我认为你说得有道理，”他说，“尤利克·诺尔曼·欧文！在布伦特小姐的信上，尽管姓
氏签得糊里糊涂，可名字还是相当清楚的，乌娜·南希。你们注意到了吗？每份邀请用的都
是同样的首字母：尤利克·诺尔曼·欧文、乌娜·南希·欧文，也就是说，每次都是U.N.欧文。
稍微联想一下就能发现，U.N是UNKNOWN [1] 的前两个字母，意思就是无名氏！”
维拉大叫着：
“这太荒唐了！真是疯了！”
法官慢慢点着头，说：
“是啊！我认为，毫无疑问，我们都是被一个疯子邀请来的，说不定这是一个极度危险
的杀人狂。”
[1]U.N.欧文的同音词。
点击  收听单词发音
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