黑麦奇案20

时间：2025-10-10 08:29:07

（单词翻译:单击）

IV
Inspector1 Neele looked round the bedroom that belonged to Gladys Mar-
tin. It was past eleven o’clock—Crump had come in half an hour ago—but
there was still no sign of Gladys. Inspector Neele looked round him.
Whatever Gladys’s training had been, her own natural instincts were slov-
enly. The bed, Inspector Neele judged, was seldom made, the windows sel-
dom opened. Gladys’s personal habits, however, were not his immediate2
concern. Instead, he went carefully through her possessions.
They consisted for the most part of cheap and rather pathetic finery.
There was little that was durable3 or of good quality. The elderly Ellen,
whom he had called upon to assist him, had not been helpful. She didn’t
know what clothes Gladys had or hadn’t. She couldn’t say what, if any-
thing, was missing. He turned from the clothes and the underclothes to the
contents of the chest of drawers. There Gladys kept her treasures. There
were picture postcards and newspaper cuttings, knitting patterns, hints on
beauty culture, dressmaking and fashion advice.
Inspector Neele sorted them neatly4 into various categories. The picture
postcards consisted mainly of views of various places where he presumed
Gladys had spent her holidays. Amongst them were three picture post-
cards signed “Bert.” Bert, he took to be the “young man” referred to by
Mrs. Crump. The first postcard said—in an illiterate5 hand: “All the best.
Missing you a lot. Yours ever, Bert.” The second said: “Lots of nice-looking
girls here but not one that’s a patch on you. Be seeing you soon. Don’t for-
get our date. And remember after that—it’s thumbs up and living happy
ever after.” The third said merely: “Don’t forget. I’m trusting you. Love, B.”
Next, Neele looked through the newspaper cuttings and sorted them into
three piles. There were the dressmaking and beauty hints, there were
items about cinema stars to which Gladys had appeared greatly addicted6
and she had also, it appeared, been attracted by the latest marvels7 of sci-
ence. There were cuttings about flying saucers, about secret weapons,
about truth drugs used by Russians, and claims for fantastic drugs dis-
covered by American doctors. All the witchcraft8, so Neele thought, of our
twentieth century. But in all the contents of the room there was nothing to
give him a clue to her disappearance9. She had kept no diary, not that he
had expected that. It was a remote possibility. There was no unfinished
letter, no record at all of anything she might have seen in the house which
could have had a bearing on Rex Fortescue’s death. Whatever Gladys had
seen, whatever Gladys had known, there was no record of it. It would still
have to be guesswork why the second tea tray had been left in the hall,
and Gladys herself had so suddenly vanished.
Sighing, Neele left the room, shutting the door behind him.
As he prepared to descend10 the small winding11 stairs he heard a noise of
running feet coming along the landing below.
The agitated12 face of Sergeant13 Hay looked up at him from the bottom of
the stairs. Sergeant Hay was panting a little.
“Sir,” he said urgently. “Sir! We’ve found her—”
“Found her?”
“It was the housemaid, sir—Ellen—remembered as she hadn’t brought
the clothes in from where they were hanging on the line—just round the
corner from the back door. So she went out with a torch to take them in
and she almost fell over the body—the girl’s body—strangled, she was,
with a stocking round her throat—been dead for hours, I’d say. And, sir,
it’s a wicked kind of joke—there was a clothes-peg clipped on her nose—”

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1 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。
2 immediate aapxh     
adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的
参考例句：
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
3 durable frox4     
adj.持久的，耐久的
参考例句：
  • This raincoat is made of very durable material.这件雨衣是用非常耐用的料子做的。
  • They frequently require more major durable purchases.他们经常需要购买耐用消费品。
4 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。
5 illiterate Bc6z5     
adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲
参考例句：
  • There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
  • I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。
6 addicted dzizmY     
adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的
参考例句：
  • He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
  • She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。
7 marvels 029fcce896f8a250d9ae56bf8129422d     
n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 )
参考例句：
  • The doctor's treatment has worked marvels : the patient has recovered completely. 该医生妙手回春，病人已完全康复。 来自辞典例句
  • Nevertheless he revels in a catalogue of marvels. 可他还是兴致勃勃地罗列了一堆怪诞不经的事物。 来自辞典例句
8 witchcraft pe7zD7     
n.魔法，巫术
参考例句：
  • The woman practising witchcraft claimed that she could conjure up the spirits of the dead.那个女巫说她能用魔法召唤亡灵。
  • All these things that you call witchcraft are capable of a natural explanation.被你们统统叫做巫术的那些东西都可以得到合情合理的解释。
9 disappearance ouEx5     
n.消失，消散，失踪
参考例句：
  • He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
  • Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。
10 descend descend     
vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降
参考例句：
  • I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
  • We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。
11 winding Ue7z09     
n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈
参考例句：
  • A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
  • The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。
12 agitated dzgzc2     
adj.被鼓动的，不安的
参考例句：
  • His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
  • She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。
13 sergeant REQzz     
n.警官，中士
参考例句：
  • His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
  • How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

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