黑麦奇案25

时间：2025-10-10 08:30:49

（单词翻译:单击）

II
For some minutes after Elaine Fortescue left the room, Inspector1 Neele
sat staring in front of him thoughtfully. He had, indeed, new food for
thought. Mary Dove’s statement that she had seen a man in the garden at
approximately 4:35 opened up certain new possibilities. That is, of course,
if Mary Dove was speaking the truth. It was never Inspector Neele’s habit
to assume that anyone was speaking the truth. But, examine her statement
as he might, he could see no real reason why she should have lied. He was
inclined to think that Mary Dove was speaking the truth when she spoke2
of having seen a man in the garden. It was quite clear that that man could
not have been Lancelot Fortescue, although her reason for assuming that
it was he was quite natural under the circumstances. It had not been
Lancelot Fortescue, but it had been a man about the height and build of
Lancelot Fortescue, and if there had been a man in the garden at that par-
ticular time, moreover a man moving furtively3, as it seemed, to judge from
the way he had crept behind the yew4 hedges, then that certainly opened
up a line of thought.
Added to this statement of hers, there had been the further statement
that she had heard someone moving about upstairs. That, in its turn, tied
up with something else. The small piece of mud he had found on the floor
of Adele Fortescue’s boudoir. Inspector Neele’s mind dwelt on the small
dainty desk in that room. Pretty little sham5 antique with a rather obvious
secret drawer in it. There had been three letters in that drawer, letters
written by Vivian Dubois to Adele Fortescue. A great many love letters of
one kind or another had passed through Inspector Neele’s hands in the
course of his career. He was acquainted with passionate6 letters, foolish let-
ters, sentimental7 letters and nagging8 letters. There had also been cautious
letters. Inspector Neele was inclined to classify these three as of the latter
kind. Even if read in the divorce court, they could pass as inspired by a
merely platonic9 friendship. Though in this case: “Platonic friendship my
foot!” thought the inspector inelegantly. Neele, when he had found the let-
ters, had sent them up at once to the Yard since at that time the main ques-
tion was whether the Public Prosecutor’s office thought that there was suf-
ficient evidence to proceed with the case against Adele Fortescue or Adele
Fortescue and Vivian Dubois together. Everything had pointed10 towards
Rex Fortescue having been poisoned by his wife with or without her
lover’s connivance11. These letters, though cautious, made it fairly clear that
Vivian Dubois was her lover, but there had not been in the wording, so far
as Inspector Neele could see, any signs of incitement12 to crime. There might
have been incitement of a spoken kind, but Vivian Dubois would be far too
cautious to put anything of that kind down on paper.
Inspector Neele surmised13 accurately14 that Vivian Dubois had asked Adele
Fortescue to destroy his letters and that Adele Fortescue had told him she
had done so.
Well, now they had two more deaths on their hands. And that meant, or
should mean, that Adele Fortescue had not killed her husband.
Unless, that is—Inspector Neele considered a new hypothesis—Adele
Fortescue had wanted to marry Vivian Dubois and Vivian Dubois had
wanted, not Adele Fortescue, but Adele Fortescue’s hundred thousand
pounds which would come to her on the death of her husband. He had as-
sumed, perhaps, that Rex Fortescue’s death would be put down to natural
causes. Some kind of seizure15 or stroke. After all, everybody seemed to be
worried over Rex Fortescue’s health during the last year. (Parenthetically,
Inspector Neele said to himself that he must look into that question. He
had a subconscious16 feeling that it might be important in someway.) To
continue, Rex Fortescue’s death had not gone according to plan. It had
been diagnosed without loss of time as poisoning, and the correct poison
named.
Supposing that Adele Fortescue and Vivian Dubois had been guilty, what
state would they be in then? Vivian Dubois would have been scared and
Adele Fortescue would have lost her head. She might have done or said
foolish things. She might have rung up Dubois on the telephone, talking in-
discreetly17 in a way that he would have realized might have been over-
heard in Yewtree Lodge18. What would Vivian Dubois have done next?
It was early as yet to try and answer that question, but Inspector Neele
proposed very shortly to make inquiries19 at the Golf Hotel as to whether
Dubois had been in or out of the hotel between the hours of 4:15 and 6
o’clock. Vivian Dubois was tall and dark like Lance Fortescue. He might
have slipped through the garden to the side door, made his way upstairs
and then what? Looked for the letters and found them gone? Waited
there, perhaps, till the coast was clear, then come down into the library
when tea was over and Adele Fortescue was alone?
But all this was going too fast—
Neele had questioned Mary Dove and Elaine Fortescue; he must see now
what Percival Fortescue’s wife had to say.

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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 spoke XryyC     
n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说
参考例句：
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
3 furtively furtively     
adv. 偷偷地, 暗中地
参考例句：
  • At this some of the others furtively exchanged significant glances. 听他这样说，有几个人心照不宣地彼此对望了一眼。
  • Remembering my presence, he furtively dropped it under his chair. 后来想起我在，他便偷偷地把书丢在椅子下。
4 yew yew     
n.紫杉属树木
参考例句：
  • The leaves of yew trees are poisonous to cattle.紫杉树叶会令牛中毒。
  • All parts of the yew tree are poisonous,including the berries.紫杉的各个部分都有毒，包括浆果。
5 sham RsxyV     
n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的)
参考例句：
  • They cunningly played the game of sham peace.他们狡滑地玩弄假和平的把戏。
  • His love was a mere sham.他的爱情是虚假的。
6 passionate rLDxd     
adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的
参考例句：
  • He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
  • He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。
7 sentimental dDuzS     
adj.多愁善感的，感伤的
参考例句：
  • She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人，她相信姻缘命中注定。
  • We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。
8 nagging be0b69d13a0baed63cc899dc05b36d80     
adj.唠叨的，挑剔的；使人不得安宁的v.不断地挑剔或批评（某人）( nag的现在分词 )；不断地烦扰或伤害（某人）；无休止地抱怨；不断指责
参考例句：
  • Stop nagging—I'll do it as soon as I can. 别唠叨了—我会尽快做的。
  • I've got a nagging pain in my lower back. 我后背下方老是疼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 platonic 5OMxt     
adj.精神的；柏拉图（哲学）的
参考例句：
  • Their friendship is based on platonic love.他们的友情是基于柏拉图式的爱情。
  • Can Platonic love really exist in real life?柏拉图式的爱情，在现实世界里到底可能吗？
10 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的，直截了当的
参考例句：
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
11 connivance MYzyF     
n.纵容；默许
参考例句：
  • The criminals could not have escaped without your connivance.囚犯没有你的默契配合，是逃不掉的。
  • He tried to bribe the police into connivance.他企图收买警察放他一马。
12 incitement 4114f37f5337a7296283079efe923dad     
激励； 刺激； 煽动； 激励物
参考例句：
  • incitement to racial hatred 种族仇恨的挑起
  • Interest is an incitement to study. 兴趣刺激学习。
13 surmised b42dd4710fe89732a842341fc04537f6     
v.臆测，推断( surmise的过去式和过去分词 )；揣测；猜想
参考例句：
  • From the looks on their faces, I surmised that they had had an argument. 看他们的脸色，我猜想他们之间发生了争执。
  • From his letter I surmised that he was unhappy. 我从他的信中推测他并不快乐。 来自《简明英汉词典》
14 accurately oJHyf     
adv.准确地，精确地
参考例句：
  • It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
  • Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。
15 seizure FsSyO     
n.没收；占有；抵押
参考例句：
  • The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
  • The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。
16 subconscious Oqryw     
n./adj.潜意识(的)，下意识(的)
参考例句：
  • Nail biting is often a subconscious reaction to tension.咬指甲通常是紧张时的下意识反映。
  • My answer seemed to come from the subconscious.我的回答似乎出自下意识。
17 discreetly nuwz8C     
ad.(言行)审慎地，慎重地
参考例句：
  • He had only known the perennial widow, the discreetly expensive Frenchwoman. 他只知道她是个永远那么年轻的寡妇，一个很会讲排场的法国女人。
  • Sensing that Lilian wanted to be alone with Celia, Andrew discreetly disappeared. 安德鲁觉得莉莲想同西莉亚单独谈些什么，有意避开了。
18 lodge q8nzj     
v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆
参考例句：
  • Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
  • I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。
19 inquiries 86a54c7f2b27c02acf9fcb16a31c4b57     
n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听
参考例句：
  • He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
  • I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

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