命案目睹记2

时间：2025-10-20 07:15:16

（单词翻译:单击）

One
Mrs. McGillicuddy panted along the platform in the wake of the porter
carrying her suitcase. Mrs. McGillicuddy was short and stout, the porter
was tall and free-striding. In addition, Mrs. McGillicuddy was burdened
with a large quantity of parcels; the result of a day’s Christmas shopping.
The race was, therefore, an uneven one, and the porter turned the corner
at the end of the platform whilst Mrs. McGillicuddy was still coming up
the straight.
No. 1 Platform was not at the moment unduly crowded, since a train
had just gone out, but in the no-man’s-land beyond, a milling crowd was
rushing in several directions at once, to and from undergrounds, left-lug-
gage offices, tea rooms, inquiry offices, indicator boards, and the two out-
lets, Arrival and Departure, to the outside world.
Mrs. McGillicuddy and her parcels were buffeted to and fro, but she ar-
rived eventually at the entrance to No. 3 Platform, and deposited one par-
cel at her feet whilst she searched her bag for the ticket that would enable
her to pass the stern uniformed guardian at the gate.
At that moment, a Voice, raucous yet refined, burst into speech over her
head.
“The train standing at Platform 3,” the Voice told her, “is the 4:50 for
Brackhampton, Milchester, Waverton, Carvil Junction, Roxeter and sta-
tions to Chadmouth. Passengers for Brackhampton and Milchester travel
at the rear of the train. Passengers for Vanequay change at Roxeter.” The
Voice shut itself off with a click, and then reopened conversation by an-
nouncing the arrival at Platform 9 of the 4:35 from Birmingham and Wol-
verhampton.
Mrs. McGillicuddy found her ticket and presented it. The man clipped it,
murmured: “On the right—rear portion.”
Mrs. McGillicuddy padded up the platform and found her porter, look-
ing bored and staring into space, outside the door of a third-class carriage.
“Here you are, lady.”
“I’m travelling first-class,” said Mrs. McGillicuddy.
“You didn’t say so,” grumbled the porter. His eye swept her masculine-
looking pepper-and-salt tweed coat disparagingly.
Mrs. McGillicuddy, who had said so, did not argue the point. She was
sadly out of breath.
The porter retrieved the suitcase and marched with it to the adjoining
coach where Mrs. McGillicuddy was installed in solitary splendour. The
4:50 was not much patronized, the first-class clientele preferring either the
faster morning express, or the 6:40 with dining car. Mrs. McGillicuddy
handed the porter his tip which he received with disappointment, clearly
considering it more applicable to third-class than to first-class travel. Mrs.
McGillicuddy, though prepared to spend money on comfortable travel
after a night journey from the North and a day’s feverish shopping, was at
no time an extravagant tipper.
She settled herself back on the plush cushions with a sigh and opened
her magazine. Five minutes later, whistles blew, and the train started. The
magazine slipped from Mrs. McGillicuddy’s hand, her head dropped side-
ways, three minutes later she was asleep. She slept for thirty-five minutes
and awoke refreshed. Resettling her hat which had slipped askew she sat
up and looked out of the window at what she could see of the flying coun-
tryside. It was quite dark now, a dreary misty December day—Christmas
was only five days ahead. London had been dark and dreary; the country
was no less so, though occasionally rendered cheerful with its constant
clusters of lights as the train flashed through towns and stations.
“Serving last tea now,” said an attendant, whisking open the corridor
door like a jinn. Mrs. McGillicuddy had already partaken of tea at a large
department store. She was for the moment amply nourished. The attend-
ant went on down the corridor uttering his monotonous cry. Mrs. McGil-
licuddy looked up at the rack where her various parcels reposed, with a
pleased expression. The face towels had been excellent value and just
what Margaret wanted, the space gun for Robby and the rabbit for Jean
were highly satisfactory, and that evening coatee was just the thing she
herself needed, warm but dressy. The pullover for Hector, too…her mind
dwelt with approval on the soundness of her purchases.
Her satisfied gaze returned to the window, a train travelling in the op-
posite direction rushed by with a screech, making the windows rattle and
causing her to start. The train clattered over points and passed through a
station.
Then it began suddenly to slow down, presumably in obedience to a sig-
nal. For some minutes it crawled along, then stopped, presently it began to
move forward again. Another up- train passed them, though with less
vehemence than the first one. The train gathered speed again. At that mo-
ment another train, also on a down-line, swerved inwards towards them,
for a moment with almost alarming effect. For a time the two trains ran
parallel, now one gaining a little, now the other. Mrs. McGillicuddy looked
from her window through the windows of the parallel carriages. Most of
the blinds were down, but occasionally the occupants of the carriages
were visible. The other train was not very full and there were many
empty carriages.
At the moment when the two trains gave the illusion of being stationary,
a blind in one of the carriages flew up with a snap. Mrs. McGillicuddy
looked into the lighted first-class carriage that was only a few feet away.
Then she drew her breath in with a gasp and half-rose to her feet.
Standing with his back to the window and to her was a man. His hands
were round the throat of a woman who faced him, and he was slowly, re-
morselessly, strangling her. Her eyes were starting from their sockets, her
face was purple and congested. As Mrs. McGillicuddy watched fascinated,
the end came; the body went limp and crumpled in the man’s hands.
At the same moment, Mrs. McGillicuddy’s train slowed down again and
the other began to gain speed. It passed forward and a moment or two
later it had vanished from sight.
Almost automatically Mrs. McGillicuddy’s hand went up to the commu-
nication cord, then paused, irresolute. After all, what use would it be
ringing the cord of the train in which she was travelling? The horror of
what she had seen at such close quarters, and the unusual circumstances,
made her feel paralysed. Some immediate action was necessary — but
what?
The door of her compartment was drawn back and a ticket collector
said, “Ticket, please.”
Mrs. McGillicuddy turned to him with vehemence.
“A woman has been strangled,” she said. “In a train that has just passed.
I saw it.”
The ticket collector looked at her doubtfully.
“I beg your pardon, madam?”
“A man strangled a woman! In a train. I saw it—through there.” She
pointed to the window.
The ticket collector looked extremely doubtful.
“Strangled?” he said disbelievingly.
“Yes, strangled! I saw it, I tell you. You must do something at once!”
The ticket collector coughed apologetically.
“You don’t think, madam, that you may have had a little nap and—er—”
he broke off tactfully.
“I have had a nap, but if you think this was a dream, you’re quite wrong.
I saw it, I tell you.”
The ticket collector’s eyes dropped to the open magazine lying on the
seat. On the exposed page was a girl being strangled whilst a man with a
revolver threatened the pair from an open doorway.
He said persuasively: “Now don’t you think, madam, that you’d been
reading an exciting story, and that you just dropped off, and awaking a
little confused—”
Mrs. McGillicuddy interrupted him.
“I saw it,” she said. “I was as wide awake as you are. And I looked out of
the window into the window of the train alongside, and a man was
strangling a woman. And what I want to know is, what are you going to do
about it?”
“Well—madam—”
“You’re going to do something, I suppose?”
The ticket collector sighed reluctantly and glanced at his watch.
“We shall be in Brackhampton in exactly seven minutes. I’ll report what
you’ve told me. In what direction was the train you mention going?”
“This direction, of course. You don’t suppose I’d have been able to see
this if a train had flashed past going in the other direction?”
The ticket collector looked as though he thought Mrs. McGillicuddy was
quite capable of seeing anything anywhere as the fancy took her. But he
remained polite.
“You can rely on me, madam,” he said. “I will report your statement.
Perhaps I might have your name and address—just in case….”
Mrs. McGillicuddy gave him the address where she would be staying for
the next few days and her permanent address in Scotland, and he wrote
them down. Then he withdrew with the air of a man who has done his
duty and dealt successfully with a tiresome member of the travelling pub-
lic.
Mrs. McGillicuddy remained frowning and vaguely unsatisfied. Would
the ticket collector report her statement? Or had he just been soothing her
down? There were, she supposed vaguely, a lot of elderly women travel-
ling around, fully convinced that they had unmasked communist plots,
were in danger of being murdered, saw flying saucers and secret space
ships, and reported murders that had never taken place. If the man dis-
missed her as one of those….
The train was slowing down now, passing over points and running
through the bright lights of a large town.
Mrs. McGillicuddy opened her handbag, pulled out a receipted bill
which was all she could find, wrote a rapid note on the back of it with her
ball-pen, put it into a spare envelope that she fortunately happened to
have, stuck the envelope down and wrote on it.
The train drew slowly into a crowded platform. The usual ubiquitous
Voice was intoning:
“The train now arriving at Platform 1 is the 5:38 for Milchester, Waver-
ton, Roxeter, and stations to Chadmouth. Passengers for Market Basing
take the train now waiting at No. 3 platform. No. 1 bay for stopping train
to Carbury.”
Mrs. McGillicuddy looked anxiously along the platform. So many pas-
sengers and so few porters. Ah, there was one! She hailed him authoritat-
ively.
“Porter! Please take this at once to the Stationmaster’s office.”
She handed him the envelope, and with it a shilling.
Then, with a sigh, she leaned back. Well, she had done what she could.
Her mind lingered with an instant’s regret on the shilling… Sixpence
would really have been enough….
Her mind went back to the scene she had witnessed. Horrible, quite hor-
rible… She was a strong-nerved woman, but she shivered. What a strange
—what a fantastic thing to happen to her, Elspeth McGillicuddy! If the
blind of the carriage had not happened to fly up… But that, of course, was
Providence.
Providence had willed that she, Elspeth McGillicuddy, should be a wit-
ness of the crime. Her lips set grimly.
Voices shouted, whistles blew, doors were banged shut. The 5:38 drew
slowly out of Brackhampton station. An hour and five minutes later it
stopped at Milchester.
Mrs. McGillicuddy collected her parcels and her suitcase and got out.
She peered up and down the platform. Her mind reiterated its former
judgment: Not enough porters. Such porters as there were seemed to be
engaged with mail bags and luggage vans. Passengers nowadays seemed
always expected to carry their own cases. Well, she couldn’t carry her suit-
case and her umbrella and all her parcels. She would have to wait. In due
course she secured a porter.
“Taxi?”
“There will be something to meet me, I expect.”
Outside Milchester station, a taxi-driver who had been watching the exit
came forward. He spoke in a soft local voice.
“Is it Mrs. McGillicuddy? For St. Mary Mead?”
Mrs. McGillicuddy acknowledged her identity. The porter was recom-
pensed, adequately if not handsomely. The car, with Mrs. McGillicuddy,
her suitcase, and her parcels drove off into the night. It was a nine-mile
drive. Sitting bolt upright in the car, Mrs. McGillicuddy was unable to re-
lax. Her feelings yearned for expression. At last the taxi drove along the
familiar village street and finally drew up at its destination; Mrs. McGil-
licuddy got out and walked up the brick path to the door. The driver de-
posited the cases inside as the door was opened by an elderly maid. Mrs.
McGillicuddy passed straight through the hall to where, at the open sitting
room door, her hostess awaited her; an elderly frail old lady.
“Elspeth!”
“Jane!”
They kissed and, without preamble or circumlocution, Mrs. McGil-
licuddy burst into speech.
“Oh, Jane!” she wailed. “I’ve just seen a murder!”

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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

0 reiterated d9580be532fe69f8451c32061126606b     
反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。
0 vaguely BfuzOy     
adv.含糊地，暖昧地
参考例句：
  • He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
  • He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。
0 crumpled crumpled     
adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式
参考例句：
  • She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
  • She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。
0 misty l6mzx     
adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的
参考例句：
  • He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿，看看是不是还有雾霭。
  • The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。
0 stout PGuzF     
adj.强壮的，粗大的，结实的，勇猛的，矮胖的
参考例句：
  • He cut a stout stick to help him walk.他砍了一根结实的枝条用来拄着走路。
  • The stout old man waddled across the road.那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。
0 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地
参考例句：
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
0 persuasively 24849db8bac7f92da542baa5598b1248     
adv.口才好地；令人信服地
参考例句：
  • Students find that all historians argue reasonably and persuasively. 学生们发现所有的历史学家都争论得有条有理，并且很有说服力。 来自辞典例句
  • He spoke a very persuasively but I smelled a rat and refused his offer. 他说得头头是道，但我觉得有些可疑，于是拒绝了他的建议。 来自辞典例句
0 uneven akwwb     
adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的
参考例句：
  • The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
  • The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。
0 buffeted 2484040e69c5816c25c65e8310465688     
反复敲打( buffet的过去式和过去分词 )； 连续猛击； 打来打去； 推来搡去
参考例句：
  • to be buffeted by the wind 被风吹得左右摇摆
  • We were buffeted by the wind and the rain. 我们遭到风雨的袭击。
0 inquiry nbgzF     
n.打听，询问，调查，查问
参考例句：
  • Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
  • The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。
0 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的
参考例句：
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
0 yearned df1a28ecd1f3c590db24d0d80c264305     
渴望，切盼，向往( yearn的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • The people yearned for peace. 人民渴望和平。
  • She yearned to go back to the south. 她渴望回到南方去。
0 feverish gzsye     
adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的
参考例句：
  • He is too feverish to rest.他兴奋得安静不下来。
  • They worked with feverish haste to finish the job.为了完成此事他们以狂热的速度工作着。
0 obedience 8vryb     
n.服从，顺从
参考例句：
  • Society has a right to expect obedience of the law.社会有权要求人人遵守法律。
  • Soldiers act in obedience to the orders of their superior officers.士兵们遵照上级军官的命令行动。
0 unduly Mp4ya     
adv.过度地，不适当地
参考例句：
  • He did not sound unduly worried at the prospect.他的口气听上去对前景并不十分担忧。
  • He argued that the law was unduly restrictive.他辩称法律的约束性有些过分了。
0 indicator i8NxM     
n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器
参考例句：
  • Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
  • His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。
0 sockets ffe33a3f6e35505faba01d17fd07d641     
n.套接字，使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 )；孔( socket的名词复数 )；（电器上的）插口；托座；凹穴
参考例句：
  • All new PCs now have USB sockets. 新的个人计算机现在都有通用串行总线插孔。
  • Make sure the sockets in your house are fingerproof. 确保你房中的插座是防触电的。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
0 wailed e27902fd534535a9f82ffa06a5b6937a     
v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句
0 dreary sk1z6     
adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的
参考例句：
  • They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
  • She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。
0 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。
0 swerved 9abd504bfde466e8c735698b5b8e73b4     
v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • She swerved sharply to avoid a cyclist. 她猛地急转弯，以躲开一个骑自行车的人。
  • The driver has swerved on a sudden to avoid a file of geese. 为了躲避一队鹅，司机突然来个急转弯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
0 gage YsAz0j     
n.标准尺寸，规格；量规，量表 [=gauge]
参考例句：
  • Can you gage what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
  • It's difficult to gage one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

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