命案目睹记22

时间：2025-10-20 07:24:06

（单词翻译:单击）

Ten
I
Miss Marple, sitting erect1 against a background of china dogs and presents
from Margate, smiled approvingly at Inspector2 Dermot Craddock.
“I’m so glad,” she said, “that you have been assigned to the case. I hoped
you would be.”
“When I got your letter,” said Craddock, “I took it straight to the A.C. As
it happened he had just heard from the Brackhampton people calling us
in. They seemed to think it wasn’t a local crime. The A.C. was very interes-
ted3 in what I had to tell him about you. He’d heard about you, I gather,
from my godfather.”
“Dear Sir Henry,” murmured Miss Marple affectionately.
“He got me to tell him all about the Little Paddocks business. Do you
want to hear what he said next?”
“Please tell me if it is not a breach4 of confidence.”
“He said, ‘Well, as this seems a completely cockeyed business, all
thought up by a couple of old ladies who’ve turned out, against all probab-
ility, to be right, and since you already know one of these old ladies, I’m
sending you down on the case.’ So here I am! And now, my dear Miss
Marple, where do we go from here? This is not, as you probably appreci-
ate, an official visit. I haven’t got my henchmen with me. I thought you
and I might take down our back hair together first.”
Miss Marple smiled at him.
“I’m sure,” she said, “that no one who only knows you officially would
ever guess that you could be so human, and better-looking than ever—
don’t blush… Now, what, exactly, have you been told so far?”
“I’ve got everything, I think. Your friend, Mrs. McGillicuddy’s original
statement to the police at St. Mary Mead5, confirmation6 of her statement by
the ticket collector, and also the note to the stationmaster at Brackhamp-
ton. I may say that all the proper inquiries7 were made by the people con-
cerned—the railway people and the police. But there’s no doubt that you
outsmarted them all by a most fantastic process of guesswork.”
“Not guesswork,” said Miss Marple. “And I had a great advantage. I knew
Elspeth McGillicuddy. Nobody else did. There was no obvious confirma-
tion of her story, and if there was no question of any woman being repor-
ted missing, then quite naturally they would think it was just an elderly
lady imagining things—as elderly ladies often do—but not Elspeth McGil-
licuddy.”
“Not Elspeth McGillicuddy,” agreed the inspector. “I’m looking forward
to meeting her, you know. I wish she hadn’t gone to Ceylon. We’re arran-
ging for her to be interviewed there, by the way.”
“My own process of reasoning was not really original,” said Miss
Marple. “It’s all in Mark Twain. The boy who found the horse. He just ima-
gined where he would go if he were a horse and he went there and there
was the horse.”
“You imagined what you’d do if you were a cruel and cold-blooded mur-
derer?” said Craddock looking thoughtfully at Miss Marple’s pink and
white elderly fragility. “Really, your mind—”
“Like a sink, my nephew Raymond used to say,” Miss Marple agreed,
nodding her head briskly. “But as I always told him, sinks are necessary
domestic equipment and actually very hygienic.”
“Can you go a little further still, put yourself in the murderer’s place,
and tell me just where he is now?”
Miss Marple sighed.
“I wish I could. I’ve no idea—no idea at all. But he must be someone who
has lived in, or knows all about, Rutherford Hall.”
“I agree. But that opens up a very wide field. Quite a succession of daily
women have worked there. There’s the Women’s Institute—and the A.R.P.
Wardens9 before them. They all know the Long Barn and the sarcophagus
and where the key was kept. The whole setup there is widely known loc-
ally. Anybody living round about might hit on it as a good spot for his pur-
pose.”
“Yes, indeed. I quite understand your difficulties.”
Craddock said: “We’ll never get anywhere until we identify the body.”
“And that, too, may be difficult?”
“Oh, we’ll get there—in the end. We’re checking up on all the reported
disappearances10 of a woman of that age and appearance. There’s no one
outstanding who fits the bill. The M.O. puts her down as about thirty-five,
healthy, probably a married woman, has had at least one child. Her fur
coat is a cheap one purchased at a London store. Hundreds of such coats
were sold in the last three months, about sixty per cent of them to blonde
women. No sales girl can recognize the photograph of the dead woman, or
is likely to if the purchase were made just before Christmas. Her other
clothes seem mainly of foreign manufacture mostly purchased in Paris.
There are no English laundry marks. We’ve communicated with Paris and
they are checking up there for us. Sooner or later, of course, someone will
come forward with a missing relative or lodger11. It’s just a matter of time.”
“The compact wasn’t any help?”
“Unfortunately, no. It’s a type sold by the hundred in the Rue8 de Rivoli,
quite cheap. By the way, you ought to have turned that over to the police
at once, you know—or rather Miss Eyelesbarrow should have done so.”
Miss Marple shook her head.
“But at that moment there wasn’t any question of a crime having been
committed,” she pointed12 out. “If a young lady, practising golf shots, picks
up an old compact of no particular value in the long grass, surely she
doesn’t rush straight off to the police with it?” Miss Marple paused, and
then added firmly: “I thought it much wiser to find the body first.”
Inspector Craddock was tickled13.
“You don’t seem ever to have had any doubts but that it would be
found?”
“I was sure it would. Lucy Eyelesbarrow is a most efficient and intelli-
gent person.”
“I’ll say she is! She scares the life out of me, she’s so devastatingly14 effi-
cient! No man will ever dare marry that girl.”
“Now you know, I wouldn’t say that… It would have to be a special type
of man, of course.” Miss Marple brooded on this thought a moment. “How
is she getting on at Rutherford Hall?”
“They’re completely dependent on her as far as I can see. Eating out of
her hand — literally15 as you might say. By the way, they know nothing
about her connection with you. We’ve kept that dark.”
“She has no connection now with me. She has done what I asked her to
do.”
“So she could hand in her notice and go if she wanted to?”
“Yes.”
“But she stops on. Why?”
“She has not mentioned her reasons to me. She is a very intelligent girl. I
suspect that she has become interested.”
“In the problem? Or in the family?”
“It may be,” said Miss Marple, “that it is rather difficult to separate the
two.”
Craddock looked hard at her.
“Oh, no—oh, dear me, no.”
“Have you got anything particular in mind?”
“I think you have.”
Miss Marple shook her head.
Dermot Craddock sighed. “So all I can do is to ‘prosecute my inquiries’—
to put it in jargon16. A policeman’s life is a dull one!”
“You’ll get results, I’m sure.”
“Any ideas for me? More inspired guesswork?”
“I was thinking of things like theatrical17 companies,” said Miss Marple
rather vaguely18. “Touring from place to place and perhaps not many home
ties. One of those young women would be much less likely to be missed.”
“Yes. Perhaps you’ve got something there. We’ll pay special attention to
that angle.” He added, “What are you smiling about?”
“I was just thinking,” said Miss Marple, “of Elspeth McGillicuddy’s face
when she hears we’ve found the body!”

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1 erect 4iLzm     
n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的
参考例句：
  • She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头，把背挺得笔直。
  • Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。
2 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。
3 ted 9gazhs     
vt.翻晒，撒，撒开
参考例句：
  • The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
  • She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。
4 breach 2sgzw     
n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破
参考例句：
  • We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
  • He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。
5 mead BotzAK     
n.蜂蜜酒
参考例句：
  • He gave me a cup of mead.他给我倒了杯蜂蜜酒。
  • He drank some mead at supper.晚饭时他喝了一些蜂蜜酒。
6 confirmation ZYMya     
n.证实，确认，批准
参考例句：
  • We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
  • We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。
7 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》
8 rue 8DGy6     
n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔
参考例句：
  • You'll rue having failed in the examination.你会悔恨考试失败。
  • You're going to rue this the longest day that you live.你要终身悔恨不尽呢。
9 wardens e2599ddd0efb9a7622608a7c43692b1e     
n.看守人( warden的名词复数 )；管理员；监察员；监察官
参考例句：
  • Air raid wardens in tin hats self-importantly stalked the streets. 空袭民防队员戴着钢盔神气活现地走在街上昂首阔步。 来自辞典例句
  • The game wardens tranquillized the rhinoceros with a drugged dart. 猎物保护区管理员用麻醉射器让犀牛静了下来。 来自辞典例句
10 disappearances d9611c526014ee4771dbf9da7b347063     
n.消失( disappearance的名词复数 )；丢失；失踪；失踪案
参考例句：
  • Most disappearances are the result of the terrorist activity. 大多数的失踪案都是恐怖分子造成的。 来自辞典例句
  • The espionage, the betrayals, the arrests, the tortures, the executions, the disappearances will never cease. 间谍活动、叛党卖国、逮捕拷打、处决灭迹，这种事情永远不会完。 来自英汉文学
11 lodger r8rzi     
n.寄宿人，房客
参考例句：
  • My friend is a lodger in my uncle's house.我朋友是我叔叔家的房客。
  • Jill and Sue are at variance over their lodger.吉尔和休在对待房客的问题上意见不和。
12 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。
13 tickled 2db1470d48948f1aa50b3cf234843b26     
（使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐
参考例句：
  • We were tickled pink to see our friends on television. 在电视中看到我们的一些朋友，我们高兴极了。
  • I tickled the baby's feet and made her laugh. 我胳肢孩子的脚，使她发笑。
14 devastatingly 59f7cce5c3768db7750be91ff751f0fd     
adv. 破坏性地，毁灭性地，极其
参考例句：
  • She was utterly feminine and devastatingly attractive in an unstudied way. 她温存无比，魅力四射而又绝不矫揉造作。
  • I refuted him devastatingly from point to point. 我对他逐项痛加驳斥。
15 literally 28Wzv     
adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实
参考例句：
  • He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
  • Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。
16 jargon I3sxk     
n.术语，行话
参考例句：
  • They will not hear critics with their horrible jargon.他们不愿意听到评论家们那些可怕的行话。
  • It is important not to be overawed by the mathematical jargon.要紧的是不要被数学的术语所吓倒.
17 theatrical pIRzF     
adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的
参考例句：
  • The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。
  • She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。
18 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。

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