借镜杀人26

时间：2025-10-10 07:11:27

（单词翻译:单击）

Fifteen
1
Miss Marple climbed the stairs and tapped on the door of Mrs. Serrocold’s
bedroom.
“May I come in, Carrie Louise?”
“Of course, Jane dear.”
Carrie Louise was sitting in front of the dressing1 table, brushing her sil-
very hair. She turned her head over her shoulder.
“Is it the police? I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, of course. Jolly insisted on my having my breakfast in bed. And
Gina came into the room with it on tiptoe as though I might be at death’s
door! I don’t think people realise that tragedies like Christian2’s death are
much less shock to someone old. Because one knows by then how any-
thing may happen—and how little anything really matters that happens in
this world.”
“Ye—es,” said Miss Marple dubiously3.
“Don’t you feel the same, Jane? I should have thought you would.”
Miss Marple said slowly:
“Christian was murdered.”
“Yes … I see what you mean. You think that does matter?”
“Don’t you?”
“Not to Christian,” said Carrie Louise simply. “It matters, of course, to
whoever murdered him.”
“Have you any idea who murdered him?”
Mrs. Serrocold shook her head in a bewildered fashion.
“No, I’ve absolutely no idea. I can’t even think of a reason. It must have
been something to do with his being here before—just over a month ago.
Because otherwise I don’t think he would have come here suddenly again
for no particular reason. Whatever it was must have started off then. I’ve
thought and I’ve thought, but I can’t remember anything unusual.”
“Who was here in the house?”
“Oh! the same people who are here now—yes, Alex was down from Lon-
don about then. And—oh yes, Ruth was here.”
“Ruth?”
“Her usual flying visit.”
“Ruth,” said Miss Marple again. Her mind was active. Christian Gul-
brandsen and Ruth? Ruth had come away worried and apprehensive4, but
had not known why. Something was wrong was all that Ruth could say.
Christian Gulbrandsen had also been worried and apprehensive, but
Christian Gulbrandsen had known or suspected something that Ruth did
not. He had known or suspected that someone was trying to poison Carrie
Louise. How had Christian Gulbrandsen come to entertain those suspi-
cions? What had he seen or heard? Was it something that Ruth also had
seen or heard but which she had failed to appreciate at its rightful signific-
ance? Miss Marple wished that she knew what it could possibly have been.
Her own vague hunch5 that it (whatever it was) had to do with Edgar
Lawson seemed unlikely since Ruth had not even mentioned him.
She sighed.
“You’re all keeping something from me, aren’t you?” asked Carrie
Louise.
Miss Marple jumped a little as the quiet voice spoke6.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because you are. Not Jolly. But everyone else. Even Lewis. He came in
while I was having my breakfast, and he acted very oddly. He drank some
of my coffee and even had a bit of toast and marmalade. That’s so unlike
him, because he always has tea, and he doesn’t like marmalade, so he
must have been thinking of something else—and I suppose he must have
forgotten to have his own breakfast. He does forget things like meals, and
he looked so concerned and preoccupied7.”
“Murder—” began Miss Marple.
Carrie Louise said quickly:
“Oh, I know. It’s a terrible thing. I’ve never been mixed up in it before.
You have, haven’t you, Jane?”
“Well—yes—actually I have,” Miss Marple admitted.
“So Ruth told me.”
“Did she tell you that last time she was down here?” asked Miss Marple
curiously8.
“No, I don’t think it was then. I can’t really remember.”
Carrie Louise spoke vaguely9, almost absentmindedly.
“What are you thinking about, Carrie Louise?”
Mrs. Serrocold smiled and seemed to come back from a long way away.
“I was thinking of Gina,” she said. “And of what you said about Stephen
Restarick. Gina’s a dear girl, you know, and she does really love Wally. I’m
sure she does.”
Miss Marple said nothing.
“Girls like Gina like to kick up their heels a bit.” Mrs. Serrocold spoke in
an almost pleading voice. “They’re young and they like to feel their power.
It’s natural, really. I know Wally Hudd isn’t the sort of man we imagined
Gina marrying. Normally she’d never have met him. But she did meet him,
and fell in love with him—and presumably she knows her own business
best.”
“Probably she does,” said Miss Marple.
“But it’s so very important that Gina should be happy.”
Miss Marple looked curiously at her friend.
“It’s important, I suppose, that everyone should be happy.”
“Oh yes. But Gina’s a very special case. When we took her mother—
when we took Pippa—we felt that it was an experiment that had simply
got to succeed. You see, Pippa’s mother—”
Carrie Louise paused.
Miss Marple said, “Who was Pippa’s mother?”
Carrie Louise said, “Eric and I agreed that we would never tell anybody
that. She never knew herself.”
“I’d like to know,” said Miss Marple.
Mrs. Serrocold looked at her doubtfully.
“It isn’t just curiosity,” said Miss Marple. “I really—well—need to know. I
can hold my tongue, you know.”
“You could always keep a secret, Jane,” said Carrie Louise with a remin-
iscent smile. “Dr. Galbraith—he’s the Bishop10 of Cromer now—he knows.
But no one else. Pippa’s mother was Katherine Elsworth.”
“Elsworth? Wasn’t that the woman who administered arsenic11 to her
husband? Rather a celebrated12 case.”
“Yes.”
“She was hanged?”
“Yes. But you know it’s not at all sure that she did it. The husband was
an arsenic eater — they didn’t understand so much about those things
then.”
“She soaked flypapers.”
“The maid’s evidence, we always thought, was definitely malicious13.”
“And Pippa was her daughter?”
“Yes. Eric and I determined14 to give the child a fresh start in life—with
love and care and all the things a child needs. We succeeded. Pippa was—
herself. The sweetest, happiest creature imaginable.”
Miss Marple was silent a long time.
Carrie Louise turned away from the dressing table.
“I’m ready now. Perhaps you’ll ask the Inspector15 or whatever he is to
come up to my sitting room. He won’t mind, I’m sure.”

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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 dressing 1uOzJG     
n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料
参考例句：
  • Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
  • The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。
2 Christian KVByl     
adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒
参考例句：
  • They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
  • His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。
3 dubiously dubiously     
adv.可疑地，怀疑地
参考例句：
  • "What does he have to do?" queried Chin dubiously. “他有什么心事？”琴向觉民问道，她的脸上现出疑惑不解的神情。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
  • He walked out fast, leaving the head waiter staring dubiously at the flimsy blue paper. 他很快地走出去，撇下侍者头儿半信半疑地瞪着这张薄薄的蓝纸。 来自辞典例句
4 apprehensive WNkyw     
adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的
参考例句：
  • She was deeply apprehensive about her future.她对未来感到非常担心。
  • He was rather apprehensive of failure.他相当害怕失败。
5 hunch CdVzZ     
n.预感，直觉
参考例句：
  • I have a hunch that he didn't really want to go.我有这么一种感觉，他并不真正想去。
  • I had a hunch that Susan and I would work well together.我有预感和苏珊共事会很融洽。
6 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。
7 preoccupied TPBxZ     
adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式)
参考例句：
  • He was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to notice anything wrong. 他只顾想着心事，没注意到有什么不对。
  • The question of going to the Mount Tai preoccupied his mind. 去游泰山的问题盘踞在他心头。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 curiously 3v0zIc     
adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地
参考例句：
  • He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
  • He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。
9 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。
10 bishop AtNzd     
n.主教，（国际象棋）象
参考例句：
  • He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
  • Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。
11 arsenic 2vSz4     
n.砒霜，砷；adj.砷的
参考例句：
  • His wife poisoned him with arsenic.他的妻子用砒霜把他毒死了。
  • Arsenic is a poison.砒霜是毒药。
12 celebrated iwLzpz     
adj.有名的，声誉卓著的
参考例句：
  • He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
  • The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。
13 malicious e8UzX     
adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的
参考例句：
  • You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
  • Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。
14 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的；有决心的
参考例句：
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
15 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。

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