借镜杀人27

时间：2025-10-10 07:11:28

（单词翻译:单击）

2
Inspector1 Curry2 did not mind. In fact, he rather welcomed the chance of
seeing Mrs. Serrocold on her own territory.
As he stood there waiting for her, he looked round him curiously3. It was
not his idea of what he termed to himself “a rich woman’s boudoir.”
It had an old-fashioned couch and some rather uncomfortable looking
Victorian chairs with twisted woodwork backs. The chintzes were old and
faded but of an attractive pattern displaying the Crystal Palace. It was one
of the smaller rooms, though even then it was larger than the drawing
room of most modern houses. But it had a cosy5, rather crowded appear-
ance with its little tables, its bric-a-brac, and its photographs. Curry looked
at an old snapshot of two little girls, one dark and lively, the other plain,
and staring out sulkily on the world from under a heavy fringe. He had
seen that same expression that morning. “Pippa and Mildred” was written
on the photograph. There was a photograph of Eric Gulbrandsen hanging
on the wall, with a gold mount and a heavy ebony frame. Curry had just
found a photograph of a good- looking man with eyes crinkling with
laughter, whom he presumed was John Restarick, when the door opened
and Mrs. Serrocold came in.
She wore black, a floating and diaphanous6 black. Her little pink-and-
white face looked unusually small under its crown of silvery hair, and
there was a frailness7 about her that caught sharply at Inspector Curry’s
heart. He understood, at that moment, a good deal that had perplexed8 him
earlier in the morning. He understood why people were so anxious to
spare Caroline Louise Serrocold everything that could be spared her.
And yet, he thought, she isn’t the kind that would ever make a fuss….
She greeted him, asked him to sit down, and took a chair near him. It
was less he who put her at her ease than she who put him at his. He star-
ted4 to ask his questions and she answered them readily and without hesit-
ation. The failure of the lights, the quarrel between Edgar Lawson and her
husband, the shot they had heard….
“It did not seem to you that the shot was in the house?”
“No, I thought it came from outside. I thought it might have been the
backfire of a car.”
“During the quarrel between your husband and this young fellow
Lawson in the study, did you notice anybody leaving the Hall?”
“Wally had already gone to see about the lights. Miss Bellever went out
shortly afterwards—to get something, but I can’t remember what.”
“Who else left the Hall?”
“Nobody, so far as I know.”
“Would you know, Mrs. Serrocold?”
She reflected a moment.
“No, I don’t think I should.”
“You were completely absorbed in what you could hear going on in the
study?”
“Yes.”
“And you were apprehensive9 as to what might happen there?”
“No—no, I wouldn’t say that. I didn’t think anything would really hap-
pen.”
“But Lawson had a revolver?”
“Yes.”
“And was threatening your husband with it?”
“Yes. But he didn’t mean it.”
Inspector Curry felt his usual slight exasperation10 at this statement. So
she was another of them!
“You can’t possibly have been sure of that, Mrs. Serrocold.”
“Well, but I was sure. In my own mind, I mean. What is it the young
people say—putting on an act? That’s what I felt it was. Edgar’s only a boy.
He was being melodramatic and silly and fancying himself as a bold des-
perate character. Seeing himself as the wronged hero in a romantic story.
I was quite sure he would never fire that revolver.”
“But he did fire it, Mrs. Serrocold.”
Carrie Louise smiled.
“I expect it went off by accident.”
Again exasperation mounted in Inspector Curry.
“It was not by accident. Lawson fired that revolver twice—and fired it at
your husband. The bullets only just missed him.”
Carrie Louise looked startled and then grave.
“I can’t really believe that. Oh yes—” she hurried on to forestall11 the In-
spector’s protest. “Of course, I have to believe it, if you tell me so. But I still
feel there must be a simple explanation. Perhaps Dr. Maverick12 can explain
it to me.”
“Oh yes, Dr. Maverick will explain it all right,” said Curry grimly. “Dr.
Maverick can explain anything. I’m sure of that.”
Unexpectedly Mrs. Serrocold said:
“I know that a lot of what we do here seems to you foolish and pointless,
and psychiatrists13 can be very irritating sometimes. But we do achieve res-
ults, you know. We have our failures, but we have successes too. And what
we try to do is worth doing. And though you probably won’t believe it,
Edgar is really devoted14 to my husband. He started this silly business about
Lewis’ being his father because he wants so much to have a father like
Lewis. But what I can’t understand is why he should suddenly get violent.
He had been so very much better—really practically normal. Indeed, he
has always seemed normal to me.”
The Inspector did not argue the point.
He said, “The revolver that Edgar Lawson had was one belonging to
your granddaughter’s husband. Presumably Lawson took it from Walter
Hudd’s room. Now tell me, have you ever seen this weapon before?”
On the palm of his hand he held out the small black automatic.
Carrie Louise looked at it.
“No, I don’t think so.”
“I found it in the piano stool. It has recently been fired. We haven’t had
time to check on it fully15 yet, but I should say that it is almost certainly the
weapon with which Mr. Gulbrandsen was shot.”
She frowned.
“And you found it in the piano stool?”
“Under some very old music. Music that I should say had not been
played for years.”
“Hidden, then?”
“Yes. You remember who was at the piano last night?”
“Stephen Restarick.”
“He was playing?”
“Yes. Just softly. A funny, melancholy16 little tune17.”
“When did he stop playing, Mrs. Serrocold?”
“When did he stop? I don’t know.”
“But he did stop? He didn’t go on playing all through the quarrel?”
“No. The music just died down.”
“Did he get up from the piano stool?”
“I don’t know. I’ve no idea what he did until he came over to the study
door to try and fit a key to it.”
“Can you think of any reason why Stephen Restarick should shoot Mr.
Gulbrandsen?”
“None whatever,” she added thoughtfully, “I don’t believe he did.”
“Gulbrandsen might have found something discreditable about him.”
“That seems to me very unlikely.”
Inspector Curry had a wild wish to reply:
“Pigs may fly but they’re very unlikely birds.” It had been a saying of his
grandmother’s. Miss Marple, he thought, was sure to know it.

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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

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 curry xnozh     
n.咖哩粉，咖哩饭菜；v.用咖哩粉调味，用马栉梳，制革
参考例句：
  • Rice makes an excellent complement to a curry dish.有咖喱的菜配米饭最棒。
  • Add a teaspoonful of curry powder.加一茶匙咖喱粉。
3 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。
4 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。
5 cosy dvnzc5     
adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的
参考例句：
  • We spent a cosy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。
  • It was so warm and cosy in bed that Simon didn't want to get out.床上温暖而又舒适，西蒙简直不想下床了。
6 diaphanous uvdxK     
adj.(布)精致的，半透明的
参考例句：
  • She was wearing a dress of diaphanous silk.她穿着一件薄如蝉翼的绸服。
  • We have only a diaphanous hope of success.我们只有隐约的成功希望。
7 frailness 13867dd1489169f5cf3ff6f20e8c0539     
n.脆弱，不坚定
参考例句：
8 perplexed A3Rz0     
adj.不知所措的
参考例句：
  • The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛，走了又回来，犹豫不决，总怕上当受骗。
  • The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。
9 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。
10 exasperation HiyzX     
n.愤慨
参考例句：
  • He snorted with exasperation.他愤怒地哼了一声。
  • She rolled her eyes in sheer exasperation.她气急败坏地转动着眼珠。
11 forestall X6Qyv     
vt.抢在…之前采取行动；预先阻止
参考例句：
  • I left the room to forestall involvements.我抢先离开了这房间以免受牵累。
  • He followed this rule in order to forestall rumors.他遵守这条规矩是为了杜绝流言蜚语。
12 maverick 47Ozg     
adj.特立独行的；不遵守传统的；n.持异议者，自行其是者
参考例句：
  • He's a maverick.He has his own way of thinking about things.他是个特异独行的人。对事情有自己的看法。
  • You're a maverick and you'll try anything.你是个爱自行其是的人，样样事情都要尝试一下。
13 psychiatrists 45b6a81e510da4f31f5b0fecd7b77261     
n.精神病专家，精神病医生( psychiatrist的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • They are psychiatrists in good standing. 他们是合格的精神病医生。 来自辞典例句
  • Some psychiatrists have patients who grow almost alarmed at how congenial they suddenly feel. 有些精神分析学家发现，他们的某些病人在突然感到惬意的时候几乎会兴奋起来。 来自名作英译部分
14 devoted xu9zka     
adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的
参考例句：
  • He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
  • We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
15 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。
16 melancholy t7rz8     
n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的
参考例句：
  • All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
  • He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过，他感到很郁闷。
17 tune NmnwW     
n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整
参考例句：
  • He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
  • The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

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