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CHAPTER VII
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 On returning to the flat just before lunch-time on the following morning, after a few confirmatory researches in Balham and the neighbourhood of Victoria Station, Lord Peter was greeted at the door by Mr. Bunter (who had gone straight home from Waterloo) with a telephone message and a severe and nursemaid-like eye.
 
“Lady Swaffham rang up, my lord, and said she hoped your lordship had not forgotten you were lunching with her.”
 
“I have forgotten, Bunter, and I mean to forget. I trust you told her I had succumbed1 to lethargic2 encephalitis suddenly, no flowers by request.”
 
“Lady Swaffham said, my lord, she was counting on you. She met the Duchess of Denver yesterday—”
 
“If my sister-in-law’s there I won’t go, that’s flat,” said Lord Peter.
 
“I beg your pardon, my lord, the Dowager Duchess.”
 
“What’s she doing in town?”
 
“I imagine she came up for the inquest, my lord.”
 
“Oh, yes—we missed that, Bunter.”
 
“Yes, my lord. Her Grace is lunching with Lady Swaffham.”
 
“Bunter, I can’t. I can’t, really. Say I’m in bed with 145 whooping3 cough, and ask my mother to come round after lunch.”
 
“Very well, my lord. Mrs. Tommy Frayle will be at Lady Swaffham’s, my lord, and Mr. Milligan—”
 
“Mr. who?”
 
“Mr. John P. Milligan, my lord, and—”
 
“Good God, Bunter, why didn’t you say so before? Have I time to get there before he does? All right. I’m off. With a taxi I can just—”
 
“Not in those trousers, my lord,” said Mr. Bunter, blocking the way to the door with deferential4 firmness.
 
“Oh, Bunter,” pleaded his lordship, “do let me—just this once. You don’t know how important it is.”
 
“Not on any account, my lord. It would be as much as my place is worth.”
 
“The trousers are all right, Bunter.”
 
“Not for Lady Swaffham’s, my lord. Besides, your lordship forgets the man that ran against you with a milk-can at Salisbury.”
 
And Mr. Bunter laid an accusing finger on a slight stain of grease showing across the light cloth.
 
“I wish to God I’d never let you grow into a privileged family retainer, Bunter,” said Lord Peter, bitterly, dashing his walking-stick into the umbrella-stand. “You’ve no conception of the mistakes my mother may be making.”
 
Mr. Bunter smiled grimly and led his victim away.
 
When an immaculate Lord Peter was ushered5, rather late for lunch, into Lady Swaffham’s drawing-room, the Dowager Duchess of Denver was seated on 146 a sofa, plunged6 in intimate conversation with Mr. John P. Milligan of Chicago.
 
“I’m vurry pleased to meet you, Duchess,” had been that financier’s opening remark, “to thank you for your exceedingly kind invitation. I assure you it’s a compliment I deeply appreciate.”
 
The Duchess beamed at him, while conducting a rapid rally of all her intellectual forces.
 
“Do come and sit down and talk to me, Mr. Milligan,” she said. “I do so love talking to you great business men—let me see, is it a railway king you are or something about puss-in-the-corner—at least, I don’t mean that exactly, but that game one used to play with cards, all about wheat and oats, and there was a bull and a bear, too—or was it a horse?—no, a bear, because I remember one always had to try and get rid of it and it used to get so dreadfully crumpled7 and torn, poor thing, always being handed about, one got to recognise it, and then one had to buy a new pack—so foolish it must seem to you, knowing the real thing, and dreadfully noisy, but really excellent for breaking the ice with rather stiff people who didn’t know each other—I’m quite sorry it’s gone out.”
 
Mr. Milligan sat down.
 
“Wal, now,” he said, “I guess it’s as interesting for us business men to meet British aristocrats8 as it is for Britishers to meet American railway kings, Duchess. And I guess I’ll make as many mistakes talking your kind of talk as you would make if you were tryin’ to 147 run a corner in wheat in Chicago. Fancy now, I called that fine lad of yours Lord Wimsey the other day, and he thought I’d mistaken him for his brother. That made me feel rather green.”
 
This was an unhoped-for lead. The Duchess walked warily9.
 
“Dear boy,” she said, “I am so glad you met him, Mr. Milligan. Both my sons are a great comfort to me, you know, though, of course, Gerald is more conventional—just the right kind of person for the House of Lords, you know, and a splendid farmer. I can’t see Peter down at Denver half so well, though he is always going to all the right things in town, and very amusing sometimes, poor boy.”
 
“I was vurry much gratified by Lord Peter’s suggestion,” pursued Mr. Milligan, “for which I understand you are responsible, and I’ll surely be very pleased to come any day you like, though I think you’re flattering me too much.”
 
“Ah, well,” said the Duchess, “I don’t know if you’re the best judge of that, Mr. Milligan. Not that I know anything about business myself,” she added. “I’m rather old-fashioned for these days, you know, and I can’t pretend to do more than know a nice man when I see him; for the other things I rely on my son.”
 
The accent of this speech was so flattering that Mr. Milligan purred almost audibly, and said:
 
“Wal, Duchess, I guess that’s where a lady with a real, beautiful, old-fashioned soul has the advantage of these modern young blatherskites—there aren’t 148 many men who wouldn’t be nice—to her, and even then, if they aren’t rock-bottom she can see through them.”
 
“But that leaves me where I was,” thought the Duchess. “I believe,” she said aloud, “that I ought to be thanking you in the name of the vicar of Duke’s Denver for a very munificent10 cheque which reached him yesterday for the Church Restoration Fund. He was so delighted and astonished, poor dear man.”
 
“Oh, that’s nothing,” said Mr. Milligan, “we haven’t any fine old crusted buildings like yours over on our side, so it’s a privilege to be allowed to drop a little kerosene11 into the worm-holes when we hear of one in the old country suffering from senile decay. So when your lad told me about Duke’s Denver I took the liberty to subscribe12 without waiting for the Bazaar13.”
 
“I’m sure it was very kind of you,” said the Duchess. “You are coming to the Bazaar, then?” she continued, gazing into his face appealingly.
 
“Sure thing,” said Mr. Milligan, with great promptness. “Lord Peter said you’d let me know for sure about the date, but we can always make time for a little bit of good work anyway. Of course I’m hoping to be able to avail myself of your kind invitation to stop, but if I’m rushed, I’ll manage anyhow to pop over and speak my piece and pop back again.”
 
“I hope so very much,” said the Duchess. “I must see what can be done about the date—of course, I can’t promise—”
 
“No, no,” said Mr. Milligan heartily14. “I know what 149 these things are to fix up. And then there’s not only me—there’s all the real big men of European eminence15 your son mentioned, to be consulted.”
 
The Duchess turned pale at the thought that any one of these illustrious persons might some time turn up in somebody’s drawing-room, but by this time she had dug herself in comfortably, and was even beginning to find her range.
 
“I can’t say how grateful we are to you,” she said; “it will be such a treat. Do tell me what you think of saying.”
 
“Wal—” began Mr. Milligan.
 
Suddenly everybody was standing16 up and a penitent17 voice was heard to say:
 
“Really, most awfully18 sorry, y’know—hope you’ll forgive me, Lady Swaffham, what? Dear lady, could I possibly forget an invitation from you? Fact is, I had to go an’ see a man down in Salisbury—absolutely true, ’pon my word, and the fellow wouldn’t let me get away. I’m simply grovellin’ before you, Lady Swaffham. Shall I go an’ eat my lunch in the corner?”
 
Lady Swaffham gracefully19 forgave the culprit.
 
“Your dear mother is here,” she said.
 
“How do, Mother?” said Lord Peter, uneasily.
 
“How are you, dear?” replied the Duchess. “You really oughtn’t to have turned up just yet. Mr. Milligan was just going to tell me what a thrilling speech he’s preparing for the Bazaar, when you came and interrupted us.”
 
Conversation at lunch turned, not unnaturally20, on the Battersea inquest, the Duchess giving a vivid impersonation 150 of Mrs. Thipps being interrogated21 by the Coroner.
 
“‘Did you hear anything unusual in the night?’ says the little man, leaning forward and screaming at her, and so crimson22 in the face and his ears sticking out so—just like a cherubim in that poem of Tennyson’s—or is a cherub23 blue?—perhaps it’s a seraphim24 I mean—anyway, you know what I mean, all eyes, with little wings on its head. And dear old Mrs. Thipps saying, ‘Of course I have, any time these eighty years,’ and such a sensation in court till they found out she thought he’d said, ‘Do you sleep without a light?’ and everybody laughing, and then the Coroner said quite loudly, ‘Damn the woman,’ and she heard that, I can’t think why, and said: ‘Don’t you get swearing, young man, sitting there in the presence of Providence25, as you may say. I don’t know what young people are coming to nowadays’—and he’s sixty if he’s a day, you know,” said the Duchess.
 
By a natural transition, Mrs. Tommy Frayle referred to the man who was hanged for murdering three brides in a bath.
 
“I always thought that was so ingenious,” she said, gazing soulfully at Lord Peter, “and do you know, as it happened, Tommy had just made me insure my life, and I got so frightened, I gave up my morning bath and took to having it in the afternoon when he was in the House—I mean, when he was not in the house—not at home, I mean.”
 
“Dear lady,” said Lord Peter, reproachfully, “I 151 have a distinct recollection that all those brides were thoroughly26 unattractive. But it was an uncommonly27 ingenious plan—the first time of askin’—only he shouldn’t have repeated himself.”
 
“One demands a little originality28 in these days, even from murderers,” said Lady Swaffham. “Like dramatists, you know—so much easier in Shakespeare’s time, wasn’t it? Always the same girl dressed up as a man, and even that borrowed from Boccaccio or Dante or somebody. I’m sure if I’d been a Shakespeare hero, the very minute I saw a slim-legged young page-boy I’d have said: ‘Odsbodikins! There’s that girl again!’”
 
“That’s just what happened, as a matter of fact,” said Lord Peter. “You see, Lady Swaffham, if ever you want to commit a murder, the thing you’ve got to do is to prevent people from associatin’ their ideas. Most people don’t associate anythin’—their ideas just roll about like so many dry peas on a tray, makin’ a lot of noise and goin’ nowhere, but once you begin lettin’ ’em string their peas into a necklace, it’s goin’ to be strong enough to hang you, what?”
 
“Dear me!” said Mrs. Tommy Frayle, with a little scream, “what a blessing29 it is none of my friends have any ideas at all!”
 
“Y’see,” said Lord Peter, balancing a piece of duck on his fork and frowning, “it’s only in Sherlock Holmes and stories like that, that people think things out logically. Or’nar’ly, if somebody tells you somethin’ out of the way, you just say, ‘By Jove!’ or ‘How sad!’ an’ leave it at that, an’ half the time you forget 152 about it, ’nless somethin’ turns up afterwards to drive it home. F’r instance, Lady Swaffham, I told you when I came in that I’d been down to Salisbury, ’n’ that’s true, only I don’t suppose it impressed you much; ’n’ I don’t suppose it’d impress you much if you read in the paper tomorrow of a tragic30 discovery of a dead lawyer down in Salisbury, but if I went to Salisbury again next week ’n’ there was a Salisbury doctor found dead the day after, you might begin to think I was a bird of ill omen31 for Salisbury residents; and if I went there again the week after, ’n’ you heard next day that the see of Salisbury had fallen vacant suddenly, you might begin to wonder what took me to Salisbury, an’ why I’d never mentioned before that I had friends down there, don’t you see, an’ you might think of goin’ down to Salisbury yourself, an’ askin’ all kinds of people if they’d happened to see a young man in plum-coloured socks hangin’ round the Bishop32’s Palace.”
 
“I daresay I should,” said Lady Swaffham.
 
“Quite. An’ if you found that the lawyer and the doctor had once upon a time been in business at Poggleton-on-the-Marsh when the Bishop had been vicar there, you’d begin to remember you’d once heard of me payin’ a visit to Poggleton-on-the-Marsh a long time ago, an’ you’d begin to look up the parish registers there an’ discover I’d been married under an assumed name by the vicar to the widow of a wealthy farmer, who’d died suddenly of peritonitis, as certified33 by the doctor, after the lawyer’d made a will leavin’ me all her money, and then you’d begin 153 to think I might have very good reasons for gettin’ rid of such promisin’ blackmailers as the lawyer, the doctor an’ the bishop. Only, if I hadn’t started an association in your mind by gettin’ rid of ’em all in the same place, you’d never have thought of goin’ to Poggleton-on-the-Marsh, ’n’ you wouldn’t even have remembered I’d ever been there.”
 
“Were you ever there, Lord Peter?” inquired Mrs. Tommy, anxiously.
 
“I don’t think so,” said Lord Peter; “the name threads no beads34 in my mind. But it might, any day, you know.”
 
“But if you were investigating a crime,” said Lady Swaffham, “you’d have to begin by the usual things, I suppose—finding out what the person had been doing, and who’d been to call, and looking for a motive35, wouldn’t you?”
 
“Oh, yes,” said Lord Peter, “but most of us have such dozens of motives36 for murderin’ all sorts of inoffensive people. There’s lots of people I’d like to murder, wouldn’t you?”
 
“Heaps,” said Lady Swaffham. “There’s that dreadful—perhaps I’d better not say it, though, for fear you should remember it later on.”
 
“Well, I wouldn’t if I were you,” said Peter, amiably37. “You never know. It’d be beastly awkward if the person died suddenly tomorrow.”
 
“The difficulty with this Battersea case, I guess,” said Mr. Milligan, “is that nobody seems to have any associations with the gentleman in the bath.” 154
 
“So hard on poor Inspector38 Sugg,” said the Duchess. “I quite felt for the man, having to stand up there and answer a lot of questions when he had nothing at all to say.”
 
Lord Peter applied39 himself to the duck, having got a little behindhand. Presently he heard somebody ask the Duchess if she had seen Lady Levy40.
 
“She is in great distress,” said the woman who had spoken, a Mrs. Freemantle, “though she clings to the hope that he will turn up. I suppose you knew him, Mr. Milligan—know him, I should say, for I hope he’s still alive somewhere.”
 
Mrs. Freemantle was the wife of an eminent41 railway director, and celebrated42 for her ignorance of the world of finance. Her faux pas in this connection enlivened the tea parties of City men’s wives.
 
“Wal, I’ve dined with him,” said Mr. Milligan, good-naturedly. “I think he and I’ve done our best to ruin each other, Mrs. Freemantle. If this were the States,” he added, “I’d be much inclined to suspect myself of having put Sir Reuben in a safe place. But we can’t do business that way in your old country; no, ma’am.”
 
“It must be exciting work doing business in America,” said Lord Peter.
 
“It is,” said Mr. Milligan. “I guess my brothers are having a good time there now. I’ll be joining them again before long, as soon as I’ve fixed43 up a little bit of work for them on this side.”
 
“Well, you mustn’t go till after my bazaar,” said the Duchess. 155
 
Lord Peter spent the afternoon in a vain hunt for Mr. Parker. He ran him down eventually after dinner in Great Ormond Street.
 
Parker was sitting in an elderly but affectionate armchair, with his feet on the mantelpiece, relaxing his mind with a modern commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians. He received Lord Peter with quiet pleasure, though without rapturous enthusiasm, and mixed him a whisky-and-soda. Peter took up the book his friend had laid down and glanced over the pages.
 
“All these men work with a bias44 in their minds, one way or other,” he said; “they find what they are looking for.”
 
“Oh, they do,” agreed the detective; “but one learns to discount that almost automatically, you know. When I was at college, I was all on the other side—Conybeare and Robertson and Drews and those people, you know, till I found they were all so busy looking for a burglar whom nobody had ever seen, that they couldn’t recognise the footprints of the household, so to speak. Then I spent two years learning to be cautious.”
 
“Hum,” said Lord Peter, “theology must be good exercise for the brain then, for you’re easily the most cautious devil I know. But I say, do go on reading—it’s a shame for me to come and root you up in your off-time like this.”
 
“It’s all right, old man,” said Parker.
 
The two men sat silent for a little, and then Lord Peter said: 156
 
“D’you like your job?”
 
The detective considered the question, and replied:
 
“Yes—yes, I do. I know it to be useful, and I am fitted to it. I do it quite well—not with inspiration, perhaps, but sufficiently45 well to take a pride in it. It is full of variety and it forces one to keep up to the mark and not get slack. And there’s a future to it. Yes, I like it. Why?”
 
“Oh, nothing,” said Peter. “It’s a hobby to me, you see. I took it up when the bottom of things was rather knocked out for me, because it was so damned exciting, and the worst of it is, I enjoy it—up to a point. If it was all on paper I’d enjoy every bit of it. I love the beginning of a job—when one doesn’t know any of the people and it’s just exciting and amusing. But if it comes to really running down a live person and getting him hanged, or even quodded, poor devil, there don’t seem as if there was any excuse for me buttin’ in, since I don’t have to make my livin’ by it. And I feel as if I oughtn’t ever to find it amusin’. But I do.”
 
Parker gave this speech his careful attention.
 
“I see what you mean,” he said.
 
“There’s old Milligan, f’r instance,” said Lord Peter. “On paper, nothin’ would be funnier than to catch old Milligan out. But he’s rather a decent old bird to talk to. Mother likes him. He’s taken a fancy to me. It’s awfully entertainin’ goin’ and pumpin’ him with stuff about a bazaar for church expenses, but when he’s so jolly pleased about it and that, I feel a worm. S’pose old Milligan has cut Levy’s throat 157 and plugged him into the Thames. It ain’t my business.”
 
“It’s as much yours as anybody’s,” said Parker; “it’s no better to do it for money than to do it for nothing.”
 
“Yes, it is,” said Peter stubbornly. “Havin’ to live is the only excuse there is for doin’ that kind of thing.”
 
“Well, but look here!” said Parker. “If Milligan has cut poor old Levy’s throat for no reason except to make himself richer, I don’t see why he should buy himself off by giving £1,000 to Duke’s Denver church roof, or why he should be forgiven just because he’s childishly vain, or childishly snobbish46.”
 
“That’s a nasty one,” said Lord Peter.
 
“Well, if you like, even because he has taken a fancy to you.”
 
“No, but—”
 
“Look here, Wimsey—do you think he has murdered Levy?”
 
“Well, he may have.”
 
“But do you think he has?”
 
“I don’t want to think so.”
 
“Because he has taken a fancy to you?”
 
“Well, that biases47 me, of course—”
 
“I daresay it’s quite a legitimate48 bias. You don’t think a callous49 murderer would be likely to take a fancy to you?”
 
“Well—besides, I’ve taken rather a fancy to him.”
 
“I daresay that’s quite legitimate, too. You’ve observed him and made a subconscious50 deduction51 from 158 your observations, and the result is, you don’t think he did it. Well, why not? You’re entitled to take that into account.”
 
“But perhaps I’m wrong and he did do it.”
 
“Then why let your vainglorious52 conceit53 in your own power of estimating character stand in the way of unmasking the singularly cold-blooded murder of an innocent and lovable man?”
 
“I know—but I don’t feel I’m playing the game somehow.”
 
“Look here, Peter,” said the other with some earnestness, “suppose you get this playing-fields-of-Eton complex out of your system once and for all. There doesn’t seem to be much doubt that something unpleasant has happened to Sir Reuben Levy. Call it murder, to strengthen the argument. If Sir Reuben has been murdered, is it a game? and is it fair to treat it as a game?”
 
“That’s what I’m ashamed of, really,” said Lord Peter. “It is a game to me, to begin with, and I go on cheerfully, and then I suddenly see that somebody is going to be hurt, and I want to get out of it.”
 
“Yes, yes, I know,” said the detective, “but that’s because you’re thinking about your attitude. You want to be consistent, you want to look pretty, you want to swagger debonairly54 through a comedy of puppets or else to stalk magnificently through a tragedy of human sorrows and things. But that’s childish. If you’ve any duty to society in the way of finding out the truth about murders, you must do it in any attitude that comes handy. You want to be 159 elegant and detached? That’s all right, if you find the truth out that way, but it hasn’t any value in itself, you know. You want to look dignified55 and consistent—what’s that got to do with it? You want to hunt down a murderer for the sport of the thing and then shake hands with him and say, ‘Well played—hard luck—you shall have your revenge tomorrow!’ Well, you can’t do it like that. Life’s not a football match. You want to be a sportsman. You can’t be a sportsman. You’re a responsible person.”
 
“I don’t think you ought to read so much theology,” said Lord Peter. “It has a brutalizing influence.”
 
He got up and paced about the room, looking idly over the bookshelves. Then he sat down again, filled and lit his pipe, and said:
 
“Well, I’d better tell you about the ferocious56 and hardened Crimplesham.”
 
He detailed57 his visit to Salisbury. Once assured of his bona fides, Mr. Crimplesham had given him the fullest details of his visit to town.
 
“And I’ve substantiated58 it all,” groaned59 Lord Peter, “and unless he’s corrupted60 half Balham, there’s no doubt he spent the night there. And the afternoon was really spent with the bank people. And half the residents of Salisbury seem to have seen him off on Monday before lunch. And nobody but his own family or young Wicks seems to have anything to gain by his death. And even if young Wicks wanted to make away with him, it’s rather far-fetched to go and murder an unknown man in Thipps’s place in 160 order to stick Crimplesham’s eyeglasses on his nose.”
 
“Where was young Wicks on Monday?” asked Parker.
 
“At a dance given by the Precentor,” said Lord Peter, wildly. “David—his name is David—dancing before the ark of the Lord in the face of the whole Cathedral Close.”
 
There was a pause.
 
“Tell me about the inquest,” said Wimsey.
 
Parker obliged with a summary of the evidence.
 
“Do you believe the body could have been concealed61 in the flat after all?” he asked. “I know we looked, but I suppose we might have missed something.”
 
“We might. But Sugg looked as well.”
 
“Sugg!”
 
“You do Sugg an injustice,” said Lord Peter; “if there had been any signs of Thipps’s complicity in the crime, Sugg would have found them.”
 
“Why?”
 
“Why? Because he was looking for them. He’s like your commentators62 on Galatians. He thinks that either Thipps, or Gladys Horrocks, or Gladys Horrocks’s young man did it. Therefore he found marks on the window sill where Gladys Horrocks’s young man might have come in or handed something in to Gladys Horrocks. He didn’t find any signs on the roof, because he wasn’t looking for them.”
 
“But he went over the roof before me.”
 
“Yes, but only in order to prove that there were no marks there. He reasons like this: Gladys Horrocks’s 161 young man is a glazier. Glaziers come on ladders. Glaziers have ready access to ladders. Therefore Gladys Horrocks’s young man had ready access to a ladder. Therefore Gladys Horrocks’s young man came on a ladder. Therefore there will be marks on the window sill and none on the roof. Therefore he finds marks on the window sill but none on the roof. He finds no marks on the ground, but he thinks he would have found them if the yard didn’t happen to be paved with asphalt. Similarly, he thinks Mr. Thipps may have concealed the body in the box-room or elsewhere. Therefore you may be sure he searched the box-room and all the other places for signs of occupation. If they had been there he would have found them, because he was looking for them. Therefore, if he didn’t find them it’s because they weren’t there.”
 
“All right,” said Parker, “stop talking. I believe you.”
 
He went on to detail the medical evidence.
 
“By the way,” said Lord Peter, “to skip across for a moment to the other case, has it occurred to you that perhaps Levy was going out to see Freke on Monday night?”
 
“He was; he did,” said Parker, rather unexpectedly, and proceeded to recount his interview with the nerve-specialist.
 
“Humph!” said Lord Peter. “I say, Parker, these are funny cases, ain’t they? Every line of inquiry63 seems to peter out. It’s awfully exciting up to a point, 162 you know, and then nothing comes of it. It’s like rivers getting lost in the sand.”
 
“Yes,” said Parker. “And there’s another one I lost this morning.”
 
“What’s that?”
 
“Oh, I was pumping Levy’s secretary about his business. I couldn’t get much that seemed important except further details about the Argentine and so on. Then I thought I’d just ask round in the City about those Peruvian Oil shares, but Levy hadn’t even heard of them so far as I could make out. I routed out the brokers64, and found a lot of mystery and concealment65, as one always does, you know, when somebody’s been rigging the market, and at last I found one name at the back of it. But it wasn’t Levy’s.”
 
“No? Whose was it?”
 
“Oddly enough, Freke’s. It seems mysterious. He bought a lot of shares last week, in a secret kind of way, a few of them in his own name, and then quietly sold ’em out on Tuesday at a small profit—a few hundreds, not worth going to all that trouble about, you wouldn’t think.”
 
“Shouldn’t have thought he ever went in for that kind of gamble.”
 
“He doesn’t as a rule. That’s the funny part of it.”
 
“Well, you never know,” said Lord Peter; “people do these things just to prove to themselves or somebody else that they could make a fortune that way if they liked. I’ve done it myself in a small way.”
 
He knocked out his pipe and rose to go.
 
“I say, old man,” he said suddenly, as Parker was 163 letting him out, “does it occur to you that Freke’s story doesn’t fit in awfully well with what Anderson said about the old boy having been so jolly at dinner on Monday night? Would you be, if you thought you’d got anything of that sort?”
 
“No, I shouldn’t,” said Parker; “but,” he added with his habitual66 caution, “some men will jest in the dentist’s waiting-room. You, for one.”
 
“Well, that’s true,” said Lord Peter, and went downstairs. 

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 succumbed 625a9b57aef7b895b965fdca2019ba63     
不再抵抗(诱惑、疾病、攻击等)( succumb的过去式和过去分词 ); 屈从; 被压垮; 死
参考例句:
  • The town succumbed after a short siege. 该城被围困不久即告失守。
  • After an artillery bombardment lasting several days the town finally succumbed. 在持续炮轰数日后,该城终于屈服了。
2 lethargic 6k9yM     
adj.昏睡的,懒洋洋的
参考例句:
  • He felt too miserable and lethargic to get dressed.他心情低落无精打采,完全没有心思穿衣整装。
  • The hot weather made me feel lethargic.炎热的天气使我昏昏欲睡。
3 whooping 3b8fa61ef7ccd46b156de6bf873a9395     
发嗬嗬声的,发咳声的
参考例句:
  • Whooping cough is very prevalent just now. 百日咳正在广泛流行。
  • Have you had your child vaccinated against whooping cough? 你给你的孩子打过百日咳疫苗了吗?
4 deferential jmwzy     
adj. 敬意的,恭敬的
参考例句:
  • They like five-star hotels and deferential treatment.他们喜欢五星级的宾馆和毕恭毕敬的接待。
  • I am deferential and respectful in the presence of artists.我一向恭敬、尊重艺术家。
5 ushered d337b3442ea0cc4312a5950ae8911282     
v.引,领,陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The secretary ushered me into his office. 秘书把我领进他的办公室。
  • A round of parties ushered in the New Year. 一系列的晚会迎来了新年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 plunged 06a599a54b33c9d941718dccc7739582     
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降
参考例句:
  • The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
  • She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳,从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。
7 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。
8 aristocrats 45f57328b4cffd28a78c031f142ec347     
n.贵族( aristocrat的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Many aristocrats were killed in the French Revolution. 许多贵族在法国大革命中被处死。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • To the Guillotine all aristocrats! 把全部贵族都送上断头台! 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
9 warily 5gvwz     
adv.留心地
参考例句:
  • He looked warily around him,pretending to look after Carrie.他小心地看了一下四周,假装是在照顾嘉莉。
  • They were heading warily to a point in the enemy line.他们正小心翼翼地向着敌人封锁线的某一处前进。
10 munificent FFoxc     
adj.慷慨的,大方的
参考例句:
  • I am so happy to get munificent birthday presents from my friends.我很高兴跟我朋友收到大量的生日礼物。
  • The old man's munificent donation to the hospital was highly appreciated.老人对医院慷慨的捐赠赢得了高度赞扬。
11 kerosene G3uxW     
n.(kerosine)煤油,火油
参考例句:
  • It is like putting out a fire with kerosene.这就像用煤油灭火。
  • Instead of electricity,there were kerosene lanterns.没有电,有煤油灯。
12 subscribe 6Hozu     
vi.(to)订阅,订购;同意;vt.捐助,赞助
参考例句:
  • I heartily subscribe to that sentiment.我十分赞同那个观点。
  • The magazine is trying to get more readers to subscribe.该杂志正大力发展新订户。
13 bazaar 3Qoyt     
n.集市,商店集中区
参考例句:
  • Chickens,goats and rabbits were offered for barter at the bazaar.在集市上,鸡、山羊和兔子被摆出来作物物交换之用。
  • We bargained for a beautiful rug in the bazaar.我们在集市通过讨价还价买到了一条很漂亮的地毯。
14 heartily Ld3xp     
adv.衷心地,诚恳地,十分,很
参考例句:
  • He ate heartily and went out to look for his horse.他痛快地吃了一顿,就出去找他的马。
  • The host seized my hand and shook it heartily.主人抓住我的手,热情地和我握手。
15 eminence VpLxo     
n.卓越,显赫;高地,高处;名家
参考例句:
  • He is a statesman of great eminence.他是个声名显赫的政治家。
  • Many of the pilots were to achieve eminence in the aeronautical world.这些飞行员中很多人将会在航空界声名显赫。
16 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。
17 penitent wu9ys     
adj.后悔的;n.后悔者;忏悔者
参考例句:
  • They all appeared very penitent,and begged hard for their lives.他们一个个表示悔罪,苦苦地哀求饶命。
  • She is deeply penitent.她深感愧疚。
18 awfully MPkym     
adv.可怕地,非常地,极端地
参考例句:
  • Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
  • I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。
19 gracefully KfYxd     
ad.大大方方地;优美地
参考例句:
  • She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
  • The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。
20 unnaturally 3ftzAP     
adv.违反习俗地;不自然地;勉强地;不近人情地
参考例句:
  • Her voice sounded unnaturally loud. 她的嗓音很响亮,但是有点反常。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Her eyes were unnaturally bright. 她的眼睛亮得不自然。 来自《简明英汉词典》
21 interrogated dfdeced7e24bd32e0007124bbc34eb71     
v.询问( interrogate的过去式和过去分词 );审问;(在计算机或其他机器上)查询
参考例句:
  • He was interrogated by the police for over 12 hours. 他被警察审问了12个多小时。
  • Two suspects are now being interrogated in connection with the killing. 与杀人案有关的两名嫌疑犯正在接受审讯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
22 crimson AYwzH     
n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色
参考例句:
  • She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
  • Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。
23 cherub qrSzO     
n.小天使,胖娃娃
参考例句:
  • It was easy to see why the cartoonists regularly portrayed him as a malign cherub.难怪漫画家总是把他画成一个邪恶的小天使。
  • The cherub in the painting is very lovely.这幅画中的小天使非常可爱。
24 seraphim 4f5c3741e8045e54d0916d0480498a26     
n.六翼天使(seraph的复数);六翼天使( seraph的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The Seraphim were first discovered during a deep space exploration mission. 最初的天使时发现一深空探测任务。 来自互联网
  • The home seraphim: preservation and advancement of the home. 家园炽天使:保存家园,为家园兴旺与进步努力。 来自互联网
25 providence 8tdyh     
n.深谋远虑,天道,天意;远见;节约;上帝
参考例句:
  • It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat.乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
  • To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence.照你的所作所为那样去行事,是违背上帝的意志的。
26 thoroughly sgmz0J     
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地
参考例句:
  • The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
  • The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。
27 uncommonly 9ca651a5ba9c3bff93403147b14d37e2     
adv. 稀罕(极,非常)
参考例句:
  • an uncommonly gifted child 一个天赋异禀的儿童
  • My little Mary was feeling uncommonly empty. 我肚子当时正饿得厉害。
28 originality JJJxm     
n.创造力,独创性;新颖
参考例句:
  • The name of the game in pop music is originality.流行音乐的本质是独创性。
  • He displayed an originality amounting almost to genius.他显示出近乎天才的创造性。
29 blessing UxDztJ     
n.祈神赐福;祷告;祝福,祝愿
参考例句:
  • The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
  • A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。
30 tragic inaw2     
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的
参考例句:
  • The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
  • Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。
31 omen N5jzY     
n.征兆,预兆;vt.预示
参考例句:
  • The superstitious regard it as a bad omen.迷信的人认为那是一种恶兆。
  • Could this at last be a good omen for peace?这是否终于可以视作和平的吉兆了?
32 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。
33 certified fw5zkU     
a.经证明合格的;具有证明文件的
参考例句:
  • Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
  • The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。
34 beads 894701f6859a9d5c3c045fd6f355dbf5     
n.(空心)小珠子( bead的名词复数 );水珠;珠子项链
参考例句:
  • a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
  • Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。
35 motive GFzxz     
n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的
参考例句:
  • The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
  • He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。
36 motives 6c25d038886898b20441190abe240957     
n.动机,目的( motive的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
  • His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。
37 amiably amiably     
adv.和蔼可亲地,亲切地
参考例句:
  • She grinned amiably at us. 她咧着嘴向我们亲切地微笑。
  • Atheists and theists live together peacefully and amiably in this country. 无神论者和有神论者在该国和睦相处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
38 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。
39 applied Tz2zXA     
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用
参考例句:
  • She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
  • This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。
40 levy Z9fzR     
n.征收税或其他款项,征收额
参考例句:
  • They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
  • A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。
41 eminent dpRxn     
adj.显赫的,杰出的,有名的,优良的
参考例句:
  • We are expecting the arrival of an eminent scientist.我们正期待一位著名科学家的来访。
  • He is an eminent citizen of China.他是一个杰出的中国公民。
42 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。
43 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
44 bias 0QByQ     
n.偏见,偏心,偏袒;vt.使有偏见
参考例句:
  • They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
  • He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。
45 sufficiently 0htzMB     
adv.足够地,充分地
参考例句:
  • It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
  • The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。
46 snobbish UhCyE     
adj.势利的,谄上欺下的
参考例句:
  • She's much too snobbish to stay at that plain hotel.她很势利,不愿住在那个普通旅馆。
  • I'd expected her to be snobbish but she was warm and friendly.我原以为她会非常势利,但她却非常热情和友好。
47 biases a1eb9034f18cae637caab5279cc70546     
偏见( bias的名词复数 ); 偏爱; 特殊能力; 斜纹
参考例句:
  • Stereotypes represent designer or researcher biases and assumptions, rather than factual data. 它代表设计师或者研究者的偏见和假设,而不是实际的数据。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
  • The net effect of biases on international comparisons is easily summarized. 偏差对国际比较的基本影响容易概括。
48 legitimate L9ZzJ     
adj.合法的,合理的,合乎逻辑的;v.使合法
参考例句:
  • Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
  • That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。
49 callous Yn9yl     
adj.无情的,冷淡的,硬结的,起老茧的
参考例句:
  • He is callous about the safety of his workers.他对他工人的安全毫不关心。
  • She was selfish,arrogant and often callous.她自私傲慢,而且往往冷酷无情。
50 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。
51 deduction 0xJx7     
n.减除,扣除,减除额;推论,推理,演绎
参考例句:
  • No deduction in pay is made for absence due to illness.因病请假不扣工资。
  • His deduction led him to the correct conclusion.他的推断使他得出正确的结论。
52 vainglorious Airwq     
adj.自负的;夸大的
参考例句:
  • She is a vainglorious woman.她是个爱虚荣的女性。
  • Let us not become vainglorious,provoking one another,envying one another.不要贪图虚荣,彼此惹气,互相嫉妒。
53 conceit raVyy     
n.自负,自高自大
参考例句:
  • As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后,谦虚使人进步。
  • She seems to be eaten up with her own conceit.她仿佛已经被骄傲冲昏了头脑。
54 debonairly 80a6a35d54005b78b61d6d48753e46c7     
adj.(通常指男人)愉快而自信的
参考例句:
  • He strolled about, look very debonair in his elegant new suit. 他穿了一身讲究的新衣服逛来逛去,显得颇为惬意。 来自辞典例句
  • He was a handsome, debonair, death-defying racing-driver. 他是一位英俊潇洒、风流倜傥、敢于挑战死神的赛车手。 来自辞典例句
55 dignified NuZzfb     
a.可敬的,高贵的
参考例句:
  • Throughout his trial he maintained a dignified silence. 在整个审讯过程中,他始终沉默以保持尊严。
  • He always strikes such a dignified pose before his girlfriend. 他总是在女友面前摆出这种庄严的姿态。
56 ferocious ZkNxc     
adj.凶猛的,残暴的,极度的,十分强烈的
参考例句:
  • The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
  • The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。
57 detailed xuNzms     
adj.详细的,详尽的,极注意细节的,完全的
参考例句:
  • He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
  • A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。
58 substantiated 00e07431f22c5b088202bcaa5dd5ecda     
v.用事实支持(某主张、说法等),证明,证实( substantiate的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The results of the tests substantiated his claims. 这些检验的结果证实了他的说法。
  • The statement has never been substantiated. 这一陈述从未得到证实。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
59 groaned 1a076da0ddbd778a674301b2b29dff71     
v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦
参考例句:
  • He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
  • The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
60 corrupted 88ed91fad91b8b69b62ce17ae542ff45     
(使)败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 ); (使)腐化; 引起(计算机文件等的)错误; 破坏
参考例句:
  • The body corrupted quite quickly. 尸体很快腐烂了。
  • The text was corrupted by careless copyists. 原文因抄写员粗心而有讹误。
61 concealed 0v3zxG     
a.隐藏的,隐蔽的
参考例句:
  • The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
  • I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。
62 commentators 14bfe5fe312768eb5df7698676f7837c     
n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 );时事评论员;注释者;实况广播员
参考例句:
  • Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语,真叫人腻烦。
  • Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话,令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》
63 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。
64 brokers 75d889d756f7fbea24ad402e01a65b20     
n.(股票、外币等)经纪人( broker的名词复数 );中间人;代理商;(订合同的)中人v.做掮客(或中人等)( broker的第三人称单数 );作为权力经纪人进行谈判;以中间人等身份安排…
参考例句:
  • The firm in question was Alsbery & Co., whiskey brokers. 那家公司叫阿尔斯伯里公司,经销威士忌。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • From time to time a telephone would ring in the brokers' offices. 那两排经纪人房间里不时响着叮令的电话。 来自子夜部分
65 concealment AvYzx1     
n.隐藏, 掩盖,隐瞒
参考例句:
  • the concealment of crime 对罪行的隐瞒
  • Stay in concealment until the danger has passed. 把自己藏起来,待危险过去后再出来。
66 habitual x5Pyp     
adj.习惯性的;通常的,惯常的
参考例句:
  • He is a habitual criminal.他是一个惯犯。
  • They are habitual visitors to our house.他们是我家的常客。


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