Chapter 12 Samuel Overhears

On ARRIVING in Paris Kindell went straight to the H?tel Splendide, and by so doing obtained about ten minutes' conversation with the ambassador and his daughter before M. Samuel, to whom his movements had been promptly¹ reported, arrived on the scene

He found Mr. Thurlow irritated, and Irene worried. They thanked him for the promptness of his return, but in the next moment the ambassador broke out with:

"For God's sake Kindell, give us some light, if you can, on this infernal business. The police say you were here in this flat at two-forty-five, and it wasn't three when I came out of my own room and found the man lying here, in a filthy² mess - - " He broke off with his eyes on a dark stain which disfigured the creamand-rose of the Aubusson carpet, large enough to indicate the feature of Reynard's death which appeared to be most prominent in his orderly mind; and then added, "If you'll tell me on your word of honour that you didn't know the fellow, and had nothing to do with it, of course I'll believe you, but - - "

"I couldn't say that exactly." Kindell saw Irene's startled paleness as he made this admission, but her father took it as no more than he expected to hear. He said: "Well, I'm glad you're so frank. Tell us the truth, and we'll do all we can to get you out of the mess."

"I think you misunderstand me. I didn't mean I know anything about the murder. I meant I couldn't say that I'd never met Reynard."

"Then you do know something! You knew the man, and you were here just at the time he was bumped off. If you didn't do it yourself, you must have been within arm's length of the man who did. . . . I tell you, William, as an older man than yourself, and one with more experience of the world, that you're in a tight spot, and your best chance is to hold nothing back, even if it seems to make it blacker for you."

"I can't be franker than I have been already. I had met Reynard, though I don't mean that he was a friend, or I knew him well. But I know nothing about his murder. I didn't meet him yesterday, and I didn't know that he'd come here, till I heard it after I'd landed at Newhaven."

"You'll have to say a lot more if you want to make the cops believe that."

"I'm sorry, but there's really no more to say."

"Can't you understand that we're anxious to help, if you'll only tell us everything while you've got time?"

"I quite understand that. I've shown that I don't want to keep anything back. I needn't have told you that I knew him at all. But I look on you as my friends, and I wasn't going to give you my word of honour to something that wasn't true."

Mr. Thurlow pondered this, gnawing³ his lips. He asked: Why do you suppose he came here? To see you?"

"No. I'm sure he didn't."

"How can you possibly be sure unless you know why he did come?"

"I'm sorry I can't answer that. I've said too much already. All I can say is that I know nothing about it, and didn't know he'd been shot till - - "

"He wasn't shot. He was knifed in the neck."

"And you heard nothing - practically in the next room?"

"There wouldn't be much to hear. If you ever get a knife through your neck from the side like he did, you'll find your larynx isn't in very good vocal⁴ order. . . . He must have been struck from behind, a particularly savage⁵ blow, and after that - - "

"I expect," the voice of M. Samuel interposed, "Mr. Kindell knows as much about that as he can be told." Three pairs of eyes turned towards a door which had been left unlatched, and quietly pushed open without attracting their notice in the tension of their own argument. How much had he heard?

Irene spoke⁶ for the first time: "Bill, you've simply got to tell everything now. It's only fair to Father, and it's sure to be best for you."

"I'm sure," M. Samuel said suavely⁷, "that that is just what Mr. Kindell was meaning to do. If you will be so kind as to leave us together - - "

"Irene you'd better come with me," the ambassador said with a decisive sharpness in his voice that his daughter would rarely hear. When they were outside the door he added: "The young man knows a lot more than he's let out yet. When he's finished talking, I reckon that French cop will have been told who the murderer is, or know he can get him without leaving the room."

"I suppose he does," Irene replied in a troubled voice; "but I hope he hasn't got himself into a mess through being confidential⁸ to us."

"I wouldn't say that that's quite the word to use," her father replied. He felt too near to being charged with the murder himself to have much patience with the reticence⁹ of his young relative, whatever its cause might be. Ambassadors of the United States are not expected to embroil¹⁰ themselves, and perhaps even their Government, with foreign powers by having dead policemen inexplicably¹¹ littered about their hotel suites¹². He was not indifferent to any trouble which Kindell - probably by some discreditable folly¹³, if nothing worse - had brought on his own head. But he felt that he should have shown an earlier and completer frankness. He had a duty to his official relative not to involve his name in such a scandal. He must have known if not of the murder, at least enough to know that he should have stood his ground, and not slipped off to England the way he had. So he said to Irene, who replied, as in explanation, but with the coldness of tone that the name induced, "Miss Blinkwell was going back."

"And you think that was his affair? You're not suggesting that she had something to do with what happened here?"

"You think I don't like her? Perhaps not. But I'm not quite so silly as that. Besides, she left the hotel half an hour earlier."

"I don't care whom you dislike. I only hope you don't - - "

"Well, I haven't said that I do."

With this enigmatic exchange, which neither father nor daughter appeared to find any difficulty in comprehending, Mr. Thurlow had turned to pass into his own room, when Kindell's voice was heard, raised to a pitch of angry protest, though the words were inaudible through the thickness of the closed door.

"It sounds " the ambassador added, "as though that young fool's losing his temper. It's a mug's game when you're dealing¹⁴ with foreign cops."

It might have occurred to Irene to retort that her own father's reaction to police enquiries had not been entirely¹⁵ equable, but she only replied: "Men are silly like that. I think I'd better go back and see what the trouble is."

"You'd better stay where you are."

It is improbable that Irene would have accepted this advice had not the voices sunk to a more equable tone. "Well," she said doubtfully, "he ought to be old enough to look after himself. Only men never are."

1 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

2 filthy   

adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
• You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。

3 gnawing   

a.痛苦的，折磨人的

参考例句：

• The dog was gnawing a bone. 那狗在啃骨头。
• These doubts had been gnawing at him for some time. 这些疑虑已经折磨他一段时间了。

4 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

5 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

6 spoke   

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 suavely   

参考例句：

• He is suavely charming and all the ladies love him. 他温文尔雅，女士们都喜欢他。 来自互联网
• Jiro: (Suavely) What do you think? What do you feel I'm like right now? 大东﹕（耍帅）你认为呢﹖我现在给你的感觉如何﹖。 来自互联网

8 confidential   

adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的

参考例句：

• He refused to allow his secretary to handle confidential letters.他不让秘书处理机密文件。
• We have a confidential exchange of views.我们推心置腹地交换意见。

9 reticence   

n.沉默，含蓄

参考例句：

• He breaks out of his normal reticence and tells me the whole story.他打破了平时一贯沈默寡言的习惯，把事情原原本本都告诉了我。
• He always displays a certain reticence in discussing personal matters.他在谈论个人问题时总显得有些保留。

10 embroil   

vt.拖累；牵连；使复杂

参考例句：

• I was reluctant to embroil myself in his problems.我不愿意卷入到他的问题中去。
• Please do not embroil me in your squabbles.请别把我牵连进你们的纠纷里。

11 inexplicably   

adv.无法说明地，难以理解地，令人难以理解的是

参考例句：

• Inexplicably, Mary said she loved John. 真是不可思议，玛丽说她爱约翰。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inexplicably, she never turned up. 令人不解的是，她从未露面。 来自辞典例句

12 suites   

n.套( suite的名词复数 )；一套房间；一套家具；一套公寓

参考例句：

• First he called upon all the Foreign Ministers in their hotel suites. 他首先到所有外交部长住的旅馆套间去拜访。 来自辞典例句
• All four doors to the two reserved suites were open. 预定的两个套房的四扇门都敞开着。 来自辞典例句

13 folly   

n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话

参考例句：

• Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
• Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。

14 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

15 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。