"Stay out of there," she warned him, taking his arm and guiding him away from the parlor1 doorway2. "Nelda and Geraldine are in there, ignoring each other. If you go in, they'll start talking to you, and then they'll start talking at each other through you, and the air will be full of tomahawks in a jiffy. Let's go up in the gunroom; that's out of the battle zone."
"What started the hostilities3 this time?" Rand asked, going up the stairway with her.
"Oh, Geraldine lost Nelda's place-marker out of the Kinsey Report, or something." She shrugged5. "Mainly reaction to Rivers's death. That was a great blow to all of us; twenty-five thousand dollars' worth of blow. It was a blow to me, too, but I'm not letting it throw me.... What were you doing all afternoon?"
"Trying to keep the rest of our prospects6 out of jail. This sixteenth-witted District Attorney you have in this county had the idea he could charge Stephen Gresham with the killing7. I had a time talking him out of it, and I'm still not sure how far I succeeded. And I was trying to get a line on where those pistols got to."
"Ssssh!" They reached the top of the stairs, and Rand saw Walters approaching down the hall. "It was Colonel Rand, Walters; I let him in myself. Are Mr. Varcek and Mr. Dunmore here, yet?"
"Mr. Dunmore is in the library, ma'am, and Mr. Varcek is upstairs, in his laboratory. Dinner will be ready in three-quarters of an hour."
"Have you mixed the cocktails8? You'd better do that. Serve them in about twenty minutes. And you'd better go up and warn Mr. Varcek not to become involved in anything messy before dinner."
Walters yes-ma'am'd her and started toward the attic9 stairway. Rand and Gladys went into the gunroom; Rand turned to the left, picked a pistol from the wall, and carried it with him as he guided Gladys toward the desk in the corner.
"You think Walters stole them?" she asked.
"So far, I'm inclined to. Have you told any of the others, yet?"
"Oh, Lord, no! They'd all be sure that I stole them myself. I'm counting on you to get them back with as little fuss as possible. Do you think that was why Rivers was killed? After all, when a lot of valuable pistols disappear, and a crooked10 dealer11 is murdered, I'd expect there to be a connection."
"There could be. Did you ever hear any stories about Mrs. Rivers and this young fellow Gillis who works in Rivers's shop?"
Gladys laughed. "Is that rearing its ugly head in public, now?" she asked. "Well, there's nothing like a good murder to shake the skeletons out of the closets. Not that this particular skeleton was ever exactly hidden. The stories are numerous, and somewhat repetitious; Cecil and Mrs. Rivers would be seen together, at roadhouses and so on, at what they imagined was a safe distance from Rosemont, and it was said that when Rivers was away over night, Cecil was never seen to leave the Rivers place in the evenings. Might this be relevant to Rivers's sudden demise12?"
"It could be." Rand was keeping one eye on the hall door and the other on the head of the spiral stairway. "Don't mention outside what I told you about Farnsworth having this brainstorm13 about Stephen Gresham. If it got out, it might hurt Gresham professionally. The fact is, Gresham has just retained me to investigate the Rivers murder for him. That won't interfere14 to any great extent with the work I'm doing here; if necessary, I'll bring a couple of my men in from New Belfast to help me on the Rivers operation." He broke off abruptly15, catching16 a movement at the head of the spiral, and lifted the pistol in his hand, as though showing it to Gladys. "See," he went on, "it has two hammers and two nipples, but only one barrel. It was loaded with two charges, one on top of the other; the bullet of the rear charge acted as the breech-plug for the front charge.... Oh, Walters!" He affected17 to catch sight of the butler for the first time. "Bring me that .36 Walch revolver, will you?"
"Yes, sir." Walters, crossing the room, veered18 to the right and went to the middle wall, bringing a revolver over to the desk. It was a percussion19 weapon with an abnormally long cylinder20. "The cocktails are served," he announced.
"We'll be down in a moment; you can put these back where they belong when you find time," Rand told him. "Now, here," he said to Gladys. "This is the same idea, in a revolver. Six chambers21, two charges in each. In theory, it was a good idea, but in actual practice ..."
Walters went out the hall door, presumably to call Varcek. Rand continued talking about the superposed-load principle, as used in the Lindsay pistol and the Walch revolver, until he was sure the butler was out of hearing. Gladys was looking at him in appreciative22 if slightly punch-drunk delight.
"I wondered why you brought that thing over here with you," she said. "Brother, was that a quick shift!... You're really sure he's the one?"
"I'm not really sure of anything, except of my own existence and eventual23 extinction," Rand told her. "It pretty nearly has to be somebody inside this house. I don't think anybody else here, yourself included, would know enough about arms to rob this collection as selectively as it has been robbed. Did you see what just happened, here? I asked him for one of the most uncommon24 arms here, and he went straight and got it. He knows this collection as well as your husband did, and I assume he knows values almost as well.... And, of course, there was a musket25, too; Mr. Fleming didn't collect long-arms, or he'd have had one. It embodied26 the same principle as the pistol. The legend is that this man Lindsay's brother was a soldier; he was supposed to have been killed by Indians who drew the fire of the detail he was with and then charged them when their muskets27 were empty." Rand shrugged. "Actually, the superposed-load principle is ancient; there's a sixteenth-century wheel lock pistol in the Metropolitan28 Museum, in New York, firing two shots from the same barrel."
Varcek and the butler, who had entered by the hall door, went across the gunroom and down the spiral. Rand laid down the pistol and escorted Gladys after them.
Dunmore and Geraldine were in the library when they went down. Geraldine, mildly potted, was reclining in a chair, sipping29 her drink. Dunmore was still radiating his synthetic30 cheerfulness.
"No." Rand poured two cocktails, handing one to Gladys. "I went to Arnold Rivers's place this morning, on a little unfinished business, and damn near tripped over Rivers's corpse33. I spent the rest of the day getting myself disinvolved from the ensuing uproar," he told Dunmore. "You heard about it, of course."
"Yes, of course. Horrible business. I hope you didn't get mixed up in it any more than you had to. After all, you're working for us, and if the police knew that, we'd be bothered, too.... Look here, you don't think some of these other people who were after the collection might have killed Rivers, to keep him from outbidding them?"
Nelda, entering from the hallway, caught the last part of that.
"Good God, Fred!" she shrieked34 at him. "Don't say things like that! Maybe they did, but wait till they've bought the collection and paid for it, before you start accusing them!"
"I'm not accusing anybody," Dunmore growled35 back at her. "I don't know enough about it to make any accusations36. All I'm saying is—"
"Well, don't say it, then, if you don't know what you're talking about," his wife retorted.
In spite of this start, dinner passed in relative quiet. For the most part, they talked about the remaining chances of selling the collection, about which nobody was optimistic. Rand tried to build up morale37 with pictures of large museums and important dealers38, all fairly slavering to get their fangs39 into the Fleming collection, but to little avail. A pall40 of gloom had settled, and he was forced to concede that he had at last found somebody who had a valid41 reason to mourn the sudden and violent end of Arnold Rivers.
Dinner finished, he went up to the gunroom and began compiling his list. He found a yardstick42, and thumbtacked it to the edge of the desk to get over-all and barrel lengths, and used a pair of inside calipers43 and a decimal-inch rule from the workbench to get calibers. Sticking a sheet of paper into the portable, he began on the wheel locks, leaving spaces to insert the description of the stolen pistols, when recovered. When he had finished the wheel locks, he began on the snaphaunces, then did the miguelet-locks. He had begun on the true flintlocks when Walters, who had finished his own dinner, came up to help him. Rand put the butler to work fetching pistols from the racks, and replacing those he had already listed. After a while, Dunmore strolled in.
"You say you found Rivers's body yourself, Colonel Rand?" he asked.
Rand nodded, finished what he was typing, and looked up.
"Why, yes. There were a few details I wanted to clear up with him, and I called at his shop this morning. I found him lying dead inside." He went on to describe the manner in which Rivers had met his death. "The radio and newspaper accounts were accurate enough, in the main; there were a few details omitted, at the request of the police, of course."
"Well, you didn't get involved in it, though?" Dunmore inquired anxiously. "I mean, you're not taking any part in the investigation44? After all, we don't want to be mixed up in anything like this."
"In that case, Mr. Dunmore, let me advise you not to discuss the matter of Rivers's offer to buy this collection with anybody outside," Rand told him. "So far, the police and the District Attorney's office both seem to think that Rivers was killed by somebody whom he'd swindled in a business deal. Of course, they know about the collection being for sale, and Rivers's offering to buy it."
"They do?" Dunmore asked sharply. "Did you tell them that?"
"Naturally. I had to account for my presence at Rivers's shop, this morning," Rand replied. "I don't know if the idea has occurred to them that somebody might have killed Rivers to eliminate a rival bidder45 for the collection or not; I wouldn't say anything, if I were you, that might give them the idea."
The extension phone rang shrilly46. Walters picked it up, spoke47 into it, and listened for a moment.
"Yes, Miss Lawrence; he's right here. You wish to speak to him?" He handed the phone across the desk to Rand. "Miss Karen Lawrence, for you, Colonel Rand."
Rand took the phone. Before he had time to say "hello," the antique-shop girl demanded of him:
"Colonel Rand, you must tell me the truth. Did you have anything to do with Pierre Jarrett's being arrested?"
"What?" Rand barked. Then he softened48 his voice. "No; on my honor, Miss Lawrence. I knew nothing about it until this moment. Who did it? Olsen?"
"I don't know what his name was. He was a State Police sergeant49," she replied. "He and another State Policeman came to the Jarrett house about half an hour ago, charged Pierre with the murder of Arnold Rivers, and took him away. His mother phoned me about it a few minutes ago."
"Here at my shop. Mrs. Jarrett is coming here. She's afraid the reporters will be coming out to the house as soon as they hear about it, and she doesn't want to talk to them."
"All right. I'll be there as soon as I can. If there's anything I can do to help you, you can count on me for it."
He hung up, and turned to Walters. "Is my car still out front?" he asked. "It is? Good. I'll be gone for a while; tell the others I have something to attend to."
"What's happened now?" Dunmore asked sourly.
"Just what I was speaking about. The Gestapo gathered up Pierre Jarrett; they seem to have gotten the idea, now, that the motive51 may have been competition for the collection. Next thing, Farnsworth will think he has a case against Carl Gwinnett, and he'll land in the jug52, too. I hope you realize that every time something like this happens, it peels a thousand or so off the price I'll be able to get for you people for these pistols."
Dunmore didn't try to ask how that would happen, for which Rand was duly thankful; he accepted the statement uncritically. Walters was staring at Rand in horror, saying nothing. Rand picked up the outside phone and dialed the same number he had called from the Rivers place that morning.
"Is Sergeant McKenna about?... He is? Fine; I'd like to speak to him.... Oh, hello, Mick; Jeff Rand."
McKenna chuckled53 out of the receiver. "Sort of slipped one over on you, didn't I?" he gloated. "Why, I was checking up on those people who were at Gresham's, last evening, and they all agreed that young Jarrett and the Lawrence girl had left the party about ten. So I had a talk with Miss Lawrence, and she tried to tell me that Jarrett was with her at her apartment, over the antique shop, from about ten fifteen until about twelve, when another girl she rooms with got home from a date. I'd of took that, too, only right across the street from the antique shop there is one of these old hens like you find in every neighborhood, the kind that keeps their nose flattened54 on the window between the curtains, checking up on the neighbors. I spotted55 her when I came out of the antique shop, so I slipped around to see her, and she told me that young Jarrett went into the apartment with the girl at about quarter past ten, stayed inside for about twenty minutes, then came out and drove away. She says Jarrett came back in about half an hour, and stayed till this girl who shares the Lawrence girl's apartment—a Miss Dupont, who teaches sixth grade at Thaddeus Stevens School—got home, about twelve. So there you are."
"Uh-huh. Dave Ritter said this was going to turn into another Hall-Mills case; well, now you have your Pig Woman," Rand said. "Miss Lawrence shouldn't have lied to you, Mick. I suppose she got worried when you started asking questions, and there's nothing like a good murder in the neighborhood to make liars56 out of people."
"And damn well I know that!" McKenna agreed. "But that isn't all. It seems our cruise-car crew spotted Jarrett's car standing57 in Rivers's drive, about eleven. Just when he was away from the antique-shop, and about when the M.E. figures Rivers was getting the business."
"Did they get the number?" Rand asked. "Or how did they identify the car?"
"Oh, they knew it; see, our boys shoot a lot with the Scott County Rifle & Pistol Club, and they've all seen Jarrett's car at the range, different times," McKenna said. "A gray 1947 Plymouth coupé. Like I say, they knew the car, and they knew Jarrett collects guns, and the lights were on inside the shop and the shades were drawn58, so they didn't think anything of it, at the time. See, they went to bed about ten this morning, and didn't get up till after five, so I didn't find out about it till after supper."
Rand shrugged, and managed to get some of the shrug4 into his voice. "Can be, at that," he said. "I hope you're not making a mistake, Mick; if you are, his lawyer's going to crucify you. What are you using for a motive?"
"Rivers was outbidding this crowd Jarrett and the girl were in with. They all told me about that," McKenna said. "And he and the girl were planning to use their end of the collection to go into the arms business, after they got married. Rivers got in the way." McKenna, at the other end of the line, must have shrugged, too. "After all, for about four years, they'd been training Jarrett to overcome resistance with the bayonet, so he did just that."
"Maybe so. You find out anything about that other matter I was interested in?"
"You mean the pistols? Huh-unh; we went over Rivers's place with a fine-tooth comb, and questioned young Gillis about it, and we didn't get a thing. You sure those pistols went to Rivers?"
"I'm not sure of anything at all," Rand replied, looking at his watch. "You going to be in, say in a couple of hours? I want to have a talk with you."
"Sure. I'll be around all evening," McKenna assured him. "If we don't have another murder."
Rand hung up. He pulled the sheet out of the typewriter, laid it face down on the other sheets he had finished, and laid a long seventeenth-century Flemish flintlock on top for a paperweight, memorizing the position of the pistol relative to the paper under it.
"Put those pistols back on the wall," he told Walters, indicating several he had laid aside after listing. "Leave the others there; I'm not finished with them yet. I'll be back before too long. If I don't find any more bodies."
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1
parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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3
hostilities
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| n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事 | |
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shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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cocktails
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| n.鸡尾酒( cocktail的名词复数 )；餐前开胃菜；混合物 | |
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9
attic
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| n.顶楼，屋顶室 | |
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10
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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11
dealer
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| n.商人，贩子 | |
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12
demise
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| n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让 | |
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13
brainstorm
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| vi.动脑筋，出主意，想办法，献计，献策 | |
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14
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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15
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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16
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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veered
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| v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的过去式和过去分词 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转 | |
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19
percussion
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| n.打击乐器；冲突，撞击；震动，音响 | |
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cylinder
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| n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸 | |
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chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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22
appreciative
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| adj.有鉴赏力的，有眼力的；感激的 | |
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eventual
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| adj.最后的，结局的，最终的 | |
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uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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musket
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| n.滑膛枪 | |
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embodied
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| v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
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muskets
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| n.火枪，（尤指）滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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metropolitan
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| adj.大城市的，大都会的 | |
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sipping
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 ) | |
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synthetic
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| adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品 | |
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jovial
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| adj.快乐的，好交际的 | |
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32
condescension
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| n.自以为高人一等，贬低(别人) | |
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corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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36
accusations
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| n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名 | |
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morale
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| n.道德准则，士气，斗志 | |
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dealers
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| n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者 | |
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39
fangs
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| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
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40
pall
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| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
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41
valid
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| adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的 | |
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42
yardstick
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| n.计算标准，尺度；评价标准 | |
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43
calipers
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| n.书法，测径器；测径器 | |
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44
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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45
bidder
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| n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人 | |
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46
shrilly
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| 尖声的； 光亮的，耀眼的 | |
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47
spoke
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| 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 | |
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48
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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49
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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50
bastard
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| n.坏蛋，混蛋；私生子 | |
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51
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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52
jug
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| n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂 | |
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53
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54
flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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55
spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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56
liars
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| 说谎者( liar的名词复数 ) | |
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57
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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58
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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