The colonel left Scotland Yard with a sense that he had spent the morning not unprofitably. It was his way to beard the lion in his den1, and after all, the police department was no more formidable than any other public department. He spent the morning quietly in Pinto's flat, making certain preparations. The workmen were making a thorough job of his damaged wall, as he found when he looked in, and the horrible odour had almost disappeared. It was to be a much longer job than he thought. It had been necessary to cut away and replace the plaster under the paper for the infernal mixture had soaked deep. Still the colonel had plenty to occupy his mind. What he called his legitimate2 business had been sadly neglected of late. Reports had come in from all sorts of agencies, reports which might by careful study be turned to the greatest advantage. There was the affair of Lady Glenmerrin. He had been months accumulating evidence of that lady's marital3 delinquencies, and now the iron was ready to strike--and he simply had no interest in a deal which might very easily transfer the famous Glenmerrin Farms to his charge at a nominal4 figure.
And there were other prospects5 as alluring6. But for the moment the colonel was mainly interested in the stock value of Colonel Dan Boundary and the possibility of violent fluctuations7. He was losing grip. The story of Jack8 o' Judgment9 had circulated with amazing rapidity, by all manner of underground channels, to people vitally concerned. Crewe, who had been a stand-by in almost every big coup10 he had pulled off, was as stable as pulp11. White his right-hand man, was dead. Pinto--well, Pinto would go his own way just when it suited him. He had no doubt whatever as to Pinto's loyalty12. Silva had big estates in Portugal, to which he would retire just when things were getting warm and interesting. Moreover, the British Government could not extradite Pinto from his native land.
The colonel found himself regretting that he had missed the opportunity of taking up American citizenship13 during the seven years he had spent in San Francisco. And what of Crewe? Crewe was to reveal himself most unmistakably. He came in in the late afternoon and found the colonel working through the litter on his desk.
"Have you started your search at Oxford14?" asked the colonel.
"I've sent two men down there--the best men in London," replied Crewe.
He drew up a chair to the desk and flung his hat on a near-by couch.
"I want to have a little talk with you, colonel."
Boundary looked up sharply.
"That sounds bad," he said. "What do you want to talk about? The weather?"
"Hardly," said Crewe. A little pause, and then: "Colonel, I'm going to quit."
The colonel made no reply. He went on writing his letter, and not until he reached the end of the page and carefully blotted15 the epistle did he meet Crewe's eyes.
"So you're going to quit, are you?" said Boundary. "Cold feet?"
"Something like that," said Crewe. "Of course, I'm not going to leave you in the lurch16."
"Oh, no," said the colonel with elaborate politeness, "nobody's going to leave me in the lurch. You're just going to quit, that's all, and I've got to face the music."
"Why don't you quit too, colonel?"
"Quit what?" asked Boundary. "And how? You might as well ask a tree to quit the earth, to uproot17 itself and go on living. What happens when I walk out of this office and take a first-class state-room to New York? You think the Boundary Gang collapses18, fades away, just dies off, eh? The moment I leave there's a squeal19, and that squeal will be loud enough to reach me in whatever part of the world I may be. There are a dozen handy little combinations which will think that I am double-crossing them, and they'll be falling over one another to get in with the first tale."
Crewe licked his dry lips.
"Well that certainly may be in your case, colonel, but it doesn't happen to be in mine. I've covered all my tracks so that there's no evidence against me."
"That's true," said the colonel. "You've just managed to keep out of taking an important part. I congratulate you."
"There's no sense in getting riled about it," said Crewe; "it has just been my luck, that's all. Well, I want to take advantage of this luck."
"In what way?"
"I'm out of any bad trouble. The police, if they search for a million years, couldn't get a scrap20 of evidence to convict me," he said, "even if they'd had you when Hanson betrayed you, they couldn't have convicted me."
"That's true," said the colonel again. He shook his head impatiently. "Well, what does all this lead to, Crewe? Do you want to be demobilised?" he asked humorously.
"That's about the size of it," said Crewe. "I don't want to be in anything fresh, and I certainly don't want to be in this----"
"What?"
"In this Maisie White business," said Crewe doggedly21. "Let Pinto do his own dirty work."
"My dirty work too," said the colonel. "But I reckon you've overlooked one important fact."
"What's that?" demanded Crewe suspiciously.
"You've overlooked a young gentleman called Jack o' Judgment," said the colonel, and enjoyed the look of consternation22 which came to the other's face. "There's a fellow that doesn't want any evidence. He hanged Raoul all right."
"Do you think he did it?" said Crewe in a hushed voice.
"Do I think he did it?" The colonel smiled. "Why, who else? And when he comes to judge you, I guess he's not going to worry very much about affidavits23 and sworn statements, and he's not going to take you before a magistrate24 before he hands you over to the coroner."
Crewe jumped to his feet.
"What have I done?" he asked harshly.
"What have you done? Well, you know that best," said the colonel with a wave of his hand. "You say the police haven't got you and haven't a case against you. Maybe you're right. That Greek was saying the same sort of thing to me. He was here this afternoon squealing25 about taking the girl to the Argentine, and wanted us to send the doctor, and he'll be waiting to meet us when we land. There's no evidence against him either. Maybe there's more evidence than you imagine. I wouldn't bank too much upon the police passing you by, if I were you, Crewe. There's something about Mr. Stafford King that I don't like. He's got more brains in his little finger than that dude commissioner26 has in the whole of his body. He doesn't say much, but I guess he thinks a lot, and I'd give something to know what he's thinking about me just now."
收听单词发音 |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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marital
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| adj.婚姻的，夫妻的 | |
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nominal
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| adj.名义上的；(金额、租金)微不足道的 | |
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prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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alluring
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| adj.吸引人的，迷人的 | |
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fluctuations
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| 波动，涨落，起伏( fluctuation的名词复数 ) | |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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coup
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| n.政变；突然而成功的行动 | |
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pulp
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| n.果肉，纸浆；v.化成纸浆，除去...果肉，制成纸浆 | |
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loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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citizenship
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| n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份) | |
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Oxford
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| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
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blotted
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| 涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 )； （用吸墨纸）吸干 | |
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lurch
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| n.突然向前或旁边倒；v.蹒跚而行 | |
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uproot
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| v.连根拔起，拔除；根除，灭绝；赶出家园，被迫移开 | |
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collapses
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| 折叠( collapse的第三人称单数 )； 倒塌； 崩溃； （尤指工作劳累后）坐下 | |
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squeal
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| v.发出长而尖的声音；n.长而尖的声音 | |
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scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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doggedly
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| adv.顽强地，固执地 | |
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consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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affidavits
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| n.宣誓书，（经陈述者宣誓在法律上可采作证据的）书面陈述( affidavit的名词复数 ) | |
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magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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squealing
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| v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的现在分词 ) | |
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commissioner
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| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
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