Tarling walked out of Scotland Yard on to the sunlit Embankment, trouble in his face. He told himself that the case was getting beyond him and that it was only the case and its development which worried him. The queer little look which had dawned on the Commissioner's face when he learnt that the heir to the murdered Thornton Lyne's fortune was the detective who was investigating his murder, and that Tarling's revolver had been found in the room where the murder had been committed, aroused nothing but an inward chuckle1.
That suspicion should attach to him was, he told himself, poetic2 justice, for in his day he himself had suspected many men, innocent or partly innocent.
He walked up the stairs to his room and found Ling Chu polishing the meagre stock of silver which Tarling possessed3. Ling Chu was a thief-catcher and a great detective, but he had also taken upon himself the business of attending to Tarling's personal comfort. The detective spoke4 no word, out went straight to the cupboard where he kept his foreign kit5. On a shelf in neat array and carefully folded, were the thin white drill suits he wore in the tropics. His sun helmet hung on a peg6, and on the opposite wall was a revolver holster hanging by a strap7. He lifted the holster. It was empty. He had had no doubts in his mind that the holster would be empty and closed the door with a troubled frown.
"Ling Chu," he said quietly.
"You speak me, Lieh Jen?" said the man, putting down the spoons and rubber he was handling.
"Where is my revolver?"
"It is gone, Lieh Jen," said the man calmly.
"How long has it been gone?"
"I miss him four days," said Ling Chu calmly;
"Who took it?" demanded Tarling.
"I miss him four days," said the man.
There was an interval8 of silence, and Tarling nodded his head slowly.
"Very good, Ling Chu," he said, "there is no more to be said."
For all his outward calm, he was distressed10 in mind.
Was it possible that anybody could have got into the room in Ling Chu's absence--he could only remember one occasion when they had been out together, and that was the night he had gone to the girl's flat and Ling Chu had shadowed him.
What if Ling Chu----?
He dismissed the thought as palpably absurd. What interest could Ling Chu have in the death of Lyne, whom he had only seen once, the day that Thornton Lyne had called Tarling into consultation11 at the Stores?
That thought was too fantastic to entertain, but nevertheless it recurred12 again and again to him and in the end he sent his servant away with a message to Scotland Yard, determined13 to give even his most fantastic theory as thorough and impartial14 an examination as was possible.
The flat consisted of four rooms and a kitchen. There was Tarling's bedroom communicating with his dining and sitting-room15. There was a spare-room in which he kept his boxes and trunks--it was in this room that the revolver had been put aside--and there was the small room occupied by Ling Chu. He gave his attendant time to get out of the house and well on his journey before he rose from the deep chair where he had been sitting in puzzled thought and began his inspection16.
Ling Chu's room was small and scrupulously17 clean. Save for the bed and a plain black-painted box beneath the bed, there was no furniture. The well-scrubbed boards were covered with a strip of Chinese matting and the only ornamentation in the room was supplied by a tiny red lacquer vase which stood on the mantelpiece.
Tarling went back to the outer door of the flat and locked it before continuing his search. If there was any clue to the mystery of the stolen revolver it would be found here, in this black box. A Chinaman keeps all his possessions "within six sides," as the saying goes, and certainly the box was very well secured. It was ten minutes before he managed to find a key to shift the two locks with which it was fastened.
The contents of the box were few. Ling Chu's wardrobe was not an extensive one and did little more than half fill the receptacle. Very carefully he lifted out the one suit of clothes, the silk shirts, the slippers18 and the odds19 and ends of the Chinaman's toilet and came quickly to the lower layer. Here he discovered two lacquer boxes, neither of which were locked or fastened.
The first of these contained sewing material, the second a small package wrapped in native paper and carefully tied about with ribbon. Tarling undid20 the ribbon, opened the package and found to his surprise a small pad of newspaper cuttings. In the main they were cuttings from colloquial21 journals printed in Chinese characters, but there were one or two paragraphs evidently cut from one of the English papers published in Shanghai.
He thought at first that these were records of cases in which Ling Chu had been engaged, and though he was surprised that the Chinaman should have taken the trouble to collect these souvenirs--especially the English cuttings--he did not think at first that there was any significance in the act. He was looking for some clue--what he knew not--which would enable him to explain to his own satisfaction the mystery of the filched23 pistol.
He read the first of the European cuttings idly, but presently his eyes opened wide.
"There was a fracas24 at Ho Hans's tea-room last night, due apparently25 to the too-persistent attentions paid by an English visitor to the dancing girl, the little Narcissus, who is known to the English, or such as frequent Ho Hans's rooms, as The Little Daffodil----"
He gasped26. The Little Daffodil! He let the cutting drop on his knee and frowned in an effort of memory. He knew Shanghai well. He knew its mysterious under-world and had more than a passing acquaintance with Ho Hans's tea-rooms. Ho Hans's tea-room was, in fact, the mask which hid an opium27 den22 that he had been instrumental in cleaning up just before he departed from China. And he distinctly remembered the Little Daffodil. He had had no dealings with her in the way of business, for when he had had occasion to go into Ho Hans's tea-rooms, he was usually after bigger game than the graceful28 little dancer.
It all came back to him in a flash. He had heard men at the club speaking of the grace of the Little Daffodil and her dancing had enjoyed something of a vogue29 amongst the young Britishers who were exiled in Shanghai.
The next cutting was also in English and ran:
"A sad fatality30 occurred this morning, a young Chinese girl, O Ling, the sister of Inspector31 Ling Chu, of the Native Police, being found in a dying condition in the yard at the back of Ho Hans's tea-rooms. The girl had been employed at the shop as a dancer, much against her brother's wishes, and figured in a very unpleasant affair reported in these columns last week. It is believed that the tragic32 act was one of those 'save-face' suicides which are all too common amongst native women."
Tarling whistled, a soft, long, understanding whistle.
The Little Daffodil! And the sister of Ling Chu! He knew something of the Chinese, something of their uncanny patience, something of their unforgiving nature. This dead man had put an insult not only upon the little dancing girl, but upon the whole of her family. In China disgrace to one is a disgrace to all and she, realising the shame that the notoriety had brought upon her brother, had taken what to her, as a Chinese girl, had been the only way out.
But what was the shame? Tarling searched through the native papers and found several flowery accounts, not any two agreed save on one point, that an Englishman, and a tourist, had made public love to the girl, no very great injury from the standpoint of the Westerner, a Chinaman had interfered33 and there had been a "rough house."
Tarling read the cuttings through from beginning to end, then carefully replaced them in the paper package and put them away in the little lacquer box at the bottom of the trunk. As carefully he returned all the clothes he had removed, relocked the lid and pushed it under the iron bedstead. Swiftly he reviewed all the circumstances. Ling Chu had seen Thornton Lyne and had planned his vengeance34. To extract Tarling's revolver was an easy matter--but why, if he had murdered Lyne, would he have left the incriminating weapon behind? That was not like Ling Chu--that was the act of a novice35.
But how had he lured36 Thornton Lyne to the flat? And how did he know--a thought struck him.
Three nights before the murder, Ling Chu, discussing the interview which had taken place at Lyne's Stores, had very correctly diagnosed the situation. Ling Chu knew that Thornton Lyne was in love with the girl and desired her, and it would not be remarkable37 if he had utilised his knowledge to his own ends.
But the telegram which was designed to bring Lyne to the flat was in English and Ling Chu did not admit to a knowledge of that language. Here again Tarling came to a dead end. Though he might trust the Chinaman with his life, he was perfectly38 satisfied that this man would not reveal all that he knew, and it was quite possible that Ling Chu spoke English as well as he spoke his own native tongue and the four dialects of China.
"I give it up," said Tarling, half to himself and half aloud.
He was undecided as to whether he should wait for his subordinate's return from Scotland Yard and tax him with the crime, or whether he should let matters slide for a day or two and carry out his intention to visit Odette Rider. He took that decision, leaving a note for the Chinaman, and a quarter of an hour later got out of his taxi at the door of the West Somerset Hotel.
Odette Rider was in (that he knew) and waiting for him. She looked pale and her eyes were tired, as though she had slept little on the previous night, but she greeted him with that half smile of hers.
"I've come to tell you that you are to be spared the ordeal39 of meeting the third degree men of Scotland Yard," he said laughingly, and her eyes spoke her relief.
"Haven't you been out this beautiful morning?" he asked innocently, and this time she laughed aloud.
"What a hypocrite you are, Mr. Tarling!" she replied. "You know very well I haven't been out, and you know too that there are three Scotland Yard men watching this hotel who would accompany me in any constitutional I took."
"How did you know that?" he asked without denying the charge.
"Because I've been out," she said naively40 and laughed again. "You aren't so clever as I thought you were," she rallied him. "I quite expected when I said I'd not been out, to hear you tell me just where I'd been, how far I walked and just what I bought."
"Some green sewing silk, six handkerchiefs, and a tooth-brush," said Tarling promptly41 and the girl stared at him in comic dismay.
"Why, of course, I ought to have known you better than that," she said. "Then you do have watchers?"
"Watchers and talkers," said Tarling gaily42. "I had a little interview with the gentleman in the vestibule of the hotel and he supplied me with quite a lot of information. Did he shadow you?"
She shook her head.
"I saw nobody," she confessed, "though I looked most carefully. Now what are you going to do with me, Mr. Tarling?"
For answer, Tarling took from his pocket a flat oblong box. The girl looked wonderingly as he opened the lid and drew forth43 a slip of porcelain44 covered with a thin film of black ink and two white cards. His hand shook as he placed them on the table and suddenly the girl understood.
"You want my finger prints?" she asked and he nodded.
"I just hate asking you," he said, "but----"
"Show me how to do it," she interrupted and he guided her.
He felt disloyal--a very traitor45, and perhaps she realised what he was thinking, for she laughed as she wiped her stained finger tips.
"Duty's duty," she mocked him, "and now tell me this--are you going to keep me under observation all the time?"
"For a little while," said Tarling gravely. "In fact, until we get the kind of information we want."
He put away the box into his pocket as she shook her head.
"That means you're not going to tell us anything," said Tarling. "I think you are making a very great mistake, but really I am not depending upon your saying a word. I depend entirely46 upon----"
"Upon what?" she asked curiously47 as he hesitated.
"Upon what others will tell me," said Tarling
"Others? What others?"
Her steady eyes met his.
"There was once a famous politician who said 'Wait and see,'" said Tarling, "advice which I am going to ask you to follow. Now, I will tell you something, Miss Rider," he went on. "To-morrow I am going to take away your watchers, though I should advise you to remain at this hotel for a while. It is obviously impossible for you to go back to your flat."
The girl shivered.
"Don't talk about that," she said in a low voice. "But is it necessary that I should stay here?"
"There is an alternative," he said, speaking slowly, "an alternative," he said looking at her steadily48, "and it is that you should go to your mother's place at Hertford."
She looked up quickly.
"That is impossible," she said.
He was silent for a moment.
"Why don't you make a confidant of me, Miss Rider?" he said. "I should not abuse your trust. Why don't you tell me something about your father?"
"My father?" she looked at him in amazement49. "My father, did you say?"
He nodded.
"But I have no father," said the girl.
"Have you----" he found a difficulty in framing his words and it seemed to him that she must have guessed what was coming. "Have you a lover?" he asked at length.
"What do you mean?" she countered, and there was a note of hauteur50 in her voice.
"I mean this," said Tarling steadily. "What is Mr. Milburgh to you?"
Her hand went up to her mouth and she looked at him in wide-eyed distress9, then:
"Nothing!" she said huskily. "Nothing, nothing!"
收听单词发音 |
1
chuckle
|
|
| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
poetic
|
|
| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
possessed
|
|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
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： |
|
|
|
|
5
kit
|
|
| n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
peg
|
|
| n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
strap
|
|
| n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
interval
|
|
| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
distress
|
|
| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
distressed
|
|
| 痛苦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
consultation
|
|
| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
recurred
|
|
| 再发生，复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 )； 治愈 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
impartial
|
|
| adj.(in,to)公正的，无偏见的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
sitting-room
|
|
| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
inspection
|
|
| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
scrupulously
|
|
| adv.一丝不苟地；小心翼翼地，多顾虑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
slippers
|
|
| n. 拖鞋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
odds
|
|
| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
Undid
|
|
| v. 解开, 复原 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
colloquial
|
|
| adj.口语的，会话的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
den
|
|
| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
filched
|
|
| v.偷（尤指小的或不贵重的物品）( filch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
fracas
|
|
| n.打架；吵闹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
gasped
|
|
| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
opium
|
|
| n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
graceful
|
|
| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
Vogue
|
|
| n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
fatality
|
|
| n.不幸，灾祸，天命 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
inspector
|
|
| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
tragic
|
|
| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
interfered
|
|
| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
vengeance
|
|
| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
novice
|
|
| adj.新手的，生手的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
lured
|
|
| 吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
remarkable
|
|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
ordeal
|
|
| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
naively
|
|
| adv. 天真地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
promptly
|
|
| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
gaily
|
|
| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
porcelain
|
|
| n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
traitor
|
|
| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
curiously
|
|
| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
steadily
|
|
| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
amazement
|
|
| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
hauteur
|
|
| n.傲慢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |