CHAPTER XX. QUICK WORK IS NECESSARY.

“Dead!”

 

The way in which Stone repeated the word gave a hint to the listener of the grim hatred¹ that possessed² that demented brain.

 

There was a moment’s silence, then Follansbee’s voice came again. “Above all, however,” he said, “remember that you must not be in a hurry. Do everything deliberately³ and don’t get rattled⁴ for a moment. There’s nothing to fear if you keep your nerve. Finally, don’t attempt to carry out your—operations shall we call it?—until half past two.”

 

“Why should we wait? Why couldn’t we do it now?” Stone urged.

 

“If you were a medical man you would know why,” Follansbee answered in his squeaking⁶ voice. “Between two and three o’clock in the morning human life is at its lowest ebb⁷. The flame of vitality⁸ burns more dimly then than at any time during the twenty-four hours. That’s the answer, and its application to this case ought to be apparent enough.”

 

Nick heard a movement, as though Doctor Follansbee had leaned forward in his chair to drive his point home.

 

“You have waited months for this, Stone,” the peculiar⁹ voice went on, “and an hour more or less can’t make any difference. Crawford will be in a sound sleep at half past two, if he’s as normal as he seems to be, and the low vitality which is natural at that hour will make him an easy subject to handle; in other words, you will have the best chance of successfully drugging him.”

 

The chair creaked again.

 

“You’re going now?” asked the miner.

 

“Yes. It’s much better that I should. My continued presence would tempt⁵ us to talk, and we might disturb the man in the next room. You don’t want to do that, you know. You want to find him as helpless as possible when the time comes, so I’d advise you to keep as still as you can. Don’t pace the room, or anything like that.”

 

“But I’m nervous as a cat,” objected Stone. “Who wouldn’t be?”

 

“I suppose you are,” Follansbee admitted, “but—here’s something to quiet you. It will give you new courage, too. Just deposit this powder on the end of your tongue and wash it down with a little water.”

 

There was a pause, and the detective suspected that the miner was staring questionably¹⁰ at Follansbee. Stone’s next words confirmed it.

 

“You’re sure about this?” the man asked slowly. “It won’t hurt me or keep me from doing what I’ve sworn to do?”

 

“Certainly not,” was the shrill¹¹ response. “What do you take me for, Stone? I’m in your pay, am I not? I must earn that forty-five thousand, if I expect to enjoy it. Why should I try any tricks on you?”

 

“That’s all right—why should you?” Stone said more quietly. “I’ll take it if it will fix me up in the way you say. Here goes!”

 

The detective outside held his breath. “Great Scott!” he thought. “I wonder if Follansbee is putting up a job on him, too. He’d be quite capable of it, but it doesn’t seem possible that he’s trying any such tricks so early in the game. If he means to do anything of that sort, I should think he would wait until Stone had killed his partner, or had attempted to do so. To Follansbee’s certain knowledge, that would give the latter a hold on Stone which Follansbee could use to advantage before going any further. I may be mistaken about that, of course. Follansbee does strange things, and may have something up his sleeve which I don’t understand. There’s a chance that Stone is in grave danger at this moment. I doubt it, though, and I’m afraid I can’t help him if he is.”

 

Nick’s main concern was to protect Winthrop Crawford if possible. He pitied Stone much more than he blamed him, because he knew that the man was not responsible for his actions, but Crawford’s life was more important than Stone’s, and a premature¹² interference might spoil the case that was developing against Doctor Follansbee.

 

“That will steady you,” he heard the specialist inform Stone. “I’m off now, and remember that I shall be waiting for you in front of the bank around the corner. I’ll have a car there in readiness at two-thirty. I trust you told the hotel people that you would probably be away to-night?”

 

“Yes, I arranged that. I didn’t see why it was necessary, but——”

 

Had the detective been able to look into the room, he would have found that Follansbee was facing his man, but that Stone was not quick enough to notice the cold flicker¹³ that came into the hard eyes. The detective would have perceived it, though, had he been in a position to do so, and would have jumped to the conclusion that the rascally¹⁴ physician had a reason of his own for wanting Stone to join him as soon as the dastardly crime had been committed.

 

“My reason is very obvious,” Follansbee declared in his thin, cackling voice. “I want you to establish an alibi¹⁵ in case something unexpected should happen.”

 

He thrust his face forward.

 

“You don’t want to be electrocuted, do you?” he demanded. “That would be a poor sort of revenge on your partner.”

 

Nick heard the ex-miner draw a deep breath.

 

“Electrocuted!” came the deep, husky voice. “I don’t think I’d care for that. They—they would send me to the chair, though, wouldn’t they, if they found out?”

 

Follansbee knew better than that. He was aware that Stone would escape any such fate owing to his mental condition, but it did not suit his purposes to say so. “As sure as you’re alive!” he answered callously¹⁶.

 

As he spoke¹⁷, he turned to the window and started for it.

 

It was not the sound of his approaching footsteps that warned the listener, however. Nick had already stiffened¹⁸ and drawn¹⁹ back as soon as his ears caught the difference in Follansbee’s tones, caused by the fact that the latter had faced about toward the window while in the act of making his last remark.

 

The thin, stunted²⁰ shadow of the head physician of St. Swithin’s was already on the shade, and quick work was necessary on Nick’s part.

1 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

2 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

3 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

4 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

5 tempt   

vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣

参考例句：

• Nothing could tempt him to such a course of action.什么都不能诱使他去那样做。
• The fact that she had become wealthy did not tempt her to alter her frugal way of life.她有钱了，可这丝毫没能让她改变节俭的生活习惯。

6 squeaking   

v.短促地尖叫( squeak的现在分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者

参考例句：

• Squeaking floorboards should be screwed down. 踏上去咯咯作响的地板应用螺钉钉住。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Can you hear the mice squeaking? 你听到老鼠吱吱叫吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 ebb   

vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态

参考例句：

• The flood and ebb tides alternates with each other.涨潮和落潮交替更迭。
• They swam till the tide began to ebb.他们一直游到开始退潮。

8 vitality   

n.活力，生命力，效力

参考例句：

• He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后，身强体壮，充满活力。
• He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。

9 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

10 questionably   

adv.可疑地；不真实地；有问题地

参考例句：

• These were estates his father questionably acquired. 这些财产不一定是他父亲努力获得的。 来自互联网

11 shrill   

adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫

参考例句：

• Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
• The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。

12 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

13 flicker   

vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现

参考例句：

• There was a flicker of lights coming from the abandoned house.这所废弃的房屋中有灯光闪烁。
• At first,the flame may be a small flicker,barely shining.开始时，光辉可能是微弱地忽隐忽现，几乎并不灿烂。

14 rascally   

adj. 无赖的，恶棍的 adv. 无赖地，卑鄙地

参考例句：

• They said Kelso got some rascally adventurer, some Belgian brute, to insult his son-in-law in public. 他们说是凯尔索指使某个下贱的冒险家，一个比利时恶棍，来当众侮辱他的女婿。
• Ms Taiwan: Can't work at all, but still brag and quibble rascally. 台湾小姐：明明不行，还要硬拗、赖皮逞强。

15 alibi   

n.某人当时不在犯罪现场的申辩或证明；借口

参考例句：

• Do you have any proof to substantiate your alibi? 你有证据表明你当时不在犯罪现场吗？
• The police are suspicious of his alibi because he already has a record.警方对他不在场的辩解表示怀疑，因为他已有前科。

16 callously   

参考例句：

• Sri Lanka has callously ignored calls for a humanitarian cease-fire. 斯里兰卡无情地忽视人道停火的呼吁。 来自互联网
• The pendulum ticks callously, heartlessly. 这是谁的遗训？ 来自互联网

17 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。

18 stiffened   

加强的

参考例句：

• He leaned towards her and she stiffened at this invasion of her personal space. 他向她俯过身去，这种侵犯她个人空间的举动让她绷紧了身子。
• She stiffened with fear. 她吓呆了。

19 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

20 stunted   

adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的

参考例句：

• the stunted lives of children deprived of education 未受教育的孩子所过的局限生活
• But the landed oligarchy had stunted the country's democratic development for generations. 但是好几代以来土地寡头的统治阻碍了这个国家民主的发展。