PART THREE DECEMBER 24TH XI

XI

Magdalene Lee paused effectively in the doorway¹. One long slender hand touched the burnished²

platinum³ sheen of her hair. The leaf-green velvet⁴ frock she wore clung to the delicate lines of her

figure. She looked very young and a little frightened.

The three men were arrested for a moment looking at her. Johnson’s eyes showed a sudden

surprised admiration⁵. Superintendent⁶ Sugden’s showed no animation⁷, merely the impatience⁸ of a

man anxious to get on with his job. Hercule Poirot’s eyes were deeply appreciative⁹ (as she saw)

but the appreciation¹⁰ was not for her beauty, but for the effective use she made of it. She did not

know that he was thinking to himself:

“Jolie mannequin, la petite. Mais elle a les yeux durs.”

Colonel Johnson was thinking:

“Damned good-looking girl. George Lee will have trouble with her if he doesn’t look out.

Got an eye for a man all right.”

Superintendent Sugden was thinking:

“Empty-headed vain piece of goods. Hope we get through with her quickly.”

“Will you sit down, Mrs. Lee? Let me see, you are—?”

“Mrs. George Lee.”

She accepted the chair with a warm smile of thanks. “After all,” the glance seemed to say,

“although you are a man and a policeman, you are not so dreadful after all.”

The tail end of the smile included Poirot. Foreigners were so susceptible¹¹ where women were

concerned. About Superintendent Sugden she did not bother.

She murmured, twisting her hands together in a pretty distress¹²:

“It’s all so terrible. I feel so frightened.”

“Come, come, Mrs. Lee,” said Colonel Johnson kindly¹³ but briskly. “It’s been a shock, I

know, but it’s all over now. We just want an account from you of what happened this evening.”

She cried out:

“But I don’t know anything about it—I don’t indeed.”

For a moment the chief constable¹⁴’s eyes narrowed. He said gently: “No, of course not.”

“We only arrived here yesterday. George would make me come here for Christmas! I wish

we hadn’t. I’m sure I shall never feel the same again!”

“Very upsetting—yes.”

“I hardly know George’s family, you see. I’ve only seen Mr. Lee once or twice—at our

wedding and once since. Of course I’ve seen Alfred and Lydia more often, but they’re really all

quite strangers to me.”

Again the wide-eyed frightened-child look. Again Hercule Poirot’s eyes were appreciative—

and again he thought to himself:

“Elle joue très bien la comédie, cette petite. . . .”

“Yes, yes,” said Colonel Johnson. “Now just tell me about the last time you saw your father-

in-law—Mr. Lee—alive.”

“Oh, that! That was this afternoon. It was dreadful!”

Johnson said quickly:

“Dreadful? Why?”

“They were so angry!”

“Who was angry?”

“Oh, all of them . . . I don’t mean George. His father didn’t say anything to him. But all the

others.”

“What happened exactly?”

“Well, when we got there—he asked for all of us—he was speaking into the telephone—to

his lawyers about his will. And then he told Alfred he was looking very glum¹⁵. I think that was

because of Harry¹⁶ coming home to live. Alfred was very upset about that, I believe. You see, Harry

did something quite dreadful. And then he said something about his wife—she’s dead long ago—

but she had the brains of a louse, he said, and David sprang up and looked as though he’d like to

murder him—Oh!” She stopped suddenly, her eyes alarmed. “I didn’t mean that—I didn’t mean it

at all!”

Colonel Johnson said soothingly¹⁷:

“Quite—quite, figure of speech, that was all.”

“Hilda, that’s David’s wife, quieted him down and—well, I think that’s all. Mr. Lee said he

didn’t want to see anyone again that evening. So we all went away.”

“And that was the last time you saw him?”

“Yes. Until—until—”

She shivered.

Colonel Johnson said:

“Yes, quite so. Now, where were you at the time of the crime?”

“Oh—let me see, I think I was in the drawing room.”

“Aren’t you sure?”

Magdalene’s eyes flickered¹⁸ a little, the lids drooped¹⁹ over them.

She said:

“Of course! How stupid of me . . . I’d gone to telephone. One gets so mixed up.”

“You were telephoning, you say. In this room?”

“Yes, that’s the only telephone except the one upstairs in my father-in-law’s room.”

Superintendent Sugden said:

“Was anybody else in the room with you?”

Her eyes widened.

“Oh, no, I was quite alone.”

“Had you been here long?”

“Well—a little time. It takes some time to put a call through in the evening.”

“It was a trunk call, then?”

“Yes—to Westeringham.”

“I see.”

“And then?”

“And then there was that awful scream—and everybody running—and the door being locked

and having to break it down. Oh! It was like a nightmare! I shall always remember it!”

“No, no,” Colonel Johnson’s tone was mechanically kind. He went on:

“Did you know that your father-in-law kept a quantity of valuable diamonds in his safe?”

“No, did he?” Her tone was quite frankly²⁰ thrilled. “Real diamonds?”

Hercule Poirot said:

“Diamonds worth about ten thousand pounds.”

“Oh!” It was a soft gasping²¹ sound—holding in it the essence of feminine cupidity²².

“Well,” said Colonel Johnson, “I think that’s all for the present. We needn’t bother you any

further, Mrs. Lee.”

“Oh, thank you.”

She stood up—smiled from Johnson to Poirot—the smile of a grateful little girl, then she

went out walking with her head held high and her palms a little turned outwards²³.

Colonel Johnson called:

“Will you ask your brother-in-law, Mr. David Lee, to come here?” Closing the door after her,

he came back to the table.

“Well,” he said, “what do you think? We’re getting at some of it now! You notice one thing:

George Lee was telephoning when he heard the scream! His wife was telephoning when she heard

it! That doesn’t fit—it doesn’t fit at all.”

He added:

“What do you think, Sugden?”

The superintendent said slowly:

“I don’t want to speak offensively of the lady, but I should say that though she’s the kind who

would be first class at getting money out a gentleman, I don’t think she’s the kind who’d cut a

gentleman’s throat. That wouldn’t be her line at all.”

“Ah, but one never knows, mon vieux,” murmured Poirot.

The chief constable turned round on him.

“And you, Poirot, what do you think?”

Hercule Poirot leaned forward. He straightened the blotter in front of him and flicked²⁴ a

minute speck²⁵ of dust from a candlestick. He answered:

“I would say that the character of the late Mr. Simeon Lee begins to emerge for us. It is there,

I think, that the whole importance of the case lies . . . in the character of the dead man.”

Superintendent Sugden turned a puzzled face to him.

“I don’t quite get you, Mr. Poirot,” he said. “What exactly has the character of the deceased

got to do with his murder?”

Poirot said dreamily:

“The character of the victim has always something to do with his or her murder. The frank

and unsuspicious mind of Desdemona was the direct cause of her death. A more suspicious

woman would have seen Iago’s machinations and circumvented²⁶ them much earlier. The

uncleanness of Marat directly invited his end in a bath. From the temper of Mercutio’s mind came

his death at the sword’s point.”

Colonel Johnson pulled his moustache.

“What exactly are you getting at, Poirot?”

“I am telling you that because Simeon Lee was a certain kind of man, he set in motion certain

forces, which forces in the end brought about his death.”

“You don’t think the diamonds had anything to do with it, then?”

Poirot smiled at the honest perplexity in Johnson’s face.

“Mon cher,” he said. “It was because of Simeon Lee’s peculiar²⁷ character that he kept ten

thousand pounds worth of uncut diamonds in his safe! You have not there the action of every

man.”

“That’s very true, Mr. Poirot,” said Superintendent Sugden, nodding his head with the air of a

man who at last sees what a fellow conversationalist is driving at. “He was a queer one, Mr. Lee

was. He kept those stones there so he could take them out and handle them and get the feeling of

the past back. Depend upon it, that’s why he never had them cut.”

Poirot nodded energetically.

“Precisely—precisely. I see you have great acumen²⁸, Superintendent.”

The superintendent looked a little doubtful at the compliment, but Colonel Johnson cut in:

“There’s something else, Poirot. I don’t know whether it has struck you—”

“Mais oui,” said Poirot. “I know what you mean. Mrs. George Lee, she let the cat out of the

bag more than she knew! She gave us a pretty impression of that last family meeting. She indicates

—oh! so naïvely—that Alfred was angry with his father—and that David looked as ‘though he

could murder him.’ Both those statements I think were true. But from them we can draw our own

reconstruction²⁹. What did Simeon Lee assemble his family for? Why should they have arrived in

time to hear him telephoning to his lawyer? Parbleu, it was no error, that. He wanted them to hear

it! The poor old one, he sits in his chair and he has lost the diversions of his younger days. So he

invents a new diversion for himself. He amuses himself by playing upon the cupidity and the

greed of human nature—yes, and on its emotions and its passions, too! But from that arises one

further deduction³⁰. In his game of rousing the greed and emotion of his children, he would not omit

anyone. He must, logically and necessarily, have had his dig at Mr. George Lee as well as at the

others! His wife is carefully silent about that. At her, too, he may have shot a poisoned arrow or

two. We shall find out, I think, from others, what Simeon Lee had to say to George Lee and

George Lee’s wife—”

He broke off. The door opened and David Lee came in.

1 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

2 burnished   

adj.抛光的，光亮的v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 )；被擦亮，磨光

参考例句：

• The floor was spotless; the grate and fire-irons were burnished bright. 地板上没有污迹；炉栅和火炉用具擦得发亮。 来自辞典例句
• The woods today are burnished bronze. 今天的树林是一片发亮的青铜色。 来自辞典例句

3 platinum   

n.白金

参考例句：

• I'll give her a platinum ring.我打算送给她一枚白金戒指。
• Platinum exceeds gold in value.白金的价值高于黄金。

4 velvet   

n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的

参考例句：

• This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
• The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。

5 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

6 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

7 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

8 impatience   

n.不耐烦，急躁

参考例句：

• He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢，他显得不耐烦。
• He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。

9 appreciative   

adj.有鉴赏力的，有眼力的；感激的

参考例句：

• She was deeply appreciative of your help.她对你的帮助深表感激。
• We are very appreciative of their support in this respect.我们十分感谢他们在这方面的支持。

10 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

11 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

12 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

13 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

14 constable   

n.(英国)警察，警官

参考例句：

• The constable conducted the suspect to the police station.警官把嫌疑犯带到派出所。
• The constable kept his temper,and would not be provoked.那警察压制着自己的怒气，不肯冒起火来。

15 glum   

adj.闷闷不乐的，阴郁的

参考例句：

• He was a charming mixture of glum and glee.他是一个很有魅力的人，时而忧伤时而欢笑。
• She laughed at his glum face.她嘲笑他闷闷不乐的脸。

16 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

17 soothingly   

adv.抚慰地，安慰地；镇痛地

参考例句：

• The mother talked soothingly to her child. 母亲对自己的孩子安慰地说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He continued to talk quietly and soothingly to the girl until her frightened grip on his arm was relaxed. 他继续柔声安慰那姑娘，她那因恐惧而紧抓住他的手终于放松了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 flickered   

（通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The lights flickered and went out. 灯光闪了闪就熄了。
• These lights flickered continuously like traffic lights which have gone mad. 这些灯象发狂的交通灯一样不停地闪动着。

19 drooped   

弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。
• The flowers drooped in the heat of the sun. 花儿晒蔫了。

20 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

21 gasping   

adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词

参考例句：

• He was gasping for breath. 他在喘气。
• "Did you need a drink?""Yes, I'm gasping!” “你要喝点什么吗？”“我巴不得能喝点！”

22 cupidity   

n.贪心，贪财

参考例句：

• Her cupidity is well known.她的贪婪尽人皆知。
• His eyes gave him away,shining with cupidity.他的眼里闪着贪婪的光芒，使他暴露无遗。

23 outwards   

adj.外面的，公开的，向外的；adv.向外；n.外形

参考例句：

• Does this door open inwards or outwards?这门朝里开还是朝外开？
• In lapping up a fur,they always put the inner side outwards.卷毛皮时，他们总是让内层朝外。

24 flicked   

（尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等）

参考例句：

• She flicked the dust off her collar. 她轻轻弹掉了衣领上的灰尘。
• I idly picked up a magazine and flicked through it. 我漫不经心地拿起一本杂志翻看着。

25 speck   

n.微粒，小污点，小斑点

参考例句：

• I have not a speck of interest in it.我对它没有任何兴趣。
• The sky is clear and bright without a speck of cloud.天空晴朗，一星星云彩也没有。

26 circumvented   

v.设法克服或避免（某事物），回避( circumvent的过去式和过去分词 )；绕过，绕行，绕道旅行

参考例句：

• By such means the ban against dancing was circumvented. 这样，舞蹈就不至于被禁止。 来自英汉非文学 - 民俗
• It can therefore be circumvented by address manipulation and explicit type conversion. 因而可以通过地址操纵和显式型别转换来绕过此保护功能。 来自互联网

27 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。

28 acumen   

n.敏锐，聪明

参考例句：

• She has considerable business acumen.她的经营能力绝非一般。
• His business acumen has made his very successful.他的商业头脑使他很成功。

29 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

30 deduction   

n.减除，扣除，减除额；推论，推理，演绎

参考例句：

• No deduction in pay is made for absence due to illness.因病请假不扣工资。
• His deduction led him to the correct conclusion.他的推断使他得出正确的结论。