PART THREE DECEMBER 24TH XIV

XIV

Pilar came into the room with the wariness¹ of an animal who suspects a trap. Her eyes went

quickly from side to side. She looked not so much afraid as deeply suspicious.

Colonel Johnson rose and put a chair for her. Then he said:

“You understand English, I suppose, Miss Estravados?”

Pilar’s eyes opened wide. She said:

“Of course. My mother was English. I am really very English indeed.”

A faint smile came to Colonel Johnson’s lips, as his eyes took in the black gloss² of her hair,

the proud dark eyes, and the curling red lips. Very English! An incongruous term to apply to Pilar

Estravados.

He said:

“Mr. Lee was your grandfather. He sent for you to come from Spain. And you arrived a few

days ago. Is that right?”

Pilar nodded.

“That is right. I had—oh! a lot of adventures getting out of Spain—there was a bomb from

the air and the chauffeur³ he was killed—where his head had been there was all blood. And I could

not drive a car, so for a long way I had to walk—and I do not like walking. I never walk. My feet

were sore—but sore—”

Colonel Johnson smiled. He said:

“At any rate you arrived here. Had your mother spoken to you of your grandfather much?”

Pilar nodded cheerfully.

“Oh, yes, she said he was an old devil.”

Hercule Poirot smiled. He said:

“And what did you think of him when you arrived, mademoiselle?”

Pilar said:

“Of course he was very, very old. He had to sit in a chair—and his face was all dried up. But

I liked him all the same. I think that when he was a young man, he must have been handsome—

very handsome, like you,” said Pilar to Superintendent⁴ Sugden. Her eyes dwelt with näive

pleasure on his handsome face, which had turned brick-red at the compliment.

Colonel Johnson stifled⁵ a chuckle⁶. It was one of the few occasions when he had seen the

stolid⁷ superintendent taken aback.

“But of course,” Pilar continued regretfully, “he could never have been so big as you.”

Hercule Poirot sighed.

“You like, then, big men, señorita?” he inquired.

Pilar agreed enthusiastically.

“Oh, yes, I like a man to be very big, tall, and the shoulders broad, and very, very strong.”

Colonel Johnson said sharply:

“Did you see much of your grandfather when you arrived here?”

Pilar said:

“Oh, yes. I went to sit with him. He told me things—that he had been a very wicked man, and

all the things he did in South Africa.”

“Did he ever tell you that he had diamonds in the safe in his room?”

“Yes, he showed them to me. But they were not like diamonds—they were just like pebbles⁸

—very ugly—very ugly indeed.”

Superintendent Sugden said shortly:

“So he showed them to you, did he?”

“Yes.”

“He didn’t give you any of them?”

Pilar shook her head.

“No, he did not. I thought that perhaps one day he would—if I were very nice to him and

came often to sit with him. Because old gentlemen they like very much young girls.”

Colonel Johnson said:

“Do you know that those diamonds have been stolen?”

Pilar opened her eyes very wide.

“Stolen?”

“Yes, have you any idea who might have taken them?”

Pilar nodded her head.

“Oh, yes,” she said. “It would be Horbury.”

“Horbury? You mean the valet?”

“Yes.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because he has the face of a thief. His eyes go so, from side to side, he walks softly and

listens at doors. He is like a cat. And all cats are thieves.”

“H’m,” said Colonel Johnson. “We’ll leave it at that. Now I understand that all the family

were up in your grandfather’s room this afternoon, and that some—er—angry words passed.”

Pilar nodded and smiled.

“Yes,” she said. “It was great fun. Grandfather made them oh! so angry!”

“Oh, you enjoyed it, did you?”

“Yes. I like to see people get angry. I like it very much. But here in England they do not get

angry like they do in Spain. In Spain they take out their knives and they curse and shout. In

England they do nothing, just get very red in the face and shut up their mouths tight.”

“Do you remember what was said?”

Pilar seemed rather doubtful.

“I am not sure. Grandfather said they were no good—that they had not got any children. He

said I was better than any of them. He liked me, very much.”

“Did he say anything about money or a will?”

“A will—no, I don’t think so. I don’t remember.”

“What happened?”

“They all went away—except Hilda—the fat one, David’s wife, she stayed behind.”

“Oh, she did, did she?”

“Yes. David looked very funny. He was all shaking and oh! so white. He looked as though he

might be sick.”

“And what then?”

“Then I went and found Stephen. We danced to the gramophone.”

“Stephen Farr?”

“Yes. He is from South Africa—he is the son of Grandfather’s partner. He is very handsome

too. Very brown and big, and he has nice eyes.”

Johnson asked:

“Where were you when the crime occurred?”

“You ask where I was?”

“Yes.”

“I had gone into the drawing room with Lydia. And then I went up to my room and did my

face. I was going to dance again with Stephen. And then, far away, I heard a scream and everyone

was running, so I went too. And they were trying to break down Grandfather’s door. Harry⁹ did it

with Stephen, they are both big strong men.”

“Yes?”

“And then—crash—down it went—and we all looked in. Oh, such a sight—everything

smashed and knocked over, and Grandfather lying in a lot of blood, and his throat was cut like

this”—she made a vivid dramatic gesture at her own neck—“right up under his ear.”

She paused, having obviously enjoyed her narrative¹⁰.

Johnson said:

“The blood didn’t make you feel ill?”

She stared.

“No, why should it? There is usually blood when people are killed. There was, oh! so much

blood everywhere!”

Poirot said: “Did anyone say anything?”

Pilar said:

“David said such a funny thing—what was it? Oh, yes. The mills of God—that is what he

said”—she repeated it with emphasis on each word—“The mills—of—God—What does that

mean? Mills are what make flour, are they not?”

Colonel Johnson said:

“Well, I don’t think there is anything more just now, Miss Estravados.”

Pilar got up obediently. She flashed a quick charming smile at each man in turn.

“I will go now, then.” She went out.

Colonel Johnson said:

“The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small. And David Lee said that!”

1 wariness   

n. 注意,小心

参考例句：

• The British public's wariness of opera is an anomaly in Europe. 英国公众对歌剧不大轻易接受的态度在欧洲来说很反常。
• There certainly is a history of wariness about using the R-word. 历史表明绝对应当谨慎使用“衰退”一词。

2 gloss   

n.光泽，光滑；虚饰；注释；vt.加光泽于；掩饰

参考例句：

• John tried in vain to gloss over his faults.约翰极力想掩饰自己的缺点，但是没有用。
• She rubbed up the silver plates to a high gloss.她把银盘擦得很亮。

3 chauffeur   

n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机；v.为…开车

参考例句：

• The chauffeur handed the old lady from the car.这个司机搀扶这个老太太下汽车。
• She went out herself and spoke to the chauffeur.她亲自走出去跟汽车司机说话。

4 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。

5 stifled   

（使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵

参考例句：

• The gas stifled them. 煤气使他们窒息。
• The rebellion was stifled. 叛乱被镇压了。

6 chuckle   

vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑

参考例句：

• He shook his head with a soft chuckle.他轻轻地笑着摇了摇头。
• I couldn't suppress a soft chuckle at the thought of it.想到这个，我忍不住轻轻地笑起来。

7 stolid   

adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的

参考例句：

• Her face showed nothing but stolid indifference.她的脸上毫无表情，只有麻木的无动于衷。
• He conceals his feelings behind a rather stolid manner.他装作无动于衷的样子以掩盖自己的感情。

8 pebbles   

[复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pebbles of the drive crunched under his feet. 汽车道上的小石子在他脚底下喀嚓作响。
• Line the pots with pebbles to ensure good drainage. 在罐子里铺一层鹅卵石，以确保排水良好。

9 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。

10 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。