PART FIVE DECEMBER 26TH

PART FIVE DECEMBER 26TH

The chief constable¹ and Superintendent² Sugden stared at Poirot incredulously. The latter returned

a stream of small pebbles³ carefully into a small cardboard box and pushed it across to the chief

constable.

“Oh, yes,” he said. “It is the diamonds all right.”

“And you found them where, did you say? In the garden?”

“In one of the small gardens constructed by Madame Alfred Lee.”

“Mrs. Alfred?” Sugden shook his head. “Doesn’t seem likely.”

Poirot said:

“You mean, I suppose, that you do not consider it likely that Mrs. Alfred cut her father-in-

law’s throat?”

Sugden said quickly:

“We know she didn’t do that. I meant it seemed unlikely that she pinched these diamonds.”

Poirot said:

“One would not easily believe her a thief—no.”

Sugden said:

“Anybody could have hidden them there.”

“That is true. It was convenient that in that particular garden—the Dead Sea as it represents—

there happened to be pebbles very similar in shape and appearance.”

Sugden said:

“You mean she fixed⁴ it like that beforehand? Ready?”

Colonel Johnson said warmly:

“I don’t believe it for a moment. Not for a moment. Why should she take the diamonds in the

first place?”

“Well, as to that—” Sugden said slowly.

Poirot nipped in quickly:

“There is a possible answer to that. She took the diamonds to suggest a motive⁵ for the

murder. That is to say she knew that murder was going to be done though she herself took no

active part in it.”

Johnson frowned.

“That won’t hold water for a minute. You’re making her out to be an accomplice⁶—but whose

accomplice would she be likely to be? Only her husband’s. But as we know that he, too, had

nothing to do with the murder, the whole theory falls to the ground.”

Sugden stroked his jaw⁷ reflectively.

“Yes,” he said, “that’s so. No, if Mrs. Lee took the diamonds—and it’s a big if—it was just

plain robbery, and it’s true she might have prepared that garden specially⁸ as a hiding place for

them till the hue⁹ and cry had died down. Another possibility is that of coincidence. That garden,

with its similarity of pebbles, struck the thief, whoever he or she was, as an ideal hiding place.”

Poirot said:

“That is quite possible. I am always prepared to admit one coincidence.”

Superintendent Sugden shook his head dubiously¹⁰.

Poirot said:

“What is your opinion, Superintendent?”

The superintendent said cautiously:

“Mrs. Lee’s a very nice lady. Doesn’t seem likely that she’d be mixed up in any business that

was fishy¹¹. But, of course, one never knows.”

Colonel Johnson said testily¹²:

“In any case, whatever the truth is about the diamonds, her being mixed up in the murder is

out of the question. The butler saw her in the drawing room at the actual time of the crime. You

remember that, Poirot?”

Poirot said:

“I had not forgotten that.”

The chief constable turned to his subordinate.

“We’d better get on. What have you to report? Anything fresh?”

“Yes, sir. I’ve got hold of some new information. To start with—Horbury. There’s a reason

why he might be scared of the police.”

“Robbery? Eh?”

“No, sir. Extorting¹³ money under threats. Modified blackmail¹⁴. The case couldn’t be proved so

he got off, but I rather fancy he’s got away with a thing or two in that line. Having a guilty

conscience, he probably thought we were on to something of that kind when Tressilian mentioned

a police officer last night and it made him get the wind up.”

The chief constable said:

“H’m! So much for Horbury. What else?”

The superintendent coughed.

“Er—Mrs. George Lee, sir. We’ve got a line on her before her marriage. Was living with a

Commander Jones. Passed as his daughter—but she wasn’t his daughter . . . I think from what

we’ve been told, that old Mr. Lee summed her up pretty correctly—he was smart where women

were concerned, knew a bad lot when he saw one—and was just amusing himself by taking a shot

in the dark. And he got her on the raw!”

Colonel Johnson said thoughtfully:

“That gives her another possible motive—apart from the money angle. She may have thought

he knew something definite and was going to give her away to her husband. That telephone story

of hers is pretty fishy. She didn’t telephone.”

Sugden suggested:

“Why not have them in together, sir, and get at that telephone business straight? See what we

get.”

Colonel Johnson said:

“Good idea.”

He rang the bell. Tressilian answered it.

“Ask Mr. and Mrs. George Lee to come here.”

“Very good, sir.”

As the old man turned away, Poirot said:

“The date on that wall calendar, has it remained like it is since the murder?”

Tressilian turned back.

“Which calendar, sir?”

“The one on the wall over there.”

The three men were sitting once more in Alfred Lee’s small sitting room. The calendar in

question was a large one with tear-off leaves, a bold date on each leaf.

Tressilian peered across the room, then shuffled¹⁵ slowly across till he was a foot or two away.

He said:

“Excuse me, sir, it has been torn off. It’s the twenty-sixth today.”

“Ah, pardon. Who would have been the person to tear it off?”

“Mr. Lee does, sir, every morning. Mr. Alfred, he’s a very methodical gentleman.”

“I see. Thank you.”

Tressilian went out. Sugden said, puzzled:

“Is there anything fishy about that calendar, Mr. Poirot? Have I missed something there?”

With a shrug¹⁶ of his shoulders Poirot said:

“The calendar is of no importance. It was just a little experiment I was making.”

Colonel Johnson said:

“Inquest tomorrow. There’ll be an adjournment¹⁷, of course.”

Sugden said:

“Yes, sir, I’ve seen the Coroner and it’s all arranged for.”

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

5 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

6 accomplice   

n.从犯，帮凶，同谋

参考例句：

• She was her husband's accomplice in murdering a rich old man.她是她丈夫谋杀一个老富翁的帮凶。
• He is suspected as an accomplice of the murder.他涉嫌为这次凶杀案的同谋。

7 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

8 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

9 hue   

n.色度；色调；样子

参考例句：

• The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。
• The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。

10 dubiously   

adv.可疑地，怀疑地

参考例句：

• "What does he have to do?" queried Chin dubiously. “他有什么心事？”琴向觉民问道，她的脸上现出疑惑不解的神情。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• He walked out fast, leaving the head waiter staring dubiously at the flimsy blue paper. 他很快地走出去，撇下侍者头儿半信半疑地瞪着这张薄薄的蓝纸。 来自辞典例句

11 fishy   

adj. 值得怀疑的

参考例句：

• It all sounds very fishy to me.所有这些在我听起来都很可疑。
• There was definitely something fishy going on.肯定当时有可疑的事情在进行中。

12 testily   

adv. 易怒地, 暴躁地

参考例句：

• He reacted testily to reports that he'd opposed military involvement. 有报道称他反对军队参与，对此他很是恼火。 来自柯林斯例句

13 extorting   

v.敲诈( extort的现在分词 )；曲解

参考例句：

• Corrupt government officials were extorting money from him. 腐败的政府官员向他敲诈钱财。 来自辞典例句
• He's been charged with extorting protection money from the shopkeepers. 他被指控对店主敲诈勒索保护费。 来自互联网

14 blackmail   

n.讹诈，敲诈，勒索，胁迫，恫吓

参考例句：

• She demanded ＄1000 blackmail from him.她向他敲诈了1000美元。
• The journalist used blackmail to make the lawyer give him the documents.记者讹诈那名律师交给他文件。

15 shuffled   

v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼

参考例句：

• He shuffled across the room to the window. 他拖着脚走到房间那头的窗户跟前。
• Simon shuffled awkwardly towards them. 西蒙笨拙地拖着脚朝他们走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

17 adjournment   

休会； 延期； 休会期； 休庭期

参考例句：

• The adjournment of the case lasted for two weeks. 该案休庭期为两周。
• The solicitor moved for an adjournment of the case. 律师请求将这个案件的诉讼延期。