PART SIX DECEMBER 27TH III

PART SIX DECEMBER 27TH III

Lunch was over.

As they came out of the dining room, Alfred said to Pilar:

“Will you come into my room? There is something I want to talk over with you.”

He led her across the hall and into his study, shutting the door after him. The others went on

into the drawing room. Only Hercule Poirot remained in the hall looking thoughtfully at the closed

study door.

He was aware suddenly of the old butler hovering¹ uneasily near him.

Poirot said: “Yes, Tressilian, what is it?”

The old man seemed troubled. He said:

“I wanted to speak to Mr. Lee. But I don’t like to disturb him now.”

Poirot said: “Something has occurred?”

Tressilian said slowly:

“It’s such a queer thing. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Tell me,” said Hercule Poirot.

Tressilian hesitated. Then he said:

“Well, it’s this, sir. You may have noticed that each side of the front door there was a cannon²

ball. Big heavy stone things. Well, sir, one of them’s gone.”

Hercule Poirot’s eyebrows³ rose. He said; “Since when?”

“They were both there this morning, sir. I’ll take my oath on that.”

“Let me see.”

Together they went outside the front door. Poirot bent⁴ and examined the remaining cannon

ball. When he straightened himself, his face was very grave.

Tressilian quavered:

“Who’d want to steal a thing like that, sir? It doesn’t make sense.”

Poirot said: “I do not like it. I do not like it at all. . . .”

Tressilian was watching him anxiously. He said slowly:

“What’s come to the house, sir? Ever since the master was murdered it doesn’t seem like the

same place. I feel the whole time as though I was going about in a dream. I mix things up, and I

sometimes feel I can’t trust my own eyes.”

Hercule Poirot shook his head. He said:

“You are wrong. Your own eyes are just what you must trust.”

Tressilian said, shaking his head:

“My sight’s bad—I can’t see like I used to do. I get things mixed up—and people. I’m getting

too old for my work.”

Hercule Poirot clapped him on the shoulder and said:

“Courage.”

“Thank you, sir. You mean it kindly⁵, I know. But there it is, I am too old. I’m always going

back to the old days and the old faces. Miss Jenny and Master David and Master Alfred. I’m

always seeing them as young gentlemen and ladies. Ever since that night when Mr. Harry⁶ came

home—”

Poirot nodded.

“Yes,” he said, “that is what I thought. You said just now ‘Ever since the master was

murdered’—but it began before that. It is ever since Mr. Harry came home, is it not, that things

have altered and seemed unreal?”

The butler said:

“You’re quite right, sir. It was then. Mr. Harry always brought trouble into the house, even in

the old days.”

His eyes wandered back to the empty stone base.

“Who can have taken it, sir?” he whispered. “And why? It’s—it’s like a madhouse.”

Hercule Poirot said:

“It is not madness I am afraid of. It is sanity⁷! Somebody, Tressilian, is in great danger.”

He turned and reentered the house.

At that moment Pilar came out from the study. A red spot shone on either cheek. She held her

head high and her eyes glittered.

As Poirot came up to her, she suddenly stamped her foot and said: “I will not take it.”

Poirot raised his eyebrows. He said:

“What is it that you will not take, mademoiselle?”

Pilar said:

“Alfred has just told me that I am to have my mother’s share of the money my grandfather

left.”

“Well?”

“I could not get it by law, he said. But he and Lydia and the others consider it should be

mine. They say it is a matter of justice. And so they will hand it over to me.”

Poirot said again:

“Well?”

Pilar stamped once more with her foot.

“Do you not understand? They are giving it to me—giving it to me.”

“Need that hurt your pride? Since what they say is true—that it should in justice be yours?”

Pilar said:

“You do not understand. . . .”

Poirot said:

“On the contrary—I understand very well.”

“Oh! . . .” She turned away pettishly⁸.

There was a ring at the bell. Poirot glanced over his shoulder. He saw the silhouette⁹ of

Superintendent¹⁰ Sugden outside the door. He said hurriedly to Pilar:

“Where are you going?”

She said sulkily:

“To the drawing room. To the others.”

Poirot said quickly:

“Good. Stay with them there. Do not wander about the house alone, especially after dark. Be

on your guard. You are in great danger, mademoiselle. You will never be in greater danger than

you are today.”

He turned away from her and went to meet Sugden.

The latter waited till Tressilian had gone back into his pantry.

Then he shoved a cable form under Poirot’s nose.

“Now we’ve got it!” he said. “Read that. It’s from the South African Police.”

The cable said:

“Ebenezer Farr’s only son died two years ago.”

Sugden said:

“So now we know! Funny—I was on a different tack¹¹ altogether. . . .”

1 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

2 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

3 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

4 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

5 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。

6 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。

7 sanity   

n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确

参考例句：

• I doubt the sanity of such a plan.我怀疑这个计划是否明智。
• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。

8 pettishly   

参考例句：

• \"Oh, no,'she said, almost pettishly, \"I just don't feel very good.\" “哦，不是，\"她说，几乎想发火了，\"我只是觉得不大好受。” 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Then he tossed the marble away pettishly, and stood cogitating. 于是他一气之下扔掉那个弹子，站在那儿沉思。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

9 silhouette   

n.黑色半身侧面影，影子，轮廓；v.描绘成侧面影，照出影子来，仅仅显出轮廓

参考例句：

• I could see its black silhouette against the evening sky.我能看到夜幕下它黑色的轮廓。
• I could see the silhouette of the woman in the pickup.我可以见到小卡车的女人黑色半身侧面影。

10 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。

11 tack   

n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝

参考例句：

• He is hammering a tack into the wall to hang a picture.他正往墙上钉一枚平头钉用来挂画。
• We are going to tack the map on the wall.我们打算把这张地图钉在墙上。