FIVE, SIX, PICKING UP STICKS 1

FIVE, SIX, PICKING UP STICKS
I
Twenty-four hours later Japp rang Poirot up. His tone was bitter.
“Washout! The whole thing!”
“What do you mean, my friend?”
“Morley committed suicide all right. We’ve got the motive¹.”
“What was it?”
“I’ve just had the doctor’s report on Amberiotis’ death. I won’t give you the official jargon² but
in plain English he died as a result of an overdose of adrenaline and novocaine. It acted on his
heart, I understand, and he collapsed³. When the wretched devil said he was feeling bad yesterday
afternoon, he was just speaking the truth. Well, there you are! Adrenaline and procaine is the stuff
dentists inject into your gum—local anesthetic⁵. Morley made an error, injected an overdose, and
then after Amberiotis left, he realized what he had done, couldn’t face the music and shot
himself.”
“With a pistol he was not known to possess?” queried⁶ Poirot.
“He may have possessed⁷ it all the same. Relations don’t know everything. You’d be surprised
sometimes, the things they don’t know!”
“That is true, yes.”
Japp said:
“Well, there you are. It’s a perfectly⁸ logical explanation of the whole thing.”
Poirot said:
“You know, my friend, it does not quite satisfy me. It is true that patients have been known to
react unfavourably to these local anesthetics. Adrenaline idiosyncrasy is well- known. In
combination with procaine toxic⁹ effects have followed quite small doses. But the doctor or dentist
who employed the drug does not usually carry his concern as far as killing¹⁰ himself!”
“Yes, but you’re talking of cases where the employment of the anesthetic was normal. In that
case no particular blame attaches to the surgeon concerned. It is the idiosyncrasy of the patient that
has caused death. But in this case it’s pretty clear that there was a definite overdose. They haven’t
got the exact amount yet—these quantitive analyses seem to take a month of Sundays—but it was
definitely more than the normal dose. That means that Morley must have made a mistake.”
“Even then,” said Poirot, “it was a mistake. It would not be a criminal matter.”
“No, but it wouldn’t do him any good in his profession. In fact, it would pretty well ruin him.
Nobody’s going to go to a dentist who’s likely to shoot lethal¹¹ doses of poison into you just
because he happens to be a bit absentminded.”
“It was a curious thing to do, I admit.”
“These things happen — they happen to doctors — they happen to chemists … Careful and
reliable for years, and then—one moment’s inattention—and the mischief’s done and the poor
devils are for it. Morley was a sensitive man. In the case of a doctor, there’s usually a chemist or a
dispenser to share the blame — or to shoulder it altogether. In this case Morley was solely¹²
responsible.”
Poirot demurred¹³.
“Would he not have left some message behind him? Saying what he had done? And that he
could not face the consequences? Something of that kind? Just a word for his sister?”
“No, as I see it, he suddenly realized what had happened—and just lost his nerve and took the
quickest way out.”
Poirot did not answer.
Japp said:
“I know you, old boy. Once you’ve got your teeth into a case of murder, you like it to be a case
of murder! I admit I’m responsible for setting you on the track this time. Well, I made a mistake. I
admit it freely.”
Poirot said:
“I still think, you know, that there might be another explanation.”
“Plenty of other explanations, I daresay. I’ve thought of them—but they’re all too fantastic.
Let’s say that Amberiotis shot Morley, went home, was filled with remorse¹⁴ and committed suicide,
using some stuff he’d pinched from Morley’s surgery. If you think that’s likely, I think it’s
damned unlikely. We’ve got a record of Amberiotis at the Yard. Quite interesting. Started as a
little hotelkeeper in Greece, then he mixed himself up in politics. He’s done espionage¹⁵ work in
Germany and in France—and made very pretty little sums of money. But he wasn’t getting rich
quick enough that way, and he’s believed to have done a spot or two of blackmail¹⁶. Not a nice man,
our Mr. Amberiotis. He was out in India last year and is believed to have bled one of the native
princes rather freely. The difficult thing has been ever to prove anything against him. Slippery as
an eel⁴! There is another possibility. He might have been blackmailing¹⁷ Morley over something or
other. Morley, having a golden opportunity, plugs an overdose of adrenaline and novocaine into
him, hoping that the verdict will be an unfortunate accident—adrenaline idiosyncrasy—something
of that sort. Then, after the man’s gone away Morley gets a fit of remorse and does himself in.
That’s possible, of course, but I can’t somehow see Morley as a deliberate murderer. No, I’m
pretty sure it was what I first said — a genuine mistake, made on a morning when he was
overworked. We’ll have to leave it at that, Poirot. I’ve talked to the A.C. and he’s quite clear on
it.”
“I see,” said Poirot, with a sigh. “I see….”
Japp said kindly¹⁸:
“I know what you feel, old boy. But you can’t have a nice juicy murder every time! So long. All
I can say by way of apology is the old phrase: ‘Sorry you have been troubled!’”
He rang off.

1 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。

2 jargon   

n.术语，行话

参考例句：

• They will not hear critics with their horrible jargon.他们不愿意听到评论家们那些可怕的行话。
• It is important not to be overawed by the mathematical jargon.要紧的是不要被数学的术语所吓倒.

3 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

4 eel   

n.鳗鲡

参考例句：

• He used an eel spear to catch an eel.他用一只捕鳗叉捕鳗鱼。
• In Suzhou,there was a restaurant that specialized in eel noodles.苏州有一家饭馆，他们那里的招牌菜是鳗鱼面。

5 anesthetic   

n.麻醉剂，麻药；adj.麻醉的，失去知觉的

参考例句：

• He was given a general anesthetic.他被全身麻醉。
• He was still under the influence of the anesthetic.他仍处在麻醉状态。

6 queried   

v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问

参考例句：

• She queried what he said. 她对他说的话表示怀疑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"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）

7 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。

8 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

9 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

10 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

11 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

12 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

13 demurred   

v.表示异议，反对( demur的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• At first she demurred, but then finally agreed. 她开始表示反对，但最终还是同意了。
• They demurred at working on Sundays. 他们反对星期日工作。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

14 remorse   

n.痛恨，悔恨，自责

参考例句：

• She had no remorse about what she had said.她对所说的话不后悔。
• He has shown no remorse for his actions.他对自己的行为没有任何悔恨之意。

15 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

16 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。

17 blackmailing   

胁迫，尤指以透露他人不体面行为相威胁以勒索钱财( blackmail的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The policemen kept blackmailing him, because they had sth. on him. 那些警察之所以经常去敲他的竹杠是因为抓住把柄了。
• Democratic paper "nailed" an aggravated case of blackmailing to me. 民主党最主要的报纸把一桩极为严重的讹诈案件“栽”在我的头上。

18 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。