FIVE, SIX, PICKING UP STICKS 5

V
Japp grumbled¹ as they were waiting for the manageress.
“What does the woman want to disappear for?”
“It is curious, you admit?”
They had no time for more.
Mrs. Harrison, proprietor² of the Glengowrie Court, was with them.
Mrs. Harrison was voluble and almost tearful. She was so worried about Miss Sainsbury Seale.
What could have happened to her? Rapidly she went over every possibility of disaster. Loss of
memory, sudden illness, haemorrhage, run down by an omnibus, robbery and assault—
She paused at last for breath, murmuring:
“Such a nice type of woman—and she seemed so happy and comfortable here.”
She took them, at Japp’s request, up to the chaste³ bedroom occupied by the missing lady.
Everything was neat and orderly. Clothes hung in the wardrobe, nightclothes were folded ready on
the bed, in a corner were Miss Sainsbury Seale’s two modest suitcases. A row of shoes stood
under the dressing⁴ table—some serviceable Oxfords, two pairs of rather meretricious⁵ glacé fancy
shoes with court heels and ornament⁶ with bows of leather, some plain black satin evening shoes,
practically new, and a pair of moccasins. Poirot noted⁷ that the evening shoes were a size smaller
than the day ones—a fact that might be put down to corns or to vanity. He wondered whether Miss
Sainsbury Seale had found time to sew the second buckle⁸ on her shoe before she went out. He
hoped so. Slovenliness⁹ in dress always annoyed him.
Japp was busy looking through some letters in a drawer of the dressing table. Hercule Poirot
gingerly pulled open a drawer of the chest of drawers. It was full of underclothing. He shut it again
modestly, murmuring that Miss Sainsbury Seale seemed to believe in wearing wool next to the
skin, and opened another drawer which contained stockings.
Japp said:
“Got anything, Poirot?”
Poirot said sadly, as he dangled¹⁰ a pair: “Ten inch, cheap shiny silk, price probably two-and-
eleven.”
Japp said:
“You’re not valuing for probate, old boy. Two letters here from India, one or two receipts from
charitable organizations, no bills. Most estimable character, our Miss Sainsbury Seale.”
“But very little taste in dress,” said Poirot sadly.
“Probably thought dress wordly.” Japp was noting down an address from an old letter dated two
months back.
“These people may know something about her,” he said. “Address up Hampstead way. Sound
as though they were fairly intimate.”
There was nothing more to be gleaned¹¹ at the Glengowrie Court Hotel except the negative fact
that Miss Sainsbury Seale had not seemed excited or worried in any way when she went out, and it
would appear that she had definitely intended to return since on passing her friend Mrs. Bolitho in
the hall, she had called out:
“After dinner I will show you that Patience I was telling you about.”
Moreover, it was the custom at the Glengowrie Court to give notice in the dining room if you
intended to be out for a meal. Miss Sainsbury Seale had not done so. Therefore it seemed clear that
she had intended returning for dinner which was served from seven thirty to eight thirty.
But she had not returned. She had walked out into the Cromwell Road and disappeared.
Japp and Poirot called at the address in West Hampstead which had headed the letter found.
It was a pleasant house and the Adams were pleasant people with a large family. They had lived
in India for many years and spoke¹² warmly of Miss Sainsbury Seale. But they could not help.
They had not seen her lately, not for a month, not in fact since they came back from their Easter
holidays. She had been staying then at a hotel near Russell Square. Mrs. Adams gave Poirot the
address of it and also the address of some other Anglo-Indian friends of Miss Sainsbury Seale’s
who lived in Streatham.
But the two men drew a blank in both places. Miss Sainsbury Seale had stayed at the hotel in
question, but they remembered very little about her and nothing that could be of any help. She was
a nice quiet lady and had lived abroad. The people in Streatham were no help either. They had not
seen Miss Sainsbury Seale since February.
There remained the possibility of an accident, but that possibility was dispelled¹³ too. No hospital
had admitted any casualty answering to the description given.
Miss Sainsbury Seale had disappeared into space.

1 grumbled   

抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声

参考例句：

• He grumbled at the low pay offered to him. 他抱怨给他的工资低。
• The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. 天热得让人发昏，水手们边干活边发着牢骚。

2 proprietor   

n.所有人；业主；经营者

参考例句：

• The proprietor was an old acquaintance of his.业主是他的一位旧相识。
• The proprietor of the corner grocery was a strange thing in my life.拐角杂货店店主是我生活中的一个怪物。

3 chaste   

adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的

参考例句：

• Comparatively speaking,I like chaste poetry better.相比较而言，我更喜欢朴实无华的诗。
• Tess was a chaste young girl.苔丝是一个善良的少女。

4 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

5 meretricious   

adj.华而不实的，俗艳的

参考例句：

• A wooden building painted to look like marble is meretricious.一座漆得像大理石般的木制建筑物外表是美丽的。
• Her room was painted in meretricious technicolour.她的房间刷着俗艳的颜色。

6 ornament   

v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物

参考例句：

• The flowers were put on the table for ornament.花放在桌子上做装饰用。
• She wears a crystal ornament on her chest.她的前胸戴了一个水晶饰品。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 buckle   

n.扣子，带扣；v.把...扣住，由于压力而弯曲

参考例句：

• The two ends buckle at the back.带子两端在背后扣起来。
• She found it hard to buckle down.她很难专心做一件事情。

9 slovenliness   

参考例句：

• Slovenliness is no part of religion. 邋遢并非宗教的一部分。 来自辞典例句
• Slovenliness no part of religion. “邋遢”并非宗教的一部分。 来自互联网

10 dangled   

悬吊着( dangle的过去式和过去分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• Gold charms dangled from her bracelet. 她的手镯上挂着许多金饰物。
• It's the biggest financial incentive ever dangled before British footballers. 这是历来对英国足球运动员的最大经济诱惑。

11 gleaned   

v.一点点地收集（资料、事实）( glean的过去式和过去分词 )；（收割后）拾穗

参考例句：

• These figures have been gleaned from a number of studies. 这些数据是通过多次研究收集得来的。
• A valuable lesson may be gleaned from it by those who have eyes to see. 明眼人可从中记取宝贵的教训。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 dispelled   

v.驱散，赶跑( dispel的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His speech dispelled any fears about his health. 他的发言消除了人们对他身体健康的担心。
• The sun soon dispelled the thick fog. 太阳很快驱散了浓雾。 来自《简明英汉词典》