SEVEN, EIGHT, LAY THEM STRAIGHT 4

IV
As they went down the stairs again to No. 42, Japp ejaculated with feeling: “Shades of Phillips
Oppenheim, Valentine Williams and William le Queux, I think I’m going mad!”
That smart young man, Sergeant¹ Beddoes, was waiting for them.
He said respectfully:
“Haven’t been able to get anything helpful from the maid, sir. Mrs. Chapman changed maids
pretty often, it seems. This one only worked for her for a month or two. She says Mrs. Chapman
was a nice lady, fond of the radio and pleasant spoken. Girl was of the opinion the husband was a
gay deceiver but that Mrs. Chapman didn’t suspect it. She got letters from abroad sometimes,
some from Germany, two from America, one from Italy and one from Russia. The girl’s young
man collects stamps, and Mrs. Chapman used to give them to her off the letters.”
“Anything among Mrs. Chapman’s papers?”
“Absolutely nothing, sir. She didn’t keep much. A few bills and receipted accounts—all local.
Some old theatre programmes, one or two cookery recipes cut out of the papers, and a pamphlet
about Zenana Missions.”
“And we can guess who brought that here. She doesn’t sound like a murderess, does she? And
yet that’s what it seems to be. She’s bound to be an accomplice² anyway. No strange men seen
about that evening?”
“The porter doesn’t remember any—but then I don’t suppose he would by now, and anyway it’s
a big block of flats—people always going in and out. He can only fix the date of Miss Sainsbury
Seale’s visit because he was taken off to the hospital the next day and was actually feeling rather
bad that evening.”
“Anybody in the other flats hear anything out of the way?”
The younger man shook his head.
“I’ve inquired at the flat above this and the one below. Nobody can remember hearing anything
unusual. Both of them had their radios on, I gather.”
The divisional surgeon came out of the bathroom where he had been washing his hands.
“Most unsavoury corpse,” he said cheerfully. “Send her along when you’re ready and I’ll get
down to brass³ tacks⁴.”
“No idea of the cause of death, doctor?”
“Impossible to say until I’ve done the autopsy⁵. Those face injuries were definitely inflicted⁶ after
death, I should say. But I shall know better when I’ve got her at the mortuary. Middle-aged⁷
woman, quite healthy—grey hair at the roots but tinted⁸ blonde. There may be distinguishing marks
on the body—if there isn’t, it may be a job to identify her—oh, you know who she is, splendid?
What? Missing woman there’s been all the fuss about? Well, you know, I never read the papers.
Just do the crosswords⁹.”
Japp said bitterly:
“And that’s publicity¹⁰ for you!” as the doctor went out.
Poirot was hovering¹¹ over the desk. He picked up a small brown address book.
The indefatigable¹² Beddoes said:
“Nothing of special interest there—most hairdressers, dressmakers, etc. I’ve noted¹³ down any
private names and addresses.”
Poirot opened the book at the letter D.
He read:
Dr. Davis, 17, Prince Albert Road,
Drake and Pomponetti, Fishmongers.
And below it:
Dentist. Mr. Morley, 58, Queen Charlotte Street.
There was a green light in Poirot’s eyes. He said:
“There will be no difficulty, I imagine, in positively¹⁴ identifying the body.”
Japp looked at him curiously¹⁵. He said:
“Surely—you don’t imagine—?”
Poirot said with vehemence¹⁶:
“I want to be sure.”

1 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

2 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。

3 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

4 tacks   

大头钉( tack的名词复数 )； 平头钉； 航向； 方法

参考例句：

• Never mind the side issues, let's get down to brass tacks and thrash out a basic agreement. 别管枝节问题，让我们讨论问题的实质，以求得基本一致。
• Get down to the brass tacks,and quit talking round the subject. 谈实质问题吧，别兜圈子了。

5 autopsy   

n.尸体解剖；尸检

参考例句：

• They're carrying out an autopsy on the victim.他们正在给受害者验尸。
• A hemorrhagic gut was the predominant lesion at autopsy.尸检的主要发现是肠出血。

6 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

7 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

8 tinted   

adj. 带色彩的 动词tint的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• a pair of glasses with tinted lenses 一副有色镜片眼镜
• a rose-tinted vision of the world 对世界的理想化看法

9 crosswords   

纵横填字谜( crossword的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Doing crosswords gives the mind some exercise. 做纵横字谜游戏能锻炼脑筋。
• He spends all his time on crosswords and other trifles. 他把所有的时间都用在做纵横填字游戏和其他无聊的活动上。

10 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

11 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。

12 indefatigable   

adj.不知疲倦的，不屈不挠的

参考例句：

• His indefatigable spirit helped him to cope with his illness.他不屈不挠的精神帮助他对抗病魔。
• He was indefatigable in his lectures on the aesthetics of love.在讲授关于爱情的美学时，他是不知疲倦的。

13 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。

14 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

15 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

16 vehemence   

n.热切；激烈；愤怒

参考例句：

• The attack increased in vehemence.进攻越来越猛烈。
• She was astonished at his vehemence.她对他的激昂感到惊讶。