ELEVEN, TWELVE, MEN MUST DELVE 4

IV
Dressing¹ for dinner, adjusting his tie to an exact symmetry, Hercule Poirot frowned at his
reflection in the mirror.
He was dissatisfied—but he would have been at a loss to explain why. For the case, as he
owned to himself, was so very clear. Frank Carter had indeed been caught red-handed.
It was not as though he had any particular belief in, or liking² for, Frank Carter. Carter, he
thought dispassionately, was definitely what the English call a “wrong ’un.” He was an unpleasant
young bully³ of the kind that appeals to women, so that they are reluctant to believe the worst,
however plain the evidence.
And Carter’s whole story was weak in the extreme. This tale of having been approached by
agents of the “Secret Service”—and offered a plummy job. To take the post of gardener and report
on the conversations and actions of the other gardeners. It was a story that was disproved easily
enough—there was no foundation for it.
A particularly weak invention—the kind of thing, Poirot reflected, that a man like Carter would
invent.
And on Carter’s side, there was nothing at all to be said. He could offer no explanation, except
that somebody else must have shot off the revolver. He kept repeating that. It was a frame-up.
No, there was nothing to be said for Carter except, perhaps, that it seemed an odd coincidence
that Howard Raikes should have been present two days running at the moment when a bullet had
just missed Alistair Blunt.
But presumably there wasn’t anything in that. Raikes certainly hadn’t fired the shot in Downing
Street. And his presence down here was fully⁵ accounted for—he had come down to be near his
girl. No, there was nothing definitely improbable in his story.
It had turned out, of course, very fortunately for Howard Raikes. When a man has just saved
you from a bullet, you cannot forbid him the house. The least you can do is to show friendliness⁶
and extend hospitality. Mrs. Olivera didn’t like it, obviously, but even she saw that there was
nothing to be done about it.
Jane’s undesirable⁷ young man had got his foot in and he meant to keep it there!
Poirot watched him speculatively⁸ during the evening.
He was playing his part with a good deal of astuteness⁹. He did not air any subversive¹⁰ views, he
kept off politics. He told amusing stories of his hitchhikes and tramps in wild places.
“He is no longer the wolf,” thought Poirot. “No, he has put on the sheep’s clothing. But
underneath¹¹? I wonder….”
As Poirot was preparing for bed that night, there was a rap on the door. Poirot called, “Come
in,” and Howard Raikes entered.
He laughed at Poirot’s expression.
“Surprised to see me? I’ve had my eye on you all evening. I didn’t like the way you were
looking. Kind of thoughtful.”
“Why should that worry you, my friend?”
“I don’t know why, but it did. I thought maybe that you were finding certain things just a bit
hard to swallow.”
“Eh bien? And if so?”
“Well, I decided¹² that I’d best come clean. About yesterday, I mean. That was a fake show all
right! You see, I was watching his lordship come out of 10, Downing Street and I saw Ram⁴ Lal
fire at him. I know Ram Lal. He’s a nice kid. A bit excitable but he feels the wrongs of India very
keenly. Well, there was no harm done, that precious pair of stuffed shirts weren’t harmed—the
bullet had missed ’em both by miles—so I decided to put up a show and hope the Indian kid
would get clear. I grabbed hold of a shabby little guy just by me and called out that I’d got the
villain¹³ and hoped Ram Lal was beating it all right. But the dicks were too smart. They were on to
him in a flash. That’s just how it was. See?”
Hercule Poirot said:
“And today?”
“That’s different. There weren’t any Ram Lals about today. Carter was the only man on the
spot. He fired that pistol all right! It was still in his hand when I jumped on him. He was going to
try a second shot, I expect.”
Poirot said:
“You were very anxious to preserve the safety of M. Blunt?”
Raikes grinned—an engaging grin.
“A bit odd, you think, after all I’ve said? Oh, I admit it. I think Blunt is a guy who ought to be
shot—for the sake of Progress and Humanity—I don’t mean personally—he’s a nice enough old
boy in his British way. I think that, and yet when I saw someone taking a potshot at him I leap in
and interfere¹⁴. That shows you how illogical the human animal is. It’s crazy, isn’t it?”
“The gap between theory and practice is a wide one.”
“I’ll say it is!” Mr. Raikes got up from the bed where he had been sitting.
His smile was easy and confiding¹⁵.
“I just thought,” he said, “that I’d come along and explain the thing to you.”
He went out shutting the door carefully behind him.

1 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。

2 liking   

n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢

参考例句：

• The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
• I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。

3 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

4 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 friendliness   

n.友谊，亲切，亲密

参考例句：

• Behind the mask of friendliness,I know he really dislikes me.在友善的面具后面，我知道他其实并不喜欢我。
• His manner was a blend of friendliness and respect.他的态度友善且毕恭毕敬。

7 undesirable   

adj.不受欢迎的，不良的，不合意的，讨厌的；n.不受欢迎的人，不良分子

参考例句：

• They are the undesirable elements among the employees.他们是雇员中的不良分子。
• Certain chemicals can induce undesirable changes in the nervous system.有些化学物质能在神经系统中引起不良变化。

8 speculatively   

adv.思考地，思索地；投机地

参考例句：

• He looked at her speculatively. 他若有所思的看着她。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She eyed It'speculatively as a cruel smile appeared on her black lips. 她若有所思地审视它，黑色的嘴角浮起一丝残酷的微笑。 来自互联网

9 astuteness   

n.敏锐；精明；机敏

参考例句：

• His pleasant, somewhat ordinary face suggested amiability rather than astuteness. 他那讨人喜欢而近乎平庸的脸显得和蔼有余而机敏不足。 来自互联网
• Young Singaporeans seem to lack the astuteness and dynamism that they possess. 本地的一般年轻人似乎就缺少了那份机灵和朝气。 来自互联网

10 subversive   

adj.颠覆性的，破坏性的；n.破坏份子，危险份子

参考例句：

• She was seen as a potentially subversive within the party.她被看成党内潜在的颠覆分子。
• The police is investigating subversive group in the student organization.警方正调查学生组织中的搞颠覆阴谋的集团。

11 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

14 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

15 confiding   

adj.相信人的，易于相信的v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的现在分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等）

参考例句：

• The girl is of a confiding nature. 这女孩具有轻信别人的性格。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Celia, though confiding her opinion only to Andrew, disagreed. 西莉亚却不这么看，尽管她只向安德鲁吐露过。 来自辞典例句