FIFTEEN, SIXTEEN, MAIDS IN THE KITCHEN 3

III
Frank Carter, haggard, white- faced, still feebly inclined to bluster¹, looked on his unexpected
visitor with unconcealed disfavour. He said rudely:
“So it’s you, you ruddy little foreigner? What do you want?”
“I want to see you and talk to you.”
“Well, you see me all right. But I won’t talk. Not without my lawyer. That’s right, isn’t it? You
can’t go against that. I’ve got the right to have my solicitor² present before I say a word.”
“Certainly you have. You can send for him if you like—but I should prefer that you did not.”
“I daresay. Think you’re going to trap me into making some damaging admissions, eh?”
“We are quite alone, remember.”
“That’s a bit unusual, isn’t it? Got your police pals³ listening in, no doubt.”
“You are wrong. This is a private interview between you and me.”
Frank Carter laughed. He looked cunning and unpleasant. He said:
“Come off it! You don’t take me in with that old gag.”
“Do you remember a girl called Agnes Fletcher?”
“Never heard of her.”
“I think you will remember her, though you may never have taken much notice of her. She was
house-parlourmaid at 58, Queen Charlotte Street.”
“Well, what of it?”
Hercule Poirot said slowly:
“On the morning of the day that Mr. Morley was shot, this girl Agnes happened to look over the
banisters from the top floor. She saw you on the stairs—waiting and listening. Presently she saw
you go along to Mr. Morley’s room. The time was then twenty-six minutes or thereabouts past
twelve.”
Frank Carter trembled violently. Sweat came out on his brow. His eyes, more furtive⁴ than ever,
went wildly from side to side. He shouted angrily:
“It’s a lie! It’s a damned lie! You’ve paid her—the police have paid her—to say she saw me.”
“At that time,” said Hercule Poirot, “by your own account, you had left the house and were
walking in the Marylebone Road.”
“So I was. That girl’s lying. She couldn’t have seen me. It’s a dirty plot. If it’s true, why didn’t
she say so before?”
Hercule Poirot said quietly:
“She did mention it at the time to her friend and colleague the cook. They were worried and
puzzled and didn’t know what to do. When a verdict of suicide was brought in they were much
relieved and decided⁵ that it wasn’t necessary for them to say anything.”
“I don’t believe a word of it! They’re in it together, that’s all. A couple of dirty, lying little …”
He tailed off into furious profanity.
Hercule Poirot waited.
When Carter’s voice at last ceased, Poirot spoke⁶ again, still in the same calm, measured voice.
“Anger and foolish abuse will not help you. These girls are going to tell their story and it is
going to be believed. Because, you see, they are telling the truth. The girl, Agnes Fletcher, did see
you. You were there, on the stairs, at that time. You had not left the house. And you did go into
Mr. Morley’s room.”
He paused and then asked quietly:
“What happened then?”
“It’s a lie, I tell you!”
Hercule Poirot felt very tired—very old. He did not like Frank Carter. He disliked him very
much. In his opinion Frank Carter was a bully⁷, a liar⁸, a swindler—altogether the type of young
man the world could well do without. He, Hercule Poirot, had only to stand back and let this
young man persist in his lies and the world would be rid of one of its more unpleasant
inhabitants….
Hercule Poirot said:
“I suggest you tell me the truth….”
He realized the issue very clearly. Frank Carter was stupid—but he wasn’t so stupid as not to
see that to persist in his denial was his best and safest course. Let him once admit that he had gone
into that room at twenty-six minutes past twelve and he was taking a step into grave danger. For
after that, any story he told would have a good chance of being considered a lie.
Let him persist in his denial, then. If so, Hercule Poirot’s duty would be over. Frank Carter
would in all probability be hanged for the murder of Henry Morley—and it might be, justly
hanged.
Hercule Poirot had only to get up and go.
Frank Carter said again:
“It’s a lie!”
There was a pause. Hercule Poirot did not get up and go. He would have liked to do so—very
much. Nevertheless, he remained.
He leaned forward. He said—and his voice held all the compelling power of his powerful
personality—
“I am not lying to you. I ask you to believe me. If you did not kill Morley your only hope is to
tell me the exact truth of what happened that morning.”
The mean, treacherous⁹ face looking at him wavered, became uncertain. Frank Carter pulled at
his lip. His eyes went from side to side, terrified, frankly¹⁰ animal eyes.
It was touch and go now….
Then suddenly, overborne by the strength of the personality confronting him, Frank Carter
surrendered.
He said hoarsely¹¹:
“All right then—I’ll tell you. God curse you if you let me down now! I did go in … I went up
the stairs and waited till I could be sure of getting him alone. Waited there, up above Morley’s
landing. Then a gent came out and went down—fat gent. I was just making up my mind to go—
when another gent came out of Morley’s room and went down too. I knew I’d got to be quick. I
went along and nipped into his room without knocking. I was all set to have it out with him.
Mucking about, putting my girl against me—damn him—”
He stopped.
“Yes?” said Hercule Poirot: and his voice was still urgent—compelling—
Carter’s voice croaked¹² uncertainly.
“And he was lying there—dead. It’s true! I swear it’s true! Lying just as they said at the inquest.
I couldn’t believe it at first. I stooped over him. But he was dead all right. His hand was stone cold
and I saw the bullet hole in his head with a hard black crust of blood round it….”
At the memory of it, sweat broke out on his forehead again.
“I saw then I was in a jam. They’d go and say I’d done it. I hadn’t touched anything except his
hand and the door handle. I wiped that with my handkerchief, both sides, as I went out, and I stole
downstairs as quickly as I could. There was nobody in the hall and I let myself out and legged it
away as fast as I could. No wonder I felt queer.”
He paused. His scared eyes went to Poirot.
“That’s the truth. I swear that’s the truth … He was dead already. You’ve got to believe me!”
Poirot got up. He said—and his voice was tired and sad—“I believe you.”
He moved towards the door.
Frank Carter cried out:
“They’ll hang me—they’ll hang me for a cert if they know I was in there.”
Poirot said:
“By telling the truth you have saved yourself from being hanged.”
“I don’t see it. They’ll say—”
Poirot interrupted him.
“Your story has confirmed what I knew to be the truth. You can leave it now to me.”
He went out.
He was not at all happy.

1 bluster   

v.猛刮；怒冲冲的说；n.吓唬，怒号；狂风声

参考例句：

• We could hear the bluster of the wind and rain.我们能听到狂风暴雨的吹打声。
• He was inclined to bluster at first,but he soon dropped.起初他老爱吵闹一阵，可是不久就不做声了。

2 solicitor   

n.初级律师，事务律师

参考例句：

• The solicitor's advice gave me food for thought.律师的指点值得我深思。
• The solicitor moved for an adjournment of the case.律师请求将这个案件的诉讼延期。

3 pals   

n.朋友( pal的名词复数 )；老兄；小子；（对男子的不友好的称呼）家伙

参考例句：

• We've been pals for years. 我们是多年的哥们儿了。
• CD 8 positive cells remarkably increased in PALS and RP(P CD8+细胞在再生脾PALS和RP内均明显增加(P 来自互联网

4 furtive   

adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的

参考例句：

• The teacher was suspicious of the student's furtive behaviour during the exam.老师怀疑这个学生在考试时有偷偷摸摸的行为。
• His furtive behaviour aroused our suspicion.他鬼鬼祟祟的行为引起了我们的怀疑。

5 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。

6 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。

7 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。

8 liar   

n.说谎的人

参考例句：

• I know you for a thief and a liar!我算认识你了，一个又偷又骗的家伙！
• She was wrongly labelled a liar.她被错误地扣上说谎者的帽子。

9 treacherous   

adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的

参考例句：

• The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers.路面的积水对驾车者构成危险。
• The frozen snow was treacherous to walk on.在冻雪上行走有潜在危险。

10 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

11 hoarsely   

adv.嘶哑地

参考例句：

• "Excuse me," he said hoarsely. “对不起。”他用嘶哑的嗓子说。
• Jerry hoarsely professed himself at Miss Pross's service. 杰瑞嘶声嘶气地表示愿为普洛丝小姐效劳。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

12 croaked   

v.呱呱地叫( croak的过去式和过去分词 )；用粗的声音说

参考例句：

• The crow croaked disaster. 乌鸦呱呱叫预报灾难。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• 'she has a fine head for it," croaked Jacques Three. “她有一个漂亮的脑袋跟着去呢，”雅克三号低沉地说。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记