In addition to its number, 20, Wilbraham Crescent had a name. It was called Diana Lodge1. Thegates had obstacles against intruders by being heavily wired on the inside. Rather melancholyspeckled laurels2, imperfectly trimmed, also interfered4 with the efforts of anyone to enter throughthe gate.
“If ever a house could have been called The Laurels, this one could,” remarked Colin Lamb.
“Why call it Diana Lodge, I wonder?”
He looked round him appraisingly5. Diana Lodge did not run to neatness or to flower beds.
Tangled6 and overgrown shrubbery was its most salient point together with a strong catty smell ofammonia. The house seemed in a rather tumbledown condition with gutters7 that could do withrepairing. The only sign of any recent kind of attention being paid to it was a freshly painted frontdoor whose colour of bright azure8 blue made the general unkempt appearance of the rest of thehouse and garden even more noticeable. There was no electric bell but a kind of handle that wasclearly meant to be pulled. The inspector9 pulled it and a faint sound of remote jangling was heardinside.
“It sounds,” said Colin, “like the Moated Grange.”
They waited for a moment or two, then sounds were heard from inside. Rather curious sounds.
A kind of high crooning, half singing, half speaking.
“What the devil—” began Hardcastle.
The singer or crooner appeared to be approaching the front door and words began to bediscernible.
“No, sweet-sweetie. In there, my love. Mindems tailems Shah-Shah-Mimi. Cleo—Cleopatra.
Ah de doodlums. Ah lou-lou.”
Doors were heard to shut. Finally the front door opened. Facing them was a lady in a pale moss-green, rather rubbed, velvet10 tea gown. Her hair, in flaxen grey wisps, was twirled elaborately in akind of coiffure of some thirty years back. Round her neck she was wearing a necklet of orangefur. Inspector Hardcastle said dubiously11:
“Mrs. Hemming12?”
“I am Mrs. Hemming. Gently, Sunbeam, gently doodleums.”
It was then that the inspector perceived that the orange fur was really a cat. It was not the onlycat. Three other cats appeared along the hall, two of them miaowing. They took up their place,gazing at the visitors, twirling gently round their mistress’s skirts. At the same time a pervadingsmell of cat afflicted13 the nostrils14 of both men.
“I am Detective Inspector Hardcastle.”
“I hope you’ve come about that dreadful man who came to see me from the Prevention ofCruelty to Animals,” said Mrs. Hemming. “Disgraceful! I wrote and reported him. Saying my catswere kept in a condition prejudicial to their health and happiness! Quite disgraceful! I live for mycats, Inspector. They are my only joy and pleasure in life. Everything is done for them. Shah-Shah-Mimi. Not there, sweetie.”
Shah-Shah-Mimi paid no attention to a restraining hand and jumped on the hall table. He satdown and washed his face, staring at the strangers.
“Come in,” said Mrs. Hemming. “Oh no, not that room. I’d forgotten.”
She pushed open a door on the left. The atmosphere here was even more pungent15.
“Come on, my pretties, come on.”
In the room various brushes and combs with cat hairs in them lay about on chairs and tables.
There were faded and soiled cushions, and there were at least six more cats.
“I live for my darlings,” said Mrs. Hemming. “They understand every word I say to them.”
Inspector Hardcastle walked in manfully. Unfortunately for him he was one of those men whohave cat allergy17. As usually happens on these occasions all the cats immediately made for him.
One jumped on his knee, another rubbed affectionately against his trousers. Detective InspectorHardcastle, who was a brave man, set his lips and endured.
“I wonder if I could ask you a few questions, Mrs. Hemming, about—”
“Anything you please,” said Mrs. Hemming, interrupting him. “I have nothing to hide. I canshow you the cats’ food, their beds where they sleep, five in my room, the other seven down here.
They have only the very best fish cooked by myself.”
“This is nothing to do with cats,” said Hardcastle, raising his voice. “I came to talk to you aboutthe unfortunate affair which happened next door. You have probably heard about it.”
“Next door? You mean Mr. Joshua’s dog?”
“No,” said Hardcastle, “I do not. I mean at Number 19 where a man was found murderedyesterday.”
“Indeed?” said Mrs. Hemming, with polite interest but no more. Her eyes were still strayingover her pets.
“Were you at home yesterday afternoon, may I ask? That is to say between half past one andhalf past three?”
“Oh yes, indeed. I usually do my shopping quite early in the day and then get back so that I cando the darlings’ lunch, and then comb and groom18 them.”
“And you didn’t notice any activity next door? Police cars—ambulance—anything like that?”
“Well, I’m afraid I didn’t look out of the front windows. I went out of the back of the house intothe garden because dear Arabella was missing. She is quite a young cat and she had climbed upone of the trees and I was afraid she might not be able to get down. I tried to tempt19 her with asaucer of fish but she was frightened, poor little thing. I had to give up in the end and come backinto the house. And would you believe it, just as I went through the door, down she came andfollowed me in.” She looked from one man to the other as though testing their powers of belief.
“Matter of fact, I would believe it,” said Colin, unable to keep silence any more.
“I beg your pardon?” Mrs. Hemming looked at him slightly startled.
“I am much attached to cats,” said Colin, “and I have therefore made a study of cat nature. Whatyou have told me illustrates20 perfectly3 the pattern of cat behaviour and the rules they have made forthemselves. In the same way your cats are all congregating21 round my friend who frankly22 does notcare for cats, they will pay no attention to me in spite of all my blandishments.”
If it occurred to Mrs. Hemming that Colin was hardly speaking in the proper role of sergeant23 ofpolice, no trace of it appeared in her face. She merely murmured vaguely24:
“They always know, the dear things, don’t they?”
A handsome grey Persian put two paws on Inspector Hardcastle’s knees, looked at him in anecstasy of pleasure and dug his claws in hard with a kneading action as though the inspector was apincushion. Goaded25 beyond endurance, Inspector Hardcastle rose to his feet.
“I wonder, madam,” he said, “if I could see this back garden of yours.”
Colin grinned slightly.
“Oh, of course, of course. Anything you please.” Mrs. Hemming rose.
The orange cat unwound itself from her neck. She replaced it in an absentminded way with thegrey Persian. She led the way out of the room. Hardcastle and Colin followed.
“We’ve met before,” said Colin to the orange cat and added, “And you’re a beauty, aren’t you,”
addressing another grey Persian who was sitting on a table by a Chinese lamp, swishing his tailslightly. Colin stroked him, tickled26 him behind the ears and the grey cat condescended27 to purr.
“Shut the door, please, as you come out, Mr.—er—er,” said Mrs. Hemming from the hall.
“There’s a sharp wind today and I don’t want my dears to get cold. Besides, there are those terribleboys—it’s really not safe to let the dear things wander about in the garden by themselves.”
She walked towards the back of the hall and opened a side door.
“What terrible boys?” asked Hardcastle.
“Mrs. Ramsay’s two boys. They live in the south part of the crescent. Our gardens more or lessback on each other. Absolute young hooligans, that’s what they are. They have a catapult, youknow, or they had. I insisted on its being confiscated28 but I have my suspicions. They makeambushes and hide. In the summer they throw apples.”
“Disgraceful,” said Colin.
The back garden was like the front only more so. It had some unkempt grass, some unprunedand crowded shrubs29 and a great many more laurels of the speckled variety, and some rathergloomy macrocarpas. In Colin’s opinion, both he and Hardcastle were wasting their time. Therewas a solid barrage30 of laurels, trees and shrubs through which nothing of Miss Pebmarsh’s gardencould possibly be seen. Diana Lodge could be described as a fully16 detached house. From the pointof view of its inhabitants, it might have had no neighbours.
“Number 19, did you say?” said Mrs. Hemming, pausing irresolutely31 in the middle of her backgarden. “But I thought there was only one person living in the house, a blind woman.”
“The murdered man was not an occupant of the house,” said the inspector.
“Oh, I see,” said Mrs. Hemming, still vaguely, “he came here to be murdered. How odd.”
“Now that,” said Colin thoughtfully to himself, “is a damned good description.”
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1
lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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laurels
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| n.桂冠，荣誉 | |
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3
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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appraisingly
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| adv.以品评或评价的眼光 | |
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6
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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7
gutters
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| （路边）排水沟( gutter的名词复数 )； 阴沟； （屋顶的）天沟； 贫贱的境地 | |
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azure
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| adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的 | |
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inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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dubiously
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| adv.可疑地，怀疑地 | |
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hemming
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| 卷边 | |
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afflicted
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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15
pungent
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| adj.（气味、味道）刺激性的，辛辣的；尖锐的 | |
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16
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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allergy
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| n.(因食物、药物等而引起的)过敏症 | |
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18
groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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tempt
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| vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣 | |
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illustrates
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| 给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明 | |
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congregating
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| （使）集合，聚集( congregate的现在分词 ) | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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25
goaded
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| v.刺激( goad的过去式和过去分词 )；激励；（用尖棒）驱赶；驱使（或怂恿、刺激）某人 | |
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26
tickled
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| （使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐 | |
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27
condescended
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| 屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
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28
confiscated
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| 没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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29
shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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30
barrage
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| n.火力网，弹幕 | |
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31
irresolutely
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| adv.优柔寡断地 | |
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