Eighteen I

Eighteen I
Hardcastle arrived at No. 19, Wilbraham Crescent just as Miss Pebmarsh was coming out of thehouse.
“Excuse me a minute, Miss Pebmarsh.”
“Oh. Is it—Detective Inspector¹ Hardcastle?”
“Yes. Can I have a word with you?”
“I don’t want to be late at the Institute. Will it take long?”
“I assure² you only three or four minutes.”
She went into the house and he followed.
“You’ve heard what happened this afternoon?” he said.
“Has anything happened?”
“I thought you might have heard. A girl was killed in the telephone box just down the road.”
“Killed? When?”
“Two hours and three quarters ago.” He looked at the grandfather clock.
“I’ve heard nothing about it. Nothing,” said Miss Pebmarsh. A kind of anger soundedmomentarily in her voice. It was as though her disability had been brought home to her in someparticularly wounding way. “A girl—killed! What girl?”
“Her name is Edna Brent and she worked at the Cavendish Secretarial Bureau³.”
“Another girl from there! Had she been sent for like this girl, Sheila what’s-her-name was?”
“I don’t think so,” said the inspector. “She did not come to see you here, at your house?”
“Here? No. Certainly not.”
“Would you have been in if she had come here?”
“I’m not sure. What time did you say?”
“Approximately twelve thirty or a little later.”
“Yes,” said Miss Pebmarsh. “I would have been home by then.”
“Where did you go after the inquest?”
“I came straight back here.” She paused and then asked, “Why did you think this girl mighthave come to see me?”
“Well, she had been at the inquest this morning and she had seen you there, and she must havehad some reason for coming to Wilbraham Crescent. As far as we know, she was not acquaintedwith anyone in this road.”
“But why should she come to see me just because she had seen me at the inquest?”
“Well—” the inspector smiled a little, then hastily⁴ tried to put the smile in his voice as herealized that Miss Pebmarsh could not appreciate its disarming⁵ quality. “One never knows withthese girls. She might just have wanted an autograph. Something like that.”
“An autograph!” Miss Pebmarsh sounded scornful. Then she said, “Yes … Yes, I supposeyou’re right. That sort of thing does happen.” Then she shook her head briskly⁶. “I can only assureyou, Inspector Hardcastle, that it did not happen today. Nobody has been here since I came backfrom the inquest.”
“Well, thank you, Miss Pebmarsh. We thought we had better check up on every possibility.”
“How old was she?” asked Miss Pebmarsh.
“I believe she was nineteen.”
“Nineteen? Very young.” Her voice changed slightly. “Very young … Poor child. Who wouldwant to kill a girl of that age?”
“It happens,” said Hardcastle.
“Was she pretty—attractive—sexy?”
“No,” said Hardcastle. “She would have liked to be, I think, but she was not.”
“Then that was not the reason,” said Miss Pebmarsh. She shook her head again. “I’m sorry.
More sorry than I can say, Inspector Hardcastle, that I can’t help you.”
He went out, impressed as he always was impressed, by Miss Pebmarsh’s personality.

1 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

2 assure   

vt.使确信；向…保证，使有保证

参考例句：

• The only ladder to assure success is to work hard.确保成功的惟一途径是刻苦努力。
• I assure you that she can be trusted to do the job.我担保她能做好这项工作。

3 bureau   

n.提供或收集消息的机构；局，司，处；署

参考例句：

• The weather bureau makes daily reports on weather conditions.气象局每天报告天气状况。
• The Tourist Bureau arranged everything for our journey to Rome.旅游局已为我们去罗马旅行准备了一切。

4 hastily   

ad.过于匆忙地，急急忙忙地

参考例句：

• I query very much whether it is wise to act so hastily. 我真怀疑如此操之过急地行动是否明智。
• Nothing must be done hastily but killing of fleas. 除非要捉跳蚤，做事不可匆忙。

5 disarming   

adj.消除敌意的，使人消气的v.裁军( disarm的现在分词 )；使息怒

参考例句：

• He flashed her a disarming smile. 他朝她笑了一下，让她消消气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We will agree to disarming troops and leaving their weapons at military positions. 我们将同意解除军队的武装并把武器留在军事阵地。 来自辞典例句

6 briskly   

轻快的；敏捷的

参考例句：

• The boy walked briskly along. 那男孩轻快地往前走。
• The book is selling briskly. 书销售得很快。