Sixteen

Sixteen
II gave Norton Poirot’s message.
“I’ll go up and see him, certainly. I’d like to. But you know, Hastings, I’m rather sorry Imentioned the matter even to you.”
“By the way,” I said, “you haven’t said anything to anyone else about it, have you?”
“No—at least—no, of course not.”
“You’re quite sure?”
“No, no, I haven’t said anything.”
“Well, don’t. Not until after you’ve seen Poirot.”
I had noticed the slight hesitation¹ in his tone when he first answered, but his second assurancewas quite firm. I was to remember that slight hesitation afterwards, though.
II
I went up again to the grassy² knoll³ where we had been on that day. Someone else was therealready. Elizabeth Cole. She turned her head as I came up the slope.
She said: “You look very excited, Captain Hastings. Is anything the matter?”
I tried to calm myself.
“No, no, nothing at all. I’m just out of breath with walking fast.” I added in an everyday,commonplace voice: “It’s going to rain.”
She looked up at the sky. “Yes, I think it is.”
We stood there silent for a minute or two. There was something about this woman that I foundvery sympathetic. Ever since she had told me who she really was, and the tragedy that had ruinedher life, I had taken an interest in her. Two people who have suffered unhappiness have a greatbond in common. Yet for her there was, or so I suspected, a second spring. I said now impulsively⁴:
“Far from being excited, I’m depressed⁵ today. I’ve had bad news about my dear old friend.”
“About M. Poirot?”
Her sympathetic interest led me to unburden myself.
When I had finished she said softly: “I see. So—the end might come at any time?”
I nodded, unable to speak.
After a minute or two I said: “When he’s gone I shall indeed be alone in the world.”
“Oh, no, you’ve got Judith—and your other children.”
“They’re scattered⁶ over the world, and Judith—well, she’s got her work, she doesn’t need me.”
“I suspect that children don’t ever need their parents until they are in trouble of some kind. Ishould make up your mind to that as to some fundamental law. I’m far more lonely than you are.
My two sisters are far away, one in America and one in Italy.”
“My dear girl,” I said. “You’re life’s beginning.”
“At thirty-five?”
“What’s thirty-five? I wish I were thirty-five.” I added maliciously⁷: “I’m not quite blind, youknow.”
She turned an enquiring⁸ glance on me, then blushed.
“You don’t think — oh! Stephen Norton and I are only friends. We’ve got a good deal incommon—”
“All the better.”
“He’s—he’s just awfully⁹ kind.”
“Oh, my dear,” I said. “Don’t believe it’s all kindness. We men aren’t made that way.”
But Elizabeth Cole had turned suddenly white. She said in a low, strained voice: “You’re cruel—blind! How can I ever think of—of marriage? With my history. With my sister a murderess—orif not that, insane. I don’t know which is worse.”
I said strongly: “Don’t let that prey¹⁰ on your mind. Remember, it may not be true.”
“What do you mean? It is true.”
“Don’t you remember saying to me once, ‘That wasn’t Maggie?’ ”
She caught her breath. “One feels like that.”
“What one feels is often—true.”
She stared at me. “What do you mean?”
“Your sister,” I said, “did not kill her father.”
Her hand crept up to her mouth. Her eyes, wide and scared, looked into mine.
“You’re mad,” she said. “You must be mad. Who told you that?”
“Never mind,” I said. “It’s true. Some day I’ll prove it to you.”
III
Near the house I ran into Boyd Carrington.
“This is my last evening,” he told me. “I move out tomorrow.”
“To Knatton?”
“Yes.”
“That’s very exciting for you.”
“Is it? I suppose it is.” He gave a sigh. “Anyway, Hastings, I don’t mind telling you, I shall beglad to leave here.”
“The food is certainly pretty bad and the service isn’t good.”
“I don’t mean that. After all, it’s cheap, and you can’t expect much from these paying-guestplaces. No, Hastings, I mean more than discomfort¹¹. I don’t like this house—there’s some maligninfluence about it. Things happen here.”
“They certainly do.”
“I don’t know what it is. Perhaps a house that has once had a murder in it is never quite thesame afterwards .?.?. But I don’t like it. First there was that accident to Mrs. Luttrell—a damnedunlucky thing to happen. And then there was poor little Barbara.” He paused. “The most unlikelyperson in the world to have committed suicide I should have said.”
I hesitated. “Well, I don’t know that I’d go as far as that—”
He interrupted me. “Well, I would. Hang it all, I was with her most of the day before. She wasin good spirits—enjoyed our outing. The only thing she was worrying about was whether Johnwasn’t getting too much wrapped up in his experiments and might overdo¹² things, or try some ofhis messes upon himself. Do you know what I think, Hastings?”
“No.”
“That husband of hers is the one who’s responsible for her death. Nagged¹³ at her, I expect. Shewas always happy enough when she was with me. He let her see that she handicapped his preciouscareer (I’d give him a career!) and it broke her up. Damned callous¹⁴, that fellow, hasn’t turned ahair. Told me as cool as anything he was off to Africa now. Really, you know, Hastings, Ishouldn’t be surprised if he’d actually murdered her.”
“You don’t mean that,” I said sharply.
“No—no, I don’t really. Though, mind you, mainly because I can see that if he murdered her,he wouldn’t do it that way. I mean, he was known to be working on this stuff physostigmine, so itstands to reason if he’d done her in, he wouldn’t have used that. But all the same, Hastings, I’mnot the only one to think that Franklin’s a suspicious character. I had the tip from someone whoought to know.”
“Who was that?” I asked sharply.
Boyd Carrington lowered his voice. “Nurse Craven.”
“What?” I was intensely surprised.
“Hush. Don’t shout. Yes, Nurse Craven put the idea into my head. She’s a smart girl, you know,got her wits about her. She doesn’t like Franklin—hasn’t liked him all along.”
I wondered. I should have said that it was her own patient whom Nurse Craven had disliked. Itoccurred to me suddenly that Nurse Craven must know a good deal about the Franklin ménage.
“She’s staying here tonight,” said Boyd Carrington.
“What?” I was rather startled. Nurse Craven had left immediately after the funeral.
“Just for a night between cases,” explained Boyd Carrington.
“I see.”
I was vaguely¹⁵ disquieted¹⁶ by Nurse Craven’s return, yet I could hardly have said why. Wasthere, I wondered, any reason for her coming back? She didn’t like Franklin, Boyd Carrington hadsaid. .?.?.
Reassuring¹⁷ myself I said with sudden vehemence¹⁸: “She’s no right to hint things about Franklin.
After all, it was her evidence that helped to establish suicide. That, and Poirot’s seeing Mrs.
Franklin coming out of the studio with a bottle in her hand.”
Boyd Carrington snapped: “What’s a bottle? Women are always carrying bottles—scent bottles,hair lotion¹⁹, nail polish. That wench of yours was running about with a bottle in her hand thatevening—it doesn’t mean she was thinking of suicide, does it? Nonsense!”
He broke off as Allerton came up to us. Most appropriately, in melodramatic fashion, there wasa low rumble²⁰ of thunder in the distance. I reflected, as I had reflected before, that Allerton wascertainly cast for the part of the villain²¹.
But he had been away from the house on the night of Barbara Franklin’s death. And besides,what possible motive²² could he have had?
But then, I reflected, X never had a motive. That was the strength of his position. It was that,and that only, that was holding us up. And yet, at any minute, that tiny flash of illumination mightcome.
IV
I think that here and now I should like to place on record that I had never, all through, consideredfor one moment that Poirot might fail. In the conflict between Poirot and X I had nevercontemplated the possibility that X might come out victor. In spite of Poirot’s feebleness and illhealth, I had faith in him as potentially the stronger of the two. I was used, you see, to Poirot’ssucceeding.
It was Poirot himself who first put a doubt into my head.
I went in to see him on my way down to dinner. I forget now exactly what led to it, but hesuddenly used the phrase “if anything happens to me.”
I protested immediately and loudly. Nothing would happen—nothing could happen.
“Eh bien, then you have not listened carefully to what Dr. Franklin told you.”
“Franklin doesn’t know. You’re good for many a long year yet, Poirot.”
“It is possible, my friend, though extremely unlikely. But I speak now in the particular and notthe general sense. Though I may die very soon, it may still be not soon enough to suit our friendX.”
“What?” My face showed my shocked reaction.
Poirot nodded. “But yes, Hastings. X is, after all, intelligent. In fact, most intelligent. And Xcannot fail to perceive that my elimination²³, even if it were only to precede natural decease by afew days, might be of inestimable advantage.”
“But then—but then—what would happen?” I was bewildered.
“When the Colonel falls, mon ami, the second in command takes over. You will continue.”
“How can I? I’m entirely²⁴ in the dark.”
“I have arranged for that. If anything happens to me, my friend, you will find here—” he pattedthe locked despatch²⁵ case by his side—“all the clues you need. I have arranged, you see, for everyeventuality.”
“There is really no need to be clever. Just tell me now everything there is to know.”
“No, my friend. The fact that you do not know what I know is a valuable asset.”
“You have left me a clearly written account of things?”
“Certainly not. X might get hold of it.”
“Then what have you left?”
“Indications in kind. They will mean nothing to X—be assured of that—but they will lead youto the discovery of the truth.”
“I’m not so sure of that. Why must you have such a tortuous²⁶ mind, Poirot? You always likemaking everything difficult. You always have!”
“And it is now with me a passion? Is that what you would say? Perhaps. But rest assured, myindications will lead you to the truth.” He paused. Then he said: “And perhaps, then, you wouldwish that they had not led you so far. You would say instead: ‘Ring down the curtain.’?”
Something in his voice started again that vague unformulated dread²⁷ that I had once or twice feltspasms of already. It was as though somewhere, just out of sight, was a fact that I did not want tosee—that I could not bear to acknowledge. Something that already, deep down, I knew. .?.?.
I shook the feeling off and went down to dinner.

1 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。

2 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

3 knoll   

n.小山，小丘

参考例句：

• Silver had terrible hard work getting up the knoll.对于希尔弗来说，爬上那小山丘真不是件容易事。
• He crawled up a small knoll and surveyed the prospect.他慢腾腾地登上一个小丘，看了看周围的地形。

4 impulsively   

adv.冲动地

参考例句：

• She leant forward and kissed him impulsively. 她倾身向前，感情冲动地吻了他。
• Every good, true, vigorous feeling I had gathered came impulsively round him. 我的一切良好、真诚而又强烈的感情都紧紧围绕着他涌现出来。

5 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

6 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

7 maliciously   

adv.有敌意地

参考例句：

• He was charged with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm. 他被控蓄意严重伤害他人身体。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His enemies maliciously conspired to ruin him. 他的敌人恶毒地密谋搞垮他。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 enquiring   

a.爱打听的，显得好奇的

参考例句：

• a child with an enquiring mind 有好奇心的孩子
• Paul darted at her sharp enquiring glances. 她的目光敏锐好奇，保罗飞快地朝她瞥了一眼。

9 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。

10 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

11 discomfort   

n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便

参考例句：

• One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
• She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。

12 overdo   

vt.把...做得过头，演得过火

参考例句：

• Do not overdo your privilege of reproving me.不要过分使用责备我的特权。
• The taxi drivers' association is urging its members,who can work as many hours as they want,not to overdo it.出租车司机协会劝告那些工作时长不受限制的会员不要疲劳驾驶。

13 nagged   

adj.经常遭责怪的；被压制的；感到厌烦的；被激怒的v.不断地挑剔或批评（某人）( nag的过去式和过去分词 )；不断地烦扰或伤害（某人）；无休止地抱怨；不断指责

参考例句：

• The old woman nagged (at) her daughter-in-law all day long. 那老太婆一天到晚地挑剔儿媳妇的不是。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She nagged him all day long. 她一天到晚地说他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 callous   

adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的

参考例句：

• He is callous about the safety of his workers.他对他工人的安全毫不关心。
• She was selfish,arrogant and often callous.她自私傲慢，而且往往冷酷无情。

15 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。

16 disquieted   

v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• People are disquieted [on tenterhooks]. 人心惶惶。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The bad news disquieted him. 恶讯使他焦急不安。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

17 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

18 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。

19 lotion   

n.洗剂

参考例句：

• The lotion should be applied sparingly to the skin.这种洗液应均匀地涂在皮肤上。
• She lubricates her hands with a lotion.她用一种洗剂来滑润她的手。

20 rumble   

n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说

参考例句：

• I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。
• We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定，天要下雨了。

21 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。

22 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

23 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

24 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

25 despatch   

n./v.(dispatch)派遣；发送；n.急件；新闻报道

参考例句：

• The despatch of the task force is purely a contingency measure.派出特遣部队纯粹是应急之举。
• He rushed the despatch through to headquarters.他把急件赶送到总部。

26 tortuous   

adj.弯弯曲曲的，蜿蜒的

参考例句：

• We have travelled a tortuous road.我们走过了曲折的道路。
• They walked through the tortuous streets of the old city.他们步行穿过老城区中心弯弯曲曲的街道。

27 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。