Nineteen

Nineteen
I am writing this in Eastbourne.
I came to Eastbourne to see George, formerly¹ Poirot’s valet.
George had been with Poirot many years. He was a competent matter- of- fact man, withabsolutely no imagination. He always stated things literally² and took them at their face value.
Well, I went to see him. I told him about Poirot’s death and George reacted as George wouldreact. He was distressed³ and grieved and managed very nearly to conceal⁴ the fact.
Then I said: “He left you, did he not, a message for me?”
George said at once: “For you, sir? No, not that I am aware of.”
I was surprised. I pressed him, but he was quite definite.
I said at last: “My mistake, I suppose. Well, that’s that. I wish you had been with him at theend.”
“I wish so, too, sir.”
“Still I suppose if your father was ill you had to come to him.”
George looked at me in a very curious manner. He said: “I beg your pardon, sir, I don’t quiteunderstand you.”
“You had to leave in order to look after your father, isn’t that right?”
“I didn’t wish to leave, sir. M. Poirot sent me away.”
“Sent you away?” I stared.
“I don’t mean, sir, that he discharged me. The understanding was that I was to return to hisservice later. But I left by his wish, and he arranged for suitable remuneration whilst I was herewith my old father.”
“But why, George, why?”
“I really couldn’t say, sir.”
“Didn’t you ask?”
“No, sir. I didn’t think it was my place to do so. M. Poirot always had his ideas, sir. A veryclever gentleman, I always understood, sir, and very much respected.”
“Yes, yes,” I murmured abstractedly.
“Very particular about his clothes, he was—though given to having them rather foreign andfancy if you know what I mean. But that, of course, is understandable as he was a foreigngentleman. His hair, too, and his moustache.”
“Ah, those famous moustaches.” I felt a twinge of pain as I remembered his pride in them.
“Very particular about his moustache, he was,” went on George. “Not very fashionable the wayhe wore it, but it suited him, sir, if you know what I mean.”
I said I did know. Then I murmured delicately: “I suppose he dyed it as well as his hair?”
“He did—er—touch up his moustache a little—but not his hair—not of late years.”
“Nonsense,” I said. “It was as black as a raven—looked quite like a wig⁵ it was so unnatural⁶.”
George coughed apologetically. “Excuse me, sir, it was a wig. M. Poirot’s hair came out a gooddeal lately, so he took to a wig.”
I thought how odd it was that a valet knew more about a man than his closest friend did.
I went back to the question that puzzled me.
“But have you really no idea why M. Poirot sent you away as he did? Think, man, think.”
George endeavoured to do so, but he was clearly not very good at thinking.
“I can only suggest, sir,” he said at last, “that he discharged me because he wanted to engageCurtiss.”
“Curtiss? Why should he want to engage Curtiss?”
George coughed again. “Well, sir, I really cannot say. He did not seem to me, when I saw him,as a—excuse me—particularly bright specimen⁷, sir. He was strong physically⁸, of course, but Ishould hardly have thought that he was quite the class M. Poirot would have liked. He’d beenassistant in a mental home at one time, I believe.”
I stared at George.
Curtiss!
Was that the reason why Poirot had insisted on telling me so little? Curtiss, the one man I hadnever considered! Yes, and Poirot was content to have it so, to have me combing the guests atStyles for the mysterious X. But X was not a guest.
Curtiss!
One-time assistant in a mental home. And hadn’t I read somewhere that people who have beenpatients in mental homes and asylums⁹ sometimes remain or go back there as assistants?
A queer, dumb, stupid-looking man—a man who might kill for some strange warped¹⁰ reason ofhis own. .?.?.
And if so—if so. .?.?.
Why, then a great cloud would roll away from me!
Curtiss ...？

1 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 distressed   

痛苦的

参考例句：

• He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。
• The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

4 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

5 wig   

n.假发

参考例句：

• The actress wore a black wig over her blond hair.那个女演员戴一顶黑色假发罩住自己的金黄色头发。
• He disguised himself with a wig and false beard.他用假发和假胡须来乔装。

6 unnatural   

adj.不自然的；反常的

参考例句：

• Did her behaviour seem unnatural in any way?她有任何反常表现吗？
• She has an unnatural smile on her face.她脸上挂着做作的微笑。

7 specimen   

n.样本，标本

参考例句：

• You'll need tweezers to hold up the specimen.你要用镊子来夹这标本。
• This specimen is richly variegated in colour.这件标本上有很多颜色。

8 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

9 asylums   

n.避难所( asylum的名词复数 )；庇护；政治避难；精神病院

参考例句：

• No wonder Mama says love drives people into asylums. 难怪南蛮妈妈说，爱情会让人变成疯子。 来自互联网

10 warped   

adj.反常的；乖戾的；（变）弯曲的；变形的v.弄弯，变歪( warp的过去式和过去分词 )；使（行为等）不合情理，使乖戾，

参考例句：

• a warped sense of humour 畸形的幽默感
• The board has warped. 木板翘了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》