G riselda and Dennis had not yet returned. I realized that the most natural thing would have been for me to go up tothe house with Miss Marple and fetch them home. Both she and I had been so entirely1 taken up with our preoccupationover the mystery that we had forgotten anybody existed in the world except ourselves.
I was just standing2 in the hall, wondering whether I would not even now go over and join them, when the doorbellrang.
I crossed over to it. I saw there was a letter in the box, and presuming that this was the cause of the ring, I took itout.
As I did so, however, the bell rang again, and I shoved the letter hastily into my pocket and opened the front door.
It was Colonel Melchett.
“Hallo, Clement3. I’m on my way home from town in the car. Thought I’d just look in and see if you could give mea drink.”
“Delighted,” I said. “Come into the study.”
He pulled off the leather coat that he was wearing and followed me into the study. I fetched the whisky and sodaand two glasses. Melchett was standing in front of the fireplace, legs wide apart, stroking his closely croppedmoustache.
“I’ve got one bit of news for you, Clement. Most astounding5 thing you’ve ever heard. But let that go for theminute. How are things going down here? Any more old ladies hot on the scent6?”
“They’re not doing so badly,” I said. “One of them, at all events, thinks she’s got there.”
“Our friend, Miss Marple, eh?”
“Our friend, Miss Marple.”
“Women like that always think they know everything,” said Colonel Melchett.
He sipped7 his whisky and soda4 appreciatively.
“It’s probably unnecessary interference on my part, asking,” I said. “But I suppose somebody has questioned thefish boy. I mean, if the murderer left by the front door, there’s a chance the boy may have seen him.”
“Slack questioned him right enough,” said Melchett. “But the boy says he didn’t meet anybody. Hardly likely hewould. The murderer wouldn’t be exactly courting observation. Lots of cover by your front gate. He would have takena look to see if the road was clear. The boy had to call at the Vicarage, at Haydock’s, and at Mrs. Price Ridley’s. Easyenough to dodge8 him.”
“Yes,” I said, “I suppose it would be.”
“On the other hand,” went on Melchett, “if by any chance that rascal9 Archer10 did the job, and young Fred Jacksonsaw him about the place, I doubt very much whether he’d let on. Archer is a cousin of his.”
“Do you seriously suspect Archer?”
“Well, you know, old Protheroe had his knife into Archer pretty badly. Lots of bad blood between them. Leniencywasn’t Protheroe’s strong point.”
“No,” I said. “He was a very ruthless man.”
“What I say is,” said Melchett, “Live and let live. Of course, the law’s the law, but it never hurts to give a man thebenefit of the doubt. That’s what Protheroe never did.”
“He prided himself on it,” I said.
There was a pause, and then I asked:
“What is this ‘astounding bit of news’ you promised me?”
“Well, it is astounding. You know that unfinished letter that Protheroe was writing when he was killed?”
“Yes.”
“We got an expert on it—to say whether the 6:20 was added by a different hand. Naturally we sent up samples ofProtheroe’s handwriting. And do you know the verdict? That letter was never written by Protheroe at all.”
“You mean a forgery11?”
“It’s a forgery. The 6:20 they think is written in a different hand again—but they’re not sure about that. Theheading is in a different ink, but the letter itself is a forgery. Protheroe never wrote it.”
“Are they certain?”
“Well, they’re as certain as experts ever are. You know what an expert is! Oh! But they’re sure enough.”
“Amazing,” I said. Then a memory assailed12 me.
“Why,” I said, “I remember at the time Mrs. Protheroe said it wasn’t like her husband’s handwriting at all, and Itook no notice.”
“Really?”
“I thought it one of those silly remarks women will make. If there seemed one thing sure on earth it was thatProtheroe had written that note.”
We looked at each other.
“It’s curious,” I said slowly. “Miss Marple was saying this evening that that note was all wrong.”
“Confound the woman, she couldn’t know more about it if she had committed the murder herself.”
At that moment the telephone bell rang. There is a queer kind of psychology13 about a telephone bell. It rang nowpersistently and with a kind of sinister14 significance.
I went over and took up the receiver.
“This is the Vicarage,” I said. “Who’s speaking?”
A strange, high-pitched hysterical15 voice came over the wire:
“I want to confess,” it said. “My God, I want to confess.”
“Hallo,” I said, “hallo. Look here you’ve cut me off. What number was that?”
A languid voice said it didn’t know. It added that it was sorry I had been troubled.
I put down the receiver, and turned to Melchett.
“You once said,” I remarked, “that you would go mad if anyone else accused themselves of the crime.”
“What about it?”
“That was someone who wanted to confess … And the Exchange has cut us off.”
Melchett dashed over and took up the receiver.
“I’ll speak to them.”
“Do,” I said. “You may have some effect. I’ll leave you to it. I’m going out. I’ve a fancy I recognized that voice.”
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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clement
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| adj.仁慈的；温和的 | |
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soda
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| n.苏打水；汽水 | |
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astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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sipped
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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dodge
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| v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计 | |
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rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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archer
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| n.射手，弓箭手 | |
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forgery
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| n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为） | |
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assailed
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| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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psychology
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| n.心理，心理学，心理状态 | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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