I don’t know how long I sat there—only a few minutes in reality, I suppose. Yet it seemed as though an eternity1 hadpassed when I heard the door open and, turning my head, looked up to see Melchett entering the room.
He stared at Hawes asleep in his chair, then turned to me.
“What’s this, Clement3? What does it all mean?”
Of the two letters in my hand I selected one and passed it to him. He read it aloud in a low voice.
“My dear Clement,—It is a peculiarly unpleasant thing that I have to say. After all, I think I prefer writingit. We can discuss it at a later date. It concerns the recent peculations. I am sorry to say that I have satisfiedmyself beyond any possible doubt as to the identity of the culprit. Painful as it is for me to have to accuse anordained priest of the church, my duty is only too painfully clear. An example must be made and—”
He looked at me questioningly. At this point the writing tailed off in an undistinguishable scrawl5 where death hadovertaken the writer’s hand.
Melchett drew a deep breath, then looked at Hawes.
“So that’s the solution! The one man we never even considered. And remorse6 drove him to confess!”
“He’s been very queer lately,” I said.
Suddenly Melchett strode across to the sleeping man with a sharp exclamation7. He seized him by the shoulder andshook him, at first gently, then with increasing violence.
“He’s not asleep! He’s drugged! What’s the meaning of this?”
His eye went to the empty cachet box. He picked it up.
“Has he—”
“I think so,” I said. “He showed me these the other day. Told me he’d been warned against an overdose. It’s hisway out, poor chap. Perhaps the best way. It’s not for us to judge him.”
But Melchett was Chief Constable8 of the County before anything else. The arguments that appealed to me had noweight with him. He had caught a murderer and he wanted his murderer hanged.
In one second he was at the telephone, jerking the receiver up and down impatiently until he got a reply. He askedfor Haydock’s number. Then there was a further pause during which he stood, his ear to the telephone and his eyes onthe limp figure in the chair.
“Hallo—hallo—hallo—is that Dr. Haydock’s? Will the doctor come round at once to High Street? Mr. Hawes. It’surgent … what’s that?… Well, what number is it then?… Oh, sorry.”
He rang off, fuming9.
“Wrong number, wrong number—always wrong numbers! And a man’s life hanging on it. HALLO—you gave methe wrong number … Yes—don’t waste time—give me three nine—nine, not five.”
Another period of impatience—shorter this time.
“Hallo—is that you, Haydock? Melchett speaking. Come to 19 High Street at once, will you? Hawes has takensome kind of overdose. At once, man, it’s vital.”
He rang off, strode impatiently up and down the room.
“Why on earth you didn’t get hold of the doctor at once, Clement, I cannot think. Your wits must have all gonewool gathering10.”
Fortunately it never occurs to Melchett that anyone can possibly have different ideas on conduct to those he holdshimself. I said nothing, and he went on:
“Where did you find this letter?”
“Crumpled on the floor—where it had fallen from his hand.”
“Extraordinary business—that old maid was right about its being the wrong note we found. Wonder how shetumbled to that. But what an ass2 the fellow was not to destroy this one. Fancy keeping it—the most damagingevidence you can imagine!”
“Human nature is full of inconsistencies.”
“If it weren’t, I doubt if we should ever catch a murderer! Sooner or later they always do some fool thing. You’relooking very under the weather, Clement. I suppose this has been the most awful shock to you?”
“It has. As I say, Hawes has been queer in his manner for some time, but I never dreamed—”
“Who would? Hallo, that sounds like a car.” He went across to the window, pushing up the sash and leaning out.
“Yes, it’s Haydock all right.”
A moment later the doctor entered the room.
In a few succinct11 words, Melchett explained the situation.
Haydock is not a man who ever shows his feelings. He merely raised his eyebrows12, nodded, and strode across tohis patient. He felt his pulse, raised the eyelid13 and looked intently at the eye.
Then he turned to Melchett.
“Want to save him for the gallows14?” he asked. “He’s pretty far gone, you know. It will be touch and go, anyway. Idoubt if I can bring him round.”
“Do everything possible.”
“Right.”
He busied himself with the case he had brought with him, preparing a hypodermic injection which he injected intoHawes’s arm. Then he stood up.
“Best thing is to run him into Much Benham—to the hospital there. Give me a hand to get him down to the car.”
We both lent our assistance. As Haydock climbed into the driving seat, he threw a parting remark over hisshoulder.
“You won’t be able to hang him, you know, Melchett.”
“You mean he won’t recover?”
“May or may not. I didn’t mean that. I mean that even if he does recover—well, the poor devil wasn’t responsiblefor his actions. I shall give evidence to that effect.”
“What did he mean by that?” asked Melchett as we went upstairs again.
I explained that Hawes had been a victim of encephalitis lethargica.
“Sleepy sickness, eh? Always some good reason nowadays for every dirty action that’s done. Don’t you agree?”
“Science is teaching us a lot.”
“Science be damned—I beg your pardon, Clement; but all this namby pambyism annoys me. I’m a plan man. Well,I suppose we’d better have a look round here.”
But at this moment there was an interruption—and a most amazing one. The door opened and Miss Marple walkedinto the room.
She was pink and somewhat flustered15, and seemed to realize our condition of bewilderment.
“So sorry—so very sorry—to intrude—good evening, Colonel Melchett. As I say, I am so sorry, but hearing thatMr. Hawes was taken ill, I felt I must come round and see if I couldn’t do something.”
She paused. Colonel Melchett was regarding her in a somewhat disgusted fashion.
“Very kind of you, Miss Marple,” he said dryly. “But no need to trouble. How did you know, by the way?”
It was the question I had been yearning16 to ask!
“The telephone,” explained Miss Marple. “So careless with their wrong numbers, aren’t they? You spoke17 to mefirst, thinking I was Dr. Haydock. My number is three five.”
“So that was it!” I exclaimed.
There is always some perfectly18 good and reasonable explanation for Miss Marple’s omniscience19.
“And so,” she continued. “I just came round to see if I could be of any use.”
“Very kind of you,” said Melchett again, even more dryly this time. “But nothing to be done. Haydock’s taken himoff to hospital.”
“Actually to hospital? Oh, that’s a great relief! I am so very glad to hear it. He’ll be quite safe there. When you say‘nothing to be done,’ you don’t mean that he won’t recover?”
“It’s very doubtful,” I said.
Miss Marple’s eyes had gone to the cachet box.
“I suppose he took an overdose?” she said.
Melchett, I think, was in favour of being reticent20. Perhaps I might have been under other circumstances. But mydiscussion of the case with Miss Marple was too fresh in my mind for me to have the same view, though I must admitthat her rapid appearance on the scene and eager curiosity repelled21 me slightly.
“You had better look at this,” I said, and handed her Protheroe’s unfinished letter.
She took it and read it without any appearance of surprise.
“You had already deduced something of the kind, had you not?” I asked.
“Yes—yes, indeed. May I ask you, Mr. Clement, what made you come here this evening? That is a point whichpuzzles me. You and Colonel Melchett—not at all what I should have expected.”
I explained the telephone call and that I believed I had recognized Hawes’s voice. Miss Marple noddedthoughtfully.
“Very interesting. Very providential—if I may use the term. Yes, it brought you here in the nick of time.”
“In the nick of time for what?” I said bitterly.
Miss Marple looked surprised.
“To save Mr. Hawes’s life, of course.”
“Don’t you think,” I said, “that it might be better if Hawes didn’t recover? Better for him—better for everyone. Weknow the truth now and—”
I stopped—for Miss Marple was nodding her head with such a peculiar4 vehemence22 that it made me lose the threadof what I was saying.
“Of course,” she said. “Of course! That’s what he wants you to think! That you know the truth—and that it’s bestfor everyone as it is. Oh, yes, it all fits in—the letter, and the overdose, and poor Mr. Hawes’s state of mind and hisconfession. It all fits in—but it’s wrong….”
We stared at her.
“That’s why I am so glad Mr. Hawes is safe—in hospital—where no one can get at him. If he recovers, he’ll tellyou the truth.”
“The truth?”
“Yes—that he never touched a hair of Colonel Protheroe’s head.”
“But the telephone call,” I said. “The letter—the overdose. It’s all so clear.”
“That’s what he wants you to think. Oh, he’s very clever! Keeping the letter and using it this way was very cleverindeed.”
“Who do you mean,” I said, “by ‘he’?”
“I mean the murderer,” said Miss Marple.
She added very quietly:
“I mean Mr. Lawrence Redding….”
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收听单词发音
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1
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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3
clement
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| adj.仁慈的；温和的 | |
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4
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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5
scrawl
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| vt.潦草地书写；n.潦草的笔记，涂写 | |
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6
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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7
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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8
constable
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| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
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9
fuming
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| 愤怒( fume的现在分词 )； 大怒； 发怒； 冒烟 | |
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10
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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succinct
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| adj.简明的，简洁的 | |
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12
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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13
eyelid
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| n.眼睑，眼皮 | |
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14
gallows
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| n.绞刑架，绞台 | |
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15
flustered
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| adj.慌张的；激动不安的v.使慌乱，使不安( fluster的过去式和过去分词) | |
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16
yearning
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| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
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17
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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18
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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19
omniscience
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| n.全知，全知者，上帝 | |
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20
reticent
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| adj.沉默寡言的；言不如意的 | |
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21
repelled
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| v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开 | |
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vehemence
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| n.热切；激烈；愤怒 | |
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