Chapter Thirty-one

Thirty-one
C olonel Melchett and I both stared at her.
“A trap? What kind of a trap?”
Miss Marple was a little diffident, but it was clear that she had a plan fully¹ outlined.
“Supposing Mr. Redding were to be rung up on the telephone and warned.”
Colonel Melchett smiled.
“‘All is discovered. Fly!’ That’s an old wheeze², Miss Marple. Not that it isn’t often successful! But I think in thiscase young Redding is too downy a bird to be caught that way.”
“It would have to be something specific. I quite realize that,” said Miss Marple. “I would suggest—this is just amere suggestion—that the warning should come from somebody who is known to have rather unusual views on thesematters. Dr. Haydock’s conversation would lead anyone to suppose that he might view such a thing as murder from anunusual angle. If he were to hint that somebody—Mrs. Sadler—or one of her children—had actually happened to seethe³ transposing of the cachets—well, of course, if Mr. Redding is an innocent man, that statement will mean nothingto him, but if he isn’t—”
“Well, he might just possibly do something foolish.”
“And deliver himself into our hands. It’s possible. Very ingenious, Miss Marple. But will Haydock stand for it? Asyou say, his views—”
Miss Marple interrupted him brightly.
“Oh, but that’s theory! So very different from practice, isn’t it? But anyway, here he is, so we can ask him.”
Haydock was, I think, rather astonished to find Miss Marple with us. He looked tired and haggard.
“It’s been a near thing,” he said. “A very near thing. But he’s going to pull through. It’s a doctor’s business to savehis patient and I saved him, but I’d have been just as glad if I hadn’t pulled it off.”
“You may think differently,” said Melchett, “when you have heard what we have to tell you.”
And briefly⁴ and succinctly⁵, he put Miss Marple’s theory of the crime before the doctor, ending up with her finalsuggestion.
We were then privileged to see exactly what Miss Marple meant by the difference between theory and practice.
Haydock’s views appeared to have undergone a complete transformation⁶. He would, I think, have liked LawrenceRedding’s head on a charger. It was not, I imagine, the murder of Colonel Protheroe that so stirred his rancour. It wasthe assault on the unlucky Hawes.
“The damned scoundrel,” said Haydock. “The damned scoundrel! That poor devil Hawes. He’s got a mother and asister too. The stigma⁷ of being the mother and sister of a murderer would have rested on them for life, and think oftheir mental anguish⁸. Of all the cowardly dastardly tricks!”
For sheer primitive⁹ rage, commend me to a thoroughgoing humanitarian¹⁰ when you get him well roused.
“If this thing’s true,” he said, “you can count on me. The fellow’s not fit to live. A defenceless chap like Hawes.”
A lame¹¹ dog of any kind can always count on Haydock’s sympathy.
He was eagerly arranging details with Melchett when Miss Marple rose and I insisted on seeing her home.
“It is most kind of you, Mr. Clement,” said Miss Marple, as we walked down the deserted¹² street. “Dear me, pasttwelve o’clock. I hope Raymond has gone to bed and not waited up.”
“He should have accompanied you,” I said.
“I didn’t let him know I was going,” said Miss Marple.
I smiled suddenly as I remembered Raymond West’s subtle psychological analysis of the crime.
“If your theory turns out to be the truth—which I for one do not doubt for a minute,” I said, “you will have a verygood score over your nephew.”
Miss Marple smiled also—an indulgent smile.
“I remember a saying of my Great Aunt Fanny’s. I was sixteen at the time and thought it particularly foolish.”
“Yes?” I inquired.
“She used to say: ‘The young people think the old people are fools; but the old people know the young people arefools!’”

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 wheeze   

n.喘息声，气喘声；v.喘息着说

参考例句：

• The old man managed to wheeze out a few words.老人勉强地喘息着说出了几句话。
• He has a slight wheeze in his chest.他呼吸时胸部发出轻微的响声。

3 seethe   

vi.拥挤，云集；发怒，激动，骚动

参考例句：

• Many Indians continue to seethe and some are calling for military action against their riotous neighbour.很多印度人都处于热血沸腾的状态，很多都呼吁针对印度这个恶邻采取军事行动。
• She seethed with indignation.她由于愤怒而不能平静。

4 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

5 succinctly   

adv.简洁地；简洁地，简便地

参考例句：

• He writes simply and succinctly, rarely adding too much adornment. 他的写作风格朴实简练，很少添加饰词。 来自互联网
• No matter what question you are asked, answer it honestly and succinctly. 总之，不管你在面试中被问到什么问题，回答都要诚实而简明。 来自互联网

6 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

7 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

8 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

9 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

10 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

11 lame   

adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的

参考例句：

• The lame man needs a stick when he walks.那跛脚男子走路时需借助拐棍。
• I don't believe his story.It'sounds a bit lame.我不信他讲的那一套。他的话听起来有些靠不住。

12 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。