M rs. Bantry was with Adelaide Jefferson. The former came up to Sir Henry and exclaimed: “You?”
“I, myself.” He took both her hands and pressed them warmly. “I can’t tell you how distressed1 I am at all this, Mrs.
B.”
Mrs. Bantry said mechanically:
“Don’t call me Mrs. B.!” and went on: “Arthur isn’t here. He’s taking it all rather seriously. Miss Marple and Ihave come here to sleuth. Do you know Mrs. Jefferson?”
“Yes, of course.”
He shook hands. Adelaide Jefferson said:
“Have you seen my father-in-law?”
“Yes, I have.”
“I’m glad. We’re anxious about him. It was a terrible shock.”
Mrs. Bantry said:
“Let’s come out on the terrace and have drinks and talk about it all.”
The four of them went out and joined Mark Gaskell, who was sitting at the extreme end of the terrace by himself.
After a few desultory2 remarks and the arrival of the drinks Mrs. Bantry plunged3 straight into the subject with herusual zest4 for direct action.
“We can talk about it, can’t we?” she said. “I mean, we’re all old friends—except Miss Marple, and she knows allabout crime. And she wants to help.”
Mark Gaskell looked at Miss Marple in a somewhat puzzled fashion. He said doubtfully:
“Do you—er—write detective stories?”
The most unlikely people, he knew, wrote detective stories. And Miss Marple, in her old-fashioned spinster’sclothes, looked a singularly unlikely person.
“Oh no, I’m not clever enough for that.”
“She’s wonderful,” said Mrs. Bantry impatiently. “I can’t explain now, but she is. Now, Addie, I want to know allabout things. What was she really like, this girl?”
“Well—” Adelaide Jefferson paused, glanced across at Mark, and half laughed. She said: “You’re so direct.”
“Did you like her?”
“No, of course I didn’t.”
“What was she really like?” Mrs. Bantry shifted her inquiry5 to Mark Gaskell. Mark said deliberately6:
“Common or garden gold-digger. And she knew her stuff. She’d got her hooks into Jeff all right.”
Both of them called their father-in-law Jeff.
Sir Henry thought, looking disapprovingly7 at Mark:
“Indiscreet fellow. Shouldn’t be so outspoken8.”
He had always disapproved10 a little of Mark Gaskell. The man had charm but he was unreliable—talked too much,was occasionally boastful—not quite to be trusted, Sir Henry thought. He had sometimes wondered if ConwayJefferson thought so too.
“But couldn’t you do something about it?” demanded Mrs. Bantry.
Mark said dryly:
“We might have—if we’d realized it in time.”
He shot a glance at Adelaide and she coloured faintly. There had been reproach in that glance.
She said:
“Mark thinks I ought to have seen what was coming.”
“You left the old boy alone too much, Addie. Tennis lessons and all the rest of it.”
“Well, I had to have some exercise.” She spoke9 apologetically. “Anyway, I never dreamed—”
“No,” said Mark, “neither of us ever dreamed. Jeff has always been such a sensible, levelheaded old boy.”
Miss Marple made a contribution to the conversation.
“Gentlemen,” she said with her old-maid’s way of referring to the opposite sex as though it were a species of wildanimal, “are frequently not as levelheaded as they seem.”
“I’ll say you’re right,” said Mark. “Unfortunately, Miss Marple, we didn’t realize that. We wondered what the oldboy saw in that rather insipid11 and meretricious12 little bag of tricks. But we were pleased for him to be kept happy andamused. We thought there was no harm in her. No harm in her! I wish I’d wrung13 her neck!”
“Mark,” said Addie, “you really must be careful what you say.”
He grinned at her engagingly.
“I suppose I must. Otherwise people will think I actually did wring14 her neck. Oh well, I suppose I’m undersuspicion, anyway. If anyone had an interest in seeing that girl dead it was Addie and myself.”
“Mark,” cried Mrs. Jefferson, half laughing and half angry, “you really mustn’t!”
“All right, all right,” said Mark Gaskell pacifically. “But I do like speaking my mind. Fifty thousand pounds ouresteemed father-in-law was proposing to settle upon that half-baked nitwitted little slypuss.”
“Mark, you mustn’t—she’s dead.”
“Yes, she’s dead, poor little devil. And after all, why shouldn’t she use the weapons that Nature gave her? Who amI to judge? Done plenty of rotten things myself in my life. No, let’s say Ruby15 was entitled to plot and scheme and wewere mugs not to have tumbled to her game sooner.”
Sir Henry said:
“What did you say when Conway told you he proposed to adopt the girl?”
Mark thrust out his hands.
“What could we say? Addie, always the little lady, retained her self-control admirably. Put a brave face upon it. Iendeavoured to follow her example.”
“I should have made a fuss!” said Mrs. Bantry.
“Well, frankly16 speaking, we weren’t entitled to make a fuss. It was Jeff ’s money. We weren’t his flesh and blood.
He’d always been damned good to us. There was nothing for it but to bite on the bullet.” He added reflectively: “Butwe didn’t love little Ruby.”
Adelaide Jefferson said:
“If only it had been some other kind of girl. Jeff had two godchildren, you know. If it had been one of them—well,one would have understood it.” She added, with a shade of resentment17: “And Jeff ’s always seemed so fond of Peter.”
“Of course,” said Mrs. Bantry. “I always have known Peter was your first husband’s child—but I’d quite forgottenit. I’ve always thought of him as Mr. Jefferson’s grandson.”
“So have I,” said Adelaide. Her voice held a note that made Miss Marple turn in her chair and look at her.
“It was Josie’s fault,” said Mark. “Josie brought her here.”
Adelaide said:
“Oh, but surely you don’t think it was deliberate, do you? Why, you’ve always liked Josie so much.”
“Yes, I did like her. I thought she was a good sport.”
“It was sheer accident her bringing the girl down.”
“Josie’s got a good head on her shoulders, my girl.”
“Yes, but she couldn’t foresee—”
Mark said:
“No, she couldn’t. I admit it. I’m not really accusing her of planning the whole thing. But I’ve no doubt she sawwhich way the wind was blowing long before we did and kept very quiet about it.”
Adelaide said with a sigh:
“I suppose one can’t blame her for that.”
Mark said:
“Oh, we can’t blame anyone for anything!”
Mrs. Bantry asked:
“Was Ruby Keene very pretty?”
Mark stared at her. “I thought you’d seen—”
Mrs. Bantry said hastily:
“Oh yes, I saw her—her body. But she’d been strangled, you know, and one couldn’t tell—” She shivered.
Mark said, thoughtfully:
“I don’t think she was really pretty at all. She certainly wouldn’t have been without any makeup18. A thin ferretylittle face, not much chin, teeth running down her throat, nondescript sort of nose—”
“It sounds revolting,” said Mrs. Bantry.
“Oh no, she wasn’t. As I say, with makeup she managed to give quite an effect of good looks, don’t you think so,Addie?”
“Yes, rather chocolate-box, pink and white business. She had nice blue eyes.”
“Yes, innocent baby stare, and the heavily-blacked lashes19 brought out the blueness. Her hair was bleached20, ofcourse. It’s true, when I come to think of it, that in colouring—artificial colouring, anyway—she had a kind ofspurious resemblance to Rosamund—my wife, you know. I dare say that’s what attracted the old man’s attention toher.”
He sighed.
“Well, it’s a bad business. The awful thing is that Addie and I can’t help being glad, really, that she’s dead—”
He quelled21 a protest from his sister-in-law.
“It’s no good, Addie; I know what you feel. I feel the same. And I’m not going to pretend! But, at the same time, ifyou know what I mean, I really am most awfully22 concerned for Jeff about the whole business. It’s hit him very hard. I—”
He stopped, and stared towards the doors leading out of the lounge on to the terrace.
“Well, well—see who’s here. What an unscrupulous woman you are, Addie.”
Mrs. Jefferson looked over her shoulder, uttered an exclamation23 and got up, a slight colour rising in her face. Shewalked quickly along the terrace and went up to a tall middle-aged24 man with a thin brown face, who was lookinguncertainly about him.
Mrs. Bantry said: “Isn’t that Hugo McLean?”
Mark Gaskell said:
“Hugo McLean it is. Alias25 William Dobbin.”
Mrs. Bantry murmured:
“He’s very faithful, isn’t he?”
“Dog-like devotion,” said Mark. “Addie’s only got to whistle and Hugo comes trotting26 from any odd corner of theglobe. Always hopes that some day she’ll marry him. I dare say she will.”
Miss Marple looked beamingly after them. She said:
“I see. A romance?”
“One of the good old-fashioned kind,” Mark assured her. “It’s been going on for years. Addie’s that kind ofwoman.”
He added meditatively27: “I suppose Addie telephoned him this morning. She didn’t tell me she had.”
Edwards came discreetly28 along the terrace and paused at Mark’s elbow.
“Excuse me, sir. Mr. Jefferson would like you to come up.”
“I’ll come at once.” Mark sprang up.
He nodded to them, said: “See you later,” and went off.
Sir Henry leant forward to Miss Marple. He said:
“Well, what do you think of the principal beneficiaries of the crime?”
Miss Marple said thoughtfully, looking at Adelaide Jefferson as she stood talking to her old friend:
“I should think, you know, that she was a very devoted29 mother.”
“Oh, she is,” said Mrs. Bantry. “She’s simply devoted to Peter.”
“She’s the kind of woman,” said Miss Marple, “that everyone likes. The kind of woman that could go on gettingmarried again and again. I don’t mean a man’s woman—that’s quite different.”
“I know what you mean,” said Sir Henry.
“What you both mean,” said Mrs. Bantry, “is that she’s a good listener.”
Sir Henry laughed. He said:
“And Mark Gaskell?”
“Ah,” said Miss Marple, “he’s a downy fellow.”
“Village parallel, please?”
“Mr. Cargill, the builder. He bluffed30 a lot of people into having things done to their houses they never meant to do.
And how he charged them for it! But he could always explain his bills away plausibly31. A downy fellow. He marriedmoney. So did Mr. Gaskell, I understand.”
“You don’t like him.”
“Yes, I do. Most women would. But he can’t take me in. He’s a very attractive person, I think. But a little unwise,perhaps, to talk as much as he does.”
“Unwise is the word,” said Sir Henry. “Mark will get himself into trouble if he doesn’t look out.”
A tall dark young man in white flannels32 came up the steps to the terrace and paused just for a minute, watchingAdelaide Jefferson and Hugo McLean.
“And that,” said Sir Henry obligingly, “is X, whom we might describe as an interested party. He is the tennis anddancing pro—Raymond Starr, Ruby Keene’s partner.”
Miss Marple looked at him with interest. She said:
“He’s very nice-looking, isn’t he?”
“I suppose so.”
“Don’t be absurd, Sir Henry,” said Mrs. Bantry; “there’s no supposing about it. He is good-looking.”
Miss Marple murmured:
“Mrs. Jefferson has been taking tennis lessons, I think she said.”
“Do you mean anything by that, Jane, or don’t you?”
Miss Marple had no chance of replying to this downright question. Young Peter Carmody came across the terraceand joined them. He addressed himself to Sir Henry:
“I say, are you a detective, too? I saw you talking to the Superintendent33—the fat one is a superintendent, isn’t he?”
“Quite right, my son.”
“And somebody told me you were a frightfully important detective from London. The head of Scotland Yard orsomething like that.”
“The head of Scotland Yard is usually a complete dud in books, isn’t he?”
“Oh no, not nowadays. Making fun of the police is very old-fashioned. Do you know who did the murder yet?”
“Not yet, I’m afraid.”
“Are you enjoying this very much, Peter?” asked Mrs. Bantry.
“Well, I am, rather. It makes a change, doesn’t it? I’ve been hunting round to see if I could find any clues, but Ihaven’t been lucky. I’ve got a souvenir, though. Would you like to see it? Fancy, Mother wanted me to throw it away.
I do think one’s parents are rather trying sometimes.”
He produced from his pocket a small matchbox. Pushing it open, he disclosed the precious contents.
“See, it’s a fingernail. Her fingernail! I’m going to label it Fingernail of the Murdered Woman and take it back toschool. It’s a good souvenir, don’t you think?”
“Where did you get it?” asked Miss Marple.
“Well, it was a bit of luck, really. Because, of course, I didn’t know she was going to be murdered then. It wasbefore dinner last night. Ruby caught her nail in Josie’s shawl and it tore it. Mums cut it off for her and gave it to meand said put it in the wastepaper basket, and I meant to, but I put it in my pocket instead, and this morning Iremembered and looked to see if it was still there and it was, so now I’ve got it as a souvenir.”
“Disgusting,” said Mrs. Bantry.
Peter said politely: “Oh, do you think so?”
“Got any other souvenirs?” asked Sir Henry.
“Well, I don’t know. I’ve got something that might be.”
“Explain yourself, young man.”
Peter looked at him thoughtfully. Then he pulled out an envelope. From the inside of it he extracted a piece ofbrowny tapey substance.
“It’s a bit of that chap George Bartlett’s shoe-lace,” he explained. “I saw his shoes outside the door this morningand I bagged a bit just in case.”
“In case what?”
“In case he should be the murderer, of course. He was the last person to see her and that’s always frightfullysuspicious, you know. Is it nearly dinner time, do you think? I’m frightfully hungry. It always seems such a long timebetween tea and dinner. Hallo, there’s Uncle Hugo. I didn’t know Mums had asked him to come down. I suppose shesent for him. She always does if she’s in a jam. Here’s Josie coming. Hi, Josie!”
Josephine Turner, coming along the terrace, stopped and looked rather startled to see Mrs. Bantry and Miss Marple.
Mrs. Bantry said pleasantly:
“How d’you do, Miss Turner. We’ve come to do a bit of sleuthing!”
Josie cast a guilty glance round. She said, lowering her voice:
“It’s awful. Nobody knows yet. I mean, it isn’t in the papers yet. I suppose everyone will be asking me questionsand it’s so awkward. I don’t know what I ought to say.”
Her glance went rather wistfully towards Miss Marple, who said: “Yes, it will be a very difficult situation for you,I’m afraid.”
Josie warmed to this sympathy.
“You see, Mr. Prestcott said to me: ‘Don’t talk about it.’ And that’s all very well, but everyone is sure to ask me,and you can’t offend people, can you? Mr. Prestcott said he hoped I’d feel able to carry on as usual—and he wasn’tvery nice about it, so of course I want to do my best. And I really don’t see why it should all be blamed on me.”
Sir Henry said:
“Do you mind me asking you a frank question, Miss Turner?”
“Oh, do ask me anything you like,” said Josie, a little insincerely.
“Has there been any unpleasantness between you and Mrs. Jefferson and Mr. Gaskell over all this?”
“Over the murder, do you mean?”
“No, I don’t mean the murder.”
Josie stood twisting her fingers together. She said rather sullenly34:
“Well, there has and there hasn’t, if you know what I mean. Neither of them have said anything. But I think theyblamed it on me—Mr. Jefferson taking such a fancy to Ruby, I mean. It wasn’t my fault, though, was it? These thingshappen, and I never dreamt of such a thing happening beforehand, not for a moment. I—I was quite dumbfounded.”
Her words rang out with what seemed undeniable sincerity35.
Sir Henry said kindly36:
“I’m quite sure you were. But once it had happened?”
Josie’s chin went up.
“Well, it was a piece of luck, wasn’t it? Everyone’s got the right to have a piece of luck sometimes.”
She looked from one to the other of them in a slightly defiant37 questioning manner and then went on across theterrace and into the hotel.
Peter said judicially38:
“I don’t think she did it.”
Miss Marple murmured:
“It’s interesting, that piece of fingernail. It had been worrying me, you know—how to account for her nails.”
“Nails?” asked Sir Henry.
“The dead girl’s nails,” explained Mrs. Bantry. “They were quite short, and now that Jane says so, of course it wasa little unlikely. A girl like that usually has absolute talons39.”
Miss Marple said:
“But of course if she tore one off, then she might clip the others close, so as to match. Did they find nail parings inher room, I wonder?”
Sir Henry looked at her curiously40. He said:
“I’ll ask Superintendent Harper when he gets back.”
“Back from where?” asked Mrs. Bantry. “He hasn’t gone over to Gossington, has he?”
Sir Henry said gravely:
“No. There’s been another tragedy. Blazing car in a quarry—”
Miss Marple caught her breath.
“Was there someone in the car?”
“I’m afraid so—yes.”
Miss Marple said thoughtfully:
“I expect that will be the Girl Guide who’s missing—Patience—no, Pamela Reeves.”
Sir Henry stared at her.
“Now why on earth do you think that, Miss Marple?”
Miss Marple got rather pink.
“Well, it was given out on the wireless41 that she was missing from her home—since last night. And her home wasDaneleigh Vale; that’s not very far from here. And she was last seen at the Girl-Guide Rally up on Danebury Downs.
That’s very close indeed. In fact, she’d have to pass through Danemouth to get home. So it does rather fit in, doesn’tit? I mean, it looks as though she might have seen—or perhaps heard—something that no one was supposed to see andhear. If so, of course, she’d be a source of danger to the murderer and she’d have to be—removed. Two things like thatmust be connected, don’t you think?”
Sir Henry said, his voice dropping a little:
“You think—a second murder?”
“Why not?” Her quiet placid42 gaze met his. “When anyone has committed one murder, they don’t shrink fromanother, do they? Nor even from a third.”
“A third? You don’t think there will be a third murder?”
“I think it’s just possible … Yes, I think it’s highly possible.”
“Miss Marple,” said Sir Henry, “you frighten me. Do you know who is going to be murdered?”
Miss Marple said: “I’ve a very good idea.”
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1
distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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desultory
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| adj.散漫的，无方法的 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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zest
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| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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disapprovingly
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| adv.不以为然地，不赞成地，非难地 | |
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outspoken
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| adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的 | |
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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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disapproved
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| v.不赞成( disapprove的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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insipid
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| adj.无味的，枯燥乏味的，单调的 | |
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meretricious
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| adj.华而不实的，俗艳的 | |
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wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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wring
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| n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭 | |
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ruby
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| n.红宝石，红宝石色 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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makeup
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| n.组织；性格；化装品 | |
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lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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bleached
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| 漂白的，晒白的，颜色变浅的 | |
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quelled
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| v.（用武力）制止，结束，镇压( quell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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alias
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trotting
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| 小跑，急走( trot的现在分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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meditatively
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| adv.冥想地 | |
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discreetly
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| ad.(言行)审慎地，慎重地 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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bluffed
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| 以假象欺骗，吹牛( bluff的过去式和过去分词 )； 以虚张声势找出或达成 | |
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plausibly
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| 似真地 | |
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flannels
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| 法兰绒男裤； 法兰绒( flannel的名词复数 ) | |
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superintendent
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| n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长 | |
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sullenly
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| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
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sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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judicially
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| 依法判决地，公平地 | |
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talons
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| n.（尤指猛禽的）爪( talon的名词复数 )；（如爪般的）手指；爪状物；锁簧尖状突出部 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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wireless
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| adj.无线的；n.无线电 | |
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placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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