IS ir Henry Clithering said:
“Speaking as Watson, I want to know your methods, Miss Marple.”
Superintendent1 Harper said:
“I’d like to know what put you on to it first.”
Colonel Melchett said:
“You’ve done it again, by Jove! I want to hear all about it from the beginning.”
Miss Marple smoothed the puce silk of her best evening gown. She flushed and smiled and looked very self-conscious.
She said: “I’m afraid you’ll think my ‘methods,’ as Sir Henry calls them, are terribly amateurish2. The truth is, yousee, that most people—and I don’t exclude policemen—are far too trusting for this wicked world. They believe what istold them. I never do. I’m afraid I always like to prove a thing for myself.”
“That is the scientific attitude,” said Sir Henry.
“In this case,” continued Miss Marple, “certain things were taken for granted from the first—instead of justconfining oneself to the facts. The facts, as I noted3 them, were that the victim was quite young and that she bit hernails and that her teeth stuck out a little—as young girls’ so often do if not corrected in time with a plate—(andchildren are very naughty about their plates and taking them out when their elders aren’t looking).
“But that is wandering from the point. Where was I? Oh, yes, looking down at the dead girl and feeling sorry,because it is always sad to see a young life cut short, and thinking that whoever had done it was a very wicked person.
Of course it was all very confusing her being found in Colonel Bantry’s library, altogether too like a book to be true.
In fact, it made the wrong pattern. It wasn’t, you see, meant, which confused us a lot. The real idea had been to plantthe body on poor young Basil Blake (a much more likely person), and his action in putting it in the Colonel’s librarydelayed things considerably4, and must have been a source of great annoyance5 to the real murderer.
“Originally, you see, Mr. Blake would have been the first object of suspicion. They’d have made inquiries6 atDanemouth, found he knew the girl, then found he had tied himself up with another girl, and they’d have assumed thatRuby came to blackmail8 him, or something like that, and that he’d strangled her in a fit of rage. Just an ordinary,sordid, what I call nightclub type of crime!
“But that, of course, all went wrong, and interest became focused much too soon on the Jefferson family—to thegreat annoyance of a certain person.
“As I’ve told you, I’ve got a very suspicious mind. My nephew Raymond tells me (in fun, of course, and quiteaffectionately) that I have a mind like a sink. He says that most Victorians have. All I can say is that the Victoriansknew a good deal about human nature.
“As I say, having this rather insanitary—or surely sanitary9?—mind, I looked at once at the money angle of it. Twopeople stood to benefit by this girl’s death—you couldn’t get away from that. Fifty thousand pounds is a lot of money—especially when you are in financial difficulties, as both these people were. Of course they both seemed very nice,agreeable people—they didn’t seem likely people—but one never can tell, can one?
“Mrs. Jefferson, for instance—everyone liked her. But it did seem clear that she had become very restless thatsummer, and that she was tired of the life she led, completely dependent on her father-in-law. She knew, because thedoctor had told her, that he couldn’t live long—so that was all right—to put it callously—or it would have been allright if Ruby7 Keene hadn’t come along. Mrs. Jefferson was passionately10 devoted11 to her son, and some women have acurious idea that crimes committed for the sake of their offspring are almost morally justified12. I have come across thatattitude once or twice in the village. ‘Well, ’twas all for Daisy, you see, miss,’ they say, and seem to think that thatmakes doubtful conduct quite all right. Very lax thinking.
“Mr. Mark Gaskell, of course, was a much more likely starter, if I may use such a sporting expression. He was agambler and had not, I fancied, a very high moral code. But, for certain reasons, I was of the opinion that a womanwas concerned in this crime.
“As I say, with my eye on motive13, the money angle seemed very suggestive. It was annoying, therefore, to find thatboth these people had alibis15 for the time when Ruby Keene, according to the medical evidence, had met her death.
“But soon afterwards there came the discovery of the burnt-out car with Pamela Reeves’s body in it, and then thewhole thing leaped to the eye. The alibis, of course, were worthless.
“I now had two halves of the case, and both quite convincing, but they did not fit. There must be a connection, but Icould not find it. The one person whom I knew to be concerned in the crime hadn’t got a motive.
“It was stupid of me,” said Miss Marple meditatively16. “If it hadn’t been for Dinah Lee I shouldn’t have thought ofit—the most obvious thing in the world. Somerset House! Marriage! It wasn’t a question of only Mr. Gaskell or Mrs.
Jefferson—there were the further possibilities of marriage. If either of those two was married, or even was likely tomarry, then the other party to the marriage contract was involved too. Raymond, for instance, might think he had apretty good chance of marrying a rich wife. He had been very assiduous to Mrs. Jefferson, and it was his charm, Ithink, that awoke her from her long widowhood. She had been quite content just being a daughter to Mr. Jefferson—like Ruth and Naomi—only Naomi, if you remember, took a lot of trouble to arrange a suitable marriage for Ruth.
“Besides Raymond there was Mr. McLean. She liked him very much and it seemed highly possible that she wouldmarry him in the end. He wasn’t well off—and he was not far from Danemouth on the night in question. So it seemed,didn’t it,” said Miss Marple, “as though anyone might have done it?”
“But, of course, really, in my mind, I knew. You couldn’t get away, could you, from those bitten nails?”
“Nails?” said Sir Henry. “But she tore her nail and cut the others.”
“Nonsense,” said Miss Marple. “Bitten nails and close cut nails are quite different! Nobody could mistake themwho knew anything about girl’s nails—very ugly, bitten nails, as I always tell the girls in my class. Those nails, yousee, were a fact. And they could only mean one thing. The body in Colonel Bantry’s library wasn’t Ruby Keene at all.
“And that brings you straight to the one person who must be concerned. Josie! Josie identified the body. She knew,she must have known, that it wasn’t Ruby Keene’s body. She said it was. She was puzzled, completely puzzled, atfinding that body where it was. She practically betrayed that fact. Why? Because she knew, none better, where it oughtto have been found! In Basil Blake’s cottage. Who directed our attention to Basil? Josie, by saying to Raymond thatRuby might have been with the film man. And before that, by slipping a snapshot of him into Ruby’s handbag. Whocherished such bitter anger against the dead girl that she couldn’t hide it even when she looked down at her dead?
Josie! Josie, who was shrewd, practical, hard as nails, and all out for money.
“That is what I meant about believing too readily. Nobody thought of disbelieving Josie’s statement that the bodywas Ruby Keene’s. Simply because it didn’t seem at the time that she could have any motive for lying. Motive wasalways the difficulty—Josie was clearly involved, but Ruby’s death seemed, if anything, contrary to her interests. Itwas not till Dinah Lee mentioned Somerset House that I got the connection.
“Marriage! If Josie and Mark Gaskell were actually married—then the whole thing was clear. As we know now,Mark and Josie were married a year ago. They were keeping it dark until Mr. Jefferson died.
“It was really quite interesting, you know, tracing out the course of events—seeing exactly how the plan hadworked out. Complicated and yet simple. First of all the selection of the poor child, Pamela, the approach to her fromthe film angle. A screen test—of course the poor child couldn’t resist it. Not when it was put up to her as plausibly17 asMark Gaskell put it. She comes to the hotel, he is waiting for her, he takes her in by the side door and introduces her toJosie—one of their makeup18 experts! That poor child, it makes me quite sick to think of it! Sitting in Josie’s bathroomwhile Josie bleaches19 her hair and makes up her face and varnishes20 her fingernails and toenails. During all this, the drugwas given. In an ice cream soda21, very likely. She goes off into a coma22. I imagine that they put her into one of theempty rooms opposite—they were only cleaned once a week, remember.
“After dinner Mark Gaskell went out in his car—to the seafront, he said. That is when he took Pamela’s body to thecottage dressed in one of Ruby’s old dresses and arranged it on the hearthrug. She was still unconscious, but not dead,when he strangled her with the belt of the frock … Not nice, no—but I hope and pray she knew nothing about it.
Really, I feel quite pleased to think of him being hanged … That must have been just after ten o’clock. Then he droveback at top speed and found the others in the lounge where Ruby Keene, still alive, was dancing her exhibition dancewith Raymond.
“I should imagine that Josie had given Ruby instructions beforehand. Ruby was accustomed to doing what Josietold her. She was to change, go into Josie’s room and wait. She, too, was drugged, probably in after-dinner coffee. Shewas yawning, remember, when she talked to young Bartlett.
“Josie came up later to ‘look for her’—but nobody but Josie went into Josie’s room. She probably finished the girloff then—with an injection, perhaps, or a blow on the back of the head. She went down, danced with Raymond,debated with the Jeffersons where Ruby could be, and finally went to bed. In the early hours of the morning shedressed the girl in Pamela’s clothes, carried the body down the side stairs—she was a strong muscular young woman—fetched George Bartlett’s car, drove two miles to the quarry23, poured petrol over the car and set it alight. Then shewalked back to the hotel, probably timing24 her arrival there for eight or nine o’clock—up early in her anxiety aboutRuby!”
“An intricate plot,” said Colonel Melchett.
“Not more intricate than the steps of a dance,” said Miss Marple.
“I suppose not.”
“She was very thorough,” said Miss Marple. “She even foresaw the discrepancy25 of the nails. That’s why shemanaged to break one of Ruby’s nails on her shawl. It made an excuse for pretending that Ruby had clipped her nailsclose.”
Harper said: “Yes, she thought of everything. And the only real proof you had, Miss Marple, was a schoolgirl’sbitten nails.”
“More than that,” said Miss Marple. “People will talk too much. Mark Gaskell talked too much. He was speakingof Ruby and he said ‘her teeth ran down her throat.’ But the dead girl in Colonel Bantry’s library had teeth that stuckout.”
Conway Jefferson said rather grimly:
“And was the last dramatic finale your idea, Miss Marple?”
Miss Marple confessed. “Well, it was, as a matter of fact. It’s so nice to be sure, isn’t it?”
“Sure is the word,” said Conway Jefferson grimly.
“You see,” said Miss Marple, “once Mark and Josie knew that you were going to make a new will, they’d have todo something. They’d already committed two murders on account of the money. So they might as well commit a third.
Mark, of course, must be absolutely clear, so he went off to London and established an alibi14 by dining at a restaurantwith friends and going on to a night club. Josie was to do the work. They still wanted Ruby’s death to be put down toBasil’s account, so Mr. Jefferson’s death must be thought due to his heart failing. There was digitalin, so theSuperintendent tells me, in the syringe. Any doctor would think death from heart trouble quite natural in thecircumstances. Josie had loosened one of the stone balls on the balcony and she was going to let it crash downafterwards. His death would be put down to the shock of the noise.”
Melchett said: “Ingenious devil.”
Sir Henry said: “So the third death you spoke26 of was to be Conway Jefferson?”
Miss Marple shook her head.
“Oh no—I meant Basil Blake. They’d have got him hanged if they could.”
“Or shut up in Broadmoor,” said Sir Henry.
Conway Jefferson grunted27. He said:
“Always knew Rosamund had married a rotter. Tried not to admit it to myself. She was damned fond of him. Fondof a murderer! Well, he’ll hang as well as the woman. I’m glad he went to pieces and gave the show away.”
Miss Marple said:
“She was always the strong character. It was her plan throughout. The irony28 of it is that she got the girl down hereherself, never dreaming that she would take Mr. Jefferson’s fancy and ruin all her own prospects29.”
Jefferson said:
“Poor lass. Poor little Ruby….”
Adelaide Jefferson and Hugo McLean came in. Adelaide looked almost beautiful tonight. She came up to ConwayJefferson and laid a hand on his shoulder. She said, with a little catch in her breath:
“I want to tell you something, Jeff. At once. I’m going to marry Hugo.”
Conway Jefferson looked up at her for a moment. He said gruffly:
“About time you married again. Congratulations to you both. By the way, Addie, I’m making a new willtomorrow.”
She nodded. “Oh yes, I know.”
Jefferson said:
“No, you don’t. I’m settling ten thousand pounds on you. Everything else I have goes to Peter when I die. Howdoes that suit you, my girl?”
“Oh, Jeff!” Her voice broke. “You’re wonderful!”
“He’s a nice lad. I’d like to see a good deal of him—in the time I’ve got left.”
“Oh, you shall!”
“Got a great feeling for crime, Peter has,” said Conway Jefferson meditatively. “Not only has he got the fingernailof the murdered girl—one of the murdered girls, anyway—but he was lucky enough to have a bit of Josie’s shawlcaught in with the nail. So he’s got a souvenir of the murderess too! That makes him very happy!”
II
Hugo and Adelaide passed by the ballroom30. Raymond came up to them.
Adelaide said, rather quickly:
“I must tell you my news. We’re going to be married.”
The smile on Raymond’s face was perfect—a brave, pensive31 smile.
“I hope,” he said, ignoring Hugo and gazing into her eyes, “that you will be very, very happy….”
They passed on and Raymond stood looking after them.
“A nice woman,” he said to himself. “A very nice woman. And she would have had money too. The trouble I tookto mug up that bit about the Devonshire Starrs … Oh well, my luck’s out. Dance, dance, little gentleman!”
And Raymond returned to the ballroom.
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收听单词发音
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1
superintendent
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| n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长 | |
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amateurish
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| n.业余爱好的，不熟练的 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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7
ruby
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| n.红宝石，红宝石色 | |
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blackmail
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| n.讹诈，敲诈，勒索，胁迫，恫吓 | |
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sanitary
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| adj.卫生方面的，卫生的，清洁的，卫生的 | |
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passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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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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12
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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alibi
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| n.某人当时不在犯罪现场的申辩或证明；借口 | |
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15
alibis
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| 某人在别处的证据( alibi的名词复数 )； 不在犯罪现场的证人； 借口； 托辞 | |
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16
meditatively
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| adv.冥想地 | |
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17
plausibly
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| 似真地 | |
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18
makeup
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| n.组织；性格；化装品 | |
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19
bleaches
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| 使（颜色）变淡，变白，漂白( bleach的第三人称单数 ) | |
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varnishes
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| 清漆的面（尤指木器或金属制品上的）( varnish的名词复数 )； 光泽面； 罩光漆 | |
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soda
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| n.苏打水；汽水 | |
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coma
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| n.昏迷，昏迷状态 | |
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quarry
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| n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找 | |
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timing
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| n.时间安排，时间选择 | |
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discrepancy
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| n.不同；不符；差异；矛盾 | |
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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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27
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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ballroom
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| n.舞厅 | |
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pensive
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| a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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