T rue1 to the precepts2 handed down to her by her mother and grandmother—to wit: that a true lady can neither beshocked nor surprised—Miss Marple merely raised her eyebrows3 and shook her head, as she said:
“Most distressing4 for you, Elspeth, and surely most unusual. I think you had better tell me about it at once.”
That was exactly what Mrs. McGillicuddy wanted to do. Allowing her hostess to draw her nearer to the fire, she satdown, pulled off her gloves and plunged5 into a vivid narrative6.
Miss Marple listened with close attention. When Mrs. McGillicuddy at last paused for breath, Miss Marple spokewith decision.
“The best thing, I think, my dear, is for you to go upstairs and take off your hat and have a wash. Then we will havesupper—during which we will not discuss this at all. After supper we can go into the matter thoroughly8 and discuss itfrom every aspect.”
Mrs. McGillicuddy concurred9 with this suggestion. The two ladies had supper, discussing, as they ate, variousaspects of life as lived in the village of St. Mary Mead10. Miss Marple commented on the general distrust of the neworganist, related the recent scandal about the chemist’s wife, and touched on the hostility11 between the schoolmistressand the village institute. They then discussed Miss Marple’s and Mrs. McGillicuddy’s gardens.
“Paeonies,” said Miss Marple as she rose from table, “are most unaccountable. Either they do—or they don’t do.
But if they do establish themselves, they are with you for life, so to speak, and really most beautiful varietiesnowadays.”
They settled themselves by the fire again, and Miss Marple brought out two old Waterford glasses from a cornercupboard, and from another cupboard produced a bottle.
“No coffee tonight for you, Elspeth,” she said. “You are already overexcited (and no wonder!) and probably wouldnot sleep. I prescribe a glass of my cowslip wine, and later, perhaps, a cup of camo-mile tea.”
Mrs. McGillicuddy acquiescing12 in these arrangements, Miss Marple poured out the wine.
“Jane,” said Mrs. McGillicuddy, as she took an appreciative13 sip14, “you don’t think, do you, that I dreamt it, orimagined it?”
“Certainly not,” said Miss Marple with warmth.
Mrs. McGillicuddy heaved a sigh of relief.
“That ticket collector,” she said, “he thought so. Quite polite, but all the same—”
“I think, Elspeth, that that was quite natural under the circumstances. It sounded—and indeed was—a mostunlikely story. And you were a complete stranger to him. No, I have no doubt at all that you saw what you’ve told meyou saw. It’s very extraordinary—but not at all impossible. I recollect15 myself being interested when a train ran parallelto one on which I was travelling, to notice what a vivid and intimate picture one got of what was going on in one ortwo of the carriages. A little girl, I remember once, playing with a teddy bear, and suddenly she threw it deliberately16 ata fat man who was asleep in the corner and he bounced up and looked most indignant, and the other passengers lookedso amused. I saw them all quite vividly17. I could have described afterwards exactly what they looked like and what theyhad on.”
Mrs. McGillicuddy nodded gratefully.
“That’s just how it was.”
“The man had his back to you, you say. So you didn’t see his face?”
“No.”
“And the woman, you can describe her? Young, old?”
“Youngish. Between thirty and thirty-five, I should think. I couldn’t say closer than that.”
“Good-looking?”
“That again, I couldn’t say. Her face, you see, was all contorted and—”
Miss Marple said quickly:
“Yes, yes, I quite understand. How was she dressed?”
“She had on a fur coat of some kind, a palish fur. No hat. Her hair was blonde.”
“And there was nothing distinctive18 that you can remember about the man?”
Mrs. McGillicuddy took a little time to think carefully before she replied.
“He was tallish—and dark, I think. He had a heavy coat on so that I couldn’t judge his build very well.” She addeddespondently, “It’s not really very much to go on.”
“It’s something,” said Miss Marple. She paused before saying: “You feel quite sure, in your own mind, that the girlwas—dead?”
“She was dead, I’m sure of it. Her tongue came out and—I’d rather not talk about it….”
“Of course not. Of course not,” said Miss Marple quickly. “We shall know more, I expect, in the morning.”
“In the morning?”
“I should imagine it will be in the morning papers. After this man had attacked and killed her, he would have abody on his hands. What would he do? Presumably he would leave the train quickly at the first station—by the way,can you remember if it was a corridor carriage?”
“No, it was not.”
“That seems to point to a train that was not going far afield. It would almost certainly stop at Brackhampton. Let ussay he leaves the train at Brackhampton, perhaps arranging the body in a corner seat, with her face hidden by the furcollar to delay discovery. Yes—I think that that is what he would do. But of course it will be discovered before verylong—and I should imagine that the news of a murdered woman discovered on a train would be almost certain to be inthe morning papers—we shall see.”
II
But it was not in the morning papers.
Miss Marple and Mrs. McGillicuddy, after making sure of this, finished their breakfast in silence. Both werereflecting.
After breakfast, they took a turn round the garden. But this, usually an absorbing pastime, was today somewhathalfhearted. Miss Marple did indeed call attention to some new and rare species she had acquired for her rock-gardenbut did so in an almost absentminded manner. And Mrs. McGillicuddy did not, as was customary, counter-attack witha list of her own recent acquisitions.
“The garden is not looking at all as it should,” said Miss Marple, but still speaking absentmindedly. “DoctorHaydock has absolutely forbidden me to do any stooping or kneeling—and really, what can you do if you don’t stoopor kneel? There’s old Edwards, of course—but so opinionated. And all this jobbing gets them into bad habits, lots ofcups of tea and so much pottering—not any real work.”
“Oh, I know,” said Mrs. McGillicuddy. “Of course, there’s no question of my being forbidden to stoop, but really,especially after meals—and having put on weight”—she looked down at her ample proportions—“it does bring onheartburn.”
There was a silence and then Mrs. McGillicuddy planted her feet sturdily, stood still, and turned on her friend.
“Well?” she said.
It was a small insignificant19 word, but it acquired full significance from Mrs. McGillicuddy’s tone, and Miss Marpleunderstood its meaning perfectly20.
“I know,” she said.
The two ladies looked at each other.
“I think,” said Miss Marple, “we might walk down to the police station and talk to Sergeant21 Cornish. He’sintelligent and patient, and I know him very well, and he knows me. I think he’ll listen—and pass the information onto the proper quarter.”
Accordingly, some three-quarters of an hour later, Miss Marple and Mrs. McGillicuddy were talking to a fresh-faced grave man between thirty and forty who listened attentively22 to what they had to say.
Frank Cornish received Miss Marple with cordiality and even deference23. He set chairs for the two ladies, and said:
“Now what can we do for you, Miss Marple?”
Miss Marple said: “I would like you, please, to listen to my friend Mrs. McGillicuddy’s story.”
And Sergeant Cornish had listened. At the close of the recital24 he remained silent for a moment or two.
Then he said:
“That’s a very extraordinary story.” His eyes, without seeming to do so, had sized Mrs. McGillicuddy up whilst shewas telling it.
On the whole, he was favourably25 impressed. A sensible woman, able to tell a story clearly; not, so far as he couldjudge, an over-imaginative or a hysterical26 woman. Moreover, Miss Marple, so it seemed, believed in the accuracy ofher friend’s story and he knew all about Miss Marple. Everybody in St. Mary Mead knew Miss Marple; fluffy27 anddithery in appearance, but inwardly as sharp and as shrewd as they make them.
He cleared his throat and spoke7.
“Of course,” he said, “you may have been mistaken—I’m not saying you were, mind—but you may have been.
There’s a lot of horse-play goes on—it mayn’t have been serious or fatal.”
“I know what I saw,” said Mrs. McGillicuddy grimly.
“And you won’t budge28 from it,” thought Frank Cornish, “and I’d say that, likely or unlikely, you may be right.”
Aloud he said: “You reported it to the railway officials, and you’ve come and reported it to me. That’s the properprocedure and you may rely on me to have inquiries29 instituted.”
He stopped. Miss Marple nodded her head gently, satisfied. Mrs. McGillicuddy was not quite so satisfied, but shedid not say anything. Sergeant Cornish addressed Miss Marple, not so much because he wanted her ideas, as becausehe wanted to hear what she would say.
“Granted the facts are as reported,” he said, “what do you think has happened to the body?”
“There seems to be only two possibilities,” said Miss Marple without hesitation30. “The most likely one, of course, isthat the body was left in the train, but that seems improbable now, for it would have been found some time last night,by another traveller, or by the railway staff at the train’s ultimate destination.”
Frank Cornish nodded.
“The only other course open to the murderer would be to push the body out of the train on to the line. It must, Isuppose, be still on the track somewhere as yet undiscovered—though that does seem a little unlikely. But there wouldbe, as far as I can see, no other way of dealing31 with it.”
“You read about bodies being put in trunks,” said Mrs. McGillicuddy, “but no-one travels with trunks nowadays,only suitcases, and you couldn’t get a body into a suitcase.”
“Yes,” said Cornish. “I agree with you both. The body, if there is a body, ought to have been discovered by now, orwill be very soon. I’ll let you know any developments there are—though I dare say you’ll read about them in thepapers. There’s the possibility, of course, that the woman, though savagely32 attacked, was not actually dead. She mayhave been able to leave the train on her own feet.”
“Hardly without assistance,” said Miss Marple. “And if so, it will have been noticed. A man, supporting a womanwhom he says is ill.”
“Yes, it will have been noticed,” said Cornish. “Or if a woman was found unconscious or ill in a carriage and wasremoved to hospital, that, too, will be on record. I think you may rest assured that you’ll hear about it all in a veryshort time.”
But that day passed and the next day. On that evening Miss Marple received a note from Sergeant Cornish.
In regard to the matter on which you consulted me, full inquiries have been made, with no result. Nowoman’s body has been found. No hospital has administered treatment to a woman such as you describe,and no case of a woman suffering from shock or taken ill, or leaving a station supported by a man has beenobserved. You may take it that the fullest inquiries have been made. I suggest that your friend may havewitnessed a scene such as she described but that it was much less serious than she supposed.
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rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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precepts
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| n.规诫，戒律，箴言( precept的名词复数 ) | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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4
distressing
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| a.使人痛苦的 | |
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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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6
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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7
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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8
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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concurred
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| 同意（concur的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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10
mead
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| n.蜂蜜酒 | |
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hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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acquiescing
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| v.默认，默许( acquiesce的现在分词 ) | |
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appreciative
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| adj.有鉴赏力的，有眼力的；感激的 | |
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sip
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| v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量 | |
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15
recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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vividly
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| adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地 | |
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18
distinctive
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| adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的 | |
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insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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recital
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| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
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favourably
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| adv. 善意地，赞成地 =favorably | |
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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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fluffy
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| adj.有绒毛的，空洞的 | |
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budge
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| v.移动一点儿；改变立场 | |
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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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30
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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31
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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