I“W e’d better have the Yard in on it, is that what you think, Bacon?”
The Chief Constable1 looked inquiringly at Inspector2 Bacon. The inspector was a big stolid3 man—his expressionwas that of one utterly4 disgusted with humanity.
“The woman wasn’t a local, sir,” he said. “There’s some reason to believe—from her underclothing—that shemight have been a foreigner. Of course,” added Inspector Bacon hastily, “I’m not letting on about that yet awhile.
We’re keeping it up our sleeves until after the inquest.”
The Chief Constable nodded.
“The inquest will be purely5 formal, I suppose?”
“Yes, sir. I’ve seen the Coroner.”
“And it’s fixed6 for—when?”
“Tomorrow. I understand the other members of the Crackenthorpe family will be here for it. There’s just a chanceone of them might be able to identify her. They’ll all be here.”
He consulted a list he held in his hand.
“Harold Crackenthorpe, he’s something in the City—quite an important figure, I understand. Alfred—don’t quiteknow what he does. Cedric—that’s the one who lives abroad. Paints!” The inspector invested the word with its fullquota of sinister7 significance. The Chief Constable smiled into his moustache.
“No reason, is there, to believe the Crackenthorpe family are connected with the crime in any way?” he asked.
“Not apart from the fact that the body was found on the premises,” said Inspector Bacon. “And of course it’s justpossible that this artist member of the family might be able to identify her. What beats me is this extraordinaryrigmarole about the train.”
“Ah, yes. You’ve been to see this old lady, this—er—” (he glanced at the memorandum8 lying on his desk) “MissMarple?”
“Yes, sir. And she’s quite set and definite about the whole thing. Whether she’s barmy or not, I don’t know, but shesticks to her story—about what her friend saw and all the rest of it. As far as all that goes, I dare say it’s just make-believe—sort of thing old ladies do make up, like seeing flying saucers at the bottom of the garden, and Russian agentsin the lending library. But it seems quite clear that she did engage this young woman, the lady help, and told her tolook for a body—which the girl did.”
“And found one,” observed the Chief Constable. “Well, it’s all a very remarkable9 story. Marple, Miss Jane Marple—the name seems familiar somehow… Anyway, I’ll get on to the Yard. I think you’re right about its not being a localcase—though we won’t advertise the fact just yet. For the moment we’ll tell the Press as little as possible.”
II
The inquest was a purely formal affair. No one came forward to identify the dead woman. Lucy was called to giveevidence of finding the body and medical evidence was given as to the cause of death—strangulation. The proceedingswere then adjourned11.
It was a cold blustery day when the Crackenthorpe family came out of the hall where the inquest had been held.
There were five of them all told, Emma, Cedric, Harold, Alfred, and Bryan Eastley, the husband of the dead daughterEdith. There was also Mr. Wimborne, the senior partner of the firm of solicitors12 who dealt with the Crackenthorpes’
legal affairs. He had come down specially13 from London at great inconvenience to attend the inquest. They all stood fora moment on the pavement, shivering. Quite a crowd had assembled; the piquant14 details of the “Body in theSarcophagus” had been fully15 reported in both the London and the local Press.
A murmur16 went round: “That’s them….”
Emma said sharply: “Let’s get away.”
The big hired Daimler drew up to the kerb. Emma got in and motioned to Lucy. Mr. Wimborne, Cedric and Haroldfollowed. Bryan Eastley said: “I’ll take Alfred with me in my little bus.” The chauffeur17 shut the door and the Daimlerprepared to roll away.
“Oh, stop!” cried Emma. “There are the boys!”
The boys, in spite of aggrieved18 protests, had been left behind at Rutherford Hall, but they now appeared grinningfrom ear to ear.
“We came on our bicycles,” said Stoddart-West. “The policeman was very kind and let us in at the back of the hall.
I hope you don’t mind, Miss Crackenthorpe,” he added politely.
“She doesn’t mind,” said Cedric, answering for his sister. “You’re only young once. Your first inquest, I expect?”
“It was rather disappointing,” said Alexander. “All over so soon.”
“We can’t stay here talking,” said Harold irritably19. “There’s quite a crowd. And all those men with cameras.”
At a sign from him, the chauffeur pulled away from the kerb. The boys waved cheerfully.
“All over so soon!” said Cedric. “That’s what they think, the young innocents! It’s just beginning.”
“It’s all very unfortunate. Most unfortunate,” said Harold. “I suppose—”
He looked at Mr. Wimborne who compressed his thin lips and shook his head with distaste.
“I hope,” he said sententiously, “that the whole matter will soon be cleared up satisfactorily. The police were veryefficient. However, the whole thing, as Harold says, has been most unfortunate.”
He looked, as he spoke20, at Lucy, and there was distinct disapproval21 in his glance. “If it had not been for this youngwoman,” his eyes seemed to say, “poking about where she had no business to be—none of this would have happened.”
This statement, or one closely resembling it, was voiced by Harold Crackenthorpe.
“By the way—er—Miss—er—er Eyelesbarrow, just what made you go looking in that sarcophagus?”
Lucy had already wondered just when this thought would occur to one of the family. She had known that the policewould ask it first thing; what surprised her was that it seemed to have occurred to no one else until this moment.
Cedric, Emma, Harold and Mr. Wimborne all looked at her.
Her reply, for what it was worth, had naturally been prepared for some time.
“Really,” she said in a hesitating voice. “I hardly know… I did feel that the whole place needed a thorough clearingout and cleaning. And there was”—she hesitated—“a very peculiar22 and disagreeable smell….”
She had counted accurately23 on the immediate24 shrinking of everyone from the unpleasantness of this idea….
Mr. Wimborne murmured: “Yes, yes, of course…about three weeks the police surgeon said… I think, you know,we must all try and not let our minds dwell on this thing.” He smiled encouragingly at Emma who had turned verypale. “Remember,” he said, “this wretched young woman was nothing to do with any of us.”
“Ah, but you can’t be so sure of that, can you?” said Cedric.
Lucy Eyelesbarrow looked at him with some interest. She had already been intrigued25 by the rather startlingdifferences between the three brothers. Cedric was a big man with a weather-beaten rugged26 face, unkempt dark hairand a jocund27 manner. He had arrived from the airport unshaven, and though he had shaved in preparation for theinquest, he was still wearing the clothes in which he had arrived and which seemed to be the only ones he had; oldgrey flannel28 trousers, and a patched and rather threadbare baggy29 jacket. He looked the stage Bohemian to the life andproud of it.
His brother Harold, on the contrary, was the perfect picture of a City gentleman and a director of importantcompanies. He was tall with a neat erect30 carriage, had dark hair going slightly bald on the temples, a small blackmoustache, and was impeccably dressed in a dark well-cut suit and a pearl-grey tie. He looked what he was, a shrewdand successful business man.
He now said stiffly:
“Really, Cedric, that seems a most uncalled-for remark.”
“Don’t see why? She was in our barn after all. What did she come there for?”
Mr. Wimborne coughed, and said:
“Possibly some—er—assignation. I understand that it was a matter of local knowledge that the key was keptoutside on a nail.”
His tone indicated outrage31 at the carelessness of such procedure. So clearly marked was this that Emma spokeapologetically.
“It started during the war. For the A.R.P. wardens32. There was a little spirit stove and they made themselves hotcocoa. And afterwards, since there was really nothing there anybody could have wanted to take, we went on leavingthe key hanging up. It was convenient for the Women’s Institute people. If we’d kept it in the house it might have beenawkward—when there was no one at home to give it them when they wanted it to get the place ready. With only dailywomen and no resident servants….”
Her voice trailed away. She had spoken mechanically, giving a wordy explanation without interest, as though hermind was elsewhere.
Cedric gave her a quick puzzled glance.
“You’re worried, sis. What’s up?”
Harold spoke with exasperation33:
“Really, Cedric, can you ask?”
“Yes, I do ask. Granted a strange young woman has got herself killed in the barn at Rutherford Hall (sounds like aVictorian melodrama) and granted it gave Emma a shock at the time—but Emma’s always been a sensible girl—Idon’t see why she goes on being worried now. Dash it, one gets used to everything.”
“Murder takes a little more getting used to by some people than it may in your case,” said Harold acidly. “I daresay murders are two a penny in Majorca and—”
“Ibiza, not Majorca.”
“It’s the same thing.”
“Not at all—it’s quite a different island.”
Harold went on talking:
“My point is that though murder may be an everyday commonplace to you, living amongst hot-blooded Latinpeople, nevertheless in England we take such things seriously.” He added with increasing irritation34, “And really,Cedric, to appear at a public inquest in those clothes—”
“What’s wrong with my clothes? They’re comfortable.”
“They’re unsuitable.”
“Well, anyway, they’re the only clothes I’ve got with me. I didn’t pack my wardrobe trunk when I came rushinghome to stand in with the family over this business. I’m a painter and painters like to be comfortable in their clothes.”
“So you’re still trying to paint?”
“Look here, Harold, when you say trying to paint—”
Mr. Wimborne cleared his throat in an authoritative35 manner.
“This discussion is unprofitable,” he said reprovingly. “I hope, my dear Emma, that you will tell me if there is anyfurther way in which I can be of service to you before I return to town?”
The reproof36 had its effect. Emma Crackenthorpe said quickly:
“It was most kind of you to come down.”
“Not at all. It was advisable that someone should be at the inquest to watch the proceedings10 on behalf of the family.
I have arranged for an interview with the inspector at the house. I have no doubt that, distressing37 as all this has been,the situation will soon be clarified. In my own mind, there seems little doubt as to what occurred. As Emma has toldus, the key to the Long Barn was known locally to hang outside the door. It seems highly probable that the place wasused in the winter months as a place of assignation by local couples. No doubt there was a quarrel and some youngman lost control of himself. Horrified38 at what he had done, his eye lit on the sarcophagus and he realized that it wouldmake an excellent place of concealment39.”
Lucy thought to herself, “Yes, it sounds most plausible40. That’s just what one might think.”
Cedric said, “You say a local couple—but nobody’s been able to identify the girl locally.”
“It’s early days yet. No doubt we shall get an identification before long. And it is possible, of course, that the manin question was a local resident, but that the girl came from elsewhere, perhaps from some other part ofBrackhampton. Brackhampton’s a big place—it’s grown enormously in the last twenty years.”
“If I were a girl coming to meet my young man, I’d not stand for being taken to a freezing cold barn miles fromanywhere,” Cedric objected. “I’d stand out for a nice bit of cuddle in the cinema, wouldn’t you, Miss Eyelesbarrow?”
“Do we need to go into all this?” Harold demanded plaintively41.
And with the voicing of the question the car drew up before the front door of Rutherford Hall and they all got out.
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1
constable
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| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
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inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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memorandum
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| n.备忘录，便笺 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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adjourned
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| （使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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solicitors
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| 初级律师( solicitor的名词复数 ) | |
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specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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piquant
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| adj.辛辣的，开胃的，令人兴奋的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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chauffeur
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| n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机；v.为…开车 | |
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aggrieved
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| adj.愤愤不平的，受委屈的；悲痛的；（在合法权利方面）受侵害的v.令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式)；令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词) | |
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irritably
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| ad.易生气地 | |
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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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disapproval
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| n.反对，不赞成 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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intrigued
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| adj.好奇的，被迷住了的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的过去式)；激起…的兴趣或好奇心；“intrigue”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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jocund
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| adj.快乐的，高兴的 | |
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flannel
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| n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服 | |
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baggy
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| adj.膨胀如袋的，宽松下垂的 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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wardens
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| n.看守人( warden的名词复数 )；管理员；监察员；监察官 | |
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exasperation
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| n.愤慨 | |
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irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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authoritative
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| adj.有权威的，可相信的；命令式的；官方的 | |
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reproof
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| n.斥责，责备 | |
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distressing
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| a.使人痛苦的 | |
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horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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plausible
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| adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的 | |
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plaintively
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| adv.悲哀地，哀怨地 | |
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