Twenty-five

Twenty-five
“I looked up tontine in the dictionary,” said Lucy.
The first greetings were over and now Lucy was wandering rather aimlessly round the room, touching¹ a china doghere, an antimacassar there, the plastic work-box in the window.
“I thought you probably would,” said Miss Marple equably.
Lucy spoke² slowly, quoting the words. “Lorenzo Tonti, Italian banker, originator, 1653, of a form of annuity³ inwhich the shares of subscribers who die are added to the profit shares of the survivors⁴.” She paused. “That’s it, isn’t it?
That fits well enough, and you were thinking of it even then before the last two deaths.”
She took up once more her restless, almost aimless prowl round the room. Miss Marple sat watching her. This wasa very different Lucy Eyelesbarrow from the one she knew.
“I suppose it was asking for it really,” said Lucy. “A will of that kind, ending so that if there was only one survivorleft he’d get the lot. And yet—there was quite a lot of money, wasn’t there? You’d think it would be enough sharedout…” She paused, the words trailing off.
“The trouble is,” said Miss Marple, “that people are greedy. Some people. That’s so often, you know, how thingsstart. You don’t start with murder, with wanting to do murder, or even thinking of it. You just start by being greedy,by wanting more than you’re going to have.” She laid her knitting down on her knee and stared ahead of her intospace. “That’s how I came across Inspector⁵ Craddock first, you know. A case in the country. Near Medenham Spa.
That began the same way, just a weak amiable⁶ character who wanted a great deal of money. Money that that personwasn’t entitled to, but there seemed an easy way to get it. Not murder then. Just something so easy and simple that ithadn’t seemed wrong. That’s how things begin… But it ended with three murders.”
“Just like this,” said Lucy. “We’ve had three murders now. The woman who impersonated Martine and who wouldhave been able to claim a share for her son, and then Alfred, and then Harold. And now it only leaves two, doesn’t it?”
“You mean,” said Miss Marple, “there are only Cedric and Emma left?”
“Not Emma. Emma isn’t a tall dark man. No. I mean Cedric and Bryan Eastley. I never thought of Bryan becausehe’s fair. He’s got a fair moustache and blue eyes, but you see—the other day…” She paused.
“Yes, go on,” said Miss Marple. “Tell me. Something has upset you very badly, hasn’t it?”
“It was when Lady Stoddart-West was going away. She had said good-bye and then suddenly turned to me just asshe was getting into the car and asked: ‘Who was that tall dark man who was standing⁷ on the terrace as I came in?’
“I couldn’t imagine who she meant at first, because Cedric was still laid up. So I said, rather puzzled, ‘You don’tmean Bryan Eastley?’ and she said, ‘Of course, that’s who it was, Squadron Leader Eastley. He was hidden in our loftonce in France during the Resistance. I remembered the way he stood, and the set of his shoulders,’ and she said, ‘Ishould like to meet him again,’ but we couldn’t find him.”
Miss Marple said nothing, just waited.
“And then,” said Lucy, “later I looked at him… He was standing with his back to me and I saw what I ought tohave seen before. That even when a man’s fair his hair looks dark because he plasters it down with stuff. Bryan’s hairis a sort of medium brown, I suppose, but it can look dark. So you see, it might have been Bryan that your friend sawin the train. It might….”
“Yes,” said Miss Marple. “I had thought of that.”
“I suppose you think of everything!” said Lucy bitterly.
“Well, dear, one has to really.”
“But I can’t see what Bryan would get out of it. I mean the money would come to Alexander, not to him. I supposeit would make an easier life, they could have a bit more luxury, but he wouldn’t be able to tap the capital for hisschemes, or anything like that.”
“But if anything happened to Alexander before he was twenty-one, then Bryan would get the money as his fatherand next of kin,” Miss Marple pointed⁸ out.
Lucy cast a look of horror at her.
“He’d never do that. No father would ever do that just—just to get the money.”
Miss Marple sighed. “People do, my dear. It’s very sad and very terrible, but they do.
“People do very terrible things,” went on Miss Marple. “I know a woman who poisoned three of her children justfor a little bit of insurance money. And then there was an old woman, quite a nice old woman apparently⁹, whopoisoned her son when he came home on leave. Then there was that old Mrs. Stanwich. That case was in the papers. Idare say you read about it. Her daughter died and her son, and then she said she was poisoned herself. There waspoison in the gruel¹⁰, but it came out, you know, that she’d put it there herself. She was just planning to poison the lastdaughter. That wasn’t exactly for money. She was jealous of them for being younger than she was and alive, and shewas afraid—it’s a terrible thing to say but it’s true—they would enjoy themselves after she was gone. She’d alwayskept a very tight hold on the purse strings¹¹. Yes, of course she was a little peculiar¹², as they say, but I never see myselfthat that’s any real excuse. I mean you can be a little peculiar in so many different ways. Sometimes you just go aboutgiving all your possessions away and writing cheques on bank accounts that don’t exist, just so as to benefit people. Itshows, you see, that behind being peculiar you have quite a nice disposition¹³. But of course if you’re peculiar andbehind it you have a bad disposition—well, there you are. Now, does that help you at all, my dear Lucy?”
“Does what help me?” asked Lucy, bewildered.
“What I’ve been telling you,” said Miss Marple. She added gently, “You mustn’t worry, you know. You reallymustn’t worry. Elspeth McGillicuddy will be here any day now.”
“I don’t see what that has to do with it.”
“No, dear, perhaps not. But I think it’s important myself.”
“I can’t help worrying,” said Lucy. “You see, I’ve got interested in the family.”
“I know, dear, it’s very difficult for you because you are quite strongly attracted to both of them, aren’t you, in verydifferent ways.”
“What do you mean?” said Lucy. Her tone was sharp.
“I was talking about the two sons of the house,” said Miss Marple. “Or rather the son and the son-in-law. It’sunfortunate that the two more unpleasant members of the family have died and the two more attractive ones are left. Ican see that Cedric Crackenthorpe is very attractive. He is inclined to make himself out worse than he is and has aprovocative way with him.”
“He makes me fighting mad sometimes,” said Lucy.
“Yes,” said Miss Marple, “and you enjoy that, don’t you? You’re a girl with a lot of spirit and you enjoy a battle.
Yes, I can see where that attraction lies. And then Mr. Eastley is a rather plaintive¹⁴ type, rather like an unhappy littleboy. That, of course, is attractive, too.”
“And one of them’s a murderer,” said Lucy bitterly, “and it may be either of them. There’s nothing to choosebetween them really. There’s Cedric, not caring a bit about his brother Alfred’s death or about Harold’s. He just sitsback looking thoroughly¹⁵ pleased making plans for what he’ll do with Rutherford Hall, and he keeps saying that it’llneed a lot of money to develop it in the way he wants to do. Of course I know he’s the sort of person who exaggerateshis own callousness¹⁷ and all that. But that could be a cover, too. I mean everyone says that you’re more callous¹⁶ thanyou really are. But you mightn’t be. You might be even more callous than you seem!”
“Dear, dear Lucy, I’m so sorry about all this.”
“And then Bryan,” went on Lucy. “It’s extraordinary, but Bryan really seems to want to live there. He thinks heand Alexander could find it awfully¹⁸ jolly and he’s full of schemes.”
“He’s always full of schemes of one kind or another, isn’t he?”
“Yes, I think he is. They all sound rather wonderful—but I’ve got an uneasy feeling that they’d never really work. Imean, they’re not practical. The idea sounds all right — but I don’t think he ever considers the actual workingdifficulties.”
“They are up in the air, so to speak?”
“Yes, in more ways than one. I mean they are usually literally¹⁹ up in the air. They are all air schemes. Perhaps areally good fighter pilot never does quite come down to earth again….”
She added: “And he likes Rutherford Hall so much because it reminds him of the big rambling²⁰ Victorian house helived in when he was a child.”
“I see,” said Miss Marple thoughtfully. “Yes, I see….”
Then, with a quick sideways glance at Lucy, she said with a kind of verbal pounce²¹, “But that isn’t all of it, is it,dear? There’s something else.”
“Oh, yes, there’s something else. Just something that I didn’t realize until just a couple of days ago. Bryan couldactually have been on that train.”
“On the 4:33 from Paddington?”
“Yes. You see Emma thought she was required to account for her movements on 20th December and she went overit all very carefully—a committee meeting in the morning, and then shopping in the afternoon and tea at the GreenShamrock, and then, she said, she went to meet Bryan at the station. The train she met was the 4:50 from Paddington,but he could have been on the earlier train and pretended to come by the later one. He told me quite casually²² that hiscar had had a biff and was being repaired and so he had to come down by train—an awful bore, he said, he hatestrains. He seemed quite natural about it all… It may be quite all right—but I wish, somehow, he hadn’t come down bytrain.”
“Actually on the train,” said Miss Marple thoughtfully.
“It doesn’t really prove anything. The awful thing is all this suspicion. Not to know. And perhaps we never shallknow!”
“Of course we shall know, dear,” said Miss Marple briskly. “I mean—all this isn’t going to stop just at this point.
The one thing I do know about murderers is that they can never let well alone. Or perhaps one should say—ill alone.
At any rate,” said Miss Marple with finality, “they can’t once they’ve done a second murder. Now don’t get too upset,Lucy. The police are doing all they can, and looking after everybody — and the great thing is that ElspethMcGillicuddy will be here very soon now!”

1 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

2 spoke   

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

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 annuity   

n.年金；养老金

参考例句：

• The personal contribution ratio is voluntary in the annuity program.企业年金中个人缴费比例是自愿的。
• He lives on his annuity after retirement.他退休后靠退休金维生。

4 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

5 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

6 amiable   

adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的

参考例句：

• She was a very kind and amiable old woman.她是个善良和气的老太太。
• We have a very amiable companionship.我们之间存在一种友好的关系。

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

10 gruel   

n.稀饭，粥

参考例句：

• We had gruel for the breakfast.我们早餐吃的是粥。
• He sat down before the fireplace to eat his gruel.他坐到壁炉前吃稀饭。

11 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

12 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

13 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。

14 plaintive   

adj.可怜的，伤心的

参考例句：

• Her voice was small and plaintive.她的声音微弱而哀伤。
• Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里，一位老太太伤心地哭起来。

15 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

16 callous   

adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的

参考例句：

• He is callous about the safety of his workers.他对他工人的安全毫不关心。
• She was selfish,arrogant and often callous.她自私傲慢，而且往往冷酷无情。

17 callousness   

参考例句：

• He remembered with what callousness he had watched her. 他记得自己以何等无情的态度瞧着她。 来自辞典例句
• She also lacks the callousness required of a truly great leader. 她还缺乏一个真正伟大领袖所应具备的铁石心肠。 来自辞典例句

18 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。

19 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

20 rambling   

adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的

参考例句：

• We spent the summer rambling in Ireland. 我们花了一个夏天漫游爱尔兰。
• It was easy to get lost in the rambling house. 在布局凌乱的大房子里容易迷路。

21 pounce   

n.猛扑；v.猛扑，突然袭击，欣然同意

参考例句：

• Why do you pounce on every single thing I say?干吗我说的每句话你都要找麻烦？
• We saw the tiger about to pounce on the goat.我们看见老虎要向那只山羊扑过去。

22 casually   

adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地

参考例句：

• She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
• I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。