Twenty-seven

Twenty-seven
“S o you see,” said Miss Marple, “it really turned out to be, as I began to suspect, very, very simple. The simplestkind of crime. So many men seem to murder their wives.”
Mrs. McGillicuddy looked at Miss Marple and Inspector¹ Craddock. “I’d be obliged,” she said, “if you’d put me alittle more up to date.”
“He saw a chance, you see,” said Miss Marple, “of marrying a rich wife, Emma Crackenthorpe. Only he couldn’tmarry her because he had a wife already. They’d been separated for years but she wouldn’t divorce him. That fitted invery well with what Inspector Craddock told me of this girl who called herself Anna Stravinska. She had an Englishhusband, so she told one of her friends, and it was also said she was a very devout² Catholic. Dr. Quimper couldn’t riskmarrying Emma bigamously, so he decided³, being a very ruthless and cold-blooded man, that he would get rid of hiswife. The idea of murdering her in the train and later putting her body in the sarcophagus in the barn was really rathera clever one. He meant it to tie up, you see, with the Crackenthorpe family. Before that he’d written a letter to Emmawhich purported⁴ to be from the girl Martine whom Edmund Crackenthorpe had talked of marrying. Emma had told Dr.
Quimper all about her brother, you see. Then, when the moment arose he encouraged her to go to the police with herstory. He wanted the dead woman identified as Martine. I think he may have heard that inquiries⁵ were being made bythe Paris police about Anna Stravinska, and so he arranged to have a postcard come from her from Jamaica.
“It was easy for him to arrange to meet his wife in London, to tell her that he hoped to be reconciled with her andthat he would like her to come down and ‘meet his family.’ We won’t talk about the next part of it, which is veryunpleasant to think about. Of course he was a greedy man. When he thought about taxation⁶, and how much it cuts intoincome, he began thinking that it would be nice to have a good deal more capital. Perhaps he’d already thought of thatbefore he decided to murder his wife. Anyway, he started spreading rumours⁷ that someone was trying to poison oldMr. Crackenthorpe so as to get the ground prepared, and then he ended by administering arsenic⁸ to the family. Not toomuch, of course, for he didn’t want old Mr. Crackenthorpe to die.”
“But I still don’t see how he managed,” said Craddock. “He wasn’t in the house when the curry⁹ was beingprepared.”
“Oh, but there wasn’t any arsenic in the curry then,” said Miss Marple. “He added it to the curry afterwards whenhe took it away to be tested. He probably put the arsenic in the cocktail¹⁰ jug¹¹ earlier. Then, of course, it was quite easyfor him, in his role of medical attendant, to poison off Alfred Crackenthorpe and also to send the tablets to Harold inLondon, having safeguarded himself by telling Harold that he wouldn’t need anymore tablets. Everything he did wasbold and audacious and cruel and greedy, and I am really very, very sorry,” finished Miss Marple, looking as fierce asa fluffy¹² old lady can look, “that they have abolished capital punishment because I do feel that if there is anyone whoought to hang, it’s Dr. Quimper.”
“Hear, hear,” said Inspector Craddock.
“It occurred to me, you know,” continued Miss Marple, “that even if you only see anybody from the back view, soto speak, nevertheless a back view is characteristic. I thought that if Elspeth were to see Dr. Quimper in exactly thesame position as she’d seen him in the train in, that is, with his back to her, bent¹³ over a woman whom he was holdingby the throat, then I was almost sure she would recognize him, or would make some kind of startled exclamation¹⁴. Thatis why I had to lay my little plan with Lucy’s kind assistance.”
“I must say,” said Mrs. McGillicuddy, “it gave me quite a turn. I said, ‘That’s him’ before I could stop myself. Andyet, you know, I hadn’t actually seen the man’s face and—”
“I was terribly afraid that you were going to say so, Elspeth,” said Miss Marple.
“I was,” said Mrs. McGillicuddy. “I was going to say that of course I hadn’t seen his face.”
“That,” said Miss Marple, “would have been quite fatal. You see, dear, he thought you really did recognize him. Imean, he couldn’t know that you hadn’t seen his face.”
“A good thing I held my tongue then,” said Mrs. McGillicuddy.
“I wasn’t going to let you say another word,” said Miss Marple.
Craddock laughed suddenly. “You two!” he said. “You’re a marvellous pair. What next, Miss Marple? What’s thehappy ending? What happens to poor Emma Crackenthorpe, for instance?”
“She’ll get over the doctor, of course,” said Miss Marple, “and I dare say if her father were to die—and I don’tthink he’s quite so robust¹⁵ as he thinks he is—that she’d go on a cruise or perhaps to stay abroad like Geraldine Webb,and I dare say something might come of it. A nicer man than Dr. Quimper, I hope.”
“What about Lucy Eyelesbarrow? Wedding bells there too?”
“Perhaps,” said Miss Marple, “I shouldn’t wonder.”
“Which of ’em is she going to choose?” said Dermot Craddock.
“Don’t you know?” said Miss Marple.
“No, I don’t,” said Craddock. “Do you?”
“Oh, yes, I think so,” said Miss Marple.
And she twinkled at him.

1 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。

2 devout   

adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness)

参考例句：

• His devout Catholicism appeals to ordinary people.他对天主教的虔诚信仰感染了普通民众。
• The devout man prayed daily.那位虔诚的男士每天都祈祷。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 purported   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• the scene of the purported crime 传闻中的罪案发生地点
• The film purported to represent the lives of ordinary people. 这部影片声称旨在表现普通人的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

7 rumours   

n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传

参考例句：

• The rumours were completely baseless. 那些谣传毫无根据。
• Rumours of job losses were later confirmed. 裁员的传言后来得到了证实。

8 arsenic   

n.砒霜，砷；adj.砷的

参考例句：

• His wife poisoned him with arsenic.他的妻子用砒霜把他毒死了。
• Arsenic is a poison.砒霜是毒药。

9 curry   

n.咖哩粉，咖哩饭菜；v.用咖哩粉调味，用马栉梳，制革

参考例句：

• Rice makes an excellent complement to a curry dish.有咖喱的菜配米饭最棒。
• Add a teaspoonful of curry powder.加一茶匙咖喱粉。

10 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。

11 jug   

n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂

参考例句：

• He walked along with a jug poised on his head.他头上顶着一个水罐，保持着平衡往前走。
• She filled the jug with fresh water.她将水壶注满了清水。

12 fluffy   

adj.有绒毛的，空洞的

参考例句：

• Newly hatched chicks are like fluffy balls.刚孵出的小鸡像绒毛球。
• The steamed bread is very fluffy.馒头很暄。

13 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

14 exclamation   

n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词

参考例句：

• He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
• The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号，以引起读者的注意。

15 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。