22. A Man in Her Life?

Twenty-two
A M AN IN H ER L IFE?
G etting a little chat in a natural manner with Dr. Graham was not so easy as Miss Marple had hoped. She wasparticularly anxious not to approach him directly since she did not want to lend undue¹ importance to the questions thatshe was going to ask him.
Tim was back, looking after Molly, and Miss Marple had arranged that she should relieve him there during the timethat dinner was served and he was needed in the dining room. He had assured her that Mrs. Dyson was quite willing totake that on, or even Mrs. Hillingdon, but Miss Marple said firmly that they were both young women who likedenjoying themselves and that she herself preferred a light meal early and so that would suit everybody. Tim once againthanked her warmly. Hovering² rather uncertainly round the hotel and on the pathway which connected with variousbungalows, among them Dr. Graham’s, Miss Marple tried to plan what she was going to do next.
She had a lot of confused and contradictory⁴ ideas in her head and if there was one thing that Miss Marple did notlike, it was to have confused and contradictory ideas. This whole business had started out clearly enough. MajorPalgrave with his regrettable capacity for telling stories, his indiscretion that had obviously been overheard and thecorollary, his death within twenty-four hours. Nothing difficult about that, thought Miss Marple.
But afterwards, she was forced to admit, there was nothing but difficulty. Everything pointed⁵ in too many differentdirections at once. Once admit that you didn’t believe a word that anybody had said to you, that nobody could betrusted, and that many of the persons with whom she had conversed⁶ here had regrettable resemblances to certainpersons at St. Mary Mead⁷, and where did that lead you?
Her mind was increasingly focused on the victim. Someone was going to be killed and she had the increasingfeeling that she ought to know quite well who that someone was. There had been something. Something she hadheard? Noticed? Seen?
Something someone had told her that had a bearing on the case. Joan Prescott? Joan Prescott had said a lot ofthings about a lot of people. Scandal? Gossip? What exactly had Joan Prescott said?
Gregory Dyson, Lucky—Miss Marple’s mind hovered⁸ over Lucky. Lucky, she was convinced with a certainty bornof her natural suspicions, had been actively⁹ concerned in the death of Gregory Dyson’s first wife. Everything pointedto it. Could it be that the predestined victim over whom she was worrying was Gregory Dyson? That Lucky intendedto try her luck again with another husband, and for that reason wanted not only freedom but the handsome inheritancethat she would get as Gregory Dyson’s widow?
“But really,” said Miss Marple to herself, “this is all pure conjecture¹⁰. I’m being stupid. I know I’m being stupid.
The truth must be quite plain, if one could just clear away the litter. Too much litter, that’s what’s the matter.”
“Talking to yourself?” said Mr. Rafiel.
Miss Marple jumped. She had not noticed his approach. Esther Walters was supporting him and he was comingslowly down from his bungalow³ to the terrace.
“I really didn’t notice you, Mr. Rafiel.”
“Your lips were moving. What’s become of all this urgency of yours?”
“It’s still urgent,” said Miss Marple, “only I can’t just see what must be perfectly¹¹ plain—”
“I’m glad it’s as simple as that—Well, if you want any help, count on me.”
He turned his head as Jackson approached them along the path.
“So there you are, Jackson. Where the devil have you been? Never about when I want you.”
“Sorry, Mr. Rafiel.”
Dexterously¹² he slipped his shoulder under Mr. Rafiel’s. “Down to the terrace, sir?”
“You can take me to the bar,” said Mr. Rafiel. “All right, Esther, you can go now and change into your eveningtogs. Meet me on the terrace in half an hour.”
He and Jackson went off together. Mrs. Walters dropped into the chair by Miss Marple. She rubbed her arm gently.
“He seems a very light weight,” she observed, “but at the moment my arm feels quite numb¹³. I haven’t seen you thisafternoon at all, Miss Marple.”
“No, I’ve been sitting with Molly Kendal,” Miss Marple explained. “She seems really very much better.”
“If you ask me there was never very much wrong with her,” said Esther Walters.
Miss Marple raised her eyebrows¹⁴. Esther Walters’s tone had been decidedly dry.
“You mean—you think her suicide attempt….”
“I don’t think there was any suicide attempt,” said Esther Walters. “I don’t believe for a moment she took a realoverdose and I think Dr. Graham knows that perfectly well.”
“Now you interest me very much,” said Miss Marple. “I wonder why you say that?”
“Because I’m almost certain that it’s the case. Oh, it’s a thing that happens very often. It’s a way, I suppose, ofcalling attention to oneself,” went on Esther Walters.
“‘You’ll be sorry when I’m dead?’” quoted Miss Marple.
“That sort of thing,” agreed Esther Walters, “though I don’t think that was the motive¹⁵ in this particular instance.
That’s the sort of thing you feel like when your husband’s playing you up and you’re terribly fond of him.”
“You don’t think Molly Kendal is fond of her husband?”
“Well,” said Esther Walters, “do you?”
Miss Marple considered. “I have,” she said, “more or less assumed it.” She paused a moment before adding,“Perhaps wrongly.”
Esther was smiling her rather wry¹⁶ smile.
“I’ve heard a little about her, you know. About the whole business.”
“From Miss Prescott?”
“Oh,” said Esther, “from one or two people. There’s a man in the case. Someone she was keen on. Her people weredead against him.”
“Yes,” said Miss Marple, “I did hear that.”
“And then she married Tim. Perhaps she was fond of him in a way. But the other man didn’t give up. I’vewondered once or twice if he didn’t actually follow her out here.”
“Indeed. But—who?”
“I’ve no idea who,” said Esther, “and I should imagine that they’ve been very careful.”
“You think she cares for this other man?”
Esther shrugged¹⁷ her shoulders. “I dare say he’s a bad lot,” she said, “but that’s very often the kind who knows howto get under a woman’s skin and stay there.”
“You never heard what kind of a man—what he did—anything like that?”
Esther shook her head. “No. People hazard guesses, but you can’t go by that type of thing. He may have been amarried man. That may have been why her people disliked it, or he may have been a real bad lot. Perhaps he drank.
Perhaps he tangled¹⁸ with the law—I don’t know. But she cares for him still. That I know positively¹⁹.”
“You’ve seen something, heard something?” Miss Marple hazarded.
“I know what I’m talking about,” said Esther. Her voice was harsh and unfriendly.
“These murders—” began Miss Marple.
“Can’t you forget murders?” said Esther. “You’ve got Mr. Rafiel now all tangled up in them. Can’t you just—letthem be? You’ll never find out any more, I’m sure of that.”
Miss Marple looked at her.
“You think you know, don’t you?” she said.
“I think I do, yes. I’m fairly sure.”
“Then oughtn’t you to tell what you know—do something about it?”
“Why should I? What good would it do? I couldn’t prove anything. What would happen anyway? People get let offnowadays so easily. They call it diminished responsibility and things like that. A few years in prison and you’re outagain, as right as rain.”
“Supposing, because you don’t tell what you know, somebody else gets killed—another victim?”
Esther shook her head with confidence. “That won’t happen,” she said.
“You can’t be sure of it.”
“I am sure. And in any case I don’t see who—” She frowned. “Anyway,” she added, almost inconsequently,“perhaps it is—diminished responsibility. Perhaps you can’t help it—not if you are really mentally unbalanced. Oh, Idon’t know. By far the best thing would be if she went off with whoever it is, then we could all forget about things.”
She glanced at her watch, gave an exclamation²⁰ of dismay and got up.
“I must go and change.”
Miss Marple sat looking after her. Pronouns, she thought, were always puzzling and women like Esther Walterswere particularly prone²¹ to strew²² them about haphazard²³. Was Esther Walters for some reason convinced that a womanhad been responsible for the deaths of Major Palgrave and Victoria? It sounded like it. Miss Marple considered.
“Ah, Miss Marple, sitting here all alone—and not even knitting?”
It was Dr. Graham for whom she had sought so long and so unsuccessfully. And here he was prepared of his ownaccord to sit down for a few minutes’ chat. He wouldn’t stay long, Miss Marple thought, because he too was bent²⁴ onchanging for dinner, and he usually dined fairly early. She explained that she had been sitting by Molly Kendal’sbedside that afternoon.
“One can hardly believe she has made such a good recovery so quickly,” she said.
“Oh well,” said Dr. Graham, “it’s not very surprising. She didn’t take a very heavy overdose, you know.”
“Oh, I understood she’d taken quite a half-bottle full of tablets.”
Dr. Graham was smiling indulgently.
“No,” he said, “I don’t think she took that amount. I dare say she meant to take them, then probably at the lastmoment she threw half of them away. People, even when they think they want to commit suicide, often don’t reallywant to do it. They manage not to take a full overdose. It’s not always deliberate deceit, it’s just the subconsciouslooking after itself.”
“Or, I suppose it might be deliberate. I mean, wanting it to appear that….” Miss Marple paused.
“It’s possible,” said Dr. Graham.
“If she and Tim had had a row, for instance?”
“They don’t have rows, you know. They seem very fond of each other. Still, I suppose it can always happen once.
No, I don’t think there’s very much wrong with her now. She could really get up and go about as usual. Still, it’s saferto keep her where she is for a day or two—”
He got up, nodded cheerfully and went off towards the hotel. Miss Marple sat where she was a little while longer.
Various thoughts passed through her mind—The book under Molly’s mattress—The way Molly had feigned²⁵ sleep—
Things Joan Prescott and, later, Esther Walters, had said….
And then she went back to the beginning of it all—to Major Palgrave—Something struggled in her mind. Something about Major Palgrave—Something that if she could only remember—

1 undue   

adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的

参考例句：

• Don't treat the matter with undue haste.不要过急地处理此事。
• It would be wise not to give undue importance to his criticisms.最好不要过分看重他的批评。

2 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

3 bungalow   

n.平房，周围有阳台的木造小平房

参考例句：

• A bungalow does not have an upstairs.平房没有上层。
• The old couple sold that large house and moved into a small bungalow.老两口卖掉了那幢大房子，搬进了小平房。

4 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。

5 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。

6 conversed   

v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 )

参考例句：

• I conversed with her on a certain problem. 我与她讨论某一问题。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She was cheerful and polite, and conversed with me pleasantly. 她十分高兴，也很客气，而且愉快地同我交谈。 来自辞典例句

7 mead   

n.蜂蜜酒

参考例句：

• He gave me a cup of mead.他给我倒了杯蜂蜜酒。
• He drank some mead at supper.晚饭时他喝了一些蜂蜜酒。

8 hovered   

鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovered over the hill. 一只鹰在小山的上空翱翔。
• A hawk hovered in the blue sky. 一只老鹰在蓝色的天空中翱翔。

9 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

10 conjecture   

n./v.推测，猜测

参考例句：

• She felt it no use to conjecture his motives.她觉得猜想他的动机是没有用的。
• This conjecture is not supported by any real evidence.这种推测未被任何确切的证据所证实。

11 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

12 dexterously   

adv.巧妙地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He operates the machine dexterously. 他操纵机器动作非常轻巧。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• How dexterously he handled the mite. 他伺候小家伙，有多么熟练。 来自辞典例句

13 numb   

adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木

参考例句：

• His fingers were numb with cold.他的手冻得发麻。
• Numb with cold,we urged the weary horses forward.我们冻得发僵，催着疲惫的马继续往前走。

14 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

15 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

16 wry   

adj.讽刺的；扭曲的

参考例句：

• He made a wry face and attempted to wash the taste away with coffee.他做了个鬼脸，打算用咖啡把那怪味地冲下去。
• Bethune released Tung's horse and made a wry mouth.白求恩放开了董的马，噘了噘嘴。

17 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

19 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

20 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。

21 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

22 strew   

vt.撒；使散落；撒在…上，散布于

参考例句：

• Their custom is to strew flowers over the graves.他们的风俗是在坟墓上撒花。
• Shells of all shapes and sizes strew the long narrow beach.各种各样的贝壳点缀着狭长的海滩。

23 haphazard   

adj.无计划的，随意的，杂乱无章的

参考例句：

• The town grew in a haphazard way.这城镇无计划地随意发展。
• He regrerted his haphazard remarks.他悔不该随口说出那些评论话。

24 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。

25 feigned   

a.假装的，不真诚的

参考例句：

• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work. 他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。
• He accepted the invitation with feigned enthusiasm. 他假装热情地接受了邀请。