MR. BROADRIBB WONDERS
“S een The Times this morning?” said Mr. Broadribb to his partner, Mr. Schuster.
Mr. Schuster said he couldn’t afford The Times, he took the Telegraph.
“Well, it may be in that too,” said Mr. Broadribb. “In the deaths, Miss Elizabeth Temple, D.Sc.”
Mr. Schuster looked faintly puzzled.
“Headmistress of Fallowfield. You’ve heard of Fallowfield, haven’t you?”
“Of course,” said Schuster. “Girls’ school. Been going for fifty years or so. First class, fantastically expensive. Soshe was the Headmistress of it, was she? I thought the Headmistress had resigned some time ago. Six months at least.
I’m sure I read about it in the paper. That is to say there was a bit about the new Headmistress. Married woman.
Youngish. Thirty- five to forty. Modern ideas. Give the girls lessons in cosmetics1, let ’em wear trouser suits.
Something of that kind.”
“Hum,” said Mr. Broadribb, making the noise that solicitors2 of his age are likely to make when they hearsomething which elicits3 criticism based on long experience. “Don’t think she’ll ever make the name that ElizabethTemple did. Quite someone, she was. Been there a long time, too.”
“Yes,” said Mr. Schuster, somewhat uninterested. He wondered why Broadribb was so interested in defunctschoolmistresses.
Schools were not really of particular interest to either of the two gentlemen. Their own offspring were now more orless disposed of. Mr. Broadribb’s two sons were respectively in the Civil Service and in an oil firm, and Mr. Schuster’srather younger progeny4 were at different universities where both of them respectively were making as much troublefor those in authority as they possibly could do. He said,“What about her?”
“She was on a coach tour,” said Mr. Broadribb.
“Those coaches,” said Mr. Schuster. “I wouldn’t let any of my relations go on one of those. One went off aprecipice in Switzerland last week and two months ago one had a crash and twenty were killed. Don’t know whodrives these things nowadays.”
“It was one of those Country Houses and Gardens and Objects of Interest in Britain—or whatever they call it—tours,” said Mr. Broadribb. “That’s not quite the right name, but you know what I mean.”
“Oh yes, I know. Oh the—er—yes, that’s the one we sent Miss What’s-a-name on. The one old Rafiel booked.”
“Miss Jane Marple was on it.”
“She didn’t get killed too, did she?” asked Mr. Schuster.
“Not so far as I know,” said Mr. Broadribb. “I just wondered a bit, though.”
“Was it a road accident?”
“No. It was at one of the beauty spot places. They were walking on a path up a hill. It was a stiff walk. Up a rathersteep hill with boulders5 and things on it. Some of the boulders got loose and came rushing down the mountainside.
Miss Temple was knocked out and taken to hospital with concussion6 and died—”
“Bad luck,” said Mr. Schuster, and waited for more.
“I only wondered,” said Mr. Broadribb, “because I happened to remember that—well, that Fallowfield was theschool where the girl was at.”
“What girl? I don’t really know what you’re talking about, Broadribb.”
“The girl who was done in by young Michael Rafiel. I was just recalling a few things which might seem to havesome slight connection with this curious Jane Marple business that old Rafiel was so keen on. Wish he’d told usmore.”
“What’s the connection?” said Mr. Schuster.
He looked more interested now. His legal wits were in process of being sharpened, to give a sound opinion onwhatever it was that Mr. Broadribb was about to confide7 to him.
“That girl. Can’t remember her last name now. Christian8 name was Hope or Faith or something like that. Verity9,that was her name. Verity Hunter, I think it was. She was one of that series of murdered girls. Found her body in aditch about thirty miles away from where she’d gone missing. Been dead six months. Strangled apparently10, and herhead and face had been bashed in—to delay recognition, they thought, but she was recognized all right. Clothes,handbag, jewellery nearby—some mole11 or scar. Oh yes, she was identified quite easily—”
“Actually, she was the one the trial was all about, wasn’t she?”
“Yes. Suspected of having done away with perhaps three other girls during the past year, Michael was. Butevidence wasn’t so good in the other deaths—so the police went all out on this one—plenty of evidence—bad record.
Earlier cases of assault and rape12. Well, we all know what rape is nowadays. Mum tells the girl she’s got to accuse theyoung man of rape even if the young man hasn’t had much chance, with the girl at him all the time to come to thehouse while mum’s away at work or dad’s gone on holiday. Doesn’t stop badgering him until she’s forced him tosleep with her. Then, as I say, mum tells the girl to call it rape. However, that’s not the point,” said Mr. Broadribb. “Iwondered if things mightn’t tie up a bit, you know. I thought this Jane Marple business with Rafiel might havesomething to do with Michael.”
“Found guilty, wasn’t he? And given a life sentence?”
“I can’t remember now—it’s so long ago. Or did they get away with a verdict of diminished responsibility?”
“And Verity Hunter or Hunt was educated at that school. Miss Temple’s school? She wasn’t still a schoolgirlthough, was she, when she was killed? Not that I can remember.”
“Oh no. She was eighteen or nineteen, living with relations or friends of her parents, or something like that. Nicehouse, nice people, nice girl by all accounts. The sort of girl whose relations always say ‘she was a very quiet girl,rather shy, didn’t go about with strange people and had no boyfriends.’ Relations never know what boyfriends a girlhas. The girls take mighty13 good care of that. And young Rafiel was said to be very attractive to girls.”
“Never been any doubt that he did it?” asked Mr. Schuster.
“Not a scrap14. Told a lot of lies in the witness box, anyway. His Counsel would have done better not to have let himgive evidence. A lot of his friends gave him an alibi15 that didn’t stand up, if you know what I mean. All his friendsseemed to be fluent liars16.”
“What’s your feeling about it, Broadribb?”
“Oh, I haven’t got any feelings,” said Mr. Broadribb, “I was just wondering if this woman’s death might tie up.”
“In what way?”
“Well, you know—about these boulders that fall down cliff sides and drop on top of someone. It’s not always inthe course of nature. Boulders usually stay where they are, in my experience.”
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1
cosmetics
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| n.化妆品 | |
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2
solicitors
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| 初级律师( solicitor的名词复数 ) | |
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3
elicits
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| 引出，探出( elicit的第三人称单数 ) | |
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4
progeny
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| n.后代，子孙；结果 | |
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5
boulders
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| n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾 | |
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6
concussion
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| n.脑震荡；震动 | |
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7
confide
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| v.向某人吐露秘密 | |
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8
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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9
verity
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| n.真实性 | |
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10
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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11
mole
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| n.胎块；痣；克分子 | |
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12
rape
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| n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸 | |
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13
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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14
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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15
alibi
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| n.某人当时不在犯罪现场的申辩或证明；借口 | |
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16
liars
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| 说谎者( liar的名词复数 ) | |
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