Eight

Eight
On the fifth floor of a block of offices in the City of London are situated¹ theoffices of the Valhalla Gramophone² Co³. The man who sat behind the deskin that office was reading a book on economics⁴. The telephone rang andhe picked up the receiver. He said in a quiet unemotional voice:
“Valhalla Gramophone Co.”
“Sanders here.”
“Sanders of the River? What river?”
“River Tigris. Reporting as to A. S. We’ve lost her.”
There was a moment’s silence. Then the quiet voice spoke⁵ again, with asteely note in it.
“Did I hear what you said correctly?”
“We’ve lost Anna Scheele.”
“No names. This is a very serious error on your part. How did it comeabout?”
“She went into that nursing⁶ home. I told you before. Her sister was hav-ing an operation.”
“Well?”
“The operation went off all right. We expected A. S. to return to the Sa-voy. She had kept on her suite⁷. She didn’t return. Watch had been kept onthe nursing home and we were quite sure she hadn’t left it. We assumedshe was still there.”
“And she isn’t?”
“We’ve just found out. She left there, in an ambulance, the day after theoperation.”
“She deliberately⁸ fooled you?”
“Looks like it. I’d swear she didn’t know she was being followed. Wetook every precaution⁹. There were three of us and—”
“Never mind the excuses. Where did the ambulance take her?”
“To University College Hospital.”
“What have you learnt from the hospital?”
“That a patient was brought in accompanied by a hospital nurse. Thehospital nurse must have been Anna Scheele. They’ve no idea where shewent after she brought the patient in.”
“And the patient?”
“The patient knows nothing. She was under morphia.”
“So Anna Scheele walked out of University College Hospital dressed as anurse and may now be anywhere?”
“Yes. If she goes back to the Savoy—”
The other interrupted¹⁰.
“She won’t go back to the Savoy.”
“Shall we check up on other hotels?”
“Yes, but I doubt if you’ll get any result. That’s what she’d expect you todo.”
“What instructions otherwise?”
“Check on the ports—Dover, Folkestone, etc. Check with air lines. In par-ticular check all bookings to Baghdad by plane for the next fortnight. Thepassage won’t be booked in her own name. Check up on all passengers ofsuitable age.”
“Her baggage is still at the Savoy. Perhaps she’ll claim it.”
“She won’t do anything of the sort. You may be a fool—she isn’t! Doesthe sister know anything?”
“We’re in contact with her special nurse at the home. Apparently¹¹ the sis-ter thinks A. S. is in Paris doing business for Morganthal and staying at theRitz Hotel. She believed A. S. is flying home to States on 23rd.”
“In other words A. S. has told her nothing. She wouldn’t. Check up onthose air passages. It’s the only hope. She’s got to get to Baghdad—and airis the only way she can do it in time, and, Sanders—”
“Yes?”
“No more failures. This is your last chance.”

1 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

2 gramophone   

n.留声机，唱机

参考例句：

• The telephone and the gramophone were contemporary.电话和留声机是同一时代的产物。
• Gramophone records warp in very hot weather.天气太热时，唱片会弯翘。

3 co   

abbr.Colombia 哥伦比亚；Cash Order 现付票；Certificate of Origin 货源证书

参考例句：

• She was co-opted onto the board. 她获增选为董事会成员。
• a new movie in which Johnny Depp co-stars with Winona Ryder 由约翰尼∙德普与薇诺娜∙赖德联袂主演的一部新电影

4 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。

5 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。

6 nursing   

n.看护，养育，授乳

参考例句：

• She takes up nursing as a career.她以看护为职业。
• They trained her for nursing.他们培训她做护理工作。

7 suite   

n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员

参考例句：

• She has a suite of rooms in the hotel.她在那家旅馆有一套房间。
• That is a nice suite of furniture.那套家具很不错。

8 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

9 precaution   

n.预防，防备，预防措施

参考例句：

• He took the precaution of locking his door when he went out.当他外出的时候谨慎地锁上门。
• I took the precaution of locking money in the safe.我把所有的钱都锁在保险箱里以防万一。

10 interrupted   

adj. 中断的 动词interrupt的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He could not conceal his annoyance at being interrupted. 他因受扰而难掩怒色。
• She was interrupted by the entrance of an attendant. 服务员进来，打断了她的话。

11 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。