Thirteen

Thirteen
I went down to the Crooked¹ House (as I called it in my own mind) with aslightly guilty feeling. Though I had repeated to Taverner Josephine’s con-fidences about Roger, I had said nothing about her statement that Brendaand Laurence Brown wrote love letters to each other.
I excused myself by pretending that it was mere² romancing, and thatthere was no reason to believe that it was true. But actually I had felt astrange reluctance³ to pile up additional evidence against Brenda Leonides.
I had been affected⁴ by the pathos⁵ of her position in the house—surroun-ded by a hostile family united solidly against her. If such letters existeddoubtless Taverner and his myrmidons would find them. I disliked to bethe means of bringing fresh suspicion on a woman in a difficult position.
Moreover, she had assured me solemnly that there was nothing of thatkind between her and Laurence and I felt more inclined to believe herthan to believe that malicious⁶ gnome⁷ Josephine. Had not Brenda said her-self that Josephine was “not all there?”
I stifled⁸ an uneasy certainty that Josephine was very much all there. I re-membered the intelligence of her beady black eyes.
I had rung up Sophia and asked if I might come down again.
“Please do, Charles.”
“How are things going?”
“I don’t know. All right. They keep on searching the house. What arethey looking for?”
“I’ve no idea.”
“We’re all getting very nervy. Come as soon as you can. I shall go crazyif I can’t talk to someone.”
I said I would come down straight away.
There was no one in sight as I drove up to the front door. I paid the taxiand it drove away. I felt uncertain whether to ring the bell or to walk in.
The front door was open.
As I stood there, hesitating, I heard a slight sound behind me. I turnedmy head sharply. Josephine, her face partially⁹ obscured by a very largeapple, was standing¹⁰ in the opening of the yew¹¹ hedge looking at me.
As I turned my head, she turned away.
“Hallo, Josephine.”
She did not answer, but disappeared behind the hedge. I crossed thedrive and followed her. She was seated on the uncomfortable rustic¹² benchby the goldfish pond swinging her legs to and fro and biting into herapple. Above its rosy¹³ circumference¹⁴ her eyes regarded me sombrely andwith what I could not but feel was hostility¹⁵.
“I’ve come down again, Josephine,” I said.
It was a feeble opening, but I found Josephine’s silence and her unblink-ing gaze rather unnerving.
With excellent strategic sense, she still did not reply.
“Is that a good apple?” I asked.
This time Josephine did condescend¹⁶ to reply. Her reply consisted of oneword.
“Woolly.”
“A pity,” I said. “I don’t like woolly apples.”
Josephine replied scornfully:
“Nobody does.”
“Why wouldn’t you speak to me when I said hallo?”
“I didn’t want to.”
“Why not?”
Josephine removed the apple from her face to assist in the clearness ofher denunciation.
“You went and sneaked¹⁷ to the police,” she said.
“Oh!” I was rather taken aback. “You mean—about—”
“About Uncle Roger.”
“But it’s all right, Josephine,” I assured her. “Quite all right. They knowhe didn’t do anything wrong—I mean, he hadn’t embezzled¹⁸ any money oranything of that kind.”
Josephine threw me an exasperated¹⁹ glance.
“How stupid you are.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I wasn’t worrying about Uncle Roger. It’s simply that that’s not the wayto do detective work. Don’t you know that you never tell the police untilthe very end?”
“Oh, I see,” I said. “I’m sorry, Josephine. I’m really very sorry.”
“So you should be.” She added reproachfully: “I trusted you.”
I said I was sorry for the third time. Josephine appeared a little molli-fied. She took another couple of bites of apple.
“But the police would have been bound to find out about all this,” I said.
“You—I—we couldn’t have kept it a secret.”
“You mean because he’s going bankrupt?”
As usual Josephine was well informed.
“I suppose it will come to that.”
“They’re going to talk about it tonight,” said Josephine. “Father andMother and Uncle Roger and Aunt Edith. Aunt Edith would give him hermoney—only she hasn’t got it yet—but I don’t think father will. He says ifRoger has got in a jam he’s only got himself to blame and what’s the goodof throwing good money after bad, and Mother won’t hear of giving himany because she wants Father to put up the money for Edith Thompson.
Do you know about Edith Thompson? She was married, but she didn’t likeher husband. She was in love with a young man called Bywaters whocame off a ship and he went down a different street after the theatre andstabbed him in the back.”
I marvelled²⁰ once more at the range and completeness of Josephine’sknowledge; and also at the dramatic sense which, only slightly obscuredby hazy²¹ pronouns, had presented all the salient facts in a nutshell.
“It sounds all right,” said Josephine, “but I don’t suppose the play will belike that at all. It will be like Jezebel again.” She sighed. “I wish I knew whythe dogs wouldn’t eat the palms of her hands.”
“Josephine,” I said. “You told me that you were almost sure who themurderer was?”
“Well?”
“Who is it?”
She gave me a look of scorn.
“I see,” I said. “Not till the last chapter? Not even if I promise not to tellInspector Taverner?”
“I want just a few more clues,” said Josephine.
“Anyway,” she added, throwing the core of the apple into the goldfishpool, “I wouldn’t tell you. If you’re anyone, you’re Watson.”
I stomached this insult.
“OK,” I said. “I’m Watson. But even Watson was given the data.”
“The what?”
“The facts. And then he made the wrong deductions²² from them.
Wouldn’t it be a lot of fun for you to see me making the wrong deduc-tions?”
For a moment Josephine was tempted²³. Then she shook her head.
“No,” she said, and added: “Anyway, I’m not very keen on SherlockHolmes. It’s awfully²⁴ old-fashioned. They drive about in dogcarts.”
“What about those letters?” I asked.
“What letters?”
“The letters you said Laurence Brown and Brenda wrote to each other.”
“I made that up,” said Josephine.
“I don’t believe you.”
“Yes, I did. I often make things up. It amuses me.”
I stared at her. She stared back.
“Look here, Josephine. I know a man at the British Museum who knowsa lot about the Bible. If I find out from him why the dogs didn’t eat thepalms of Jezebel’s hands, will you tell me about those letters?”
This time Josephine really hesitated.
Somewhere, not very far away, a twig²⁵ snapped with a sharp crackingnoise. Josephine said flatly:
“No, I won’t.”
I accepted defeat. Rather late in the day, I remembered my father’s ad-vice.
“Oh well,” I said, “it’s only a game. Of course you don’t really know any-thing.”
Josephine’s eyes snapped, but she resisted the bait.
I got up. “I must go in now,” I said, “and find Sophia. Come along.”
“I shall stop here,” said Josephine.
“No, you won’t,” I said. “You’re coming in with me.”
Unceremoniously I yanked her to her feet. She seemed surprised and in-clined to protest, but yielded with a fairly good grace—partly, no doubt,because she wished to observe the reactions of the household to my pres-ence.
Why I was so anxious for her to accompany me I could not at that mo-ment have said. It only came to me as we were passing through the frontdoor.
It was because of the sudden snapping of a twig.

1 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

2 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

3 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 pathos   

n.哀婉，悲怆

参考例句：

• The pathos of the situation brought tears to our eyes.情况令人怜悯，看得我们不禁流泪。
• There is abundant pathos in her words.她的话里富有动人哀怜的力量。

6 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

7 gnome   

n.土地神；侏儒，地精

参考例句：

• The Swedes do not have Santa Claus.What they have is Christmas Gnome.瑞典人的圣诞节里没有圣诞老人，但他们却有一个圣诞守护神。
• Susan bought a garden gnome to decorate her garden.苏珊买了一个土地神像来装饰她的花园。

8 stifled   

（使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵

参考例句：

• The gas stifled them. 煤气使他们窒息。
• The rebellion was stifled. 叛乱被镇压了。

9 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

10 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。

11 yew   

n.紫杉属树木

参考例句：

• The leaves of yew trees are poisonous to cattle.紫杉树叶会令牛中毒。
• All parts of the yew tree are poisonous,including the berries.紫杉的各个部分都有毒，包括浆果。

12 rustic   

adj.乡村的，有乡村特色的；n.乡下人，乡巴佬

参考例句：

• It was nearly seven months of leisurely rustic living before Michael felt real boredom.这种悠闲的乡村生活过了差不多七个月之后,迈克尔开始感到烦闷。
• We hoped the fresh air and rustic atmosphere would help him adjust.我们希望新鲜的空气和乡村的氛围能帮他调整自己。

13 rosy   

adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的

参考例句：

• She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作，生活看上去很美好。
• She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。

14 circumference   

n.圆周，周长，圆周线

参考例句：

• It's a mile round the circumference of the field.运动场周长一英里。
• The diameter and the circumference of a circle correlate.圆的直径与圆周有相互关系。

15 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

16 condescend   

v.俯就，屈尊；堕落，丢丑

参考例句：

• Would you condescend to accompany me?你肯屈尊陪我吗？
• He did not condescend to answer.He turned his back on me.他不愿屈尊回答我的问题。他不理睬我。

17 sneaked   

v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状

参考例句：

• I sneaked up the stairs. 我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
• She sneaked a surreptitious glance at her watch. 她偷偷看了一眼手表。

18 embezzled   

v.贪污，盗用（公款）( embezzle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The clerk embezzled a thousand pounds from the bank where he worked. 那个职员在他工作的银行里贪污了一千英镑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cashier embezzled ＄ 50,000 from the bank. 出纳员盗用了银行5万美元。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 exasperated   

adj.恼怒的

参考例句：

• We were exasperated at his ill behaviour. 我们对他的恶劣行为感到非常恼怒。
• Constant interruption of his work exasperated him. 对他工作不断的干扰使他恼怒。

20 marvelled   

v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I marvelled that he suddenly left college. 我对他突然离开大学感到惊奇。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I marvelled at your boldness. 我对你的大胆感到惊奇。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 hazy   

adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的

参考例句：

• We couldn't see far because it was so hazy.雾气蒙蒙妨碍了我们的视线。
• I have a hazy memory of those early years.对那些早先的岁月我有着朦胧的记忆。

22 deductions   

扣除( deduction的名词复数 )； 结论； 扣除的量； 推演

参考例句：

• Many of the older officers trusted agents sightings more than cryptanalysts'deductions. 许多年纪比较大的军官往往相信特务的发现，而不怎么相信密码分析员的推断。
• You know how you rush at things,jump to conclusions without proper deductions. 你知道你处理问题是多么仓促，毫无合适的演绎就仓促下结论。

23 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

24 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。

25 twig   

n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解

参考例句：

• He heard the sharp crack of a twig.他听到树枝清脆的断裂声。
• The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away.细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。