“Oh, I feel as if I’d woken up out of a nightmare,” sighed Hilary.
She stretched her arms wide above her head. They were sitting on theterrace of a hotel in Tangier. They had arrived there that morning byplane. Hilary went on:
“Did it all happen? It can’t have!”
“It happened all right,” said Tom Betterton, “but I agree with you, Olive,it was a nightmare. Ah well, I’m out of it now.”
Jessop came along the terrace and sat down beside them.
“Where’s Andy Peters?” asked Hilary.
“He’ll be here presently,” said Jessop. “He has a bit of business to attendto.”
“So Peters was one of your people,” said Hilary, “and he did things withphosphorus and a lead cigarette case that squirted radioactive material. Inever knew a thing about that.”
“No,” said Jessop, “you were both very discreet1 with each other. Strictlyspeaking, though, he isn’t one of my people. He represents the U.S.A.”
“That’s what you meant by saying that if I actually reached Tom here,you hoped I should have protection? You meant Andy Peters.”
Jessop nodded.
“I hope you’re not blaming me,” said Jessop in his most owl-like manner,“for not providing you with the desired end to your experience.”
Hilary looked puzzled. “What end?”
“A more sporting form of suicide,” he said.
“Oh, that!” She shook her head incredulously. “That seems just as unrealas anything else. I’ve been Olive Betterton so long now that I’m feelingquite confused to be Hilary Craven again.”
“Ah,” said Jessop, “there is my friend, Leblanc. I must go and speak tohim.”
He left them and walked along the terrace. Tom Betterton said quickly:
“Do one more thing for me, will you, Olive? I call you Olive still—I’ve gotused to it.”
“Yes, of course. What is it?”
“Walk along the terrace with me, then come back here and say that I’vegone up to my room to lie down.”
She looked at him questioningly.
“Why? What are you—?”
“I’m off, my dear, while the going’s good.”
“Off, where?”
“Anywhere.”
“But why?”
“Use your head, my dear girl. I don’t know what the status is here.
Tangier is an odd sort of place not under the jurisdiction2 of any particularcountry. But I know what’ll happen if I come with the rest of you to Gibral-tar. The first thing that’ll happen when I get there, I shall be arrested.”
Hilary looked at him with concern. In the excitement of their escapefrom the Unit, she had forgotten Tom Betterton’s troubles.
“You mean the Official Secrets Act, or whatever they call it? But youcan’t really hope to get away, can you, Tom? Where can you go?”
“I’ve told you. Anywhere.”
“But is that feasible nowadays? There’s money and all sorts of diffi-culties.”
He gave a short laugh. “The money’s all right. It’s salted away where Ican get at it under a new name.”
“So you did take money?”
“Of course I took money.”
“But they’ll track you down.”
“They’ll find it hard to do that. Don’t you realize, Olive, that the descrip-tion they’ll have of me is quite unlike my present appearance. That’s why Iwas so keen on this plastic surgery business. That’s been the whole point,you see. To get away from England, bank some money, have my appear-ance altered in such a way that I’m safe for life.”
Hilary looked at him doubtfully.
“You’re wrong,” she said. “I’m sure you’re wrong. It’d be far better to goback and face the music. After all, it’s not wartime. You’d only get a shortterm of imprisonment3, I expect. What’s the good of being hounded for therest of your life?”
“You don’t understand,” he said. “You don’t understand the first thingabout it all. Come on, let’s get going. There’s no time to lose.”
“But how are you going to get away from Tangier?”
“I’ll manage. Don’t you worry.”
She got up from her seat and walked with him slowly along the terrace.
She felt curiously4 inadequate5 and tongue-tied. She had fulfilled her obliga-tions to Jessop and also to the dead woman, Olive Betterton. Now therewas no more to do. She and Tom Betterton had shared weeks of the closestassociation and yet she felt they were still strangers to each other. Nobond of fellowship or friendship had grown up between them.
They reached the end of the terrace. There was a small side door therethrough the wall which led out on to a narrow road which curved downthe hill to the port.
“I shall slip out this way,” Betterton said; “nobody’s watching. So long.”
“Good luck to you,” said Hilary slowly.
She stood there watching Betterton as he went to the door and turned itshandle. As the door opened he stepped back a pace and stopped. Threemen stood in the doorway6. Two of them entered and came towards him.
The first spoke7 formally.
“Thomas Betterton, I have here a warrant for your arrest. You will beheld8 here in custody9 whilst extradition10 proceedings11 are taken.”
Betterton turned sharply, but the other man had moved quickly roundthe other side of him. Instead, he turned back with a laugh.
“It’s quite all right,” he said, “except that I’m not Thomas Betterton.”
The third man moved in through the doorway, came to stand by the sideof the other two.
“Oh yes, you are,” he said. “You’re Thomas Betterton.”
Betterton laughed.
“What you mean is that for the last month you’ve been living with meand hearing me called Thomas Betterton and hearing me call myselfThomas Betterton. The point is that I’m not Thomas Betterton. I met Bet-terton in Paris. I came on and took his place. Ask this lady if you don’t be-lieve me,” he said. “She came to join me, pretending to be my wife, and Irecognized her as my wife. I did, didn’t I?”
Hilary nodded her head.
“That,” said Betterton, “was because, not being Thomas Betterton, natur-ally I didn’t know Thomas Betterton’s wife from Adam. I thought she wasThomas Betterton’s wife. Afterwards I had to think up some sort of ex-planation that would satisfy her. But that’s the truth.”
“So that’s why you pretended to know me,” cried Hilary. “When you toldme to play up—to keep up the deception12!”
Betterton laughed again, confidently.
“I’m not Betterton,” he said. “Look at any photograph of Betterton andyou’ll see I’m speaking the truth.”
Peters stepped forward. His voice when he spoke was totally unlike thevoice of the Peters that Hilary had known so well. It was quiet and implac-able.
“I’ve seen photographs of Betterton,” he said, “and I agree I wouldn’thave recognized you as the man. But you are Thomas Betterton all thesame, and I’ll prove it.”
He seized Betterton with a sudden strong grasp and tore off his jacket.
“If you’re Thomas Betterton,” he said, “you’ve got a scar in the shape of aZ in the crook13 of your right elbow.”
As he spoke he ripped up the shirt and bent14 back Betterton’s arm.
“There you are,” he said, pointing triumphantly15. “There are two lab as-sistants in the U.S.A. who’ll testify to that. I know about it because Elsawrote and told me when you did it.”
“Elsa?” Betterton stared at him. He began to shake nervously16. “Elsa?
What about Elsa?”
“Ask what the charge is against you?”
The police official stepped forward once more.
“The charge,” he said, “is murder in the first degree. Murder of yourwife, Elsa Betterton.”
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收听单词发音
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1
discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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2
jurisdiction
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| n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权 | |
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3
imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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4
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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5
inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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6
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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7
spoke
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| 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 | |
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beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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9
custody
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| n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留 | |
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10
extradition
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| n.引渡（逃犯） | |
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11
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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12
deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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13
crook
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| v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处) | |
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14
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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15
triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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