Thirty-two EVANS

Thirty-two EVANS
Frankie gasped¹.
Bobby’s voice rose excitedly.
“You see, you’ve asked the same question that Carstairs asked. Whydidn’t they ask the parlourmaid? Why didn’t they ask Evans?”
“Oh! Bobby, we’re getting there at last!”
“The same thing must have struck Carstairs. He was nosing round, justas we were, looking for something fishy—and this point struck him just asit struck us. And, moreover, I believe he came to Wales for that reason.
Gladys Evans is a Welsh name—Evans was probably a Welsh girl. He wasfollowing her to Marchbolt. And someone was following him—and so, henever got to her.”
“Why didn’t they ask Evans?” said Frankie. “There must be a reason. It’ssuch a silly little point—and yet it’s important. With a couple of maids inthe house, why send out for a gardener?”
“Perhaps because both Chudleigh and Albert Mere² were chumps,whereas Evans was rather a sharp girl.”
“It can’t be only that. Mr. Elford was there and he’s quite shrewd. Oh!
Bobby, the whole situation is there—I know it is. If we could just get at thereason. Evans. Why Chudleigh and Mere and not Evans?”
Suddenly she stopped and put both hands over her eyes.
“It’s coming,” she said. “Just a sort of flicker³. It’ll come in a minute.”
She stayed dead still for a minute or two, then removed her hands andlooked at her companion with an odd flicker in her eyes.
“Bobby,” she said, “if you’re staying in a house with two servants whichdo you tip?”
“The house parlourmaid, of course,” said Bobby, surprised. “One nevertips a cook. One never sees her, for one thing.”
“No, and she never sees you. At least she might catch a glimpse of you ifyou were there some time. But a house parlourmaid waits on you at din-ner and calls you and hands you coffee.”
“What are you getting at, Frankie?”
“They couldn’t have Evans witnessing that will—because Evans wouldhave known that it wasn’t Mr. Savage⁴ who was making it.”
“Good Lord, Frankie, what do you mean? Who was it then?”
“Bassington-ffrench, of course! Don’t you see, he impersonated Savage? Ibet it was Bassington-ffrench who went to that doctor and made all thatfuss about having cancer. Then the lawyer is sent for—a stranger whodoesn’t know Mr. Savage but who will be able to swear that he saw Mr.
Savage sign that will and it’s witnessed by two people, one of whom hadn’tseen him before and the other an old man who was probably pretty blindand who probably had never seen Savage either. Now do you see?”
“But where was the real Savage all that time?”
“Oh! he arrived all right and then I suspect they drugged him and puthim in the attic⁵, perhaps, and kept him there for twelve hours whileBassington-ffrench did his impersonation stunt⁶. Then he was put back inhis bed and given chloral and Evans finds him dead in the morning.”
“My God, I believe you’ve hit it, Frankie. But can we prove it?”
“Yes—no—I don’t know. Supposing Rose Chudleigh—Pratt, I mean—wasshown a photograph of the real Savage? Would she be able to say, ‘thatwasn’t the man who signed the will?’ ”
“I doubt it,” said Bobby. “She is such a nitwit.”
“Chosen for that purpose, I expect. But there’s another thing. An expertought to be able to detect that the signature is a forgery⁷.”
“They didn’t before.”
“Because nobody ever raised the question. There didn’t seem any pos-sible moment when the will could have been forged. But now it’s differ-ent.”
“One thing we must do,” said Bobby. “Find Evans. She may be able totell us a lot. She was with the Templetons for six months, remember,”
Frankie groaned⁸.
“That’s going to make it even more difficult.”
“How about the post office?” suggested Bobby.
They were just passing it. In appearance it was more of a general storethan a post office.
Frankie darted⁹ inside and opened the campaign. There was no one elsein the shop except the postmistress—a young woman with an inquisitivenose.
Frankie bought a two- shilling book of stamps, commented on theweather and then said:
“But I expect you always have better weather here than we do in mypart of the world. I live in Wales—Marchbolt. You wouldn’t believe therain we have.”
The young woman with the nose said that they had a good deal of rainthemselves and last Bank Holiday it had rained something cruel.
Frankie said:
“There’s someone in Marchbolt who comes from this part of the world. Iwonder if you know her. Her name was Evans—Gladys Evans.”
The young woman was quite unsuspicious.
“Why, of course,” she said. She was in service here. At Tudor Cottage.
But she didn’t come from these parts. She came from Wales and she wentback there and married—Roberts her name is now.”
“That’s right,” said Frankie. “You can’t give me her address, I suppose? Iborrowed a raincoat from her and forgot to give it back. If I had her ad-dress I’d post it to her.”
“Well now,” the other replied, “I believe I can. I get a p.c. from her nowand again. She and her husband have gone into service together. Wait aminute now.”
She went away and rummaged¹⁰ in a corner. Presently she returned witha piece of paper in her hand.
“Here you are,” she said, pushing it across the counter.
Bobby and Frankie read it together. It was the last thing in the worldthey expected.
“Mrs. Roberts,
The Vicarage,
Marchbolt,
Wales.”

1 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

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 flicker   

vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现

参考例句：

• There was a flicker of lights coming from the abandoned house.这所废弃的房屋中有灯光闪烁。
• At first,the flame may be a small flicker,barely shining.开始时，光辉可能是微弱地忽隐忽现，几乎并不灿烂。

4 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

5 attic   

n.顶楼，屋顶室

参考例句：

• Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
• What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理？

6 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

7 forgery   

n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为）

参考例句：

• The painting was a forgery.这张画是赝品。
• He was sent to prison for forgery.他因伪造罪而被关进监狱。

8 groaned   

v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
• The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 darted   

v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 rummaged   

翻找，搜寻( rummage的过去式和过去分词 )； 已经海关检查

参考例句：

• I rummaged through all the boxes but still could not find it. 几个箱子都翻腾遍了也没有找到。
• The customs officers rummaged the ship suspected to have contraband goods. 海关人员仔细搜查了一艘有走私嫌疑的海轮。