Glendower Close was very very new. It swept round in an uneven1 semi-circle and at its lower end the builders were still at work. About halfwayalong its length was a gate inscribed2 with the name of Everest.
Visible, bent3 over the garden border, planting bulbs, was a roundedback which Inspector4 Lejeune recognised without difficulty as that of Mr.
Zachariah Osborne. He opened the gate and passed inside. Mr. Osbornerose from his stooping position and turned to see who had entered his do-main. On recognising his visitor, an additional flush of pleasure rose to hisalready flushed face. Mr. Osborne in the country was looking very muchthe same as Mr. Osborne in his shop in London. He wore stout5 countryshoes and was in his shirt sleeves, but even this déshabillé detracted littlefrom the dapper neatness of his appearance. A fine dew of perspirationshowed on the shining baldness of his domed6 head. This he carefullywiped with a pocket handkerchief before advancing to meet his visitor.
“Inspector Lejeune!” he exclaimed pleasurably. “I take this as an hon-our. I do indeed, sir. I received your acknowledgement of my letter, but Inever hoped to see you in person. Welcome to my little abode7. Welcome toEverest. The name surprises you perhaps? I have always been deeply in-terested in the Himalayas. I followed every detail of the Everest expedi-tion. What a triumph for our country. Sir Edmund Hillary! What a man!
What endurance! As one who has never had to suffer any personal dis-comfort, I do appreciate the courage of those who go forth8 to scale un-conquered mountains or sail through icebound seas to discover thesecrets of the Pole. But come inside and partake, I beg of you, of somesimple refreshment9.”
Leading the way, Mr. Osborne ushered10 Lejeune into the small bungalowwhich was the acme11 of neatness, though rather sparsely12 furnished.
“Not quite settled yet,” explained Mr. Osborne. “I attend local saleswhenever possible. There is good stuff to be picked up that way, at aquarter of the cost one would have to pay in a shop. Now what can I offeryou? A glass of sherry? Beer? A cup of tea? I could have the kettle on in ajiffy.”
Lejeune expressed a preference for beer.
“Here we are, then,” said Mr. Osborne, returning a moment later withtwo brimming pewter tankards. “We will sit and take our rest. Everest. Haha! The name of my house has a double meaning. I am always fond of alittle joke.”
Those social amenities13 satisfied, Mr. Osborne leaned forward hopefully.
“My information was of service to you?”
Lejeune softened14 the blow as much as possible.
“Not as much as we hoped, I am afraid.”
“Ah, I confess I am disappointed. Though, really, there is, I realise, noreason to suppose that a gentleman proceeding15 in the same direction asFather Gorman should necessarily be his murderer. That was really toomuch to hope for. And this Mr. Venables is well-to-do and much respectedlocally, I understand, moving in the best social circles.”
“The point is,” said Lejeune, “that it could not have been Mr. Venablesthat you saw on that particular evening.”
“Oh, but it was. I have absolutely no doubt in my own mind. I am nevermistaken about a face.”
“I’m afraid you must have been this time,” said Lejeune gently. “You see,Mr. Venables is a victim of polio. For over three years he has been para-lysed from the waist down, and is unable to use his legs.”
“Polio!” ejaculated Mr. Osborne. “Oh dear, dear… That does seem tosettle the matter. And yet—You’ll excuse me, Inspector Lejeune. I hopeyou won’t take offence. But that really is so? I mean you have definitemedical evidence as to that?”
“Yes, Mr. Osborne. We have. Mr. Venables is a patient of Sir WilliamDugdale of Harley Street, a most eminent16 member of the medical profes-sion.”
“Of course, of course. F.R.C.P. A very well-known name! Oh dear, I seemto have fallen down badly. I was so very sure. And to trouble you for noth-ing.”
“You mustn’t take it like that,” said Lejeune quickly. “Your informationis still very valuable. It is clear that the man you saw must bear a veryclose resemblance to Mr. Venables—and since Mr. Venables is a man ofdistinctly unusual appearance, that is extremely valuable knowledge tohave. There cannot be many persons answering to that description.”
“True, true.” Mr. Osborne cheered up a little. “A man of the criminalclasses resembling Mr. Venables in appearance. There certainly cannot bemany such. In the files at Scotland Yard—”
He looked hopefully at the inspector.
“It may not be quite so simple as that,” said Lejeune slowly. “The manmay not have a record. And in any case, as you said just now there is asyet no reason to assume that this particular man had anything to do withthe attack on Father Gorman.”
Mr. Osborne looked depressed17 again.
“You must forgive me. Wishful thinking, I am afraid, on my part… Ishould so like to have been able to give evidence at a murder trial… Andthey would not have been able to shake me, I assure you of that. Oh no, Ishould have stuck to my guns!”
Lejeune was silent, considering his host thoughtfully. Mr. Osborne re-sponded to the silent scrutiny18.
“Yes?”
“Mr. Osborne, why would you have stuck to your guns, as you put it?”
Mr. Osborne looked astonished.
“Because I am so certain—oh—oh yes, I see what you mean. The manwas not the man. So I have no business to feel certain. And yet I do—”
Lejeune leaned forward. “You may have wondered why I have come tosee you today. Having received medical evidence that the man seen byyou could not have been Mr. Venables, why am I here?”
“Quite. Quite. Well, then, Inspector Lejeune, why did you come?”
“I came,” said Lejeune, “because the very positiveness of your identifica-tion impressed me. I wanted to know on what grounds your certainty wasbased. It was a foggy night, remember. I have been to your shop. I havestood where you stood in your doorway19 and looked across the street. On afoggy night it seemed to me that a figure at that distance would be very in-substantial, that it would be almost impossible to distinguish featuresclearly.”
“Up to a point, of course, you are quite right. Fog was setting in. But itcame, if you understand me, in patches. It cleared for a short space everynow and then. It did so at the moment that I saw Father Gorman walkingfast along the opposite pavement. That is why I saw him and the man whofollowed shortly after him so clearly. Moreover, just when the second manwas abreast20 of me, he flicked21 on a lighter22 to relight his cigarette. His pro-file at that moment was very clear—the nose, the chin, the pronouncedAdam’s apple. That’s a striking-looking man, I thought. I’ve never seen himabout before. If he’d ever been into my shop I’d have remembered him, Ithought. So, you see—”
Mr. Osborne broke off.
“Yes, I see,” said Lejeune thoughtfully.
“A brother,” suggested Mr. Osborne hopefully. “A twin brother, per-haps? Now that would be a solution.”
“The identical twin solution?” Lejeune smiled and shook his head. “Sovery convenient in fiction. But in real life—” he shook his head. “It doesn’thappen, you know. It really doesn’t happen.”
“No… No, I suppose not. But possibly an ordinary brother. A close familyresemblance—” Mr. Osborne looked wistful.
“As far as we can ascertain23,” Lejeune spoke24 carefully, “Mr. Venables hasnot got a brother.”
“As far as you can ascertain?” Mr. Osborne repeated the words.
“Though of British nationality, he was born abroad, his parents onlybrought him to England when he was eleven years old.”
“You don’t know very much about him really, then? About his family, Imean?”
“No,” said Lejeune, thoughtfully. “It isn’t easy to find out very muchabout Mr. Venables—without, that is to say, going and asking him—andwe’ve no grounds for doing that.”
He spoke deliberately25. There were ways of finding out things withoutgoing and asking, but he had no intention of telling Mr. Osborne so.
“So if it wasn’t for the medical evidence,” he said, getting to his feet,“you’d be sure about the identification?”
“Oh yes,” said Mr. Osborne, following suit. “It’s quite a hobby of mine,you know, memorising faces.” He chuckled26. “Many a customer I’ve sur-prised that way. ‘How’s the asthma27?’ I’d say to someone—and she’d lookquite surprised. ‘You came in last March,’ I’d say, ‘with a prescription28. Oneof Dr. Hargreaves’s.’ And wouldn’t she look surprised! Did me a lot of goodin business. It pleases people to be remembered, though I wasn’t as goodwith names as with faces. I started making a hobby of the thing quiteyoung. If Royalty29 can do it, I used to say to myself, you can do it, ZachariahOsborne! After a while it becomes automatic. You hardly have to make aneffort.”
Lejeune sighed.
“I’d like to have a witness like you in the box,” he said. “Identification isalways a tricky30 business. Most people can’t tell you anything at all. They’llsay things like: ‘Oh, tallish, I think. Fair-haired—well, not very fair, sort ofmiddling. Ordinary sort of face. Eyes blue—or grey—or perhaps brown.
Grey mackintosh—or it may have been dark blue.’”
Mr. Osborne laughed.
“Not much good to you, that sort of thing.”
“Frankly, a witness like you would be a godsend!”
Mr. Osborne looked pleased.
“It’s a gift,” he said modestly. “But mind you, I’ve cultivated my gift. Youknow the game they play at children’s parties—a lot of objects brought inon a tray and a few minutes given to memorise31 them. I can score a hun-dred percent every time. Quite surprises people. How wonderful, they say.
It’s not wonderful. It’s a knack32. Comes with practice.” He chuckled. “I’mnot a bad conjurer either. I do a bit to amuse the kiddies at Christmastime.
Excuse me, Mr. Lejeune, what have you got in your breast pocket?”
He leaned forward and extracted a small ashtray33.
“Tut, tut, sir, and you in the police force!”
He laughed heartily34 and Lejeune laughed with him. Then Mr. Osbornesighed.
“It’s a nice little place I’ve got here, sir. The neighbours seem pleasantand friendly. It’s the life I’ve been looking forward to for years, but I’ll ad-mit to you, Mr. Lejeune, that I miss the interest of my own business. Al-ways someone coming in and out. Types, you know, lots of types to study.
I’ve looked forward to having my little bit of garden, and I’ve got quite alot of interests. Butterflies, as I told you, and a bit of bird-watching nowand again. I didn’t realise that I’d miss what I might call the human ele-ment so much.
“I’d looked forward to going abroad in a small way. Well, I’ve taken oneweekend trip to France. Quite nice, I must say—but I felt, very strongly,that England’s really good enough for me. I didn’t care for the foreigncooking, for one thing. They haven’t the least idea, as far as I can see, howto do eggs and bacon.”
He sighed again.
“Just shows you what human nature is. Looked forward no end to retir-ing, I did. And now—do you know I’ve actually played with the idea ofbuying a small share in a pharmaceutical35 business here in Bournemouth—just enough to give me an interest, no need to be tied to the shop all thetime. But I’d feel in the middle of things again. It will be the same withyou, I expect. You’ll make plans ahead, but when the time comes, you’llmiss the excitement of your present life.”
Lejeune smiled.
“A policeman’s life is not such a romantically exciting one as you think,Mr. Osborne. You’ve got the amateur’s view of crime. Most of it is dullroutine. We’re not always chasing down criminals, and following up mys-terious clues. It can be quite a dull business, really.”
Mr. Osborne looked unconvinced.
“You know best,” he said. “Good-bye, Mr. Lejeune, and I’m sorry indeedthat I haven’t been able to help you. If there was anything—anytime—”
“I’ll let you know,” Lejeune promised him.
“That day at the fête, it seemed such a chance,” Osborne murmuredsadly.
“I know. A pity the medical evidence is so definite, but one can’t get overthat sort of thing, can one?”
“Well—” Mr. Osborne let the word linger, but Lejeune did not notice it.
He strode away briskly. Mr. Osborne stood by the gate looking after him.
“Medical evidence,” he said. “Doctors indeed! If he knew half what Iknow about doctors—innocents, that’s what they are! Doctors indeed!”
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1
uneven
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| adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的 | |
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inscribed
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| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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domed
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| adj. 圆屋顶的, 半球形的, 拱曲的 动词dome的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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ushered
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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acme
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| n.顶点，极点 | |
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sparsely
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| adv.稀疏地；稀少地；不足地；贫乏地 | |
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amenities
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| n.令人愉快的事物；礼仪；礼节；便利设施；礼仪( amenity的名词复数 )；便利设施；（环境等的）舒适；（性情等的）愉快 | |
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softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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abreast
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| adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地 | |
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flicked
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| （尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等） | |
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lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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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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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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asthma
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| n.气喘病，哮喘病 | |
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prescription
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| n.处方，开药；指示，规定 | |
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royalty
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| n.皇家，皇族 | |
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tricky
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| adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的 | |
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memorise
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| vt.记住，熟记 | |
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knack
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| n.诀窍，做事情的灵巧的，便利的方法 | |
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ashtray
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| n.烟灰缸 | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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pharmaceutical
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| adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的 | |
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