Twenty-four INSPECTOR NARRACOTT DISCUSSES THE CASE

Twenty-four INSPECTOR¹ NARRACOTT DISCUSSES THE CASE

“I am not entirely² happy about it, sir,” said Inspector Narracott.
The Chief Constable³ looked at him inquiringly.
“No,” said Inspector Narracott. “I’m not nearly as happy about it as Iwas.”
“You don’t think we’ve got the right man?”
“I’m not satisfied. You see, to start with, everything pointed⁴ the one waybut now—it’s different.”
“The evidence against Pearson remains⁵ the same.”
“Yes, but there’s a good deal of further evidence come to light, sir.
There’s the other Pearson—Brian. Feeling that we had no further to look Iaccepted the statement that he was in Australia. Now, it turns out that hewas in England all the time. It seems he arrived back in England twomonths ago — travelled on the same boat as these Willetts apparently⁶.
Looks as though he had got sweet on the girl on the voyage. Anyway, forwhatever reason he didn’t communicate with any of his family. Neitherhis sister nor his brother had any idea he was in England. On Thursday oflast week he left the Ormsby Hotel in Russell Square and drove to Pad-dington. From there until Tuesday night, when Enderby ran across him,he refuses to account for his movements in any way.”
“You pointed out to him the gravity of such a course of action?”
“Said he didn’t give a damn. He had had nothing to do with the murderand it was up to us to prove he had. The way he had employed his timewas his own business and none of ours, and he declined definitely to statewhere he had been and what he had been doing.”
“Most extraordinary,” said the Chief Constable.
“Yes, sir. It’s an extraordinary case. You see, there’s no use getting awayfrom the facts, this man’s far more the type than the other. There’s some-thing incongruous about James Pearson hitting an old man on the headwith a sandbag—but in a manner of speaking it might be all in the day’swork to Brian Pearson. He’s a hot-tempered, high-handed young man—and he profits to exactly the same extent, remember?”
“Yes—he came over with Mr. Enderby this morning, very bright andbreezy, quite square and aboveboard, that was his attitude. But it won’twash, sir, it won’t wash.”
“H’m—you mean—”
“It isn’t borne out by the facts. Why didn’t he come forward before? Hisuncle’s death was in the papers Saturday. His brother was arrestedMonday. And he doesn’t give a sign of life. And he wouldn’t have either, ifthat journalist hadn’t run across him in the garden of Sittaford House atmidnight last night.”
“What was he doing there? Enderby, I mean?”
“You know what journalists are,” said Narracott, “always nosing round.
They’re uncanny.”
“They are a darned nuisance very often,” said the Chief Constable.
“Though they have their uses too.”
“I fancy it was the young lady put him up to it,” said Narracott.
“The young lady?”
“Miss Emily Trefusis.”
“How did she know anything about it?”
“She was up at Sittaford nosing around. And she’s what you’d call asharp young lady. There’s not much gets past her.”
“What was Brian Pearson’s own account of his movements?”
“Said he came to Sittaford House to see his young lady, Miss Willett, thatis. She came out of the house to meet him when everyone was asleep be-cause she didn’t want her mother to know about it. That’s their story.”
Inspector Narracott’s voice expressed distinct disbelief.
“It’s my belief, sir, that if Enderby hadn’t run him to earth, he neverwould have come forward. He’d have gone back to Australia and claimedhis inheritance from there.”
A faint smile crossed the Chief Constable’s lips.
“How he must have cursed these pestilential prying⁷ journalists,” hemurmured.
“There’s something else come to light,” continued the Inspector. “Thereare three Pearsons, you remember, and Sylvia Pearson is married to Mar-tin Dering, the novelist. He told me that he lunched and spent the after-noon with an American publisher and went to a literary dinner in theevening, but now it seems that he wasn’t at the dinner at all.”
“Who says so?”
“Enderby again.”
“I think I must meet Enderby,” said the Chief Constable. “He appears tobe one of the live wires of this investigation⁸. No doubt about it, the DailyWire does have some bright young men on their staff.”
“Well, of course, that may mean little or nothing,” continued the In-spector. “Captain Trevelyan was killed before six o’clock, so where Deringspent his evening is really of no consequence—but why should he havedeliberately lied about it? I don’t like it, sir.”
“No,” agreed the Chief Constable. “It seems a little unnecessary.”
“It makes one think that the whole thing may be false. It’s a far-fetchedsupposition, I suppose, but Dering might have left Paddington by thetwelve ten train—arrived at Exhampton some time after five, have killedthe old man, got the six ten train and been back home again before mid-night. At any rate it’s got to be looked into, sir. We’ve got to investigate hisfinancial position, see if he was desperately⁹ hard up. Any money his wifecame into he would have the handling of—you’ve only got to look at her toknow that. We’ve got to make perfectly¹⁰ sure that the afternoon alibi¹¹ holdswater.”
“The whole thing is extraordinary,” commented the Chief Constable.
“But I still think the evidence against Pearson is pretty conclusive¹². I seethat you don’t agree with me — you’ve a feeling you’ve got hold of thewrong man.”
“The evidence is all right,” admitted Inspector Narracott, “circumstantialand all that, and any jury ought to convict on it. Still, what you say is trueenough—I don’t see him as a murderer.”
“And his young lady is very active in the case,” said the Chief Constable.
“Miss Trefusis, yes, she’s a one and no mistake. A real fine young lady.
And absolutely determined¹³ to get him off. She’s got hold of that journalist,Enderby, and she’s working him for all she’s worth. She’s a great deal toogood for Mr. James Pearson. Beyond his good looks I wouldn’t say therewas much to him in the way of character.”
“But if she’s a managing young woman that’s what she likes,” said theChief Constable.
“Ah well,” said Inspector Narracott, “there’s no accounting¹⁴ for tastes.
Well, you agree, sir, that I had better take up this alibi of Dering’s withoutany more delay.”
“Yes, get on to it at once. What about the fourth interested party in thewill? There’s a fourth, isn’t there?”
“Yes, the sister. That’s perfectly all right. I have made inquiries¹⁵ there.
She was at home at six o’clock all right, sir. I’ll get right on with the Deringbusiness.”
It was about five hours later that Inspector Narracott found himselfonce more in the small sitting room of The Nook. This time Mr. Dering wasat home. He couldn’t be disturbed as he was writing, the maid had said atfirst, but the Inspector had produced an official card and bade her take itto her master without delay. Whilst waiting he strode up and down theroom. His mind was working actively¹⁶. Every now and then he picked up asmall object from a table, looked at it almost unseeingly, and then re-placed it. The cigarette box of Australian fiddleback—a present from BrianPearson possibly. He picked up a rather battered¹⁷ old book. “Pride and Pre-judice.” He opened the cover and saw scrawled¹⁸ on the fly-leaf in ratherfaded ink the name, Martha Rycroft. Somehow, the name of Rycroftseemed familiar, but he could not for the moment remember why. He wasinterrupted as the door opened and Martin Dering came into the room.
The novelist was a man of middle height with thick rather heavy chest-nut hair. He was good-looking in a somewhat heavy fashion, with lips thatwere rather full and red.
Inspector Narracott was not prepossessed by his apppearance.
“Good morning, Mr. Dering. Sorry to trouble you all here again.”
“Oh, it doesn’t matter, Inspector, but really I can’t tell you any more thanyou’ve been told already.”
“We were led to understand that your brother-in-law, Mr. Brian Pear-son, was in Australia. Now, we find that he has been in England for thelast two months. I might have been given an inkling of that, I think. Yourwife distinctly told me that he was in New South Wales.”
“Brian in England!” Dering seemed genuinely astonished. “I can assureyou, Inspector, that I had no knowledge of that fact—nor, I’m sure, had mywife.”
“He has not communicated with you in any way?”
“No, indeed, I know for a fact that Sylvia has twice written him letters toAustralia during that time.”
“Oh, well, in that case I apologize, sir. But naturally I thought he wouldhave communicated with his relations and I was a bit sore with you forholding out on me.”
“Well, as I tell you we knew nothing. Have a cigarette, Inspector? By theway, I see you’ve recaptured your escaped convict.”
“Yes, got him late Tuesday night. Rather bad luck for him the mist com-ing down. He walked right round in a circle. Did about twenty miles tofind himself about half a mile from Princetown at the end of it.”
“Extraordinary how everyone goes round in circles in a fog. Good thinghe didn’t escape on the Friday. I suppose he would have had this murderput down to him as a certainty.”
“He’s a dangerous man. Fremantle Freddy, they used to call him. Rob-bery with violence, assault—led the most extraordinary double life. Halfthe time he passed as an educated, respectable wealthy man. I am not atall sure myself that Broadmoor wasn’t the place for him. A kind of crim-inal mania¹⁹ used to come over him from time to time. He would disappearand consort²⁰ with the lowest characters.”
“I suppose many people don’t escape from Princetown?”
“It’s well-nigh impossible, sir. But this particular escape was extraordin-arily well planned and carried out. We haven’t nearly got to the bottom ofit yet.”
“Well,” Dering rose and glanced at his watch, “if there’s nothing more,Inspector—I’m afraid I am rather a busy man—”
“Oh, but there is something more, Mr. Dering. I want to know why youtold me that you were at a literary dinner at the Cecil Hotel on Fridaynight?”
“I—I don’t understand you, Inspector.”
“I think you do, sir. You weren’t at that dinner, Mr. Dering.”
Martin Dering hesitated. His eyes ran uncertainly from the Inspector’sface, up to the ceiling, then to the door, and then to his feet.
The Inspector waited calm and stolid²¹.
“Well,” said Martin Dering at last, “supposing I wasn’t. What the hell hasthat got to do with you? What have my movements, five hours after myuncle was murdered, got to do with you or anyone else?”
“You made a certain statement to us, Mr. Dering, and I want that state-ment verified. Part of it has already proved to be untrue. I’ve got to checkup on the other half. You say you lunched and spent the afternoon with afriend.”
“Yes—my American publisher.”
“His name?”
“Rosenkraun, Edgar Rosenkraun.”
“Ah, and his address?”
“He’s left England. He left last Saturday.”
“For New York?”
“Yes.”
“Then he’ll be on the sea at the present moment. What boat is he on?”
“I—I really can’t remember.”
“You know the line? Was it a Cunard or White Star?”
“I—I really don’t remember.”
“Ah well,” said the Inspector, “we’ll cable his firm in New York. They’llknow.”
“It was the Gargantua,” said Dering sullenly²².
“Thank you, Mr. Dering, I thought you could remember if you tried.
Now, your statement is that you lunched with Mr. Rosenkraun and thatyou spent the afternoon with him. At what time did you leave him?”
“About five o’clock I should say.”
“And then?”
“I decline to state. It’s no business of yours. That’s all you want surely.”
Inspector Narracott nodded thoughtfully. If Rosenkraun confirmed Der-ing’s statement then any case against Dering must fall to the ground.
Whatever his mysterious activities had been that evening could not affectthe case.
“What are you going to do?” demanded Dering uneasily.
“Wireless Mr. Rosenkraun on board the Gargantua.”
“Damn it all,” cried Dering, “you’ll involve me in all sorts of publicity²³.
Look here—”
He went across to his desk, scribbled²⁴ a few words on a bit of paper, thentook it to the Inspector.
“I suppose you’ve got to do what you’re doing,” he said ungraciously,“but at least you might do it in my way. It’s not fair to run a chap in for alot of trouble.”
On the sheet of paper was written:
Rosenkraun S.S. “Gargantua.” Please confirm my state-ment I was with you lunchtime until five o’clock Friday14th. Martin Dering.
“Have the reply sent straight to you—I don’t mind. But don’t have it sentto Scotland Yard or a Police Station. You don’t know what these Americansare like. Any hint of me being mixed up in a police case and this new con-tract that I’ve been discussing will go to the winds. Keep it a private mat-ter, Inspector.”
“I’ve no objection to that, Mr. Dering. All I want is the truth. I’ll send thisreply paid, the reply to be sent to my private address in Exeter.”
“Thank you, you are a good chap. It’s not such easy going earning yourliving by literature, Inspector. You’ll see the answer will be all right. I didtell you a lie about the dinner, but as a matter of fact I had told my wifethat that was where I had been, and I thought I might as well stick to thesame story to you. Otherwise I would have let myself in for a lot oftrouble.”
“If Mr. Rosenkraun confirms your statement, Mr. Dering, you will havenothing else to fear.”
“An unpleasant character,” the Inspector thought, as he left the house.
“But he seems pretty certain that this American publisher will confirm thetruth of his story.”
A sudden remembrance came to the Inspector, as he hopped²⁵ into thetrain which would take him back to Devon.
“Rycroft,” he said, “of course—that’s the name of the old gentleman wholives in one of the cottages at Sittaford. A curious coincidence.”

1 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

2 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

3 constable   

n.(英国)警察，警官

参考例句：

• The constable conducted the suspect to the police station.警官把嫌疑犯带到派出所。
• The constable kept his temper,and would not be provoked.那警察压制着自己的怒气，不肯冒起火来。

4 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 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。

7 prying   

adj.爱打听的v.打听，刺探（他人的私事）( pry的现在分词 )；撬开

参考例句：

• I'm sick of you prying into my personal life! 我讨厌你刺探我的私生活！
• She is always prying into other people's affairs. 她总是打听别人的私事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

9 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

10 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

11 alibi   

n.某人当时不在犯罪现场的申辩或证明；借口

参考例句：

• Do you have any proof to substantiate your alibi? 你有证据表明你当时不在犯罪现场吗？
• The police are suspicious of his alibi because he already has a record.警方对他不在场的辩解表示怀疑，因为他已有前科。

12 conclusive   

adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的

参考例句：

• They produced some fairly conclusive evidence.他们提供了一些相当确凿的证据。
• Franklin did not believe that the French tests were conclusive.富兰克林不相信这个法国人的实验是结论性的。

13 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

14 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

15 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

17 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

18 scrawled   

乱涂，潦草地写( scrawl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I tried to read his directions, scrawled on a piece of paper. 我尽量弄明白他草草写在一片纸上的指示。
• Tom scrawled on his slate, "Please take it -- I got more." 汤姆在他的写字板上写了几个字：“请你收下吧，我多得是哩。”

19 mania   

n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好

参考例句：

• Football mania is sweeping the country.足球热正风靡全国。
• Collecting small items can easily become a mania.收藏零星物品往往容易变成一种癖好。

20 consort   

v.相伴；结交

参考例句：

• They went in consort two or three together.他们三三两两结伴前往。
• The nurses are instructed not to consort with their patients.护士得到指示不得与病人交往。

21 stolid   

adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的

参考例句：

• Her face showed nothing but stolid indifference.她的脸上毫无表情，只有麻木的无动于衷。
• He conceals his feelings behind a rather stolid manner.他装作无动于衷的样子以掩盖自己的感情。

22 sullenly   

不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地

参考例句：

• 'so what?" Tom said sullenly. “那又怎么样呢？”汤姆绷着脸说。
• Emptiness after the paper, I sIt'sullenly in front of the stove. 报看完，想不出能找点什么事做，只好一人坐在火炉旁生气。

23 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

24 scribbled   

v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下

参考例句：

• She scribbled his phone number on a scrap of paper. 她把他的电话号码匆匆写在一张小纸片上。
• He scribbled a note to his sister before leaving. 临行前，他给妹妹草草写了一封短信。

25 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。