“Tuppence, I say, Tuppence, come here.”
It was breakfast time the next morning. Tuppence hurried out of herbedroom and into the dining room. Tommy was striding up and down, theopen newspaper in his hand.
“What’s the matter?”
Tommy wheeled round, and shoved the paper into her hand, pointing tothe headlines.
MYSTERIOUS POISONING CASE
DEATHS FROM FIG1 SANDWICHES
Tuppence read on. This mysterious outbreak of ptomaine poisoning hadoccurred at Thurnly Grange. The deaths so far reported were those of MissLois Hargreaves, the owner of the house, and the parlourmaid, EstherQuant. A Captain Radclyffe and a Miss Logan were reported to be seri-ously ill. The cause of the outbreak was supposed to be some fig paste usedin sandwiches, since another lady, a Miss Chilcott, who had not partakenof these was reported to be quite well.
“We must get down there at once,” said Tommy. “That girl! That per-fectly ripping girl! Why the devil didn’t I go straight down there with heryesterday?”
“If you had,” said Tuppence, “you’d probably have eaten fig sandwichestoo for tea, and then you’d have been dead. Come on, let’s start at once. Isee it says that Dennis Radclyffe is seriously ill also.”
“Probably shamming2, the dirty blackguard.”
They arrived at the small village of Thurnly about midday. An elderlywoman with red eyes opened the door to them when they arrived atThurnly Grange.
“Look here,” said Tommy quickly before she could speak. “I’m not a re-porter or anything like that. Miss Hargreaves came to see me yesterday,and asked me to come down here. Is there anyone I can see?”
“Dr. Burton is here now, if you’d like to speak to him,” said the womandoubtfully. “Or Miss Chilcott. She’s making all the arrangements.”
But Tommy had caught at the first suggestion.
“Dr. Burton,” he said authoritatively3. “I should like to see him at once ifhe is here.”
The woman showed them into a small morning room. Five minutes laterthe door opened, and a tall, elderly man with bent4 shoulders and a kind,but worried face, came in.
“Dr. Burton,” said Tommy. He produced his professional card. “MissHargreaves called on me yesterday with reference to those poisonedchocolates. I came down to investigate the matter at her request—alas! toolate.”
The doctor looked at him keenly.
“You are Mr. Blunt himself?”
“Yes. This is my assistant, Miss Robinson.”
The doctor bowed to Tuppence.
“Under the circumstances, there is no need for reticence5. But for theepisode of the chocolates, I might have believed these deaths to be the res-ult of severe ptomaine poisoning—but ptomaine poisoning of an unusu-ally virulent6 kind. There is gastrointestinal inflammation and haemor-rhage. As it is, I am taking the fig paste to be analysed.”
“You suspect arsenic7 poisoning?”
“No. The poison, if a poison has been employed, is something far morepotent and swift in its action. It looks more like some powerful vegetabletoxin.”
“I see. I should like to ask you, Dr. Burton, whether you are thoroughlyconvinced that Captain Radclyffe is suffering from the same form of pois-oning?”
The doctor looked at him.
“Captain Radclyffe is not suffering from any sort of poisoning now.”
“Aha,” said Tommy. “I—”
“Captain Radclyffe died at five o’clock this morning.”
Tommy was utterly8 taken aback. The doctor prepared to depart.
“And the other victim, Miss Logan?” asked Tuppence.
“I have every reason to hope that she will recover since she has sur-vived so far. Being an older woman, the poison seems to have had less ef-fect on her. I will let you know the result of the analysis, Mr. Blunt. In themeantime, Miss Chilcott, will, I am sure, tell you anything you want toknow.”
As he spoke9, the door opened, and a girl appeared. She was tall, with atanned face, and steady blue eyes.
Dr. Burton performed the necessary introductions.
“I am glad you have come, Mr. Blunt,” said Mary Chilcott. “This affairseems too terrible. Is there anything you want to know that I can tell you?”
“Where did the fig paste come from?”
“It is a special kind that comes from London. We often have it. No onesuspected that this particular pot differed from any of the others. Person-ally I dislike the flavour of figs10. That explains my immunity11. I cannot un-derstand how Dennis was affected12, since he was out for tea. He must havepicked up a sandwich when he came home, I suppose.”
Tommy felt Tuppence’s hand press his arm ever so slightly.
“What time did he come in?” he asked.
“I don’t really know. I could find out.”
“Thank you, Miss Chilcott. It doesn’t matter. You have no objection, Ihope, to my questioning the servants?”
“Please do anything you like, Mr. Blunt. I am nearly distraught. Tell me—you don’t think there has been—foul play?”
Her eyes were very anxious, as she put the question.
“I don’t know what to think. We shall soon know.”
“Yes, I suppose Dr. Burton will have the paste analysed.”
Quickly excusing herself, she went out by the window to speak to one ofthe gardeners.
“You take the housemaids, Tuppence,” said Tommy, “and I’ll find myway to the kitchen. I say, Miss Chilcott may feel very distraught, but shedoesn’t look it.”
Tuppence nodded assent13 without replying.
Husband and wife met half an hour later.
“Now to pool results,” said Tommy. “The sandwiches came out for tea,and the parlourmaid ate one—that’s how she got it in the neck. Cook ispositive Dennis Radclyffe hadn’t returned when tea was cleared away.
Query—how did he get poisoned?”
“He came in at a quarter to seven,” said Tuppence. “Housemaid saw himfrom one of the windows. He had a cocktail14 before dinner—in the library.
She was just clearing away the glass now, and luckily I got it from her be-fore she washed it. It was after that that he complained of feeling ill.”
“Good,” said Tommy. “I’ll take that glass along to Burton, presently. Any-thing else?”
“I’d like you to see Hannah, the maid. She’s—she’s queer.”
“How do you mean—queer?”
“She looks to me as though she were going off her head.”
“Let me see her.”
Tuppence led the way upstairs. Hannah had a small sitting room of herown. The maid sat upright on a high chair. On her knees was an openBible. She did not look towards the two strangers as they entered. Insteadshe continued to read aloud to herself.
“Let hot burning coals fall upon them, let them be cast into the fire and intothe pit, that they never rise up again.”
“May I speak to you a minute?” asked Tommy.
Hannah made an impatient gesture with her hand.
“This is no time. The time is running short, I say. I will follow upon mineenemies and overtake them, neither will I turn again till I have destroyedthem. So it is written. The word of the Lord has come to me. I am thescourge of the Lord.”
“Mad as a hatter,” murmured Tommy.
“She’s been going on like that all the time,” whispered Tuppence.
Tommy picked up a book that was lying open, face downwards15 on thetable. He glanced at the title and slipped it into his pocket.
Suddenly the old woman rose and turned towards them menacingly.
“Go out from here. The time is at hand! I am the flail16 of the Lord. Thewind bloweth where it listeth—so do I destroy. The ungodly shall perish.
This is a house of evil—of evil, I tell you! Beware of the wrath17 of the Lordwhose handmaiden I am.”
She advanced upon them fiercely. Tommy thought it best to humour herand withdrew. As he closed the door, he saw her pick up the Bible again.
“I wonder if she’s always been like that,” he muttered.
He drew from his pocket the book he had picked up off the table.
“Look at that. Funny reading for an ignorant maid.”
Tuppence took the book.
“Materia Medica,” she murmured. She looked at the flyleaf, “Edward Lo-gan. It’s an old book. Tommy, I wonder if we could see Miss Logan? Dr.
Burton said she was better.”
“Shall we ask Miss Chilcott?”
“No. Let’s get hold of a housemaid, and send her in to ask.”
After a brief delay, they were informed that Miss Logan would see them.
They were taken into a big bedroom facing over the lawn. In the bed wasan old lady with white hair, her delicate face drawn18 by suffering.
“I have been very ill,” she said faintly. “And I can’t talk much, but Ellentells me you are detectives. Lois went to consult you then? She spoke ofdoing so.”
“Yes, Miss Logan,” said Tommy. “We don’t want to tire you, but perhapsyou can answer a few questions. The maid, Hannah, is she quite right inher head?”
Miss Logan looked at them with obvious surprise.
“Oh, yes. She is very religious—but there is nothing wrong with her.”
Tommy held out the book he had taken from the table.
“Is this yours, Miss Logan?”
“Yes. It was one of my father’s books. He was a great doctor, one of thepioneers of serum19 therapeutics.”
The old lady’s voice rang with pride.
“Quite so,” said Tommy. “I thought I knew his name.” he added menda-ciously. “This book now, did you lend it to Hannah?”
“To Hannah?” Miss Logan raised herself in bed with indignation. “No,indeed. She wouldn’t understand the first word of it. It is a highly tech-nical book.”
“Yes. I see that. Yet I found it in Hannah’s room.”
“Disgraceful,” said Miss Logan. “I will not have the servants touching20 mythings.”
“Where ought it to be?”
“In the bookshelf in my sitting room—or—stay, I lent it to Mary. Thedear girl is very interested in herbs. She has made one or two experimentsin my little kitchen. I have a little place of my own, you know, where Ibrew liqueurs and make preserves in the old-fashioned way. Dear Lucy,Lady Radclyffe, you know, used to swear by my tansy tea—a wonderfulthing for a cold in the head. Poor Lucy, she was subject to colds. So is Den-nis. Dear boy, his father was my first cousin.”
Tommy interrupted these reminiscences.
“This kitchen of yours? Does anyone else use it except you and Miss Chil-cott?”
“Hannah clears up there. And she boils the kettle there for our earlymorning tea.”
“Thank you, Miss Logan,” said Tommy. “There is nothing more I want toask you at present. I hope we haven’t tired you too much.”
He left the room and went down the stairs, frowning to himself.
“There is something here, my dear Mr. Ricardo, that I do not under-stand.”
“I hate this house,” said Tuppence with a shiver. “Let’s go for a goodlong walk and try to think things out.”
Tommy complied and they set out. First they left the cocktail glass at thedoctor’s house, and then set off for a good tramp across the country, dis-cussing the case as they did so.
“It makes it easier somehow if one plays the fool,” said Tommy. “All thisHanaud business. I suppose some people would think I didn’t care. But Ido, most awfully21. I feel that somehow or other we ought to have preventedthis.”
“I think that’s foolish of you,” said Tuppence. “It is not as though we ad-vised Lois Hargreaves not to go to Scotland Yard or anything like that.
Nothing would have induced her to bring the police into the matter. If shehadn’t come to us, she would have done nothing at all.”
“And the result would have been the same. Yes, you are right, Tuppence.
It’s morbid22 to reproach oneself over something one couldn’t help. What Iwould like to do is to make good now.”
“And that’s not going to be easy.”
“No, it isn’t. There are so many possibilities, and yet all of them seemwild and improbable. Supposing Dennis Radclyffe put the poison in thesandwiches. He knew he would be out to tea. That seems fairly plain sail-ing.”
“Yes,” said Tuppence, “that’s all right so far. Then we can put againstthat the fact that he was poisoned himself—so that seems to rule him out.
There is one person we mustn’t forget—and that is Hannah.”
“Hannah?”
“People do all sorts of queer things when they have religious mania23.”
“She is pretty far gone with it too,” said Tommy. “You ought to drop aword to Dr. Burton about it.”
“It must have come on very rapidly,” said Tuppence. “That is if we go bywhat Miss Logan said.”
“I believe religious mania does,” said Tommy. “I mean, you go onsinging hymns24 in your bedroom with the door open for years, and thenyou go suddenly right over the line and become violent.”
“There is certainly more evidence against Hannah than against anybodyelse,” said Tuppence thoughtfully. “And yet I have an idea—” She stopped.
“Yes?” said Tommy encouragingly.
“It is not really an idea. I suppose it is just a prejudice.”
“A prejudice against someone?”
Tuppence nodded.
“Tommy—did you like Mary Chilcott?”
Tommy considered.
“Yes, I think I did. She struck me as extremely capable and businesslike—perhaps a shade too much so—but very reliable.”
“You didn’t think it was odd that she didn’t seem more upset?”
“Well, in a way that is a point in her favour. I mean, if she had done any-thing, she would make a point of being upset—lay it on rather thick.”
“I suppose so,” said Tuppence. “And anyway there doesn’t seem to beany motive25 in her case. One doesn’t see what good this wholesaleslaughter can do her.”
“I suppose none of the servants are concerned?”
“It doesn’t seem likely. They seem a quiet, reliable lot. I wonder what Es-ther Quant, the parlourmaid, was like.”
“You mean, that if she was young and good-looking there was a chancethat she was mixed up in it some way.”
“That is what I mean,” Tuppence sighed. “It is all very discouraging.”
“Well, I suppose the police will get down to it all right,” said Tommy.
“Probably. I should like it to be us. By the way, did you notice a lot ofsmall red dots on Miss Logan’s arm?”
“I don’t think I did. What about them?”
“They looked as though they were made by a hypodermic syringe,” saidTuppence.
“Probably Dr. Burton gave her a hypodermic injection of some kind.”
“Oh, very likely. But he wouldn’t give her about forty.”
“The cocaine26 habit,” suggested Tommy helpfully.
“I thought of that,” said Tuppence, “but her eyes were all right. Youcould see at once if it was cocaine or morphia. Besides, she doesn’t lookthat sort of old lady.”
“Most respectable and God-fearing,” agreed Tommy.
“It is all very difficult,” said Tuppence. “We have talked and talked andwe don’t seem any nearer now than we were. Don’t let’s forget to call atthe doctor’s on our way home.”
The doctor’s door was opened by a lanky27 boy of about fifteen.
“Mr. Blunt?” he inquired. “Yes, the doctor is out, but he left a note foryou in case you should call.”
He handed them the note in question and Tommy tore it open.
Dear Mr. Blunt,
There is reason to believe that the poison employed was Ri-cin, a vegetable toxalbumose of tremendous potency28.
Please keep this to yourself for the present.
Tommy let the note drop, but picked it up quickly.
“Ricin,” he murmured. “Know anything about it, Tuppence? You used tobe rather well-up in these things.”
“Ricin,” said Tuppence, thoughtfully. “You get it out of castor oil, I be-lieve.”
“I never did take kindly29 to castor oil,” said Tommy. “I am more setagainst it than ever now.”
“The oil’s all right. You get Ricin from the seeds of the castor oil plant. Ibelieve I saw some castor oil plants in the garden this morning—big thingswith glossy30 leaves.”
“You mean that someone extracted the stuff on the premises31. CouldHannah do such a thing?”
Tuppence shook her head.
“Doesn’t seem likely. She wouldn’t know enough.”
Suddenly Tommy gave an exclamation32.
“That book. Have I got it in my pocket still? Yes.” He took it out, andturned over the leaves vehemently33. “I thought so. Here’s the page it wasopen at this morning. Do you see, Tuppence? Ricin!”
Tuppence seized the book from him.
“Can you make head or tail of it? I can’t.”
“It’s clear enough to me,” said Tuppence. She walked along, readingbusily, with one hand on Tommy’s arm to steer34 herself. Presently she shutthe book with a bang. They were just approaching the house again.
“Tommy, will you leave this to me? Just for once, you see, I am the bullthat has been more than twenty minutes in the arena35.”
Tommy nodded.
“You shall be the Captain of the Ship, Tuppence,” he said gravely.
“We’ve got to get to the bottom of this.”
“First of all,” said Tuppence as they entered the house, “I must ask MissLogan one more question.”
She ran upstairs. Tommy followed her. She rapped sharply on the oldlady’s door and went in.
“Is that you, my dear?” said Miss Logan. “You know you are much tooyoung and pretty to be a detective. Have you found out anything?”
“Yes,” said Tuppence. “I have.”
Miss Logan looked at her questioningly.
“I don’t know about being pretty,” went on Tuppence, “but being young,I happened to work in a hospital during the War. I know something aboutserum therapeutics. I happen to know that when Ricin is injected in smalldoses hypodermically, immunity is produced, antiricin is formed. Thatfact paved the way for the foundation of serum therapeutics. You knewthat, Miss Logan. You injected Ricin for some time hypodermically intoyourself. Then you let yourself be poisoned with the rest. You helped yourfather in his work, and you knew all about Ricin and how to obtain it andextract it from the seeds. You chose a day when Dennis Radclyffe was outfor tea. It wouldn’t do for him to be poisoned at the same time—he mightdie before Lois Hargreaves. So long as she died first, he inherited hermoney, and at his death it passes to you, his next-of-kin. You remember,you told us this morning that his father was your first cousin.”
The old lady stared at Tuppence with baleful eyes.
Suddenly a wild figure burst in from the adjoining room. It was Hannah.
In her hand she held a lighted torch which she waved frantically36.
“Truth has been spoken. That is the wicked one. I saw her reading thebook and smiling to herself and I knew. I found the book and the page—but it said nothing to me. But the voice of the Lord spoke to me. She hatedmy mistress, her ladyship. She was always jealous and envious37. She hatedmy own sweet Miss Lois. But the wicked shall perish, the fire of the Lordshall consume them.”
Waving her torch she sprang forward to the bed.
A cry arose from the old lady.
“Take her away—take her away. It’s true—but take her away.”
Tuppence flung herself upon Hannah, but the woman managed to setfire to the curtains of the bed before Tuppence could get the torch fromher and stamp on it. Tommy, however, had rushed in from the landingoutside. He tore down the bed hangings and managed to stifle38 the flameswith a rug. Then he rushed to Tuppence’s assistance, and between themthey subdued39 Hannah just as Dr. Burton came hurrying in.
A very few words sufficed to put him au courant of the situation.
He hurried to the bedside, lifted Miss Logan’s hand, then uttered a sharpexclamation.
“The shock of fire has been too much for her. She’s dead. Perhaps it is aswell under the circumstances.”
He paused, and then added, “There was Ricin in the cocktail glass aswell.”
“It’s the best thing that could have happened,” said Tommy, when theyhad relinquished40 Hannah to the doctor’s care, and were alone together.
“Tuppence, you were simply marvellous.”
“There wasn’t much Hanaud about it,” said Tuppence.
“It was too serious for playacting. I still can’t bear to think of that girl. Iwon’t think of her. But, as I said before, you were marvellous. The hon-ours are with you. To use a familiar quotation41, ‘It is a great advantage tobe intelligent and not to look it.’ ”
“Tommy,” said Tuppence, “you’re a beast.”
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
fig
|
|
| n.无花果(树) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
shamming
|
|
| 假装，冒充( sham的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
authoritatively
|
|
| 命令式地，有权威地，可信地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
reticence
|
|
| n.沉默，含蓄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
virulent
|
|
| adj.有毒的，有恶意的，充满敌意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
arsenic
|
|
| n.砒霜，砷；adj.砷的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
utterly
|
|
| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
spoke
|
|
| 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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
figs
|
|
| figures 数字，图形，外形 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
immunity
|
|
| n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
affected
|
|
| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
assent
|
|
| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
cocktail
|
|
| n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
downwards
|
|
| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
flail
|
|
| v.用连枷打；击打；n.连枷（脱粒用的工具） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
wrath
|
|
| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
serum
|
|
| n.浆液，血清，乳浆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
touching
|
|
| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
awfully
|
|
| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
morbid
|
|
| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
mania
|
|
| n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
hymns
|
|
| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
motive
|
|
| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
cocaine
|
|
| n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
lanky
|
|
| adj.瘦长的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
potency
|
|
| n. 效力，潜能 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
glossy
|
|
| adj.平滑的；有光泽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
premises
|
|
| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
exclamation
|
|
| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
vehemently
|
|
| adv. 热烈地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
steer
|
|
| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
arena
|
|
| n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
frantically
|
|
| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
envious
|
|
| adj.嫉妒的，羡慕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
stifle
|
|
| vt.使窒息；闷死；扼杀；抑止，阻止 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
subdued
|
|
| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
relinquished
|
|
| 交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
quotation
|
|
| n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |