Six（4）

IV
It was not until the next day that Tuppence was able to have a confer-ence with Tommy. They had agreed never to attempt to communicatewith each other under the roof of Sans Souci.
Mrs. Blenkensop met Mr. Meadowes as the latter, his hay fever some-what abated¹, was taking a gentle stroll on the front. They sat down on oneof the promenade² seats.
“Well?” said Tuppence.
Slowly, Tommy nodded his head. He looked rather unhappy.
“Yes,” he said. “I got something. But Lord, what a day. Perpetually withan eye to the crack of the door. I’ve got quite a stiff neck.”
“Never mind your neck,” said Tuppence unfeelingly. “Tell me.”
“Well, the maids went in to do the bed and the room, of course. AndMrs. Perenna went in—but that was when the maids were there and shewas just blowing them up about something. And the kid ran in once andcame out with a woolly dog.”
“Yes, yes. Anyone else?”
“One person,” said Tommy slowly.
“Who?”
“Carl von Deinim.”
“Oh!” Tuppence felt a swift pang³. So, after all—“When?” she asked.
“Lunch time. He came out from the dining room early, came up to hisroom, then sneaked⁴ across the passage and into yours. He was there abouta quarter of an hour.”
He paused.
“That settles it, I think?”
Tuppence nodded.
Yes, it settled it all right. Carl von Deinim could have had no reason forgoing⁵ into Mrs. Blenkensop’s bedroom and remaining there for a quarterof an hour save one. His complicity was proved. He must be, Tuppencethought, a marvellous actor. .?.?.
His words to her that morning had rung so very true. Well, perhaps theyhad been true in a way. To know when to use the truth was the essence ofsuccessful deception⁶. Carl von Deinim was a patriot⁷ all right; he was anenemy agent working for his country. One could respect him for that. Yes—but destroy him too.
“I’m sorry,” she said slowly.
“So am I,” said Tommy. “He’s a good chap.”
Tuppence said:
“You and I might be doing the same thing in Germany.”
Tommy nodded. Tuppence went on.
“Well, we know more or less where we are. Carl von Deinim working inwith Sheila and her mother. Probably Mrs. Perenna is the big noise. Thenthere is that foreign woman who was talking to Carl yesterday. She’s in itsomehow.”
“What do we do now?”
“We must go through Mrs. Perenna’s room sometime. There might besomething there that would give us a hint. And we must tail her—seewhere she goes and whom she meets. Tommy, let’s get Albert down here.”
Tommy considered the point.
Many years ago Albert, a pageboy in a hotel, had joined forces with theyoung Beresfords and shared their adventures. Afterwards he had enteredtheir service and been the sole domestic prop⁸ of the establishment. Somesix years ago he had married and was now the proud proprietor⁹ of TheDuck and Dog pub in South London.
Tuppence continued rapidly:
“Albert will be thrilled. We’ll get him down here. He can stay at the pubnear the station and he can shadow the Perennas for us—or anyone else.”
“What about Mrs. Albert?”
“She was going to her mother in Wales with the children last Monday.
Because of air raids. It all fits in perfectly¹⁰.”
“Yes, that’s a good idea, Tuppence. Either of us following the womanabout would be rather conspicuous¹¹. Albert will be perfect. Now anotherthing—I think we ought to watch out for that so-called Polish woman whowas talking to Carl and hanging about here. It seems to me that she prob-ably represents the other end of the business — and that’s what we’reanxious to find.”
“Oh yes, I do agree. She comes here for orders, or to take messages. Nexttime we see her, one of us must follow her and find out more about her.”
“What about looking through Mrs. Perenna’s room—and Carl’s too, Isuppose?”
“I don’t suppose you’ll find anything in his. After all, as a German, thepolice are liable to search it and so he’d be careful not to have anythingsuspicious. The Perenna is going to be difficult. When she’s out of thehouse, Sheila is often there, and there’s Betty and Mrs. Sprot runningabout all over the landings, and Mrs. O’Rourke spends a lot of time in herbedroom.”
She paused. “Lunchtime is the best.”
“Master Carl’s time?”
“Exactly. I could have a headache and go to my room—no, someonemight come up and want to minister to me. I know, I’ll just come in quietlybefore lunch and go up to my room without telling anyone. Then, afterlunch, I can say I had a headache.”
“Hadn’t I better do it? My hay fever could recrudesce tomorrow.”
“I think it had better be me. If I’m caught I could always say I was look-ing for aspirin¹² or something. One of the gentlemen boarders in Mrs. Per-enna’s room would cause far more speculation¹³.”
Tommy grinned.
“Of a scandalous character.”
Then the smile died. He looked grave and anxious.
“As soon as we can, old thing. The news is bad today. We must get on tosomething soon.”

1 abated   

减少( abate的过去式和过去分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼）

参考例句：

• The worker's concern about cuts in the welfare funding has not abated. 工人们对削减福利基金的关心并没有减少。
• The heat has abated. 温度降低了。

2 promenade   

n./v.散步

参考例句：

• People came out in smarter clothes to promenade along the front.人们穿上更加时髦漂亮的衣服，沿着海滨散步。
• We took a promenade along the canal after Sunday dinner.星期天晚饭后我们沿着运河散步。

3 pang   

n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷

参考例句：

• She experienced a sharp pang of disappointment.她经历了失望的巨大痛苦。
• She was beginning to know the pang of disappointed love.她开始尝到了失恋的痛苦。

4 sneaked   

v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状

参考例句：

• I sneaked up the stairs. 我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
• She sneaked a surreptitious glance at her watch. 她偷偷看了一眼手表。

5 forgoing   

v.没有也行，放弃( forgo的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Everything, in short, is produced at the expense of forgoing something else. 总之，每一种东西的生产，都得以牺牲放弃某些其他东西为代价。 来自互联网
• These aren't the only ones forgoing the morning repast, of course. 当然，他们并不是放弃早餐的唯一几个。 来自互联网

6 deception   

n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计

参考例句：

• He admitted conspiring to obtain property by deception.他承认曾与人合谋骗取财产。
• He was jailed for two years for fraud and deception.他因为诈骗和欺诈入狱服刑两年。

7 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

8 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

9 proprietor   

n.所有人；业主；经营者

参考例句：

• The proprietor was an old acquaintance of his.业主是他的一位旧相识。
• The proprietor of the corner grocery was a strange thing in my life.拐角杂货店店主是我生活中的一个怪物。

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 conspicuous   

adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的

参考例句：

• It is conspicuous that smoking is harmful to health.很明显，抽烟对健康有害。
• Its colouring makes it highly conspicuous.它的色彩使它非常惹人注目。

12 aspirin   

n.阿司匹林

参考例句：

• The aspirin seems to quiet the headache.阿司匹林似乎使头痛减轻了。
• She went into a chemist's and bought some aspirin.她进了一家药店，买了些阿司匹林。

13 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。