Eight（1）

Eight
The inquest on the dead woman was held some days later. There had beenan adjournment¹ whilst the police identified her as a certain Vanda Polon-ska, a Polish refugee.
After the dramatic scene on the cliffs, Mrs. Sprot and Betty, the formerin a state of collapse², had been driven back to Sans Souci, where hotbottles, nice cups of tea, ample curiosity, and finally a stiff dollop ofbrandy had been administered to the half-fainting heroine of the night.
Commander Haydock had immediately got in touch with the police, andunder his guidance they had gone out to the scene of the tragedy on thecliff.
But for the disturbing war news, the tragedy would probably have beengiven much greater space in the papers than it was. Actually it occupiedonly one small paragraph.
Both Tuppence and Tommy had to give evidence at the inquest, and incase any reporters should think fit to take pictures of the more unimport-ant witnesses, Mr. Meadowes was unfortunate enough to get something inhis eye which necessitated⁴ a highly disfiguring eyeshade. Mrs. Blenkensopwas practically obliterated⁵ by her hat.
However, such interest as there was focused itself entirely⁶ on Mrs. Sprotand Commander Haydock. Mr. Sprot, hysterically⁷ summoned by tele-graph, rushed down to see his wife, but had to go back again the same day.
He seemed an amiable⁸ but not very interesting young man.
The inquest opened with the formal identification of the body by a cer-tain Mrs. Calfont, a thin-lipped, gimlet-eyed woman who had been dealingfor some months with refugee relief.
Polonska, she said, had come to England in company with a cousin andhis wife who were her only relatives, so far as she knew. The woman, inher opinion, was slightly mental. She understood from her that she hadbeen through scenes of great horror in Poland and that her family, includ-ing several children, had all been killed. The woman seemed not at allgrateful for anything done for her, and was suspicious and taciturn. Shemuttered to herself a lot, and did not seem normal. A domestic post wasfound for her, but she had left it without notice some weeks ago andwithout reporting to the police.
The coroner asked why the woman’s relatives had not come forward,and at this point Inspector⁹ Brassey made an explanation.
The couple in question were being detained under the Defence of theRealm Act for an offence in connection with a Naval¹⁰ dockyard. He statedthat these two aliens had posed as refugees to enter the country, but hadimmediately tried to obtain employment near a Naval base. The wholefamily was looked upon with suspicion. They had had a larger sum ofmoney in their possession than could be accounted for. Nothing was actu-ally known against the deceased woman Polonska—except that her senti-ments were believed to have been anti-British. It was possible that shealso had been an enemy agent, and that her pretended stupidity was as-sumed.
Mrs. Sprot, when called, dissolved at once into tears. The coroner wasgentle with her, leading her tactfully along the path of what had occurred.
“It’s so awful,” gasped¹¹ Mrs. Sprot. “So awful to have killed someone. Ididn’t mean to do that—I mean I never thought—but it was Betty—and Ithought that woman was going to throw her over the cliff and I had to stopher—and oh, dear—I don’t know how I did it.”
“You are accustomed to the use of firearms?”
“Oh, no! Only those rifles at regattas — at fairs — when you shoot atbooths, and even then I never used to hit anything. Oh, dear—I feel asthough I’d murdered someone.”
The coroner soothed¹² her and asked if she had ever come in contact withthe dead woman.
“Oh, no. I’d never seen her in my life. I think she must have been quitemad—because she didn’t even know me or Betty.”
In reply to further questions, Mrs. Sprot said that she had attended asewing party for comforts for Polish refugees, but that that was the extentof her connection with Poles in this country.
Haydock was the next witness, and he described the steps he had takento track down the kidnapper¹³ and what had eventually happened.
“You are clear in your mind that the woman was definitely preparing tojump over the cliff?”
“Either that or to throw the child over. She seemed to be quite dementedwith hate. It would have been impossible to reason with her. It was a mo-ment for immediate³ action. I myself conceived the idea of firing and crip-pling her, but she was holding up the child as a shield. I was afraid ofkilling the child if I fired. Mrs. Sprot took the risk and was successful insaving her little girl’s life.”
Mrs. Sprot began to cry again.
Mrs. Blenkensop’s evidence was short—a mere¹⁴ confirming of the Com-mander’s evidence.
Mr. Meadowes followed.
“You agree with Commander Haydock and Mrs. Blenkensop as to whatoccurred?”
“I do. The woman was definitely so distraught that it was impossible toget near her. She was about to throw herself and the child over the cliff.”
There was little more evidence. The coroner directed the jury thatVanda Polonska came to her death by the hand of Mrs. Sprot and formallyexonerated the latter from blame. There was no evidence to show whatwas the state of the dead woman’s mind. She might have been actuated byhate of England. Some of the Polish “comforts” distributed to refugeesbore the names of the ladies sending them, and it was possible that thewoman got Mrs. Sprot’s name and address this way, but it was not easy toget at her reason for kidnapping the child—possibly some crazy motivequite incomprehensible to the normal mind. Polonska, according to herown story, had suffered great bereavement¹⁵ in her own country, and thatmight have turned her brain. On the other hand, she might be an enemyagent.
The verdict was in accordance with the coroner’s summing up.

1 adjournment   

休会； 延期； 休会期； 休庭期

参考例句：

• The adjournment of the case lasted for two weeks. 该案休庭期为两周。
• The solicitor moved for an adjournment of the case. 律师请求将这个案件的诉讼延期。

2 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

3 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

4 necessitated   

使…成为必要，需要( necessitate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Recent financial scandals have necessitated changes in parliamentary procedures. 最近的金融丑闻使得议会程序必须改革。
• No man is necessitated to do wrong. 没有人是被迫去作错事的。

5 obliterated   

v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭

参考例句：

• The building was completely obliterated by the bomb. 炸弹把那座建筑物彻底摧毁了。
• He began to drink, drank himself to intoxication, till he slept obliterated. 他一直喝，喝到他快要迷糊地睡着了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 hysterically   

ad. 歇斯底里地

参考例句：

• The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。
• She sobbed hysterically, and her thin body was shaken. 她歇斯底里地抽泣着，她瘦弱的身体哭得直颤抖。

8 amiable   

adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的

参考例句：

• She was a very kind and amiable old woman.她是个善良和气的老太太。
• We have a very amiable companionship.我们之间存在一种友好的关系。

9 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。

10 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

11 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》

12 soothed   

v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦

参考例句：

• The music soothed her for a while. 音乐让她稍微安静了一会儿。
• The soft modulation of her voice soothed the infant. 她柔和的声调使婴儿安静了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

13 kidnapper   

n.绑架者，拐骗者

参考例句：

• The kidnapper was shot dead then and there by the armed policeman.绑架者被武装警察当时当地击毙。
• The kidnapper strangled the child with a piece of string.绑票的人用一根绳子把这孩子勒死了。

14 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。

15 bereavement   

n.亲人丧亡，丧失亲人，丧亲之痛

参考例句：

• the pain of an emotional crisis such as divorce or bereavement 诸如离婚或痛失亲人等情感危机的痛苦
• I sympathize with you in your bereavement. 我对你痛失亲人表示同情。 来自《简明英汉词典》