Eight（4）

IV
The fisherman on the end of the Old Pier¹ cast in his line and reeled itcautiously in.
“No doubt whatever, I’m afraid,” he said.
“You know,” said Tommy, “I’m sorry about it. He’s—well, he’s a nicechap.”
“They are, my dear fellow, they usually are. It isn’t the skunks² and therats of a land who volunteer to go to the enemy’s country. It’s the bravemen. We know that well enough. But there it is, the case is proved.”
“No doubt whatever, you say?”
“No doubt at all. Among his chemical formulae was a list of people inthe factory to be approached, as possible Fascist³ sympathisers. There wasalso a very clever scheme of sabotage⁴ and a chemical process that, appliedto fertilisers, would have devastated⁵ large areas of food stocks. All well upMaster Carl’s street.”
Rather unwillingly⁶, Tommy said, secretly anathematising Tuppence,who had made him promise to say it:
“I suppose it’s not possible that these things could have been planted onhim?”
Mr. Grant smiled, rather a diabolical⁷ smile.
“Oh,” he said. “Your wife’s idea, no doubt.”
“Well—er—yes, as a matter of fact it is.”
“He’s an attractive lad,” said Mr. Grant tolerantly.
Then he went on:
“No, seriously, I don’t think we can take that suggestion into account.
He’d got a supply of secret ink, you know. That’s a pretty good clinchingtest. And it wasn’t obvious as it would have been if planted. It wasn’t ‘Themixture to be taken when required’ on the wash handstand, or anythinglike that. In fact, it was damned ingenious. Only came across the methodonce before, and then it was waistcoat buttons. Steeped in the stuff, youknow. When the fellow wants to use it, he soaks a button in water. Carlvon Deinim’s wasn’t buttons. It was a shoelace. Pretty neat.”
“Oh!” Something stirred in Tommy’s mind—vague—wholly nebulous.
.?.?.
Tuppence was quicker. As soon as he retailed⁸ the conversation to her,she seized on the salient point.
“A shoelace? Tommy, that explains it!”
“What?”
“Betty, you idiot! Don’t you remember that funny thing she did in myroom, taking out my laces and soaking them in water. I thought at the timeit was a funny thing to think of doing. But, of course, she’d seen Carl do itand was imitating him. He couldn’t risk her talking about it, and arrangedwith that woman for her to be kidnapped.”
Tommy said, “Then that’s cleared up.”
“Yes. It’s nice when things begin to fall into shape. One can put them be-hind you and get on a bit.”
“We need to get on.”
Tuppence nodded.
The times were gloomy indeed. France had astonishingly and suddenlycapitulated—to the bewilderment and dismay of her own people.
The destination of the French Navy was in doubt.
Now the coasts of France were entirely⁹ in the hands of Germany, andthe talk of invasion was no longer a remote contingency¹⁰.
Tommy said:
“Carl von Deinim was only a link in the chain. Mrs. Perenna’s the foun-tainhead.”
“Yes, we’ve got to get the goods on her. But it won’t be easy.”
“No. After all, if she’s the brains of the whole thing one can’t expect it tobe.”
“So M is Mrs. Perenna?”
Tommy supposed she must be. He said slowly:
“You really think the girl isn’t in this at all?”
“I’m quite sure of it.”
Tommy sighed.
“Well, you should know. But if so, it’s tough luck on her. First the manshe loves — and then her mother. She’s not going to have much left, isshe?”
“We can’t help that.”
“Yes, but supposing we’re wrong—that M or N is someone else?”
Tuppence said rather coldly:
“So you’re still harping¹¹ on that? Are you sure it isn’t a case of wishfulthinking?”
“What do you mean?”
“Sheila Perenna—that’s what I mean.”
“Aren’t you being rather absurd, Tuppence?”
“No, I’m not. She’s got round you, Tommy, just like any other man—”
Tommy replied angrily:
“Not at all. It’s simply that I’ve got my own ideas.”
“Which are?”
“I think I’ll keep them to myself for a bit. We’ll see which of us is right.”
“Well, I think we’ve got to go all out after Mrs. Perenna. Find out whereshe goes, whom she meets—everything. There must be a link somewhere.
You’d better put Albert on to her this afternoon.”
“You can do that. I’m busy.”
“Why, what are you doing?”
Tommy said:
“I’m playing golf.”

1 pier   

n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱

参考例句：

• The pier of the bridge has been so badly damaged that experts worry it is unable to bear weight.这座桥的桥桩破损厉害，专家担心它已不能负重。
• The ship was making towards the pier.船正驶向码头。

2 skunks   

n.臭鼬( skunk的名词复数 )；臭鼬毛皮；卑鄙的人；可恶的人

参考例句：

• Slim swans and slender skunks swim in the slippery slime. 苗条的天鹅和纤细的臭鼬在滑滑的黏泥上游泳。 来自互联网
• But not all baby skunks are so lucky. -We're coming down. 但不是所有的臭鼬宝宝都会如此幸运。-我们正在下来。 来自互联网

3 fascist   

adj.法西斯主义的；法西斯党的；n.法西斯主义者，法西斯分子

参考例句：

• The strikers were roughed up by the fascist cops.罢工工人遭到法西斯警察的殴打。
• They succeeded in overthrowing the fascist dictatorship.他们成功推翻了法西斯独裁统治。

4 sabotage   

n.怠工，破坏活动，破坏；v.从事破坏活动，妨害，破坏

参考例句：

• They tried to sabotage my birthday party.他们企图破坏我的生日晚会。
• The fire at the factory was caused by sabotage.那家工厂的火灾是有人蓄意破坏引起的。

5 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

6 unwillingly   

adv.不情愿地

参考例句：

• He submitted unwillingly to his mother. 他不情愿地屈服于他母亲。
• Even when I call, he receives unwillingly. 即使我登门拜访，他也是很不情愿地接待我。

7 diabolical   

adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的

参考例句：

• This maneuver of his is a diabolical conspiracy.他这一手是一个居心叵测的大阴谋。
• One speaker today called the plan diabolical and sinister.今天一名发言人称该计划阴险恶毒。

8 retailed   

vt.零售（retail的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• She retailed the neighbours' activities with relish. 她饶有兴趣地对邻居们的活动说三道四。
• The industrial secrets were retailed to a rival concern. 工业秘密被泄露给一家对立的公司。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 contingency   

n.意外事件，可能性

参考例句：

• We should be prepared for any contingency.我们应该对任何应急情况有所准备。
• A fire in our warehouse was a contingency that we had not expected.库房的一场大火是我们始料未及的。

11 harping   

n.反复述说

参考例句：

• Don't keep harping on like that. 别那样唠叨个没完。
• You're always harping on the samestring. 你总是老调重弹。