Fifteen

Fifteen
“I ought to have known it all along,” said Tuppence.
She was reviving her shattered nerves by a generous tot of old brandy,and was beaming alternately at Tommy and at Mr. Grant—and at Albert,who was sitting in front of a pint¹ of beer and grinning from ear to ear.
“Tell us all about it, Tuppence,” urged Tommy.
“You first,” said Tuppence.
“There’s not much for me to tell,” said Tommy. “Sheer accident let meinto the secret of the wireless² transmitter. I thought I’d get away with it,but Haydock was too smart for me.”
Tuppence nodded and said:
“He telephoned to Mrs. Sprot at once. And she ran out into the drive andlaid in wait for you with the hammer. She was only away from the bridgetable for about three minutes. I did notice she was a little out of breath—but I never suspected her.”
“After that,” said Tommy, “the credit belongs entirely³ to Albert. He camesniffing round like a faithful dog. I did some impassioned morse snoringand he cottoned on to it. He went off to Mr. Grant with the news and thetwo of them came back late that night. More snoring! Result was, I agreedto remain put so as to catch the sea forces when they arrived.”
Mr. Grant added his quota⁴.
“When Haydock went off this morning, our people took charge at Smug-glers’ Rest. We nabbed the boat this evening.”
“And now, Tuppence,” said Tommy. “Your story.”
“Well, to begin with, I’ve been the most frightful⁵ fool all along! I suspec-ted everybody here except Mrs. Sprot! I did once have a terrible feeling ofmenace, as though I was in danger—that was after I overheard the tele-phone message about the fourth of the month. There were three peoplethere at the time—I put down my feeling of apprehension⁶ to either Mrs.
Perenna or Mrs. O’Rourke. Quite wrong—it was the colourless Mrs. Sprotwho was the really dangerous personality.
“I went muddling⁷ on, as Tommy knows, until after he disappeared. ThenI was just cooking up a plan with Albert when suddenly, out of the blue,Anthony Marsdon turned up. It seemed all right to begin with—the usualsort of young man that Deb often has in tow. But two things made methink a bit. First I became more and more sure as I talked to him that Ihadn’t seen him before and that he never had been to the flat. The secondwas that, though he seemed to know all about my working at Leahampton,he assumed that Tommy was in Scotland. Now, that seemed all wrong. Ifhe knew about anyone, it would be Tommy he knew about, since I wasmore or less unofficial. That struck me as very odd.
“Mr. Grant had told me that Fifth Columnists⁸ were everywhere—in themost unlikely places. So why shouldn’t one of them be working in De-borah’s show? I wasn’t convinced, but I was suspicious enough to lay atrap for him. I told him that Tommy and I had fixed⁹ up a code for commu-nicating with each other. Our real one, of course, was a Bonzo postcard,but I told Anthony a fairy tale about the Penny plain, tuppence colouredsaying.
“As I hoped, he rose to it beautifully! I got a letter this morning whichgave him away completely.
“The arrangements had been all worked out beforehand. All I had to dowas to ring up a tailor and cancel a fitting. That was an intimation that thefish had risen.”
“Coo-er!” said Albert. “It didn’t half give me a turn. I drove up with abaker’s van and we dumped a pool of stuff just outside the gate. Aniseed, itwas—or smelt¹⁰ like it.”
“And then—” Tuppence took up the tale. “I came out and walked in it. Ofcourse it was easy for the baker’s van to follow me to the station andsomeone came up behind me and heard me book to Yarrow. It was afterthat that it might have been difficult.”
“The dogs followed the scent¹² well,” said Mr. Grant. “They picked it up atYarrow station and again on the track the tyre had made after you rubbedyour shoe on it. It led us down to the copse and up again to the stone crossand after you where you had walked over the downs. The enemy had noidea we could follow you easily after they themselves had seen you startand driven off themselves.”
“All the same,” said Albert, “it gave me a turn. Knowing you were in thathouse and not knowing what might come to you. Got in a back window,we did, and nabbed the foreign woman as she came down the stairs. Comein just in the nick of time, we did.”
“I knew you’d come,” said Tuppence. “The thing was for me to spinthings out as long as I could. I’d have pretended to tell if I hadn’t seen thedoor opening. What was really exciting was the way I suddenly saw thewhole thing and what a fool I’d been.”
“How did you see it?” asked Tommy.
“Goosey, goosey, gander,” said Tuppence promptly¹³. “When I said that toCommander Haydock he went absolutely livid. And not just because it wassilly and rude. No, I saw at once that it meant something to him. And thenthere was the expression on that woman’s face—Anna—it was like the Pol-ish woman’s, and then, of course, I thought of Solomon and I saw thewhole thing.”
Tommy gave a sigh of exasperation¹⁴.
“Tuppence, if you say that once again, I’ll shoot you myself. Saw allwhat? And what on earth has Solomon got to do with it?”
“Do you remember that two women came to Solomon with a baby andboth said it was hers, but Solomon said, ‘Very well, cut it in two.’ And thefalse mother said, ‘All right.’ But the real mother said, ‘No, let the otherwoman have it.’ You see, she couldn’t face her child being killed. Well, thatnight that Mrs. Sprot shot the other woman, you all said what a miracle itwas and how easily she might have shot the child. Of course, it ought tohave been quite plain then! If it had been her child, she couldn’t haverisked that shot for a minute. It meant that Betty wasn’t her child. Andthat’s why she absolutely had to shoot the other woman.”
“Why?”
“Because, of course, the other woman was the child’s real mother.” Tup-pence’s voice shook a little.
“Poor thing—poor hunted thing. She came over a penniless refugee andgratefully agreed to let Mrs. Sprot adopt her baby.”
“Why did Mrs. Sprot want to adopt the child?”
“Camouflage¹⁵! Supreme¹⁶ psychological camouflage. You just can’t con-ceive of a master spy dragging her kid into the business. That’s the mainreason why I never considered Mrs. Sprot seriously. Simply because of thechild. But Betty’s real mother had a terrible hankering for her baby andshe found out Mrs. Sprot’s address and came down here. She hung aboutwaiting for her chance, and at last she got it and went off with the child.
“Mrs. Sprot, of course, was frantic¹⁷. At all costs she didn’t want the police.
So she wrote that message and pretended she found it in her bedroom,and roped in Commander Haydock to help. Then, when we’d trackeddown the wretched woman, she was taking no chances, and shot her .?.?.
Far from not knowing anything about firearms, she was a very fine shot!
Yes, she killed that wretched woman—and because of that I’ve no pity forher. She was bad through and through.”
Tuppence paused, then she went on:
“Another thing that ought to have given me a hint was the likenessbetween Vanda Polonska and Betty. It was Betty the woman reminded meof all along. And then the child’s absurd play with my shoelaces. Howmuch more likely that she’d seen her so-called mother do that—not Carlvon Deinim! But as soon as Mrs. Sprot saw what the child was doing, sheplanted a lot of evidence in Carl’s room for us to find and added the mas-ter touch of a shoelace dipped in secret ink.”
“I’m glad that Carl wasn’t in it,” said Tommy. “I liked him.”
“He’s not been shot, has he?” asked Tuppence anxiously, noting the pasttense.
Mr. Grant shook his head.
“He’s all right,” he said. “As a matter of fact I’ve got a little surprise foryou there.”
Tuppence’s face lit up as she said:
“I’m terribly glad—for Sheila’s sake! Of course we were idiots to go onbarking up the wrong tree after Mrs. Perenna.”
“She was mixed up in some IRA activities, nothing more,” said Mr.
Grant.
“I suspected Mrs. O’Rourke a little—and sometimes the Cayleys—”
“And I suspected Bletchley,” put in Tommy.
“And all the time,” said Tuppence, “it was that milk and water creaturewe just thought of as—Betty’s mother.”
“Hardly milk and water,” said Mr. Grant. “A very dangerous woman anda very clever actress. And, I’m sorry to say, English by birth.”
Tuppence said:
“Then I’ve no pity or admiration¹⁸ for her—it wasn’t even her country shewas working for.” She looked with fresh curiosity at Mr. Grant. “Youfound what you wanted?”
Mr. Grant nodded.
“It was all in that battered¹⁹ set of duplicate children’s books.”
“The ones that Betty said were ‘nasty,’ ” Tuppence exclaimed.
“They were nasty,” said Mr. Grant dryly. “Little Jack²⁰ Horner containedvery full details of our naval²¹ dispositions²². Johnny Head in Air did the samefor the Air Force. Military matters were appropriately embodied²³ in: ThereWas a Little Man and He Had a Little Gun.”
“And Goosey, Goosey, Gander?” asked Tuppence.
Mr. Grant said:
“Treated with the appropriate reagent, that book contains written in in-visible ink a full list of all prominent personages who are pledged to assistan invasion of this country. Amongst them were two Chief Constables²⁴, anAir Vice-Marshal, two Generals, the Head of an Armaments Works, a Cab-inet Minister, many Police Superintendents²⁵, Commanders of Local Volun-teer Defence Organisations, and various military and naval lesser²⁶ fry, aswell as members of our own Intelligence Force.”
Tommy and Tuppence stared.
“Incredible!” said the former.
Grant shook his head.
“You do not know the force of the German propaganda. It appeals tosomething in man, some desire or lust²⁷ for power. These people were readyto betray their country not for money, but in a kind of megalomaniacalpride in what they, they themselves, were going to achieve for that country.
In every land it has been the same. It is the Cult¹¹ of Lucifer—Lucifer, Son ofthe Morning. Pride and a desire for personal glory!”
He added:
“You can realise that, with such persons to issue contradictory²⁸ ordersand confuse operations, how the threatened invasion would have hadevery chance to succeed.”
“And now?” said Tuppence.
Mr. Grant smiled.
“And now,” he said, “let them come! We’ll be ready for them!”

1 pint   

n.品脱

参考例句：

• I'll have a pint of beer and a packet of crisps, please.我要一品脱啤酒和一袋炸马铃薯片。
• In the old days you could get a pint of beer for a shilling.从前，花一先令就可以买到一品脱啤酒。

2 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

3 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。

4 quota   

n.（生产、进出口等的）配额，（移民的）限额

参考例句：

• A restricted import quota was set for meat products.肉类产品设定了进口配额。
• He overfulfilled his production quota for two months running.他一连两个月超额完成生产指标。

5 frightful   

adj.可怕的；讨厌的

参考例句：

• How frightful to have a husband who snores!有一个发鼾声的丈夫多讨厌啊！
• We're having frightful weather these days.这几天天气坏极了。

6 apprehension   

n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑

参考例句：

• There were still areas of doubt and her apprehension grew.有些地方仍然存疑，于是她越来越担心。
• She is a girl of weak apprehension.她是一个理解力很差的女孩。

7 muddling   

v.弄乱，弄糟( muddle的现在分词 )；使糊涂；对付，混日子

参考例句：

• Don't do that—you're muddling my papers. 别动—你会弄乱我的文件的。
• In our company you see nobody muddling along. 在咱们公司，看不到混日子的人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 columnists   

n.专栏作家( columnist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This story will be more fodder for the gossip columnists. 这个传闻会是闲谈专栏作家的又一素材。
• The columnists coined the phrase \"to broderick\", meaning to rough up. 专栏作家们杜撰出一个新词“布罗德里克”意思是“动武”、“打架”。 来自辞典例句

9 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

10 smelt   

v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼

参考例句：

• Tin is a comparatively easy metal to smelt.锡是比较容易熔化的金属。
• Darby was looking for a way to improve iron when he hit upon the idea of smelting it with coke instead of charcoal.达比一直在寻找改善铁质的方法，他猛然想到可以不用木炭熔炼，而改用焦炭。

11 cult   

n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜

参考例句：

• Her books aren't bestsellers,but they have a certain cult following.她的书算不上畅销书，但有一定的崇拜者。
• The cult of sun worship is probably the most primitive one.太阳崇拜仪式或许是最为原始的一种。

12 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

13 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

14 exasperation   

n.愤慨

参考例句：

• He snorted with exasperation.他愤怒地哼了一声。
• She rolled her eyes in sheer exasperation.她气急败坏地转动着眼珠。

15 camouflage   

n./v.掩饰，伪装

参考例句：

• The white fur of the polar bear is a natural camouflage.北极熊身上的白色的浓密软毛是一种天然的伪装。
• The animal's markings provide effective camouflage.这种动物身上的斑纹是很有效的伪装。

16 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

17 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

18 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

19 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。

20 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

21 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。

22 dispositions   

安排( disposition的名词复数 )； 倾向； （财产、金钱的）处置； 气质

参考例句：

• We got out some information about the enemy's dispositions from the captured enemy officer. 我们从捕获的敌军官那里问出一些有关敌军部署的情况。
• Elasticity, solubility, inflammability are paradigm cases of dispositions in natural objects. 伸缩性、可缩性、易燃性是天然物体倾向性的范例。

23 embodied   

v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含

参考例句：

• a politician who embodied the hopes of black youth 代表黑人青年希望的政治家
• The heroic deeds of him embodied the glorious tradition of the troops. 他的英雄事迹体现了军队的光荣传统。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 constables   

n.警察( constable的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The constables made a desultory attempt to keep them away from the barn. 警察漫不经心地拦着不让他们靠近谷仓。 来自辞典例句
• There were also constables appointed to keep the peace. 城里也有被派来维持治安的基层警员。 来自互联网

25 superintendents   

警长( superintendent的名词复数 )； （大楼的）管理人； 监管人； （美国）警察局长

参考例句：

• Unlike their New York counterparts, Portland school superintendents welcomed McFarlane. 这一次，地点是在波特兰。
• But superintendents and principals have wide discretion. 但是，地方领导和校长有自由裁量权。

26 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

27 lust   

n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望

参考例句：

• He was filled with lust for power.他内心充满了对权力的渴望。
• Sensing the explorer's lust for gold, the chief wisely presented gold ornaments as gifts.酋长觉察出探险者们垂涎黄金的欲念，就聪明地把金饰品作为礼物赠送给他们。

28 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。