Seven POSSIBILITIES

Seven POSSIBILITIES

Luke sat in his bedroom. At lunch time he had sustained an interrogationby Mrs. Anstruther as to what flowers he had had in his garden in theMayang Straits. He had then been told what flowers would have done wellthere. He had also listened to further “Talks to Young Men on the Subjectof Myself” by Lord Whitfield. Now he was mercifully alone.
He took a sheet of paper and wrote down a series of names. It ran as fol-lows:
Dr. Thomas.
Mr. Abbot.
Major Horton.
Mr. Ellsworthy.
Mr. Wake.
Mr. Jones.
Amy’s young man.
The butcher, the baker¹, the candlestick maker², etc.
He then took another sheet of paper and headed it VICTIMS. Under thisheading, he wrote:
Amy Gibbs: Poisoned.
Tommy Pierce: Pushed out of window.
Harry³ Carter: Shoved off footbridge (drunk? drugged?).
Dr. Humbleby: Blood Poisoning.
Miss Pinkerton: Run down by car.
He added:
Mrs. Rose?
Old Ben?
And after a pause:
Mrs. Horton?
He considered his lists, smoked awhile, then took up his pencil oncemore.
Dr. Thomas: Possible case against him.
Definite motive⁴ in the case of Dr. Humbleby. Manner oflatter’s death suitable — namely, scientific poisoning bygerms. Amy Gibbs visited him on afternoon of the day shedied. (Anything between them? Blackmail⁵?)
Tommy Pierce? No connection known. (Did Tommy knowof connection between him and Amy Gibbs?)
Harry Carter? No connection known.
Was Dr. Thomas absent from Wychwood on the day MissPinkerton went to London?
Luke sighed and started a fresh heading:
Mr. Abbot: Possible case against him.
(Feel a lawyer is definitely a suspicious person. Possiblyprejudice.) His personality, florid, genial⁶, etc., would bedefinitely suspicious in a book—always suspect bluff⁷ gen-ial men. Objection: this is not a book, but real life.
Motive for murder of Dr. Humbleby. Definite antagonismexisted between them. H. defied Abbot. Sufficient motivefor a deranged⁹ brain. Antagonism⁸ could have been easilynoted by Miss Pinkerton.
Tommy Pierce? Latter snooped among Abbot’s papers. Didhe find out something he shouldn’t have known?
Harry Carter? No definite connection.
Amy Gibbs? No connection known. Hat paint quite suit-able to Abbot’s mentality—an old-fashioned mind. WasAbbot away from the village the day Miss Pinkerton waskilled?
Major Horton: Possible case against him.
No connection known with Amy Gibbs, Tommy Pierce orCarter.
What about Mrs. Horton? Death sounds as though itmight be arsenical poisoning. If so other murders might beresult of that—blackmail? NB—Thomas was doctor in at-tendance. (Suspicious for Thomas again.)
Mr. Ellsworthy: Possible case against him.
Nasty bit of goods—dabbles in black magic. Might be tem-perament of a bloodlust killer¹⁰. Connection with AmyGibbs. Any connection with Tommy Pierce? Carter? Noth-ing known. Humbleby? Might have tumbled to Ells-worthy’s mental condition.
Miss Pinkerton? Was Ellsworthy away from Wychwoodwhen Miss Pinkerton was killed?
Mr. Wake: Possible case against him.
Very unlikely. Possible religious mania¹¹? A mission to kill?
Saintly old clergymen likely starters in books, but (as be-fore) this is real life.
Note. Carter, Tommy, Amy all definitely unpleasant char-acters. Better removed by divine decree?
Mr. Jones.
Data—none.
Amy’s young man.
Probably every reason to kill Amy—but seems unlikely ongeneral grounds.
The etceteras?
Don’t fancy them.
He read through what he had written.
Then he shook his head.
He murmured softly:
“—which is absurd! How nicely Euclid put things.”
He tore up the lists and burnt them.
He said to himself:
“This job isn’t going to be exactly easy.”

1 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

2 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

3 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

4 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

5 blackmail   

n.讹诈，敲诈，勒索，胁迫，恫吓

参考例句：

• She demanded ＄1000 blackmail from him.她向他敲诈了1000美元。
• The journalist used blackmail to make the lawyer give him the documents.记者讹诈那名律师交给他文件。

6 genial   

adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的

参考例句：

• Orlando is a genial man.奥兰多是一位和蔼可亲的人。
• He was a warm-hearted friend and genial host.他是个热心的朋友，也是友善待客的主人。

7 bluff   

v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗

参考例句：

• His threats are merely bluff.他的威胁仅仅是虚张声势。
• John is a deep card.No one can bluff him easily.约翰是个机灵鬼。谁也不容易欺骗他。

8 antagonism   

n.对抗，敌对，对立

参考例句：

• People did not feel a strong antagonism for established policy.人们没有对既定方针产生强烈反应。
• There is still much antagonism between trades unions and the oil companies.工会和石油公司之间仍然存在着相当大的敌意。

9 deranged   

adj.疯狂的

参考例句：

• Traffic was stopped by a deranged man shouting at the sky.一名狂叫的疯子阻塞了交通。
• A deranged man shot and killed 14 people.一个精神失常的男子开枪打死了14人。

10 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

11 mania   

n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好

参考例句：

• Football mania is sweeping the country.足球热正风靡全国。
• Collecting small items can easily become a mania.收藏零星物品往往容易变成一种癖好。