Dr. Thomas stared across his consulting room desk at Luke.
“Remarkable1,” he said. “Remarkable! You are really serious, Mr. Fitzwil-liam?”
“Absolutely. I am convinced that Ellsworthy is a dangerous maniac2.”
“I have not paid special attention to the man. I should say, though, thathe is possibly an abnormal type.”
“I’d go a good deal further than that,” said Luke grimly.
“You seriously believe that this man Rivers was murdered?”
“I do. You noticed the grains of sand in the wound?”
Dr. Thomas nodded.
“I looked out for them after your statement. I am bound to say that youwere correct.”
“That makes it clear, does it not, that the accident was faked and that theman was killed by a blow from a sandbag—or at any rate was stunned3 byone.”
“Not necessarily.”
“What do you mean?”
Dr. Thomas leaned back and joined his fingertips together.
“Supposing that this man Rivers had been lying out in a sand-pit duringthe day—there are several about in this part of the world. That might ac-count for grains of sand in the hair.”
“Man, I tell you he was murdered!”
“You may tell me so,” said Dr. Thomas drily, “but that doesn’t make it afact.”
Luke controlled his exasperation4.
“I suppose you don’t believe a word of what I’m telling you.”
Dr. Thomas smiled, a kindly5 superior smile.
“You must admit, Mr. Fitzwilliam, that it’s rather a wild story. You assertthat this man Ellsworthy has killed a servant girl, a small boy, a drunkenpublican, my own partner and finally this man Rivers.”
“You don’t believe it?”
Dr. Thomas shrugged6 his shoulders.
“I have some knowledge of Humbleby’s case. It seems to me quite out ofthe question that Ellsworthy could have caused his death, and I really can-not see that you have any evidence at all that he did so.”
“I don’t know how he managed it,” confessed Luke, “but it all hangs to-gether with Miss Pinkerton’s story.”
“There again you assert that Ellsworthy followed her up to London andran her down in a car. Again you haven’t a shadow of proof thathappened! It’s all—well—romancing!”
Luke said sharply:
“Now that I know where I am it will be my business to get proofs. I’m go-ing up to London tomorrow to see an old pal7 of mine. I saw in the papertwo days ago that he’d been made Assistant Commissioner8 of Police. Heknows me and he’ll listen to what I have to say. One thing I’m sure of, he’llorder a thorough investigation9 of the whole business.”
Dr. Thomas stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“Well—no doubt that should be very satisfactory. If it turns out thatyou’re mistaken—”
Luke interrupted him.
“You definitely don’t believe a word of all this?”
“In wholesale10 murder?” Dr. Thomas raised his eyebrows11. “Quite frankly,Mr. Fitzwilliam, I don’t. The thing is too fantastic.”
“Fantastic, perhaps. But it hangs together. You’ve got to admit it hangstogether. Once you accept Miss Pinkerton’s story as true.”
Dr. Thomas was shaking his head. A slight smile came to his lips. “If youknew some of these old maids as well as I do,” he murmured.
Luke rose, trying to control his annoyance12.
“At any rate, you’re well named,” he said. “A doubting Thomas, if thereever was one!”
Thomas replied good-humouredly:
“Give me a few proofs, my dear fellow. That’s all I ask. Not just a longmelodramatic rigmarole based on what an old lady fancied she saw.”
“What old ladies fancy they see is very often right. My Aunt Mildred waspositively uncanny! Have you got any aunts yourself, Thomas?”
“Well—er—no.”
“A mistake!” said Luke. “Every man should have aunts. They illustratethe triumph of guesswork over logic13. It is reserved for aunts to know thatMr. A. is a rogue14 because he looks like a dishonest butler they once had.
Other people say reasonably enough that a respectable man like Mr. A.
couldn’t be a crook15. The old ladies are right every time.”
Dr. Thomas smiled his superior smile again.
Luke said, his exasperation mounting once more:
“Don’t you realize that I’m a policeman myself? I’m not the completeamateur.”
Dr. Thomas smiled and murmured:
“In the Mayang Straits!”
“Crime is crime even in the Mayang Straits.”
“Of course—of course.”
Luke left Dr. Thomas’s surgery in a state of suppressed irritation16.
He joined Bridget, who said:
“Well, how did you get on?”
“He didn’t believe me,” said Luke. “Which, when you come to think of it,is hardly surprising. It’s a wild story with no proofs. Dr. Thomas is em-phatically not the sort of man who believes six impossible things beforebreakfast!”
“Will anybody believe you?”
“Probably not, but when I get hold of old Billy Bones tomorrow, thewheels will start turning. They’ll check up on our long-haired friend, Ells-worthy, and in the end they’re bound to get somewhere.”
Bridget said thoughtfully:
“We’re coming out into the open very much, aren’t we?”
“We’ve got to. We can’t—we simply can’t afford anymore murders.”
Bridget shivered.
“For God’s sake be careful, Luke.”
“I’m being careful all right. Don’t walk near gates with pineapples onthem, avoid the lonely wood at nightfall, watch out for your food anddrink. I know all the ropes.”
“It’s horrible feeling you’re a marked man.”
“So long as you’re not a marked woman, my sweet.”
“Perhaps I am.”
“I don’t think so. But I don’t intend to take risks! I’m watching over youlike an old-fashioned guardian17 angel.”
“Is it any good saying anything to the police here?”
Luke considered.
“No, I don’t think it is—better go straight to Scotland Yard.”
Bridget murmured:
“That’s what Miss Pinkerton thought.”
“Yes, but I shall be watching out for trouble.”
Bridget said:
“I know what I’m going to do tomorrow. I shall march Gordon down tothat brute’s shop and make him buy things.”
“Thereby ensuring that our Mr. Ellsworthy is not lying in ambush18 forme on the steps of Whitehall?”
“That’s the idea.”
Luke said with some slight embarrassment19: “About Whitfield—”
Bridget said quickly:
“Let’s leave it till you come back tomorrow. Then we’ll have it out.”
“Will he be very cut up, do you think?”
“Well—” Bridget considered the question. “He’ll be annoyed.”
“Annoyed? Ye gods! Isn’t that putting it a bit mildly?”
“No. Because you see Gordon doesn’t like being annoyed! It upsets him!”
Luke said soberly, “I feel rather uncomfortable about it all.”
That feeling was uppermost in his mind when he prepared that eveningto listen for the twentieth time to Lord Whitfield on the subject of LordWhitfield. It was, he admitted, a cad’s trick to stay in a man’s house andsteal his fiancée. He still felt, however, that a potbellied, pompous20, strut-ting little nincompoop like Lord Whitfield ought never to have aspired21 toBridget at all!
But his conscience so far chastened him that he listened with an extradose of fervent22 attention and in consequence made a thoroughly23 favour-able impression on his host.
Lord Whitfield was in high good humour this evening. The death of hiserstwhile chauffeur24 seemed to have exhilarated rather than depressedhim.
“Told you that fellow would come to a bad end,” he crowed, holding upa glass of port to the light and squinting25 through it. “Didn’t I tell you soyesterday evening?”
“You did, indeed, sir.”
“And you see I was right! It’s amazing how often I’m right!”
“That must be splendid for you,” said Luke.
“I’ve had a wonderful life — yes, a wonderful life! My path’s beensmoothed clear before me. I’ve always had great faith and trust in Provid-ence. That’s the secret, Fitzwilliam, that’s the secret.”
“Yes?”
“I’m a religious man. I believe in good and evil and eternal justice. Thereis such a thing as divine justice, Fitzwilliam, not a doubt of it!”
“I believe in justice, too,” said Luke.
Lord Whitfield, as usual, was not interested in the beliefs of otherpeople.
“Do right by your Creator and your Creator will do right by you! I’ve al-ways been an upright man. I’ve subscribed26 to charity, and I’ve made mymoney honestly. I’m not beholden to any man! I stand alone. You remem-ber in the Bible how the patriarchs became prosperous, herds27 and flockswere added to them, and their enemies were smitten28 down!”
Luke stifled29 a yawn and said:
“Quite—quite.”
“It’s remarkable — absolutely remarkable,” said Lord Whitfield. “Theway that a righteous man’s enemies are struck down! Look at yesterday.
That fellow abuses me—even goes so far as to try to raise his hand againstme. And what happens? Where is he today?”
He paused rhetorically and then answered himself in an impressivevoice:
“Dead! Struck down by divine wrath30!”
Opening his eyes a little, Luke said:
“Rather an excessive punishment, perhaps, for a few hasty wordsuttered after a glass too much.”
Lord Whitfield shook his head.
“It’s always like that! Retribution comes swiftly and terribly. And there’sgood authentic31 authority for it. Remember the children that mockedElisha—how the bears came out and devoured32 them. That’s the way thingshappen, Fitzwilliam.”
“I always thought that was rather unnecessarily vindictive33.”
“No, no. You’re looking at it the wrong way. Elisha was a great and holyman. No one could be suffered to mock at him and live! I understand thatbecause of my own case!”
Luke looked puzzled.
Lord Whitfield lowered his voice.
“I could hardly believe it at first. But it happened every time! My enemiesand detractors were cast down and exterminated34.”
“Exterminated?”
Lord Whitfield nodded gently and sipped35 his port.
“Time after time. One case quite like Elisha—a little boy. I came uponhim in the gardens here—he was employed by me then. Do you knowwhat he was doing? He was giving an imitation of Me—of ME! Mockingme! Strutting36 up and down with an audience to watch him. Making fun ofme on my own ground! D’you know what happened to him? Not ten dayslater he fell out of an upper window and was killed!
“Then there was that ruffian Carter — a drunkard and a man of eviltongue. He came here and abused me. What happened to him? A weeklater he was dead—drowned in the mud. There had been a servant girl,too. She lifted her voice and called me names. Her punishment soon came.
She drank poison by mistake! I could tell you heaps more. Humblebydared to oppose me over the Water scheme. He died of blood poisoning.
Oh, it’s been going on for years—Mrs. Horton, for instance, was abomin-ably rude to me and it wasn’t long before she passed away.”
He paused and leaning forward passed the port decanter round to Luke.
“Yes,” he said. “They all died. Amazing, isn’t it?”
Luke stared at him. A monstrous37, an incredible suspicion leapt into hismind! With new eyes, he stared at the small fat man who sat at the head ofthe table, who was gently nodding his head and whose light protuberanteyes met Luke’s with a smiling insouciance38.
A rush of disconnected memories flashed rapidly through Luke’s brain.
Major Horton saying “Lord Whitfield was very kind. Sent down grapesand peaches from his hothouse.” It was Lord Whitfield who so graciouslyallowed Tommy Pierce to be employed on window cleaning at the library.
Lord Whitfield holding forth39 on his visit to the Wellerman Kreutz Institutewith its serums40 and germ cultures just a short time before Dr. Humbleby’sdeath. Everything pointing plainly in one direction and he, fool that hehad been, never even suspecting….
Lord Whitfield was still smiling. A quiet happy smile. He nodded hishead gently at Luke.
“They all die,” said Lord Whitfield.
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收听单词发音
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1
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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2
maniac
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| n.精神癫狂的人；疯子 | |
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3
stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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4
exasperation
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| n.愤慨 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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7
pal
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| n.朋友，伙伴，同志；vi.结为友 | |
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8
commissioner
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| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
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9
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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10
wholesale
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| n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售 | |
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11
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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12
annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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13
logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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14
rogue
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| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
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15
crook
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| v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处) | |
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16
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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17
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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18
ambush
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| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
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19
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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20
pompous
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的；夸大的；豪华的 | |
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aspired
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| v.渴望，追求( aspire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22
fervent
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| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
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23
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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24
chauffeur
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| n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机；v.为…开车 | |
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25
squinting
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| 斜视( squint的现在分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看 | |
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26
subscribed
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| v.捐助( subscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；签署，题词；订阅；同意 | |
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27
herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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28
smitten
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| 猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去分词 ) | |
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29
stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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30
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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31
authentic
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| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
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32
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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33
vindictive
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| adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的 | |
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exterminated
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| v.消灭，根绝( exterminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35
sipped
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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36
strutting
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| 加固，支撑物 | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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38
insouciance
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| n.漠不关心 | |
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39
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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40
serums
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| n.（动物体内的）浆液( serum的名词复数 )；血清；（一剂）免疫血清 | |
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