Anthony followed Virginia out of the room, smiling a little to himself.
Events had taken quite an unexpected turn. But as he bent1 over the figurein the chair he grew grave again.
“He’s still warm,” he said sharply. “He was killed less than half an hourago.”
“Just before I came in?”
“Exactly.”
He stood upright, drawing his brows together in a frown. Then he askeda question of which Virginia did not at once see the drift:
“Your maid’s not been in this room, of course?”
“No.”
“Does she know that you’ve been into it?”
“Why—yes. I came to the door to speak to her.”
“After you’d found the body?”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing?”
“Would it have been better if I had? I thought she would go into hyster-ics—she’s French, you know, and easily upset—I wanted to think over thebest thing to do.”
Anthony nodded, but did not speak.
“You think it a pity, I can see?”
“Well, it was rather unfortunate, Mrs. Revel2. If you and the maid haddiscovered the body together, immediately on your return, it would havesimplified matters very much. The man would then definitely have beenshot before your return to the house.”
“Whilst now they might say he was shot after—I see—”
He watched her taking in the idea, and was confirmed in his first im-pression of her, formed when she had spoken to him on the steps outside.
Besides beauty, she possessed4 courage and brains.
Virginia was so engrossed5 in the puzzle presented to her that it did notoccur to her to wonder at this strange man’s ready use of her name.
“Why didn’t Elise hear the shot, I wonder?” she murmured.
Anthony pointed6 to the open window, as a loud backfire came from apassing car.
“There you are. London’s not the place to notice a pistol shot.”
Virginia turned with a little shudder7 to the body in the chair.
“He looks like an Italian,” she remarked curiously8.
“He is an Italian,” said Anthony. “I should say that his regular professionwas that of a waiter. He only did blackmailing9 in his spare time. His namemight very possibly be Giuseppe.”
“Good heavens!” cried Virginia. “Is this Sherlock Holmes?”
“No,” said Anthony regretfully. “I’m afraid it’s just plain or garden cheat-ing. I’ll tell you all about it presently. Now you say this man showed yousome letters and asked you for money. Did you give him any?”
“Yes, I did.”
“How much?”
“Forty pounds.”
“That’s bad,” said Anthony, but without manifesting any undue10 surprise.
“Now let’s have a look at the telegram.”
Virginia picked it up from the table and gave it to him. She saw his facegrow grave as he looked at it.
“What’s the matter?”
He held it out, pointing silently to the place of origin.
“Barnes,” he said. “And you were at Ranelagh this afternoon. What’s toprevent you having sent it off yourself?”
Virginia felt fascinated by his words. It was as though a net was closingtighter and tighter round her. He was forcing her to see all the thingswhich she had felt dimly at the back of her mind.
Anthony took out his handkerchief and wound it round his hand, thenhe picked up the pistol.
“We criminals have to be so careful,” he said apologetically. “Finger-prints, you know.”
Suddenly she saw his whole figure stiffen11. His voice, when he spoke3, hadaltered. It was terse12 and curt13.
“Mrs. Revel,” he said, “have you ever seen this pistol before?”
“No,” said Virginia wonderingly.
“Are you sure of that?”
“Quite sure.”
“Have you a pistol of your own?”
“No.”
“Have you ever had one?”
“No, never.”
“You are sure of that?”
“Quite sure.”
He stared at her steadily14 for a minute, and Virginia stared back in com-plete surprise at his tone.
Then, with a sigh, he relaxed.
“That’s odd,” he said. “How do you account for this?”
He held out the pistol. It was a small, dainty article, almost a toy —though capable of doing deadly work. Engraved15 on it was the name Vir-ginia.
“Oh, it’s impossible!” cried Virginia.
Her astonishment16 was so genuine that Anthony could but believe in it.
“Sit down,” he said quietly. “There’s more in this than there seemed tobe first go off. To begin with, what’s our hypothesis? There are only twopossible ones. There is, of course, the real Virginia of the letters. She mayhave somehow or other tracked him down, shot him, dropped the pistol,stolen the letters, and taken herself off. That’s quite possible, isn’t it?”
“I suppose so,” said Virginia unwillingly17.
“The other hypothesis is a good deal more interesting. Whoever wishedto kill Giuseppe, wished also to incriminate you—in fact, that may havebeen their main object. They could get him easily enough anywhere, butthey took extraordinary pains and trouble to get him here, and whoeverthey were they knew all about you, your cottage at Datchet, your usualhousehold arrangements, and the fact that you were at Ranelagh this af-ternoon. It seems an absurd question, but have you any enemies, Mrs.
Revel?”
“Of course I haven’t—not that kind, anyway.”
“The question is,” said Anthony, “what are we going to do now? Thereare two courses open to us. A: ring up the police, tell the whole story, andtrust to your unassailable position in the world and your hitherto blame-less life. B: an attempt on my part to dispose successfully of the body. Nat-urally my private inclinations18 urge me to B. I’ve always wanted to see if Icouldn’t conceal19 a crime with the necessary cunning, but have had asqueamish objection to shedding blood. On the whole, I expect A’s thesoundest. Then here’s a sort of bowdlerized A. Ring up the police, etc, butsuppress the pistol and the blackmailing letters—that is, if they are on himstill.”
Anthony ran rapidly through the dead man’s pockets.
“He’s been stripped clean,” he announced. “There’s not a thing on him.
There’ll be dirty work at the crossroads over those letters yet. Hullo,what’s this? Hole in the lining—something got caught there, torn roughlyout, and a scrap20 of paper left behind.”
He drew out the scrap of paper as he spoke, and brought it over to thelight. Virginia joined him.
“Pity we haven’t got the rest of it,” he muttered. “Chimneys 11:45Thursday—Sounds like an appointment.”
“Chimneys?” cried Virginia. “How extraordinary!”
“Why extraordinary? Rather high-toned for such a low fellow?”
“I’m going to Chimneys this evening. At least I was.”
Anthony wheeled round on her.
“What’s that? Say that again.”
“I was going to Chimneys this evening,” repeated Virginia.
Anthony stared at her.
“I begin to see. At least, I may be wrong — but it’s an idea. Supposesomeone wanted badly to prevent your going to Chimneys?”
“My cousin George Lomax does,” said Virginia with a smile. “But I can’tseriously suspect George of murder.”
Anthony did not smile. He was lost in thought.
“If you ring up the police, its good-bye to any idea of getting to Chimneystoday—or even tomorrow. And I should like you to go to Chimneys. I fancyit will disconcert our unknown friends. Mrs. Revel, will you put yourself inmy hands?”
“It’s to be Plan B, then?”
“It’s to be Plan B. The first thing is to get that maid of yours out of thehouse. Can you manage that?”
“Easily.”
Virginia went out in the hall and called up the stairs.
“Elise. Elise.”
“Madame?”
Anthony heard a rapid colloquy21, and then the front door opened andshut. Virginia came back into the room.
“She’s gone. I sent her for some special scent—told her the shop in ques-tion was open until eight. It won’t be, of course. She’s to follow after me bythe next train without coming back here.”
“Good,” said Anthony approvingly. “We can now proceed to the disposalof the body. It’s a timeworn method, but I’m afraid I shall have to ask youif there’s such a thing in the house as a trunk?”
“Of course there is. Come down to the basement and take your choice.”
There was a variety of trunks in the basement. Anthony selected a solidaffair of suitable size.
“I’ll attend to this part of it,” he said tactfully. “You go upstairs and getready to start.”
Virginia obeyed. She slipped out of her tennis kit22, put on a soft browntravelling dress and a delightful23 little orange hat, and came down to findAnthony waiting in the hall with a neatly24 strapped25 trunk beside him.
“I should like to tell you the story of my life,” he remarked, “but it’s go-ing to be rather a busy evening. Now this is what you’ve got to do. Call ataxi, have your luggage put on it, including the trunk. Drive to Paddington.
There have the trunk put in the Left Luggage Office. I shall be on the plat-form. As you pass me, drop the cloakroom ticket. I will pick it up and re-turn it to you, but in reality I shall keep it. Go on to Chimneys, and leavethe rest to me.”
“It’s awfully26 good of you,” said Virginia. “It’s really dreadful of me sad-dling a perfect stranger with a dead body like this.”
“I like it,” returned Anthony nonchalantly. “If one of my friends, JimmyMcGrath, were here, he’d tell you that anything of this kind suits me downto the ground.”
Virginia was staring at him.
“What name did you say? Jimmy McGrath?”
Anthony returned her glance keenly.
“Yes. Why? Have you heard of him?”
“Yes—and quite lately.” She paused irresolutely27, and then went on. “Mr.
Cade, I must talk to you. Can’t you come down to Chimneys?”
“You’ll see me before very long, Mrs. Revel—I’ll tell you that. Now, exitConspirator A by back door slinkingly. Exit Conspirator28 B in blaze of gloryby front door to taxi.”
The plan went through without a hitch29. Anthony, having picked up asecond taxi, was on the platform and duly retrieved30 the fallen ticket. Hethen departed in search of a somewhat battered31 secondhand Morris Cow-ley which he had acquired earlier in the day in case it should be necessaryto his plans.
Returning to Paddington in this, he handed the ticket to the porter, whogot the trunk out of the cloakroom and wedged it securely at the back ofthe car. Anthony drove off.
His objective now was out of London. Through Notting Hill, Shepherd’sBush, down Goldhawk Road, through Brentford and Hounslow till hecame to the long stretch of road midway between Hounslow and Staines.
It was a well-frequented road, with motors passing continuously. No foot-marks or tyremarks were likely to show. Anthony stopped the car at a cer-tain spot. Getting down, he first obscured the number plate with mud.
Then, waiting until he heard no car coming in either direction, he openedthe trunk, heaved out Giuseppe’s body, and laid it neatly down by the sideof the road, on the inside of a curve, so that the headlights of passing mo-tors would not strike on it.
Then he entered the car again and drove away. The whole business hadoccupied exactly one minute and a half. He made a detour32 to the right, re-turning to London by way of Burnham Beeches33. There again he halted thecar, and choosing a giant of the forest he deliberately34 climbed the hugetree. It was something of a feat35, even for Anthony. To one of the topmostbranches he affixed36 a small brown-paper parcel, concealing37 it in a littleniche close to the bole.
“A very clever way of disposing of the pistol,” said Anthony to himselfwith some approval. “Everybody hunts about on the ground, and dragsponds. But there are very few people in England who could climb thattree.”
Next, back to London and Paddington Station. Here he left the trunk—atthe other cloakroom this time, the one on the Arrival side. He thoughtlongingly of such things as good rump steaks, juicy chops, and largemasses of fried potatoes. But he shook his head ruefully, glancing at hiswristwatch. He fed the Morris with a fresh supply of petrol, and then tookthe road once more. North this time.
It was just after half past eleven that he brought the car to rest in theroad adjoining the park of Chimneys. Jumping out he scaled the wall eas-ily enough, and set out towards the house. It took him longer than hethought, and presently he broke into a run. A great grey mass loomed38 upout of the darkness—the venerable pile of Chimneys. In the distance astable clock chimed the three-quarters.
11:45—the time mentioned on the scrap of paper. Anthony was on theterrace now, looking up at the house. Everything seemed dark and quiet.
“They go to bed early, these politicians,” he murmured to himself.
And suddenly a sound smote39 upon his ears—the sound of a shot. An-thony spun40 round quickly. The sound had come from within the house—he was sure of that. He waited a minute, but everything was still as death.
Finally he went up to one of the long French windows from where hejudged the sound that had startled him had come. He tried the handle. Itwas locked. He tried some of the other windows, listening intently all thewhile. But the silence remained unbroken.
In the end he told himself that he must have imagined the sound, or per-haps mistaken a stray shot coming from a poacher in the woods. Heturned and retraced41 his steps across the park, vaguely42 dissatisfied and un-easy.
He looked back at the house, and whilst he looked a light sprang up inone of the windows on the first floor. In another minute it went out again,and the whole place was in darkness once more.
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收听单词发音
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1
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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2
revel
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| vi.狂欢作乐，陶醉；n.作乐，狂欢 | |
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3
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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4
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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5
engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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6
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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7
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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8
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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9
blackmailing
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| 胁迫，尤指以透露他人不体面行为相威胁以勒索钱财( blackmail的现在分词 ) | |
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10
undue
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| adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的 | |
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11
stiffen
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| v.(使)硬，(使)变挺，(使)变僵硬 | |
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12
terse
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| adj.(说话，文笔)精炼的，简明的 | |
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13
curt
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| adj.简短的，草率的 | |
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14
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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15
engraved
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| v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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16
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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unwillingly
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| adv.不情愿地 | |
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18
inclinations
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| 倾向( inclination的名词复数 )； 倾斜； 爱好； 斜坡 | |
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19
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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20
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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21
colloquy
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| n.谈话，自由讨论 | |
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22
kit
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| n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物 | |
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23
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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25
strapped
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| adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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26
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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irresolutely
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| adv.优柔寡断地 | |
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conspirator
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| n.阴谋者，谋叛者 | |
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29
hitch
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| v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉 | |
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30
retrieved
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| v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息） | |
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31
battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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32
detour
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| n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道 | |
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33
beeches
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| n.山毛榉( beech的名词复数 )；山毛榉木材 | |
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34
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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35
feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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36
affixed
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| adj.[医]附着的，附着的v.附加( affix的过去式和过去分词 )；粘贴；加以；盖（印章） | |
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37
concealing
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 ) | |
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38
loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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39
smote
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
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40
spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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41
retraced
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| v.折回( retrace的过去式和过去分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯 | |
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42
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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