Zero Hour（2）

　　II
　　"I was always frightened," said Audrey.
　　They were sitting on the terrace. Audrey sat close to Superintendent¹ Battle. Battle had resumed his holiday and was at Gull's Point as a friend.
　　"Always frightened - all the time," said Audrey.
　　Battle said, nodding his head: "I knew you were dead scared first moment I saw you. And you'd got that colourless, reserved way people have who are holding some very strong emotion in check. It might have been love or hate, but actually it was fear, wasn't it?"She nodded.
　　"I began to be afraid of Nevile soon after we were married. But the awful thing is, you see, that I didn't know why. I began to think that I was mad.""It wasn't you," said Battle.
　　"Nevile seemed to me when I married him so particularly sane² and normal -always delightfully³ good-tempered and pleasant.""Interesting," said Battle. "He played the part of the good sportsman, you know. That's why he could keep his temper so well at tennis. His role as a good sportsman was more important to him than winning matches. But it put a strain upon him, of course; playing a part always does. He got worse underneath⁴.""Underneath," whispered Audrey with a shudder⁵. "Always underneath. Nothing you could get hold of. Just sometimes a word or a look and then I'd fancy I'd imagined it ... Something queer. And then, as I say, I thought I must be queer. And I went on getting more and more afraid - the kind of unreasoning fear, you know, that makes you sick!""I told myself I was going mad. That I couldn't help it I felt I'd do anything in the world to get away! And then Adrian came and told me he loved me, and I thought it would be wonderful to go away with him, and he said ..."She stopped.
　　"You know what happened? I went off to meet Adrian - he never came ... he was killed ... I felt as though Nevile had managed it, somehow.""Perhaps he did," said Battle. Audrey turned a startled face to him. "Oh, do you think so?""We'll never know now. Motor accidents can be arranged. Don't brood on it, though, Mrs. Strange. As likely as not, it just happened naturally.""I -I was all broken up. I went back to the Rectory - Adrian's home. We were to have written to his mother, but as she didn't know about us, I thought I wouldn't tell her and give her pain. And Nevile came almost at once. He was very nice -and kind - and all the time I talked to him I was quite sick with fear! He said no one need know about Adrian, that I could divorce him on evidence he would send me and that he was going to remarry afterwards. I felt so thankful. I knew he had thought Kay attractive and I hoped that everything would turn out right and that I should get over this queer obsession⁶ of mine. I still thought it must be me.""But I couldn't get rid of it - quite. I never felt I'd really escaped. And then I met Nevile in the Park one day and he explained that he did so want me and Kay to be friends and suggested that we should all come here in September. I couldn't refuse - how could I? After all the kind things he'd done.""'Will you walk into my parlour? Said the spider to the fly,'" remarked Superintendent Battle.
　　Audrey shivered. "Yes, just that ..."
　　"Very clever he was about that," said Battle. "Protested so loudly to everyone that it was his idea, that everyone at once got the impression that it wasn't."Audrey said: "And then I got here - and it was like a kind of nightmare. I knew something awful was going to happen -I knew Nevile meant it to happen - and that it was to happen to me. But I didn't know what it was. I think, you know, that I nearly did go off my head! I was just paralysed with fright - like you are in a dream when something's going to happen and you can't move ...""I've always thought," said Superintendent Battle, "that I'd like to have seen a snake fascinate a bird so that it can't fly away - but now I'm not so sure."Audrey went on.
　　"Even when Lady Tressilian was killed I didn't realise what it meant. I was puzzled. I didn't even suspect Nevile. I knew he didn't care about money - it was absurd to think he'd kill her in order to inherit fifty thousand pounds.""I thought over and over again about Mr. Treves and the story he had told that evening. Even then I didn't connect it with Nevile. Treves had mentioned some physical peculiarity⁸ by which he could recognise the child of long ago. I've got a scar on my ear, but I don't think anyone else has any sign that you'd notice."Battle said: "Miss Aldin has a lock of white hair. Thomas Royde has a stiff right arm, which might not have been only the result of an earthquake. Mr. Ted⁷ Latimer has rather an odd-shaped skull⁹. And Nevile Strange -"He paused.
　　"Surely there was no physical peculiarity about Nevile?""Oh, yes, there was. His left-hand little finger is shorter than his right. That's very unusual, Mrs. Strange - very unusual indeed.""So that was it?"
　　"That was it."
　　"And Nevile hung that sign on the lift?"
　　"Yes. Nipped down there and back whilst Royde and Latimer were giving the old boy drinks. Clever and simple - doubt if we could ever prove that was murder."Audrey shivered again.
　　"Now, now," said Battle. "It's all over now, my dear. Go on talking.""You're very clever ... I haven't talked so much for years!""No, that's what's been wrong. When did it first dawn on you what Master Nevile's game was?""I don't know exactly. It came to me all at once. He himself had been cleared and that left all of us. And then, suddenly, I saw him looking at me - a sort of gloating look. And I knew! That was when -" She stopped abruptly¹⁰.
　　"That was when what - ?"
　　Audrey said slowly: "When I thought a quick way out would be - best."Superintendent Battle shook his head.
　　"Never give in. That's my motto."
　　"Oh, you're quite right. But you don't know what it does to you being so afraid for so long. It paralyses you - you can't think - you can't plan - you just wait for something awful to happen. And then, when it does happen" - she gave a sudden, quick smile - "you'd be surprised at the relief! No more waiting and fearing - it's come. You'll think I'm quite demented, I suppose, if I tell you that when you came to arrest me for murder I didn't mind at all. Nevile had done his worst and it was over. I felt so safe going off with Inspector¹¹ Leach¹².""That's partly why we did it," said Battle. "I wanted you out of that madman's reach. And besides, if I wanted to break him down I wanted to be able to count on the shock of the reaction. He'd seen his plan come off, as he thought - so the jolt¹³ would be all the greater.""If he hadn't broken down would there have been any evidence?""Not too much. There was MacWhirter's story of seeing a man climb up a rope in the moonlight. And there was the rope itself confirming his story, coiled up in the attic¹⁴ and still faintly damp. It was raining that night, you know."He paused and stared hard at Audrey as though he were expecting her to say something.
　　As she merely looked interested he went on: "And there was the pinstripe suit. He stripped, of course, in the dark on that rocky point on the Easterhead Bay side, and thrust his suit into a niche¹⁵ in the rock. As it happened, he put it down on a decayed bit of fish washed up by the flood tide. It made a stained patch on the shoulder - and it smelt¹⁶. There was some talk, I found out, about the drains being wrong in the hotel. Nevile himself put that story about. He'd got his raincoat on over his suit, but the smell was a pervasive¹⁷ one. Then he got the wind up about that suit afterwards and at the first opportunity he took it off to the cleaners and, like a fool, didn't give his own name. Took a name at random¹⁸, actually one he'd seen in the hotel register. That's how your friend got hold of it and, having a good head on him, he linked it up with the man climbing up the rope. You step on decayed fish, but you don't put your shoulder down on it unless you have taken your clothes off to bathe at night, and no one would bathe for pleasure on a wet night in September. He fitted the whole thing together. Very ingenious man, Mr. MacWhirter.""More than ingenious," said Audrey.
　　"M'm, well, perhaps. Like to know about him? I can tell you something of his history."Audrey listened attentively¹⁹. Battle found her a good listener. She said: "I owe a lot to him - and to you.""Don't owe very much to me," said Superintendent Battle. "If I hadn't been a fool I'd have seen the point of that bell.""Bell? What bell?"
　　"The bell in Lady Tressilian's room. Always did feel there was something wrong about that bell. I nearly got it, too, when I came down the stairs from the top floor and saw one of those poles you open windows with.""That was the whole point of the bell, see - to give Nevile Strange an alibi²⁰. Lady T. didn't remember what she had rung for - of course she didn't, because she hadn't rung at all! Nevile rang the bell from outside in the passage with that long pole; the wires ran along the ceiling. So down comes Barrett and sees Mr. Nevile Strange go downstairs and out, and she finds Lady Tressilian alive and well. The whole business of the maid was fishy²¹. What's the good of doping her for a murder that's going to be committed before midnight! Ten to one she won't have gone off properly by then. But it fixes the murder as an inside job, and it allows a little time for Nevile to play his role of first suspect - then Barrett speaks and Nevile is so triumphantly²² cleared that no one is going to inquire very closely as to exactly what time he got to the hotel. We know he didn't cross back by ferry, and no boats had been taken. There remained the possibility of swimming. He was a powerful swimmer, but even then the time must have been short. Up the rope he's left hanging into his bedroom and a good deal of water on the floor, as we noticed (but without seeing the point, I'm sorry to say). Then into his blue coat and trousers, along to Lady Tressilian's room - we won't go into that -wouldn't have taken more than a couple of minutes; he'd fixed²³ up that steel ball beforehand - then back, out of his clothes, down the rope and back to Easterhead.""Suppose Kay had come in?"
　　"She'd been mildly doped, I'll bet. She was yawning from dinner on, so they tell me. Besides, he'd taken care to have a quarrel with her, so that she'd lock her door and keep out of his way.""I'm trying to think if I noticed the ball was gone from the fender. I don't think I did. When did he put it back?""Next morning when all the hullabaloo arose. Once he got back in Ted Latimer's car, he had all night to clear up his traces and fix things, mend the tennis racquet, etc. By the way, he hit the old lady backhanded, you know. That's why the crime appeared to be left-handed. Strange's backhand was always his strong point, remember!""Don't - don't" - Audrey put up her hands. "I can't bear any more." He smiled at her.
　　"All the same, it's done you good to talk it all out. Mrs. Strange, may I be impertinent and give you some advice?""Yes, please."
　　"You lived for eight years with a criminal lunatic - that's enough to sap any woman's nerves. But you've got to snap out of it now, Mrs. Strange. You don't need to be afraid any more - and you've got to make yourself realise that."Audrey smiled at him. The frozen look had gone from her face; it was a sweet, rather timid, but confiding²⁴ face, with the wide-apart eyes full of gratitude²⁵.
　　She said, hesitating a little: "You told the others there was a girl - a girl who acted as I did?"Battle slowly nodded his head.
　　"My own daughter," he said. "So you see, my dear, that miracle had to happen. These things are sent to teach us!"

1 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

2 sane   

adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的

参考例句：

• He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
• He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。

3 delightfully   

大喜，欣然

参考例句：

• The room is delightfully appointed. 这房子的设备令人舒适愉快。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The evening is delightfully cool. 晚间凉爽宜人。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

5 shudder   

v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动

参考例句：

• The sight of the coffin sent a shudder through him.看到那副棺材，他浑身一阵战栗。
• We all shudder at the thought of the dreadful dirty place.我们一想到那可怕的肮脏地方就浑身战惊。

6 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

7 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

8 peculiarity   

n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖

参考例句：

• Each country has its own peculiarity.每个国家都有自己的独特之处。
• The peculiarity of this shop is its day and nigth service.这家商店的特点是昼夜服务。

9 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

10 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

11 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

12 leach   

v.分离，过滤掉；n.过滤；过滤器

参考例句：

• Liquid water can leach soluble materials from the interface.液态水能够从界面溶解出可溶性物质。
• They believe that the humic materials are leached from decaying plant materials.他们认为腐植物料是从腐烂的植物体浸沥而来。

13 jolt   

v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸

参考例句：

• We were worried that one tiny jolt could worsen her injuries.我们担心稍微颠簸一下就可能会使她的伤势恶化。
• They were working frantically in the fear that an aftershock would jolt the house again.他们拼命地干着，担心余震可能会使房子再次受到震动。

14 attic   

n.顶楼，屋顶室

参考例句：

• Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
• What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理？

15 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

16 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。

17 pervasive   

adj.普遍的；遍布的，(到处)弥漫的；渗透性的

参考例句：

• It is the most pervasive compound on earth.它是地球上最普遍的化合物。
• The adverse health effects of car exhaust are pervasive and difficult to measure.汽车尾气对人类健康所构成的有害影响是普遍的，并且难以估算。

18 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

19 attentively   

adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神

参考例句：

• She listened attentively while I poured out my problems. 我倾吐心中的烦恼时，她一直在注意听。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She listened attentively and set down every word he said. 她专心听着，把他说的话一字不漏地记下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 alibi   

n.某人当时不在犯罪现场的申辩或证明；借口

参考例句：

• Do you have any proof to substantiate your alibi? 你有证据表明你当时不在犯罪现场吗？
• The police are suspicious of his alibi because he already has a record.警方对他不在场的辩解表示怀疑，因为他已有前科。

21 fishy   

adj. 值得怀疑的

参考例句：

• It all sounds very fishy to me.所有这些在我听起来都很可疑。
• There was definitely something fishy going on.肯定当时有可疑的事情在进行中。

22 triumphantly   

ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地

参考例句：

• The lion was roaring triumphantly. 狮子正在发出胜利的吼叫。
• Robert was looking at me triumphantly. 罗伯特正得意扬扬地看着我。

23 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。

24 confiding   

adj.相信人的，易于相信的v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的现在分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等）

参考例句：

• The girl is of a confiding nature. 这女孩具有轻信别人的性格。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Celia, though confiding her opinion only to Andrew, disagreed. 西莉亚却不这么看，尽管她只向安德鲁吐露过。 来自辞典例句

25 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。