We walked back to the house together. There was no sign of the inspector¹. Poirot paused on the terrace and stood with his back to the house, slowly turning his head from side to side.

 

“Une belle² propriété,” he said at last appreciatively. “Who inherits it?”

 

His words gave me almost a shock. It is an odd thing, but until that moment the question of inheritance had never come into my head. Poirot watched me keenly.

 

“It is a new idea to you, that,” he said at last. “You had not thought of it before—eh?”

 

“No,” I said truthfully. “I wish I had.”

 

He looked at me again curiously³.

 

“I wonder just what you mean by that,” he said thoughtfully. “Ah! no,” as I was about to speak. “Inutile! You would not tell me your real thought.”

 

“Every one has something to hide,” I quoted, smiling.

 

“Exactly.”

 

“You still believe that?”

 

“More than ever, my friend. But it is not easy to hide things from Hercule Poirot. He has a knack⁴ of finding out.”

 

He descended⁵ the steps of the Dutch garden as he spoke⁶.

 

107

 

“Let us walk a little,” he said over his shoulder. “The air is pleasant to-day.”

 

I followed him. He led me down a path to the left enclosed in yew⁷ hedges. A walk led down the middle, bordered each side with formal flower beds, and at the end was a round paved recess

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1 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。

2 belle
n.靓女
参考例句：
She was the belle of her Sunday School class.在主日学校她是她们班的班花。 She was the belle of the ball.她是那个舞会中的美女。

3 curiously
adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地
参考例句：
He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。 He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

4 knack
n.诀窍，做事情的灵巧的，便利的方法
参考例句：
He has a knack of teaching arithmetic.他教算术有诀窍。 Making omelettes isn't difficult,but there's a knack to it.做煎蛋饼并不难，但有窍门。

5 descended
a.为...后裔的，出身于...的
参考例句：
A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。 The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

6 spoke
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
参考例句：
They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。 The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 yew
n.紫杉属树木
参考例句：
The leaves of yew trees are poisonous to cattle.紫杉树叶会令牛中毒。 All parts of the yew tree are poisonous,including the berries.紫杉的各个部分都有毒，包括浆果。

8 recess
n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）
参考例句：
The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。 Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

9 prospect
n.前景，前途；景色，视野
参考例句：
This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。 The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

10 flora
n.(某一地区的)植物群
参考例句：
The subtropical island has a remarkably rich native flora.这个亚热带岛屿有相当丰富的乡土植物种类。 All flora need water and light.一切草木都需要水和阳光。

11 outright
adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的
参考例句：
If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。 You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

12 malice
n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋
参考例句：
I detected a suggestion of malice in his remarks.我觉察出他说的话略带恶意。 There was a strong current of malice in many of his portraits.他的许多肖像画中都透着一股强烈的怨恨。

13 humility
n.谦逊，谦恭
参考例句：
Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。 His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

14 joints
接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）
参考例句：
Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。 Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。

15 vexed
adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论
参考例句：
The conference spent days discussing the vexed question of border controls. 会议花了几天的时间讨论边境关卡这个难题。 He was vexed at his failure. 他因失败而懊恼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 deliberately
adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地
参考例句：
The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。 They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

17 humbug
n.花招，谎话，欺骗
参考例句：
I know my words can seem to him nothing but utter humbug.我知道，我说的话在他看来不过是彻头彻尾的慌言。 All their fine words are nothing but humbug.他们的一切花言巧语都是骗人的。

18 awfully
adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地
参考例句：
Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。 I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。

19 abrupt
adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的
参考例句：
The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。 His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

20 ass
n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人
参考例句：
He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。 An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

21 scrap
n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废
参考例句：
A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。 Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

22 horrid
adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的
参考例句：
I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。 The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃，她咽不下去。

23 poking
n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢
参考例句：
He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。 He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。

24 eavesdropping
n. 偷听
参考例句：
We caught him eavesdropping outside the window. 我们撞见他正在窗外偷听。 Suddenly the kids,who had been eavesdropping,flew into the room. 突然间，一直在偷听的孩子们飞进屋来。

25 drawn
v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的
参考例句：
All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。 Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

26 extravagantly
adv.挥霍无度地
参考例句：
The Monroes continued to entertain extravagantly. 门罗一家继续大宴宾客。 来自辞典例句 New Grange is one of the most extravagantly decorated prehistoric tombs. 新格兰奇是装饰最豪华的史前陵墓之一。 来自辞典例句

27 microscopic
adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的
参考例句：
It's impossible to read his microscopic handwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。 A plant's lungs are the microscopic pores in its leaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。

28 unwillingly
adv.不情愿地
参考例句：
He submitted unwillingly to his mother. 他不情愿地屈服于他母亲。 Even when I call, he receives unwillingly. 即使我登门拜访，他也是很不情愿地接待我。

29 standing
n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的
参考例句：
After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。 They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

30 laboriously
adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地
参考例句：
She is tracing laboriously now. 她正在费力地写。 来自《简明英汉词典》 She is laboriously copying out an old manuscript. 她正在费劲地抄出一份旧的手稿。 来自辞典例句

31 shrugged
vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）
参考例句：
Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。 She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

32 dagger
n.匕首，短剑，剑号
参考例句：
The bad news is a dagger to his heart.这条坏消息刺痛了他的心。 The murderer thrust a dagger into her heart.凶手将匕首刺进她的心脏。

33 perfectly
adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地
参考例句：
The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。 Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

34 sneaked
v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状
参考例句：
I sneaked up the stairs. 我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。 She sneaked a surreptitious glance at her watch. 她偷偷看了一眼手表。

35 eddied
起漩涡，旋转( eddy的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
The waves swirled and eddied around the rocks. 波浪翻滚着在岩石周围打旋。 The mist eddied round the old house. 雾气回旋在这栋老房子的四周。

36 swirled
v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
The waves swirled and eddied around the rocks. 波浪翻滚着在岩石周围打旋。 The water swirled down the drain. 水打着旋流进了下水道。

37 fervent
adj.热的，热烈的，热情的
参考例句：
It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。 Austria was among the most fervent supporters of adolf hitler.奥地利是阿道夫希特勒最狂热的支持者之一。

38 attaining
（通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）
参考例句：
Jim is halfway to attaining his pilot's licence. 吉姆就快要拿到飞行员执照了。 By that time she was attaining to fifty. 那时她已快到五十岁了。

39 discretion
n.谨慎；随意处理
参考例句：
You must show discretion in choosing your friend.你择友时必须慎重。 Please use your best discretion to handle the matter.请慎重处理此事。

40 inscription
n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文
参考例句：
The inscription has worn away and can no longer be read.铭文已磨损，无法辨认了。 He chiselled an inscription on the marble.他在大理石上刻碑文。

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