VI
On the following morning, Poirot went to the Holborn Palace Hotel and asked for Mr. Howard
Raikes.
By this time it would hardly have surprised him to hear that Mr. Howard Raikes, too, had
stepped out one evening and had never returned.
Mr. Howard Raikes, however, was still at the Holborn Palace and was said to be breakfasting.
The apparition¹ of Hercule Poirot at the breakfast table seemed to give Mr. Howard Raikes
doubtful pleasure.
Though not looking so murderous as in Poirot’s disordered recollection of him, his scowl² was
still formidable—he stared at his uninvited guest and said ungraciously:
“What the hell?”
“You permit?”
Hercule Poirot drew a chair from another table.
Mr. Raikes said:
“Don’t mind me! Sit down and make yourself at home!”
Poirot smiling availed himself of the permission.
Mr. Raikes said ungraciously:
“Well, what do you want?”
“Do you remember me at all, Mr. Raikes?”
“Never set eyes on you in my life.”
“There you are wrong. You sat in the same room with me for at least five minutes not more than
three days ago.”
“I can’t remember every one I meet at some Goddamned party or other.”
“It was not a party,” said Poirot. “It was a dentist’s waiting room.”
Some swift emotion flashed into the young man’s eyes and died again at once. His manner
changed. It was no longer impatient and casual. It became suddenly wary³. He looked across at
Poirot and said:
“Well!”
Poirot studied him carefully before replying. He felt, quite positively⁴, that this was indeed a
dangerous young man. A lean hungry face, an aggressive jaw⁵, the eyes of a fanatic⁶. It was a face,
though, that women might find attractive. He was untidily, even shabbily dressed, and he ate with
a careless voraciousness

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1 apparition
n.幽灵，神奇的现象
参考例句：
He saw the apparition of his dead wife.他看见了他亡妻的幽灵。 But the terror of this new apparition brought me to a stand.这新出现的幽灵吓得我站在那里一动也不敢动。

2 scowl
vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容
参考例句：
I wonder why he is wearing an angry scowl.我不知道他为何面带怒容。 The boss manifested his disgust with a scowl.老板面带怒色，清楚表示出他的厌恶之感。

3 wary
adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的
参考例句：
He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。 Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

4 positively
adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实
参考例句：
She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。 The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

5 jaw
n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训
参考例句：
He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。 A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

6 fanatic
n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的
参考例句：
Alexander is a football fanatic.亚历山大是个足球迷。 I am not a religious fanatic but I am a Christian.我不是宗教狂热分子，但我是基督徒。

7 voraciousness
n.贪婪，贪吃
参考例句：

8 dexterously
adv.巧妙地，敏捷地
参考例句：
He operates the machine dexterously. 他操纵机器动作非常轻巧。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》 How dexterously he handled the mite. 他伺候小家伙，有多么熟练。 来自辞典例句

9 miserable
adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的
参考例句：
It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。 Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

10 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。

11 kindly
adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地
参考例句：
Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。 A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

12 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》

13 whatsoever
adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么
参考例句：
There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。 All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

14 assuage
v.缓和，减轻，镇定
参考例句：
The medicine is used to assuage pain.这种药用来止痛。 Your messages of cheer should assuage her suffering.你带来的这些振奋人心的消息一定能减轻她的痛苦。

15 assuaging
v.减轻( assuage的现在分词 )；缓和；平息；使安静
参考例句：
The structure, aimed at assuaging concerns about Indonesian law, is commonly deployed. 该结构旨在规避印尼法律，目前得到广泛使用。 来自互联网 In assuaging these worries, governments will have to balance two risks. 为了安抚这些忧虑，政府必须平衡两个风险。 来自互联网

16 savagery
n.野性
参考例句：
The police were shocked by the savagery of the attacks.警察对这些惨无人道的袭击感到震惊。 They threw away their advantage by their savagery to the black population.他们因为野蛮对待黑人居民而丧失了自己的有利地位。

17 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。

18 anesthetic
n.麻醉剂，麻药；adj.麻醉的，失去知觉的
参考例句：
He was given a general anesthetic.他被全身麻醉。 He was still under the influence of the anesthetic.他仍处在麻醉状态。

19 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。

20 persistent
adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的
参考例句：
Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。 She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

21 harping
n.反复述说
参考例句：
Don't keep harping on like that. 别那样唠叨个没完。 You're always harping on the samestring. 你总是老调重弹。

22 corrupt
v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的
参考例句：
The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。 This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

23 dynamite
n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破)
参考例句：
The workmen detonated the dynamite.工人们把炸药引爆了。 The philosopher was still political dynamite.那位哲学家仍旧是政治上的爆炸性人物。

24 obstruction
n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物
参考例句：
She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。 The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。