Seventeen
“Excuse me, Ma’am, I wonder if I might speak to you a minute.”
Mrs. Oliver, who was standing¹ on the verandah of her friend’s house looking out to see if therewere any signs of Hercule Poirot approaching—he had notified her by telephone that he would becoming round to see her about now—looked round.
A neatly² attired³ woman of middle age was standing, twisting her hands nervously⁴ in their neatcotton gloves.
“Yes?” said Mrs. Oliver, adding an interrogation point by her intonation⁵.
“I’m sorry to trouble you, I’m sure, Madam, but I thought—well, I thought….”
Mrs. Oliver listened but did not attempt to prompt her. She wondered what was worrying thewoman so much.
“I take it rightly as you’re the lady who writes stories, don’t I? Stories about crimes and murdersand things of that kind.”
“Yes,” said Mrs. Oliver, “I’m the one.”
Her curiosity was now aroused. Was this a preface for a demand for an autograph or even asigned photograph? One never knew. The most unlikely things happened.
“I thought as you’d be the right one to tell me,” said the woman.
“You’d better sit down,” said Mrs. Oliver.
She foresaw that Mrs. Whoever-it-was—she was wearing a wedding ring so she was a Mrs.—was the type who takes some time in getting to the point. The woman sat down and went ontwisting her hands in their gloves.
“Something you’re worried about?” said Mrs. Oliver, doing her best to start the flow.
“Well, I’d like advice, and it’s true. It’s about something that happened a good while ago and Iwasn’t really worried at the time. But you know how it is. You think things over and you wish youknew someone you could go and ask about it.”
“I see,” said Mrs. Oliver, hoping to inspire confidence by this entirely⁶ meretricious

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1 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。

2 neatly
adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地
参考例句：
Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。 The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

3 attired
adj.穿着整齐的v.使穿上衣服，使穿上盛装( attire的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
The bride was attired in white. 新娘穿一身洁白的礼服。 来自《简明英汉词典》 It is appropriate that everyone be suitably attired. 人人穿戴得体是恰当的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 nervously
adv.神情激动地，不安地
参考例句：
He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。 He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

5 intonation
n.语调，声调；发声
参考例句：
The teacher checks for pronunciation and intonation.老师在检查发音和语调。 Questions are spoken with a rising intonation.疑问句是以升调说出来的。

6 entirely
ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地
参考例句：
The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。 His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

7 meretricious
adj.华而不实的，俗艳的
参考例句：
A wooden building painted to look like marble is meretricious.一座漆得像大理石般的木制建筑物外表是美丽的。 Her room was painted in meretricious technicolour.她的房间刷着俗艳的颜色。

8 tinge
vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息
参考例句：
The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。 There was a tinge of sadness in her voice.她声音中流露出一丝忧伤。

9 quarry
n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找
参考例句：
Michelangelo obtained his marble from a quarry.米开朗基罗从采石场获得他的大理石。 This mountain was the site for a quarry.这座山曾经有一个采石场。

10 tangle
n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱
参考例句：
I shouldn't tangle with Peter.He is bigger than me.我不应该与彼特吵架。他的块头比我大。 If I were you, I wouldn't tangle with them.我要是你，我就不跟他们争吵。

11 codicil
n.遗嘱的附录
参考例句：
She add a codicil to her will just before she die.她临终前在遗嘱上加了附录。 In that codicil he acknowledges me。在那笔附录里，他承认了我。

12 devoted
adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的
参考例句：
He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。 We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

13 whine
v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣
参考例句：
You are getting paid to think,not to whine.支付给你工资是让你思考而不是哀怨的。 The bullet hit a rock and rocketed with a sharp whine.子弹打在一块岩石上，一声尖厉的呼啸，跳飞开去。

14 blotting
吸墨水纸
参考例句：
Water will permeate blotting paper. 水能渗透吸水纸。 One dab with blotting-paper and the ink was dry. 用吸墨纸轻轻按了一下，墨水就乾了。

15 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。

16 latch
n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁
参考例句：
She laid her hand on the latch of the door.她把手放在门闩上。 The repairman installed an iron latch on the door.修理工在门上安了铁门闩。

17 arthritis
n.关节炎
参考例句：
Rheumatoid arthritis has also been linked with the virus.风湿性关节炎也与这种病毒有关。 He spent three months in the hospital with acute rheumatic arthritis.他患急性风湿性关节炎，在医院住了三个月。

18 component
n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的
参考例句：
Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。 Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

19 enquire
v.打听，询问；调查，查问
参考例句：
She wrote to enquire the cause of the delay.她只得写信去询问拖延的理由。 We will enquire into the matter.我们将调查这事。

20 spiky
adj.长而尖的，大钉似的
参考例句：
Your hairbrush is too spiky for me.你的发刷，我觉得太尖了。 The spiky handwriting on the airmail envelope from London was obviously hers.发自伦敦的航空信封上的尖长字迹分明是她的。

21 legacies
n.遗产( legacy的名词复数 )；遗留之物；遗留问题；后遗症
参考例句：
Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind. 书是伟大的天才留给人类的精神财富。 来自辞典例句 General legacies are subject to the same principles as demonstrative legacies. 一般的遗赠要与指定数目的遗赠遵循同样的原则。 来自辞典例句

22 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。

23 attentive
adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的
参考例句：
She was very attentive to her guests.她对客人招待得十分周到。 The speaker likes to have an attentive audience.演讲者喜欢注意力集中的听众。

24 tiff
n.小争吵，生气
参考例句：
They patched up their tiff again.他们平息了争执，又和好如初了。 There was a new tiff between the two girls.那两个女孩之间有一场新的吵嘴。

25 forgery
n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为）
参考例句：
The painting was a forgery.这张画是赝品。 He was sent to prison for forgery.他因伪造罪而被关进监狱。

26 Christian
adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒
参考例句：
They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。 His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

27 motive
n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的
参考例句：
The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。 He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

28 trotted
小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走
参考例句：
She trotted her pony around the field. 她骑着小马绕场慢跑。 Anne trotted obediently beside her mother. 安妮听话地跟在妈妈身边走。