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CHAPTER XIX. The Inquest
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 The Coroner, having made a few commonplace remarks as to the terrible nature of the tragedy which they had come to investigate that afternoon, proceeded to outline the case to the jury. Witnesses would be called to identify the deceased as Robert Ablett, the brother of the owner of the Red House, Mark Ablett. It would be shown that he was something of a ne’er-do-well, who had spent most of his life in Australia, and that he had announced, in what might almost be called a threatening letter, his intention of visiting his brother that afternoon. There would be evidence of his arrival, of his being shown into the scene of the tragedy—a room in the Red House, commonly called “the office”—and of his brother’s entrance into that room. The jury would have to form their own opinion as to what happened there. But whatever happened, happened almost instantaneously. Within two minutes of Mark Ablett’s entrance, as would be shown in the evidence, a shot was heard, and when—perhaps five minutes later—the room was forced open, the dead body of Robert Ablett was found stretched upon the floor. As regards Mark Ablett, nobody had seen him from the moment of his going into the room, but evidence would be called to show that he had enough money on him at the time to take him to any other part of the country, and that a man answering to his description had been observed on the platform of Stanton station, apparently1 waiting to catch the 3.55 up train to London. As the jury would realize, such evidence of identity was not always reliable. Missing men had a way of being seen in a dozen different places at once. In any case, there was no doubt that for the moment Mark Ablett had disappeared.
 
“Seems a sound man,” whispered Antony to Bill. “Doesn’t talk too much.”
 
Antony did not expect to learn much from the evidence—he knew the facts of the case so well by now—but he wondered if Inspector2 Birch had developed any new theories. If so, they would appear in the Coroner’s examination, for the Coroner would certainly have been coached by the police as to the important facts to be extracted from each witness. Bill was the first to be put through it.
 
“Now, about this letter, Mr. Beverley?” he was asked when his chief evidence was over. “Did you see it at all?”
 
“I didn’t see the actual writing. I saw the back of it. Mark was holding it up when he told us about his brother.”
 
“You don’t know what was in it, then?”
 
Bill had a sudden shock. He had read the letter only that morning. He knew quite well what was in it. But it wouldn’t do to admit this. And then, just as he was about to perjure3 himself, he remembered: Antony had heard Cayley telling the Inspector.
 
“I knew afterwards. I was told. But Mark didn’t read it out at breakfast.”
 
“You gathered, however, that it was an unwelcome letter?”
 
“Oh, yes!”
 
“Would you say that Mark was frightened by it?”
 
“Not frightened. Sort of bitter—and resigned. Sort of ‘Oh, Lord, here we are again!’”
 
There was a titter here and there. The Coroner smiled, and tried to pretend that he hadn’t.
 
“Thank you, Mr. Beverley.”
 
The next witness was summoned by the name of Andrew Amos, and Antony looked up with interest, wondering who he was.
 
“He lives at the inner lodge4,” whispered Bill to him.
 
All that Amos had to say was that a stranger had passed by his lodge at a little before three that afternoon, and had spoken to him. He had seen the body and recognized it as the man.
 
“What did he say?”
 
“‘Is this right for the Red House?’ or something like that, sir.”
 
“What did you say?”
 
“I said, ‘This is the Red House. Who do you want to see?’ He was a bit rough-looking, you know, sir, and I didn’t know what he was doing there.”
 
“Well?”
 
“Well, sir, he said, ‘Is Mister Mark Ablett at home?’ It doesn’t sound much put like that, sir, but I didn’t care about the way he said it. So I got in front of him like, and said, ‘What do you want, eh?’ and he gave a sort of chuckle5 and said, ‘I want to see my dear brother Mark.’ Well, then I took a closer look at him, and I see that p’raps he might be his brother, so I said, ‘If you’ll follow the drive, sir, you’ll come to the house. Of course I can’t say if Mr. Ablett’s at home.’ And he gave a sort of nasty laugh again, and said, ‘Fine place Mister Mark Ablett’s got here. Plenty of money to spend, eh?’ Well, then I had another look at him, sir, because gentlemen don’t talk like that, and if he was Mr. Ablett’s brother—but before I could make up my mind, he laughed and went on. That’s all I can tell you, sir.”
 
Andrew Amos stepped down and moved away to the back of the room, nor did Antony take his eyes off him until he was assured that Amos intended to remain there until the inquest was over.
 
“Who’s Amos talking to now?” he whispered to Bill.
 
“Parsons. One of the gardeners. He’s at the outside lodge on the Stanton road. They’re all here to-day. Sort of holiday for ’em.”
 
“I wonder if he’s giving evidence too,” thought Antony. He was. He followed Amos. He had been at work on the lawn in front of the house, and had seen Robert Ablett arrive. He didn’t hear the shot—not to notice. He was a little hard of hearing. He had seen a gentleman arrive about five minutes after Mr. Robert.
 
“Can you see him in court now?” asked the Coroner. Parsons looked round slowly. Antony caught his eye and smiled.
 
“That’s him,” said Parsons, pointing.
 
Everybody looked at Antony.
 
“That was about five minutes afterwards?”
 
“About that, sir.”
 
“Did anybody come out of the house before this gentleman’s arrival?”
 
“No, sir. That is to say I didn’t see ’em.”
 
Stevens followed. She gave her evidence much as she had given it to the Inspector. Nothing new was brought out by her examination. Then came Elsie. As the reporters scribbled6 down what she had overheard, they added in brackets “Sensation” for the first time that afternoon.
 
“How soon after you had heard this did the shot come?” asked the Coroner.
 
“Almost at once, sir.”
 
“A minute?”
 
“I couldn’t really say, sir. It was so quick.”
 
“Were you still in the hall?”
 
“Oh, no, sir. I was just outside Mrs. Stevens’ room. The housekeeper7, sir.”
 
“You didn’t think of going back to the hall to see what had happened?”
 
“Oh, no, sir. I just went in to Mrs. Stevens, and she said, ‘Oh, what was that?’ frightened-like. And I said, ‘That was in the house, Mrs. Stevens, that was.’ Just like something going off, it was.”
 
“Thank you,” said the Coroner.
 
There was another emotional disturbance8 in the room as Cayley went into the witness-box; not “Sensation” this time, but an eager and, as it seemed to Antony, sympathetic interest. Now they were getting to grips with the drama.
 
He gave his evidence carefully, unemotionally—the lies with the same slow deliberation as the truth. Antony watched him intently, wondering what it was about him which had this odd sort of attractiveness. For Antony, who knew that he was lying, and lying (as he believed) not for Mark’s sake but his own, yet could not help sharing some of that general sympathy with him.
 
“Was Mark ever in possession of a revolver?” asked the Coroner.
 
“Not to my knowledge. I think I should have known if he had been.”
 
“You were alone with him all that morning. Did he talk about this visit of Robert’s at all?”
 
“I didn’t see very much of him in the morning. I was at work in my room, and outside, and so on. We lunched together and he talked of it then a little.”
 
“In what terms?”
 
“Well—” he hesitated, and then went on. “I can’t think of a better word than ‘peevishly.’ Occasionally he said, ‘What do you think he wants?’ or ‘Why couldn’t he have stayed where he was?’ or ‘I don’t like the tone of his letter. Do you think he means trouble?’ He talked rather in that kind of way.”
 
“Did he express his surprise that his brother should be in England?”
 
“I think he was always afraid that he would turn up one day.”
 
“Yes.... You didn’t hear any conversation between the brothers when they were in the office together?”
 
“No. I happened to go into the library just after Mark had gone in, and I was there all the time.”
 
“Was the library door open?”
 
“Oh, yes.”
 
“Did you see or hear the last witness at all?”
 
“No.”
 
“If anybody had come out of the office while you were in the library, would you have heard it?”
 
“I think so. Unless they had come out very quietly on purpose.”
 
“Would you call Mark a hasty-tempered man?”
 
Cayley considered this carefully before answering.
 
“Hasty-tempered, yes,” he said. “But not violent-tempered.”
 
“Was he fairly athletic9? Active and quick?”
 
“Active and quick, yes. Not particularly strong.”
 
“Yes.... One question more. Was Mark in the habit of carrying any considerable sum of money about with him?”
 
“Yes. He always had one £100 note on him, and perhaps ten or twenty pounds as well.”
 
“Thank you, Mr. Cayley.”
 
Cayley went back heavily to his seat. “Damn it,” said Antony to himself, “why do I like the fellow?”
 
“Antony Gillingham!”
 
Again the eager interest of the room could be felt. Who was this stranger who had got mixed up in the business so mysteriously?
 
Antony smiled at Bill and stepped up to give his evidence.
 
He explained how he came to be staying at ‘The George’ at Woodham, how he had heard that the Red House was in the neighbourhood, how he had walked over to see his friend Beverley, and had arrived just after the tragedy. Thinking it over afterwards he was fairly certain that he had heard the shot, but it had not made any impression on him at the time. He had come to the house from the Woodham end and consequently had seen nothing of Robert Ablett, who had been a few minutes in front of him. From this point his evidence coincided with Cayley’s.
 
“You and the last witness reached the French windows together and found them shut?”
 
“Yes.”
 
“You pushed them in and came to the body. Of course you had no idea whose body it was?”
 
“No.”
 
“Did Mr. Cayley say anything?”
 
“He turned the body over, just so as to see the face, and when he saw it, he said, ‘Thank God.’”
 
Again the reporters wrote “Sensation.”
 
“Did you understand what he meant by that?”
 
“I asked him who it was, and he said that it was Robert Ablett. Then he explained that he was afraid at first it was the cousin with whom he lived—Mark.”
 
“Yes. Did he seem upset?”
 
“Very much so at first. Less when he found that it wasn’t Mark.”
 
There was a sudden snigger from a nervous gentleman in the crowd at the back of the room, and the Coroner put on his glasses and stared sternly in the direction from which it came. The nervous gentleman hastily decided10 that the time had come to do up his bootlace. The Coroner put down his glasses and continued.
 
“Did anybody come out of the house while you were coming up the drive?”
 
“No.”
 
“Thank you, Mr. Gillingham.”
 
He was followed by Inspector Birch. The Inspector, realizing that this was his afternoon, and that the eyes of the world were upon him, produced a plan of the house and explained the situation of the different rooms. The plan was then handed to the jury.
 
Inspector Birch, so he told the world, had arrived at the Red House at 4.42 p.m. on the afternoon in question. He had been received by Mr. Matthew Cayley, who had made a short statement to him, and he had then proceeded to examine the scene of the crime. The French windows had been forced from outside. The door leading into the hall was locked; he had searched the room thoroughly11 and had found no trace of a key. In the bedroom leading out of the office he had found an open window. There were no marks on the window, but it was a low one, and, as he found from experiment, quite easy to step out of without touching12 it with the boots. A few yards outside the window a shrubbery began. There were no recent footmarks outside the window, but the ground was in a very hard condition owing to the absence of rain. In the shrubbery, however, he found several twigs13 on the ground, recently broken off, together with other evidence that some body had been forcing its way through. He had questioned everybody connected with the estate, and none of them had been into the shrubbery recently. By forcing a way through the shrubbery it was possible for a person to make a detour14 of the house and get to the Stanton end of the park without ever being in sight of the house itself.
 
He had made inquiries15 about the deceased. Deceased had left for Australia some fifteen years ago, owing to some financial trouble at home. Deceased was not well spoken of in the village from which he and his brother had come. Deceased and his brother had never been on good terms, and the fact that Mark Ablett had come into money had been a cause of great bitterness between them. It was shortly after this that Robert had left for Australia.
 
He had made inquiries at Stanton station. It had been market-day at Stanton and the station had been more full of arrivals than usual. Nobody had particularly noticed the arrival of Robert Ablett; there had been a good many passengers by the 2.10 train that afternoon, the train by which Robert had undoubtedly16 come from London. A witness, however, would state that he noticed a man resembling Mark Ablett at the station at 3.53 p.m. that afternoon, and this man caught the 3.55 up train to town.
 
There was a pond in the grounds of the Red House. He had dragged this, but without result....
 
Antony listened to him carelessly, thinking his own thoughts all the time. Medical evidence followed, but there was nothing to be got from that. He felt so close to the truth; at any moment something might give his brain the one little hint which it wanted. Inspector Birch was just pursuing the ordinary. Whatever else this case was, it was not ordinary. There was something uncanny about it.
 
John Borden was giving evidence. He was on the up platform seeing a friend off by the 3.55 on Tuesday afternoon. He had noticed a man on the platform with coat collar turned up and a scarf round his chin. He had wondered why the man should do this on such a hot day. The man seemed to be trying to escape observation. Directly the train came in, he hurried into a carriage. And so on.
 
“There’s always a John Borden at every murder case,” said Antony to himself.
 
“Have you ever seen Mark Ablett?”
 
“Once or twice, sir.”
 
“Was it he?”
 
“I never really got a good look at him, sir, what with his collar turned up and the scarf and all. But directly I heard of the sad affair, and that Mr. Ablett was missing, I said to Mrs. Borden, ‘Now I wonder if that was Mr. Ablett I saw at the station?’ So then we talked it over and decided that I ought to come and tell Inspector Birch. It was just Mr. Ablett’s height, sir.”
 
Antony went on with his thoughts....
 
The Coroner was summing up. The jury, he said, had now heard all the evidence and would have to decide what had happened in that room between the two brothers. How had the deceased met his death? The medical evidence would probably satisfy them that Robert Ablett had died from the effects of a bullet-wound in the head. Who had fired that bullet? If Robert Ablett had fired it himself, no doubt they would bring in a verdict of suicide, but if this had been so, where was the revolver which had fired it, and what had become of Mark Ablett? If they disbelieved in this possibility of suicide, what remained? Accidental death, justifiable17 homicide, and murder. Could the deceased have been killed accidentally? It was possible, but then would Mark Ablett have run away? The evidence that he had run away from the scene of the crime was strong. His cousin had seen him go into the room, the servant Elsie Wood had heard him quarrelling with his brother in the room, the door had been locked from the inside, and there were signs that outside the open window some one had pushed his way very recently through the shrubbery. Who, if not Mark? They would have then to consider whether he would have run away if he had been guiltless of his brother’s death. No doubt innocent people lost their heads sometimes. It was possible that if it were proved afterwards that Mark Ablett had shot his brother, it might also be proved that he was justified18 in so doing, and that when he ran away from his brother’s corpse19 he had really nothing to fear at the hands of the Law. In this connection he need hardly remind the jury that they were not the final tribunal, and that if they found Mark Ablett guilty of murder it would not prejudice his trial in any way if and when he was apprehended20.... The jury could consider their verdict.
 
They considered it. They announced that the deceased had died as the result of a bullet-wound, and that the bullet had been fired by his brother Mark Ablett.
 
Bill turned round to Antony at his side. But Antony was gone. Across the room he saw Andrew Amos and Parsons going out of the door together, and Antony was between them.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 apparently tMmyQ     
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎
参考例句:
  • An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽,豁然开朗。
  • He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
2 inspector q6kxH     
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。
3 perjure cM5x0     
v.作伪证;使发假誓
参考例句:
  • The man scrupled to perjure himself.这人发伪誓时迟疑了起来。
  • She would rather perjure herself than admit to her sins.她宁愿在法庭上撒谎也不愿承认她的罪行。
4 lodge q8nzj     
v.临时住宿,寄宿,寄存,容纳;n.传达室,小旅馆
参考例句:
  • Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗?
  • I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。
5 chuckle Tr1zZ     
vi./n.轻声笑,咯咯笑
参考例句:
  • He shook his head with a soft chuckle.他轻轻地笑着摇了摇头。
  • I couldn't suppress a soft chuckle at the thought of it.想到这个,我忍不住轻轻地笑起来。
6 scribbled de374a2e21876e209006cd3e9a90c01b     
v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 );乱画;草草地写;匆匆记下
参考例句:
  • She scribbled his phone number on a scrap of paper. 她把他的电话号码匆匆写在一张小纸片上。
  • He scribbled a note to his sister before leaving. 临行前,他给妹妹草草写了一封短信。
7 housekeeper 6q2zxl     
n.管理家务的主妇,女管家
参考例句:
  • A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
  • She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家,一家人吃得很省。
8 disturbance BsNxk     
n.动乱,骚动;打扰,干扰;(身心)失调
参考例句:
  • He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
  • You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。
9 athletic sOPy8     
adj.擅长运动的,强健的;活跃的,体格健壮的
参考例句:
  • This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
  • He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。
10 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
11 thoroughly sgmz0J     
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地
参考例句:
  • The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
  • The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。
12 touching sg6zQ9     
adj.动人的,使人感伤的
参考例句:
  • It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
  • His letter was touching.他的信很感人。
13 twigs 17ff1ed5da672aa443a4f6befce8e2cb     
细枝,嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
  • Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。
14 detour blSzz     
n.绕行的路,迂回路;v.迂回,绕道
参考例句:
  • We made a detour to avoid the heavy traffic.我们绕道走,避开繁忙的交通。
  • He did not take the direct route to his home,but made a detour around the outskirts of the city.他没有直接回家,而是绕到市郊兜了个圈子。
15 inquiries 86a54c7f2b27c02acf9fcb16a31c4b57     
n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 );疑问;探究;打听
参考例句:
  • He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释,等候进一步调查。
  • I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
16 undoubtedly Mfjz6l     
adv.确实地,无疑地
参考例句:
  • It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
  • He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。
17 justifiable a3ExP     
adj.有理由的,无可非议的
参考例句:
  • What he has done is hardly justifiable.他的所作所为说不过去。
  • Justifiable defense is the act being exempted from crimes.正当防卫不属于犯罪行为。
18 justified 7pSzrk     
a.正当的,有理的
参考例句:
  • She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
  • The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。
19 corpse JYiz4     
n.尸体,死尸
参考例句:
  • What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
  • The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。
20 apprehended a58714d8af72af24c9ef953885c38a66     
逮捕,拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 ); 理解
参考例句:
  • She apprehended the complicated law very quickly. 她很快理解了复杂的法律。
  • The police apprehended the criminal. 警察逮捕了罪犯。


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