Standing¹ in the drawing room of Chateau² Villette, Lieutenant³ Collet watched the dying fire and feltdespondent. Captain Fache had arrived moments earlier and was now in the next room, yelling intothe phone, trying to coordinate⁴ the failed attempt to locate the missing Range Rover.

　　It could be anywhere by now, Collet thought.

　　Having disobeyed Fache's direct orders and lost Langdon for a second time, Collet was gratefulthat PTS had located a bullet hole in the floor, which at least corroborated⁵ Collet's claims that ashot had been fired. Still, Fache's mood was sour, and Collet sensed there would be direrepercussions when the dust settled.

　　Unfortunately, the clues they were turning up here seemed to shed no light at all on what was goingon or who was involved. The black Audi outside had been rented in a false name with false creditcard numbers, and the prints in the car matched nothing in the Interpol database.

　　Another agent hurried into the living room, his eyes urgent. "Where's Captain Fache?"Collet barely looked up from the burning embers. "He's on the phone.""I'm off the phone," Fache snapped, stalking into the room. "What have you got?"The second agent said, "Sir, Central just heard from André Vernet at the Depository Bank ofZurich. He wants to talk to you privately⁶. He is changing his story.""Oh?" Fache said.

　　Now Collet looked up.

　　"Vernet is admitting that Langdon and Neveu spent time inside his bank tonight.""We figured that out," Fache said. "Why did Vernet lie about it?""He said he'll talk only to you, but he's agreed to cooperate fully⁷.""In exchange for what?""For our keeping his bank's name out of the news and also for helping⁸

点击收听单词发音  

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 chateau
n.城堡，别墅
参考例句：
The house was modelled on a French chateau.这房子是模仿一座法国大别墅建造的。 The chateau was left to itself to flame and burn.那府第便径自腾起大火燃烧下去。

3 lieutenant
n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员
参考例句：
He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。 He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

4 coordinate
adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调
参考例句：
You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。 Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

5 corroborated
v.证实，支持（某种说法、信仰、理论等）( corroborate的过去式 )
参考例句：
The evidence was corroborated by two independent witnesses. 此证据由两名独立证人提供。 Experiments have corroborated her predictions. 实验证实了她的预言。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 privately
adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地
参考例句：
Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。 The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

7 fully
adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地
参考例句：
The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。 They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 helping
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的
参考例句：
The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。 By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 blurted
v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
She blurted it out before I could stop her. 我还没来得及制止，她已脱口而出。 He blurted out the truth, that he committed the crime. 他不慎说出了真相，说是他犯了那个罪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 flinched
v.（因危险和痛苦）退缩，畏惧( flinch的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
He flinched at the sight of the blood. 他一见到血就往后退。 This tough Corsican never flinched or failed. 这个刚毅的科西嘉人从来没有任何畏缩或沮丧。 来自辞典例句

11 riveted
铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意
参考例句：
I was absolutely riveted by her story. 我完全被她的故事吸引住了。 My attention was riveted by a slight movement in the bushes. 我的注意力被灌木丛中的轻微晃动吸引住了。

12 airfield
n.飞机场
参考例句：
The foreign guests were motored from the airfield to the hotel.用车把外宾从机场送到旅馆。 The airfield was seized by enemy troops.机场被敌军占领。

13 investigation
n.调查，调查研究
参考例句：
In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。 He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。