证券经纪人的书记员15

“He suspects that we are detectives,” I suggested.

“That’s it,” cried Pycroft.

Holmes shook his head. “He did not turn pale. He was pale when we entered the room,” said he. “It is just possible that —”

His words were interrupted by a sharp rat-tat from the direction of the inner door.

“What the deuce is he knocking at his own door for?” cried the clerk.

Again and much louder came the rat-tat-tat. We all gazed expectantly at the closed door. Glancing at Holmes, I saw his face turn rigid¹, and he leaned forward in intense excitement. Then suddenly came a low guggling, gargling sound, and a brisk drumming upon woodwork. Holmes sprang frantically² across the room and pushed at the door. It was fastened on the inner side. Following his example, we threw ourselves upon it with all our weight. One hinge snapped, then the other, and down came the door with a crash. Rushing over it, we found ourselves in the inner room. It was empty.

But it was only for a moment that we were at fault. At one corner, the corner nearest the room which we had left, there was a second door. Holmes sprang to it and pulled it open. A coat and waistcoat were lying on the floor, and from a hook behind the door, with his own braces³ round his neck, was hanging the managing director of the Franco-Midland Hardware Company. His knees were drawn⁴ up, his head hung at a dreadful angle to his body, and the clatter⁵ of his heels against the door made the noise which had broken in upon our conversation. In an instant I had caught him round the waist, and held him up while Holmes and Pycroft untied⁶ the elastic⁷ bands which had disappeared between the livid creases⁸ of skin. Then we carried him into the other room, where he lay with a clay-coloured face, puffing⁹ his purple lips in and out with every breath — a dreadful wreck¹⁰ of all that he had been but five minutes before.

“What do you think of him, Watson?” asked Holmes.

“他一定怀疑我们是侦探，”我提醒说。

“一定是这样，”派克罗夫特大声说道。

福尔摩斯摇了摇头。”他不是见了我们才吓坏的，我们进这房间时他已经脸色苍白了，”福尔摩斯说道，“只可能是……”从套间门那边传来了一阵响亮的打门声音，打断了福尔摩斯的话。

“他干什么自己在里面敲门？”书记员喊道。

打门声又响起来，而且更加响亮。我们都怀着期待心情盯着那扇关着的门。我望了福尔摩斯一眼，见他面容严峻，激动异常地俯身向前。接着突然传来一阵低低的喉头咕噜声，一阵咚咚的敲打木器的声音。福尔摩斯发狂似地冲向前去，猛推那扇门。可是门已从里面闩上了。我们也仿效他的样子用尽浑身之力撞门。一个门合叶突然断了，接着另一个也断了。门砰地一声倒下去。我们从门上冲过去，进入套间，里面却空无一人。

我们一时感到不知所措，可是不大功夫就发现靠近我们进来的屋角还有一个小门。福尔摩斯奔过去把门推开，见地板上扔着一件外衣和背心，门后的一个挂钩上，法国中部五金有限公司的总经理用自己裤子的背带绕在脖子上自缢了。他的双膝弯曲，头挂得和他的身一体成了一个可怕的角度，他的两个脚后跟咚咚地敲打着木门，原来就是这个声音打断了我们的谈话。我一下子抱住他的腰，把他举起，福尔摩斯和派克罗夫特把有弹一性一的裤子背带解下来，那根背带早已勒进了他发青的皮肤中。我们把他弄到外屋。他躺在那里，面如土色，发紫的嘴唇随着微微的喘一息而颤一动着，一副惊人的惨状，完全不是五分钟以前的样子了。

“你看他还有救吗，华生？”福尔摩斯问道。

1 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

2 frantically   

ad.发狂地, 发疯地

参考例句：

• He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
• She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。

3 braces   

n.吊带，背带；托架( brace的名词复数 )；箍子；括弧；（儿童）牙箍v.支住( brace的第三人称单数 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来

参考例句：

• The table is shaky because the braces are loose. 这张桌子摇摇晃晃，因为支架全松了。
• You don't need braces if you're wearing a belt! 要系腰带，就用不着吊带了。

4 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。

5 clatter   

v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声

参考例句：

• The dishes and bowls slid together with a clatter.碟子碗碰得丁丁当当的。
• Don't clatter your knives and forks.别把刀叉碰得咔哒响。

6 untied   

松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决

参考例句：

• Once untied, we common people are able to conquer nature, too. 只要团结起来，我们老百姓也能移山倒海。
• He untied the ropes. 他解开了绳子。

7 elastic   

n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的

参考例句：

• Rubber is an elastic material.橡胶是一种弹性材料。
• These regulations are elastic.这些规定是有弹性的。

8 creases   

（使…）起折痕，弄皱( crease的第三人称单数 )； （皮肤）皱起，使起皱纹

参考例句：

• She smoothed the creases out of her skirt. 她把裙子上的皱褶弄平。
• She ironed out all the creases in the shirt. 她熨平了衬衣上的所有皱褶。

9 puffing   

v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• He was puffing hard when he jumped on to the bus. 他跳上公共汽车时喘息不已。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe. 父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。