赖盖特之谜04

“Good-morning, Colonel,” said he; “I hope I don't intrude¹, but we hear that  Mr. Holmes of Baker² Street is here.”

The Colonel waved his hand towards my friend, and the Inspector³ bowed.

“We thought that perhaps you would care to step across, Mr. Holmes.”

“The fates are against you, Watson,” said he, laughing. “We were chatting  about the matter when you came in, Inspector. Perhaps you can let us have a few  details.” As he leaned back in his chair in the familiar attitude I knew that  the case was hopeless.

“We had no clue in the Acton affair. But here we have plenty to go on, and  there's no doubt it is the same party in each case. The man was seen.”

“Ah!”

“Yes, sir. But he was off like a deer after the shot that killed poor William  Kirwan was fired. Mr. Cunningham saw him from the bedroom window, and Mr. Alec  Cunningham saw him from the back passage. It was quarter to twelve when the  alarm broke out. Mr. Cunningham had just got into bed, and Mr. Alec was smoking  a pipe in his dressing-gown. They both heard William the coachman calling for  help, and Mr. Alec ran down to see what was the matter. The back door was open,  and as he came to the foot of the stairs he saw two men wrestling together  outside. One of them fired a shot, the other dropped, and the murderer rushed  across the garden and over the hedge. Mr. Cunningham, looking out of his  bedroom, saw the fellow as he gained the road, but lost sight of him at once.  Mr. Alec stopped to see if he could help the dying man, and so the villain⁴ got  clean away. Beyond the fact that he was a middle-sized man and dressed in some  dark stuff, we have no personal clue; but we are making energetic inquiries⁵, and  if he is a stranger we shall soon find him out.”

“What was this William doing there? Did he say anything before he died?”

“Not a word. He lives at the lodge⁶ with his mother, and as he was a very  faithful fellow we imagine that he walked up to the house with the intention of  seeing that all was right there. Of course this Acton business has put every one  on their guard. The robber must have just burst open the door—the lock has been  forced—when William came upon him.”

“早安，上校，”他说道，“我希望不致打扰你们，不过我们听说贝克街的福尔摩斯先生在 这里。”

上校把手向我的朋友那里一挥，警官便点头致意，说道：“我们想你大概愿意光临指导，福 尔摩斯先生。”

“命运是违背你的意志的，华生。”福尔摩斯笑容可掬地说道，“你进来时，我们正在聊着 这件案子呢，警官。或许你能使我们知道得更详细一些。”当他照平素一习一惯的姿式向后 仰靠在椅背上时，我知道我的计划又落空了。

“阿克顿案件，我们还没有线索。但是目前这个案子，我们有许多线索，可以进行工作。毫 无疑问，这两个案子是同一伙人干的。有人看到作案人了。”

“啊？！”

“是的，先生。但是作案人在开槍打死了可怜的威廉-柯万之后，象鹿一样飞快地跑掉了。 坎宁安先生从卧室的窗户看到了他，亚历克-坎宁安先生从后面的走廊看到了他。是十一点 三刻发出的警报。坎宁安先生刚刚睡下，亚历克先生穿着睡衣正在吸烟。他们两人都听见了 马车夫威廉的呼救声，于是亚历克先生跑下楼去看是怎么一回事。后门开着。他走到楼梯脚 下时，看到两个人正在外面扭打。其中一个放了一槍，另一个倒下了。凶手便跑过花园越过 篱笆，逃走了。坎宁安先生从他的卧室望出去，看见这个家伙跑到大路上，但转眼之间就消 失了。亚历克先生停下来看看他是否还能拯救这个垂死的人，结果就让这个恶棍逃走了。除 了知道凶手中等身材、穿着深色衣服外，我们还没掌握有关他容貌的线索，但我们正在竭力 调查，如果他是一个外乡人，我们马上可以把他查出来。”

“那个威廉怎么样了？在临终之前，他说过什么话没有？”

“一个字也没有说。他和他母亲住在仆人住房里。因为他为人非常忠厚，我们想，可能他到 厨房里去，是想看看那里是否平安无事。当然，阿克顿案件，使每个人都提高了警惕。那强 盗刚刚把门推开——锁已经被撬开——威廉便碰上他了。”

1 intrude   

vi.闯入；侵入；打扰，侵扰

参考例句：

• I do not want to intrude if you are busy.如果你忙我就不打扰你了。
• I don't want to intrude on your meeting.我不想打扰你们的会议。

2 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

3 inspector   

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。

4 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

5 inquiries   

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》

6 lodge   

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。