孤身骑车人（16）

“Hum!” said Holmes. “I think I see how things  worked, and I can understand how this message would, as  you say, bring them to a head. But while we wait you  might tell me what you can.”

The old reprobate with the surplice burst into a volley  of bad language.

“By Heaven,” said he, “if you squeal on us, Bob  Carruthers, I'll serve you as you served Jack Woodley.  You can bleat about the girl to your heart's content,  for that's your own affair, but if you round on your  pals to this plain-clothes copper it will be the worst  day's work that ever you did.”

“Your reverence need not be excited,” said Holmes,  lighting a cigarette. “The case is clear enough  against you, and all I ask is a few details for my  private curiosity. However, if there's any difficulty  in your telling me I'll do the talking, and then you  will see how far you have a chance of holding back your  secrets. In the first place, three of you came from  South Africa on this game—you Williamson, you  Carruthers, and Woodley.”

“Lie number one,” said the old man; “I never saw  either of them until two months ago, and I have never  been in Africa in my life, so you can put that in your  pipe and smoke it, Mr. Busybody Holmes!”

“What he says is true,” said Carruthers.

“Well, well, two of you came over. His reverence is  our own home-made article. You had known Ralph Smith in  South Africa. You had reason to believe he would not  live long. You found out that his niece would inherit  his fortune. How's that—eh?”

Carruthers nodded and Williamson swore.

“She was next-of-kin, no doubt, and you were aware  that the old fellow would make no will.”

“Couldn't read or write,” said Carruthers.

“So you came over, the two of you, and hunted up the  girl. The idea was that one of you was to marry her and  the other have a share of the plunder. For some reason  Woodley was chosen as the husband. Why was that?”

“We played cards for her on the voyage. He won.”

“I see. You got the young lady into your service, and  there Woodley was to do the courting. She recognised  the drunken brute that he was, and would have nothing  to do with him. Meanwhile, your arrangement was rather  upset by the fact that you had yourself fallen in love  with the lady. You could no longer bear the idea of  this ruffian owning her.”

“No, by George, I couldn't!”

“哼！"福尔摩斯说道，"我想我知道这是怎么回事了，并且我也明白，象你所说的，这封电报会引其他们走向极端。你们可以一边等，一边尽你所知全部告诉我。”

那个穿白色法衣的老恶棍破口骂出一连串肮脏话。

“皇天在上！"他说道，"假如你泄露我们的秘密，鲍勃，我就要用你对付杰克·伍德利的手段来对付你。你可以随一心一所一欲地把那姑一娘一的事说得天花乱坠，那是你们自己的事，可是你要把你的朋友出卖给这个便衣警察，那你就要自找倒霉了。”

“尊敬的牧师阁下用不着激动，"福尔摩斯点燃香烟，说道，"这件案子对你们不利，这是十分清楚的。我不过出于个人好奇，问几个细节问题而已。不过，假如你们不便见告，那么我就来说一说，然后你们就会明白你们还能隐瞒住什么秘密了。首先，你们三个人从南非来玩这场把戏——你威廉森，你卡拉瑟斯，还有伍德利。”

“头号的谎言，"那老家伙说道，"两个月以前，我连他们见也没见过，而且我生来也没到过非洲，所以你可以把这谎言放进烟斗里一起烧掉，一爱一管闲事的福尔摩斯先生。”

“他说的是实话，"卡拉瑟斯说道。

“好了，好了，你们两个是从远方来的。这位尊敬的牧师是我们自己的本国货。你们在南非结识了拉尔夫·史密斯。你们有理由相信他不会活得很久了，你们发现他的侄女要继承他的遗产。我这话怎么样？嗯？”

卡拉瑟斯点点头，威廉森咒骂不止。

“毫无疑问，她是最近的亲属，你们知道那个老人不会留下遗嘱。”

“他不认字也不会写，"卡拉瑟斯说道。

“所以你们两人不远万里而来，到处查寻这位姑一娘一。你们打的主意是，一个人娶她，另一个人分一部分赃款。由于某种原因，伍德利选上做丈夫。那原因是什么呢？”

“我们在航途打牌，用那个姑一娘一作注，伍德利赢了。”

“我明白了。你把姑一娘一骗到你家里，好让伍德利到你家向她求一爱一。可是她看得出伍德利是个酗酒的恶棍，不愿和他来往。同时，你自己也一爱一上了这位姑一娘一，这就完全打乱了你们的安排。你想到那个恶棍要占有这姑一娘一，便再也不能容忍了。”

“对，的确，我不能再容忍了。”