死亡约会 Part II Chapter 10（2）

 

Briefly¹, Poirot retailed² the interviews he had had that morning.

‘H’m,’ said Carbury. ‘Yes, you’ve got hold of a pointer or two, perhaps. Pity of it is they allseem to point in opposite directions. Have we got a case, that’s what I want to know?’

‘No.’

Carbury sighed again. ‘I was afraid not.’

‘But before nightfall,’ said Poirot, ‘you shall have the truth!’

‘Well, that’s all you ever promised me,’ said Colonel Carbury. ‘And I rather doubted yougetting that! Sure of it?’

‘I am very sure.’

‘Must be nice to feel like that,’ commented the other.

If there was a faint twinkle in his eye, Poirot appeared unaware³ of it. He produced his list.

‘Neat,’ said Colonel Carbury approvingly.

He bent⁴ over it.

After a minute or two he said: ‘Know what I think?’

‘I should be delighted if you would tell me.’

‘Young Raymond Boynton’s out of it.’

‘Ah! you think so?’

‘Yes. Clear as a bell what he thought. We might have known he’d be out of it. Being, as indetective stories, the most likely person. Since you practically overheard him saying he was goingto bump off the old lady—we might have known that meant he was innocent!’

‘You read the detective stories, yes?’

‘Thousands of them,’ said Colonel Carbury. He added, and his tone was that of a wistfulschoolboy: ‘I suppose you couldn’t do the things the detective does in books? Write a list ofsignificant facts—things that don’t seem to mean anything but are really frightfully important—that sort of thing.’

‘Ah,’ said Poirot kindly⁵. ‘You like that kind of detective story? But certainly, I will do it for youwith pleasure.’

He drew a sheet of paper towards him and wrote quickly and neatly⁶:

Significant points

1. Mrs Boynton was taking a mixture containing digitalis.

2. Dr Gerard missed a hypodermic syringe.

3. Mrs Boynton took definite pleasure in keeping her family from enjoying themselves with otherpeople.

4. Mrs Boynton, on the afternoon in question, encouraged her family to go away and leave her.

5. Mrs Boynton was a mental sadist.

6. The distance from the marquee to the place where Mrs Boynton was sitting is (roughly) twohundred yards.

7. Mr Lennox Boynton said at first he did not know what time he returned to the camp, but later headmitted having set his mother’s wrist-watch to the right time.

8. Dr Gerard and Miss Genevra Boynton occupied tents next door to each other.

9. At half-past six, when dinner was ready, a servant was dispatched to announce the fact to MrsBoynton.

The Colonel perused⁷ this with great satisfaction.

‘Capital!’ he said. ‘Just the thing! You’ve made it difficult — and seemingly irrelevant⁸ —absolutely the authentic⁹ touch! By the way, it seems to me there are one or two noticeableomissions. But that, I suppose, is what you tempt¹⁰ the mug with?’

Poirot’s eyes twinkled a little, but he did not answer.

‘Point two, for instance,’ said Colonel Carbury tentatively. ‘Dr Gerard missed a hypodermicsyringe—yes. He also missed a concentrated solution of digitalis—or something of that kind.’

‘The latter point,’ said Poirot, ‘is not important in the way the absence of his hypodermicsyringe is important.’

‘Splendid!’ said Colonel Carbury, his face irradiated with smiles. ‘I don’t get it at all. I shouldhave said the digitalis was much more important than the syringe! And what about that servantmotif that keeps cropping up—a servant being sent to tell her dinner was ready—and that story ofher shaking her stick at a servant earlier in the afternoon? You’re not going to tell me one of mypoor desert mutts bumped her off after all? Because,’ added Colonel Carbury sternly, ‘if so, thatwould be cheating.’

Poirot smiled, but did not answer.

As he left the office he murmured to himself:

‘Incredible! The English never grow up!’

 

1 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

2 retailed   

vt.零售（retail的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• She retailed the neighbours' activities with relish. 她饶有兴趣地对邻居们的活动说三道四。
• The industrial secrets were retailed to a rival concern. 工业秘密被泄露给一家对立的公司。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

4 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

5 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

6 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

7 perused   

v.读（某篇文字）( peruse的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指）细阅；审阅；匆匆读或心不在焉地浏览（某篇文字）

参考例句：

• I remained under the wall and perused Miss Cathy's affectionate composition. 我就留在墙跟底下阅读凯蒂小姐的爱情作品。 来自辞典例句
• Have you perused this article? 你细读了这篇文章了吗？ 来自互联网

8 irrelevant   

adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的

参考例句：

• That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
• A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上，一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。

9 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

10 tempt   

vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣

参考例句：

• Nothing could tempt him to such a course of action.什么都不能诱使他去那样做。
• The fact that she had become wealthy did not tempt her to alter her frugal way of life.她有钱了，可这丝毫没能让她改变节俭的生活习惯。