死亡约会 Part II Chapter 17（3）

 

Now, as

these two ladies walked away from the camp, Dr Gerard passed them going to it. There is no oneto say what Dr Gerard’s movements were when he reached the camp because the two ladies’

backs were towards it. They were walking away from it. Therefore it is perfectly¹ possible for DrGerard to have committed the crime. Being a doctor, he could easily counterfeit² the appearance ofmalaria. There is, I should say, a possible motive³. Dr Gerard might have wished to save a certainperson whose reason (perhaps more vital a loss than loss of life) was in danger, and he may haveconsidered the sacrifice of an old and worn-out life worth it!’

‘Your ideas,’ said Dr Gerard, ‘are fantastic!’

Without taking any notice, Poirot went on:

‘But if so, why did Gerard call attention to the possibility of foul⁴ play? It is quite certain that,but for his statement to Colonel Carbury, Mrs Boynton’s death would have been put down tonatural causes. It was Dr Gerard who first pointed⁵ out the possibility of murder. That, my friends,’

said Poirot, ‘does not make common sense!’

‘Doesn’t seem to,’ said Colonel Carbury gruffly.

‘There is one more possibility,’ said Poirot. ‘Mrs Lennox Boynton just now negatived stronglythe possibility of her young sister-in-law being guilty. The force of her objection lay in the factthat she knew her mother-in-law to be dead at the time. But remember this, Ginevra Boynton wasat the camp all the afternoon. And there was a moment—a moment when Lady Westholme andMiss Pierce were walking away from the camp and before Dr Gerard had returned to it…’

Ginevra stirred. She leaned forward, staring into Poirot’s face with a strange, innocent, puzzledstare.

‘I did it? You think I did it?’

Then suddenly, with a movement of swift incomparable beauty, she was up from her chair andhad flung herself across the room and down on her knees beside Dr Gerard, clinging to him,gazing up passionately⁶ into his face.

‘No, no, don’t let them say it! They’re making the walls close round me again! It’s not true! Inever did anything! They are my enemies—they want to put me in prison—to shut me up. Youmust help me. You must help me!’

‘There, there, my child.’ Gently the doctor patted her head. Then he addressed Poirot.

‘What you say is nonsense—absurd.’

‘Delusions of persecution⁷?’ murmured Poirot.

‘Yes; but she could never have done it that way. She would have done it, you must perceive,dramatically—a dagger—something flamboyant—spectacular—never this cool, calm logic⁸! I tellyou, my friends, it is so. This was a reasoned crime—a sane⁹ crime.’

Poirot smiled. Unexpectedly he bowed. ‘Je suis entièrement de votre avis,’ he said smoothly¹⁰.

 

1 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

2 counterfeit   

vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的

参考例句：

• It is a crime to counterfeit money.伪造货币是犯罪行为。
• The painting looked old but was a recent counterfeit.这幅画看上去年代久远，实际是最近的一幅赝品。

3 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

4 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

5 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

6 passionately   

ad.热烈地，激烈地

参考例句：

• She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿，也能爱得一往情深。
• He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。

7 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

8 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

9 sane   

adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的

参考例句：

• He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
• He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。

10 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。