死亡约会 Part II Chapter 18（3）

 

‘Good lord,’ said Colonel Carbury, suddenly sitting up very straight. ‘Are you suggesting—?’

‘I am suggesting that, having ascertained¹ just what Miss Pierce (the only witness likely to beawake) was doing, Lady Westholme returned to her tent, put on her riding breeches, boots andkhaki-coloured coat, made herself an Arab head-dress with her checked duster and a skein ofknitting-wool and that, thus attired², she went boldly up to Dr Gerard’s tent, looked in his medicinechest, selected a suitable drug, took the hypodermic, filled it and went boldly up to her victim.

‘Mrs Boynton may have been dozing³. Lady Westholme was quick. She caught her by the wristand injected the stuff. Mrs Boynton half cried out—tried to rise—then sank back. The “Arab”

hurried away with every evidence of being ashamed and abashed⁴. Mrs Boynton shook her stick,tried to rise, then fell back into her chair.

‘Five minutes later Lady Westholme rejoins Miss Pierce and comments on the scene she hasjust witnessed, impressing her own version of it on the other. Then they go for a walk, pausingbelow the ledge⁵ where Lady Westholme shouts up to the old lady. She receives no answer. MrsBoynton is dead—but she remarks to Miss Pierce, “Very rude just to snort at us like that!” MissPierce accepts the suggestion—she has often heard Mrs Boynton receive a remark with a snort—she will swear quite sincerely if necessary that she actually heard it. Lady Westholme has sat oncommittees often enough with women of Miss Pierce’s type to know exactly how her owneminence and masterful personality can influence them. The only point where her plan went astraywas the replacing of the syringe. Dr Gerard returning so soon upset her scheme. She hoped hemight not have noticed its absence, or might think he had overlooked it, and she put it back duringthe night.’

He stopped.

Sarah said: ‘But why? Why should Lady Westholme want to kill old Mrs Boynton?’

‘Did you not tell me that Lady Westholme had been quite near you in Jerusalem when youspoke to Mrs Boynton? It was to Lady Westholme that Mrs Boynton’s words were addressed.

“I’ve never forgotten anything—not an action, not a name, not a face.” Put that with the fact thatMrs Boynton had been a wardress in a prison and you can get a very shrewd idea of the truth.

Lord Westholme met his wife on a voyage back from America. Lady Westholme before hermarriage had been a criminal and had served a prison sentence.

‘You see the terrible dilemma⁶ she was in? Her career, her ambitions, her social position—all atstake! What the crime was for which she served a sentence in prison we do not yet know (thoughwe soon shall), but it must have been one that would effectually blast her political career if it wasmade public. And remember this, Mrs Boynton was not an ordinary blackmailer⁷. She did not wantmoney. She wanted the pleasure of torturing her victim for a while and then she would haveenjoyed revealing the truth in the most spectacular fashion! No, while Mrs Boynton lived, LadyWestholme was not safe. She obeyed Mrs Boynton’s instructions to meet her at Petra (I thought itstrange all along that a woman with such a sense of her own importance as Lady Westholmeshould have preferred to travel as a mere⁸ tourist), but in her own mind she was doubtless revolvingways and means of murder. She saw her chance and carried it out boldly. She only made two slips.

One was to say a little too much—the description of the torn breeches—which first drew myattention to her, and the other was when she mistook Dr Gerard’s tent and looked first into the onewhere Ginevra was lying half asleep. Hence the girl’s story—half make-believe, half true—of asheikh in disguise. She put it the wrong way round, obeying her instinct to distort the truth bymaking it more dramatic, but the indication was quite significant enough for me.’

He paused.

‘But we shall soon know. I obtained Lady Westholme’s fingerprints⁹ today without her beingaware of the fact. If these are sent to the prison where Mrs Boynton was once a wardress, we shallsoon know the truth when they are compared with the files.’

He stopped.

In the momentary¹⁰ stillness a sharp sound was heard.

‘What’s that?’ asked Dr Gerard.

‘Sounded like a shot to me,’ said Colonel Carbury, rising to his feet quickly. ‘In the next room.

Who’s got that room, by the way?’

Poirot murmured: ‘I have a little idea—it is the room of Lady Westholme…’

 

1 ascertained   

v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The previously unidentified objects have now been definitely ascertained as being satellites. 原来所说的不明飞行物现在已证实是卫星。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I ascertained that she was dead. 我断定她已经死了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 attired   

adj.穿着整齐的v.使穿上衣服，使穿上盛装( attire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The bride was attired in white. 新娘穿一身洁白的礼服。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is appropriate that everyone be suitably attired. 人人穿戴得体是恰当的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 dozing   

v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡

参考例句：

• The economy shows no signs of faltering. 经济没有衰退的迹象。
• He never falters in his determination. 他的决心从不动摇。

4 abashed   

adj.窘迫的，尴尬的v.使羞愧，使局促，使窘迫( abash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He glanced at Juliet accusingly and she looked suitably abashed. 他怪罪的一瞥，朱丽叶自然显得很窘。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The girl was abashed by the laughter of her classmates. 那小姑娘因同学的哄笑而局促不安。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 ledge   

n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁

参考例句：

• They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
• Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上，摔倒了。

6 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

7 blackmailer   

敲诈者，勒索者

参考例句：

• The blackmailer had a hold over him. 勒索他的人控制着他。
• The blackmailer will have to be bought off,or he'll ruin your good name. 得花些钱疏通那个敲诈者，否则他会毁坏你的声誉。

8 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

9 fingerprints   

n.指纹( fingerprint的名词复数 )v.指纹( fingerprint的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Everyone's fingerprints are unique. 每个人的指纹都是独一无二的。
• They wore gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints behind (them). 他们戴着手套，以免留下指纹。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 momentary   

adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的

参考例句：

• We are in momentary expectation of the arrival of you.我们无时无刻不在盼望你的到来。
• I caught a momentary glimpse of them.我瞥了他们一眼。