血字的研究 38一线光明(2)（在线收听）

From under the door there curled a little red ribbon of blood, which had meandered across the passage and formed a little pool along the skirting at the other side.

一条曲曲弯弯的血迹由房门下边流了出来，一直流过走道，汇积在对面墙脚下。

I gave a cry, which brought the boots back.

我不由得大叫一声，这个茶房听到这一声后，就转身走了回来。

He nearly fainted when he saw it. The door was locked on the inside, but we put our shoulders to it, and knocked it in.

他看见这个情景，吓得几乎昏了过去。房门是倒锁着的，我们用肩把它撞开，进入室内。

The window of the room was open, and beside the window, all huddled up, lay the body of a man in his nightdress.

屋内窗户洞开，窗子旁边躺着一个男人的尸体，身上穿着睡衣，蜷曲成一团。

He was quite dead, and had been for some time, for his limbs were rigid and cold.

他早就断了气，四肢已经僵硬冰凉了。

When we turned him over, the boots recognized him at once as being the same gentleman who had engaged the room under the name of Joseph Stangerson.

我们把尸体翻过来一瞧，擦鞋人立刻认出，这就是这间房子的住客，名叫斯坦节逊。

The cause of death was a deep stab in the left side, which must have penetrated the heart.

致死的原因是，身体左侧被人用刀刺入很深，一定是伤了心脏。

And now comes the strangest part of the affair.

还有一个最奇怪的情况，

What do you suppose was above the murdered man?"

你们猜猜看，死者脸上有什么？"

I felt a creeping of the flesh, and a presentiment of coming horror, even before Sherlock Holmes answered.

我听到这里，不觉毛骨悚然，感到十分可怕。

"The word RACHE, written in letters of blood," he said.

福尔摩斯却立刻答道："是'拉契'这个字，用血写的。"

"That was it," said Lestrade, in an awestruck voice; and we were all silent for a while.

"正是这个字。"雷斯垂德说，话音中还带着恐惧。一时之间，我们都沉默了下来。

There was something so methodical and so incomprehensible about the deeds of this unknown assassin, that it imparted a fresh ghastliness to his crimes.

这个暗藏凶手的暗杀行为似乎很有步骤，同时又是难以理解的，因此也就使得他的罪行更加可怖。

My nerves, which were steady enough on the field of battle, tingled as I thought of it.

我的神经，虽在死伤遍野的战场上也很坚强，但是一想到这个情景，却难免不寒而栗。

"The man was seen," continued Lestrade.

雷斯垂德接着说："有人看见过这个凶手。

"A milk boy, passing on his way to the dairy, happened to walk down the lane which leads from the mews at the back of the hotel.

一个送牛奶的孩子在去牛奶房的时候，偶然经过旅馆后面的那条小胡同，这条小胡同是通往旅馆后边马车房的。

He noticed that a ladder, which usually lay there, was raised against one of the windows of the second floor, which was wide open.

他看到平日放在地上的那个梯子竖了起来，对着三楼的一个窗子，这个窗子大开着。

After passing, he looked back and saw a man descend the ladder.

这个孩子走过之后，曾经回过头来瞧了瞧，他看到一个人从梯子上下来。

He came down so quietly and openly that the boy imagined him to be some carpenter or joiner at work in the hotel.

只见他不慌不忙、大大方方地走了下来。这个孩子还以为是旅馆里的木匠在做活呢，

He took no particular notice of him, beyond thinking in his own mind that it was early for him to be at work.

所以他也没有特别注意这个人，不过心里只是觉得，这时上工未免太早罢了。

He has an impression that the man was tall, had a reddish face, and was dressed in a long, brownish coat.

他仿佛记得这个人是一个大个子，红红的脸，身上穿着一件长长的棕色外衣。

He must have stayed in the room some little time after the murder,

他在行凶之后，一定是在房里还停留过一会儿。

for we found blood-stained water in the basin, where he had washed his hands, and marks on the sheets where he had deliberately wiped his knife."

因为我们发现脸盆水中有血，说明凶手是曾经洗过手；床单上也有血迹，可见他行凶以后还从容地擦过刀子。"

I glanced at Holmes on hearing the description of the murderer which tallied so exactly with his own.

一听到凶手的身形、面貌和福尔摩斯的推断十分吻合，我就瞧了他一眼，

There was, however, no trace of exultation or satisfaction upon his face.

可是他的脸上并没有丝毫得意的样子。

"Did you find nothing in the room which could furnish a clue to the murderer?" he asked.

福尔摩斯问道："你在屋里没有发现任何可以提供缉捕凶手的线索吗？"

"Nothing. Stangerson had Drebber's purse in his pocket, but it seems that this was usual, as he did all the paying.

"没有。斯坦节逊身上带着锥伯的钱袋，但是看来平常就是他带着的，因为他是掌管开支的。

There was eighty-odd pounds in it, but nothing had been taken.

钱袋里有八十多镑现款，分文不少。

Whatever the motives of these extraordinary crimes, robbery is certainly not one of them.

这些犯罪行为看来不平常，它的动机不管是什么，但绝不会是谋财害命。

There were no papers or memoranda in the murdered man's pocket,

被害人衣袋里也没有文件或日记本，

except a single telegram, dated from Cleveland about a month ago, and containing the words, 'J. H.is in Europe.'

只有一份电报，这是一个月以前从克利夫兰城打来的，电文是'J·H．现在欧洲'，

There was no name appended to this message."

这份电文没有署名。"