赖盖特之谜03（在线收听）

The Colonel whistled. “By Jove!” said he. “Who's killed, then? The J.P. or  his son?”

“Neither, sir. It was William the coachman. Shot through the heart, sir, and  never spoke again.”

“Who shot him, then?”

“The burglar, sir. He was off like a shot and got clean away. He'd just broke  in at the pantry window when William came on him and met his end in saving his  master's property.”

“What time?”

“It was last night, sir, somewhere about twelve.”

“Ah, then, we'll step over afterwards,” said the Colonel, coolly settling down  to his breakfast again. “It's a baddish business,” he added when the butler  had gone; “he's our leading man about here, is old Cunningham, and a very  decent fellow too. He'll be cut up over this, for the man has been in his  service for years and was a good servant. It's evidently the same villains who  broke into Acton's.”

“And stole that very singular collection,” said Holmes, thoughtfully.

“Precisely.”

“Hum! It may prove the simplest matter in the world, but all the same at first  glance this is just a little curious, is it not? A gang of burglars acting in  the country might be expected to vary the scene of their operations, and not to  crack two cribs in the same district within a few days. When you spoke last  night of taking precautions I remember that it passed through my mind that this  was probably the last parish in England to which the thief or thieves would be  likely to turn their attention—which shows that I have still much to learn.”

“I fancy it's some local practitioner,” said the Colonel. “In that case, of  course, Acton's and Cunningham's are just the places he would go for, since they  are far the largest about here.”

“And richest?”

“Well, they ought to be, but they've had a lawsuit for some years which has  sucked the blood out of both of them, I fancy. Old Acton has some claim on half  Cunningham's estate, and the lawyers have been at it with both hands.”

“If it's a local villain there should not be much difficulty in running him  down,” said Holmes with a yawn. “All right, Watson, I don't intend to meddle. ”

“Inspector Forrester, sir,” said the butler, throwing open the door.

The official, a smart, keen-faced young fellow, stepped into the room.

上校不由惊呼了一声，“天哪！”他说道：“那么，是谁被害了？是治安官还是他的儿子？ ”

“都不是，先生。是马车夫威廉。子弹射穿了他的心脏，他再也说不出话了，先生。”

“那么，是谁槍杀了他呢？”

“是那个盗贼，先生。他飞也似地跑掉了，逃得无影无踪。他刚刚从厨房窗户闯进去，威廉 就撞上了他。为了保护主人的财产，威廉就丧了命。”

“那是什么时候？”

“是在昨天夜里，先生，大约十二点钟。”

“啊，那么，一会儿我们去看看，”上校说道，又沉着地坐下来吃他的早饭。“这是一件很 不幸的事，”管家走后，上校补充说道，“老坎宁安是我们这里的头面人物，也是一个非常 正派的人。他对此一定是很伤心的，因为这个人侍候了他好几年，是一个很好的仆人。案犯 显然就是那个闯进阿克顿家的恶棍。”

“也就是偷盗那一堆稀奇古怪的东西的那个人吗？”福尔摩斯沉思地说道。

“对。”

“哦！这可能是世界上一件最简单的事情，不过，初看起来，还是有点儿奇怪，是不是？在 人们意料中，一伙在乡村活动的盗贼总是要改变他们的作案地点，绝不会在几天之内在同一 地区两次闯进住宅进行偷盗。在你昨晚谈到采取预防措施时，我记得我脑子里闪现过一个想 法：这地方可能是英国盗贼最不注意的教区了。由此可见，我还有许多需要学一习一的东西 。”

“我想这是本地的小偷干的，”上校说道，“假使是这样的话，当然，阿克顿和坎宁安家正 好是他要光顾的地方了。因为他们两家是此地最大的人家。”

“也是最富有的人家吗？”

“对，他们应当算是最富有的了。不过他们两家已经打了好几年的官司。我想，这场辟司吸 去了他们双方不少血汗。老阿克顿曾经提出，要求得到坎宁安家的一半财产，而律师们则从 中渔利。”

“如果这是当地恶棍作的案，要把他追查出来不是很困难的。”福尔摩斯打着呵欠说道，“ 好了，华生，我不打算干预这件事。”

“警官福雷斯特求见，先生，”管家突然打开门，说道。

一个机警的年轻警官走进室内。