住院的病人16（在线收听）

“I should say that he has been dead about three hours, judging by the rigidity  of the muscles,” said I.

“Noticed anything peculiar about the room?” asked Holmes.

“Found a screw-driver and some screws on the wash-hand stand. Seems to have  smoked heavily during the night, too. Here are four cigar-ends that I picked out  of the fireplace.”

“Hum!” said Holmes, “have you got his cigar-holder?”

“No, I have seen none.”

“His cigar-case, then?”

“Yes, it was in his coat-pocket.”

Holmes opened it and smelled the single cigar which it contained.

“Oh, this is an Havana, and these others are cigars of the peculiar sort which  are imported by the Dutch from their East Indian colonies. They are usually  wrapped in straw, you know, and are thinner for their length than any other  brand.” He picked up the four ends and examined them with his pocket-lens.

“Two of these have been smoked from a holder and two without,” said he. “Two  have been cut by a not very sharp knife, and two have had the ends bitten off by  a set of excellent teeth. This is no suicide, Mr. Lanner. It is a very deeply  planned and cold-blooded murder.”

“Impossible!” cried the inspector.

“And why?”

“Why should any one murder a man in so clumsy a fashion as by hanging him?”

“That is what we have to find out.”

“How could they get in?”

“Through the front door.”

“It was barred in the morning.”

“Then it was barred after them.”

“How do you know?”

“I saw their traces. Excuse me a moment, and I may be able to give you some  further information about it.”

He went over to the door, and turning the lock he examined it in his methodical  way. Then he took out the key, which was on the inside, and inspected that also.  The bed, the carpet, the chairs the mantelpiece, the dead body, and the rope  were each in turn examined, until at last he professed himself satisfied, and  with my aid and that of the inspector cut down the wretched object and laid it  reverently under a sheet.

“根据肌肉僵硬的情况判断，我看他已经死了大约三个小时，”我说道。

“你注意到屋子里有什么异常现象吗？”福尔摩斯问道。

“在洗手池上发现一把螺丝起子和一些螺丝钉。还发现他夜里似乎一抽一过不少烟。这是我 从壁炉上拣来的四个雪茄烟头。”

“哈！”福尔摩斯说道，“你找到他的雪茄烟嘴了吗？”

“没有，我没有看到。”

“那么，他的烟盒呢？”

“有，烟盒在他的外衣口袋里。”

福尔摩斯把烟盒打开，闻了闻里面的一支雪茄烟。

“啊，这是一支哈瓦那烟，而壁炉台上的这些是荷兰从它的东印度殖民地进口的特殊品种。 你知道，这些雪茄通常都包着稻草，并且比别的牌子的都细。”他拿起那四个烟头用他口袋 里的放大镜进行检查。

“两支烟是用烟嘴吸的，两支不是，”福尔摩斯说道，“两个烟头是用一把不很快的小刀削 下来的，另两个烟头是用尖锐的牙齿咬下来的。这不是自一杀，兰诺尔先生，这是一起一精 一心策划的残酷的谋杀案。”

“不可能！”警长大声喊道。

“为什么？”

“为什么一个人要用吊死那样一种笨办法来进行谋杀呢？”

“这就是我们要调查的了。”

“他们怎么进来的呢？”

“从前门进来的。”

“早晨门是上锁的。”

“那么门是在他们走后锁上的。”

“你怎么知道的？”

“我看到了他们留下的痕迹。请稍等一等，我就能给你们进一步说明它的情况。”

福尔摩斯走到门口，转了转门锁，有条不紊地把门锁检查了一番。然后他把插在门背面的钥 匙取了出来，也对它作了检查。接着他又对一床一铺、地毯、椅子、壁炉台、死者的一尸一 体和绳索依次进行了检查。最后他终于表示满意，在我和警长的帮助下，割断了绳子，把那 可怜的人安放在地上，用一床一单盖上。