海军协定（28）（在线收听）

“Well, since you never said so, and Mr. Phelps never said so, and nobody else knew anything of the matter, then the thief's presence in the room was purely accidental. He saw his chance and he took it.”

The statesman smiled. “You take me out of my province there,” said he.

Holmes considered for a moment. “There is another very important point which I wish to discuss with you,” said he. “You feared, as I understand, that very grave results might follow from the details of this treaty becoming known.”

A shadow passed over the expressive face of the statesman. “Very grave results indeed.”

“And have they occurred?”

“Not yet.”

“If the treaty had reached, let us say, the French or Russian Foreign Office, you would expect to hear of it?”

“I should,” said Lord Holdhurst, with a wry face.

“Since nearly ten weeks have elapsed, then, and nothing has been heard, it is not unfair to suppose that for some reason the treaty has not reached them.”

Lord Holdhurst shrugged his shoulders.

“We can hardly suppose, Mr. Holmes, that the thief took the treaty in order to frame it and hang it up.”

“Perhaps he is waiting for a better price.”

“If he waits a little longer he will get no price at all. The treaty will cease to be secret in a few months.”

“That is most important,” said Holmes. “Of course, it is a possible supposition that the thief has had a sudden illness—”

“An attack of brain-fever, for example?” asked the statesman, flashing a swift glance at him.

“I did not say so,” said Holmes, imperturbably. “And now, Lord Holdhurst, we have already taken up too much of your valuable time, and we shall wish you good-day.”

“好，既然你从来没说过，费尔普斯也从来没说过，并且再没有别人知道这件事，那么，盗贼来到办公室就纯属偶然的了。他看到这是个机会，便顺手偷走了文件。”

这位内阁大臣笑了。

“你说的已经不在我的能力范围以内了。”霍尔德赫斯特勋爵说道。

福尔摩斯沉思片刻。“还有另外极为重要的一点，我想和你商讨一下，”他说道，“据我所知，你担心这一协定的详情一经传出，就会带来极其严重的后果。”

这位内阁大臣富有表情的脸上掠过一丝一陰一影，说道：“当然会有极其严重的后果。”

“已经产生严重后果了吗？”

“还没有。”

“如果这份协定已经落到，比如说法国或俄国外一交一部手中，你认为你能听到音信吗？”

“我一定能听到，”霍尔德赫斯特面色不快地说道。

“这么说，既然将近十个星期已经过去，一直没有听到消息，这就有根据设想，由于某种原因，协定还没有落到法、俄外一交一部手中。”

霍尔德赫斯特勋爵耸耸双肩。

“福尔摩斯先生，我们很难设想，盗贼偷走这份协定只是为了装进柜子，或是把它挂起来。”

“或许他是在等待高价出售。”

“如果他要再稍等一些日子，那文件就根本一文不值了。因为再过几个月，这份协定就不成其为秘密了。”

“这一点非常重要，”福尔摩斯说道，“当然，还可以设想，盗贼突然病倒了……”

“比如说，得了神经失常，是吗？”内阁大臣迅速扫了福尔摩斯一眼，问道。

“我并没有这样说，”福尔摩斯冷静地说道，“现在，霍尔德赫斯特勋爵，我们已经耽搁了你很多宝贵的时间，我们要向你告辞了。”