爱情与金钱.Love Or Money 06

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　　6 Chapter¹

　　They found² Peter Hobbs under his car—an old green car．He got³ up slowly⁴．He wore old blue trousers and a dirty orange shirt．

　　'We want to talk about Mrs Clarkson，'Inspector⁵ Walsh said⁶．

　　'Oh，it's about her，'Peter said．He looked at the Inspec-tor．'I know she's dead⁷．Someone⁸ in the village told me．'

　　'Why did⁹ you go to the Clarkson's house last night？'

　　'Jackie wanted me to come and see her brother，Roger．

　　“You're angry，”she said．“Come and tell Roger．”I went to the house but nobody¹⁰ opened the door．So I made¹¹ a lot of noise and then they opened the door．Old Mrs Clarkson wasn't there．But I told Roger．I told them all！'Peter hit the car with his hand．'I wanted to kill¹³ that woman．I lost my job，my first job，because of her．Last month I was¹² in trouble¹⁴ with the police¹⁵ and that old woman wrote¹⁶ to my office and she told them about the police．I wanted to kill her！'

　　'Take it easy！'Inspector Walsh said．'What happened next？'

　　'Jackie gave¹⁷ me some coffee，but her brother didn't listen to me，'Peter said angrily．'Then Tom Briggs came¹⁸ in．He wanted to talk to Roger，too．But Roger didn't listen to him．Jackie was very unhappy—she nearly¹⁹ cried．Then I went home．That's all．'

　　'I see．Now tell me about the tablets²⁰．You went to the village on Thursday？'

　　'Tablets？Oh，yes．I remember．Jackie wanted me to get her mother's tablets from the village．I go to the village on my bicycle—this car doesn't work．'

　　'Thank you，Peter．That's all．'

　　'That's all？'Peter laughed angrily．'You're going²¹ to come back，I know that！I know the police！'

　　Tom Briggs'farm was about half a mile²² away，near the river．It was not a big farm，and the house was old and dirty．

　　'Not much money here，'Inspector Walsh said．

　　Tom Briggs was a young man，about thirty years old，with dirty hands and bad teeth．'What's wrong？Excuse me，I'm eating my dinner，'he said．

　　'We can wait．Finish your dinner，'Inspector Walsh said．'We want to ask one or two questions about last night．'

　　'Come and wait in the front room，'Tom said and opened the door．

　　Inspector Walsh looked at the things in the front room．There was an old black and white television，and some books on the table．There was a picture of a happy young girl with long brown hair on the table，too．Inspector Walsh looked at the picture for a long time．Who was the girl？

　　Tom Briggs came back into the front room．

　　'Finished²³？'Inspector Walsh asked．'You know Mrs Clark－son is dead？'

　　Tom Briggs sat²⁴ down suddenly²⁵ on the nearest chair．'What？How did she die²⁶？When did it happen？I was there last night．'

　　'She died²⁷ last night or early this morning．What did you do last night？'

　　'Me？Why are you asking me？I went there to meet Mr Clarkson Roger．I'm losing²⁸ money on this farm and I need more land²⁹．I want half Mrs Clarkson's garden．'

　　'You went into the kitchen．What did you do next？Can you remember？'

　　Tom Briggs looked at Sergeant³⁰ Foster³¹ and then back at Inspector Walsh．'I remember it very well．All the family were in the kitchen．Peter Hobbs was there，too．I talked to Roger．He wants his mother to sell the house．But he wants the land．He doesn't want me to have it．But now Mrs Clark-son is dead．What's going to happen now？'

　　Inspector Walsh got up and took³² the picture of the girl from the table．'Who's this？'

　　Tom's face went red．'Who？Oh！That's a friend．It's not…It was a long time ago．'

　　The two detectives³³ walked back to the Clarksons' house through the garden．It was beautiful，green and quiet．Inspector Walsh felt tired and hungry．Who killed³⁴ Molly？He knew the answer now，but he needed to ask one or two more questions．

　　'Let's go，Sergeant，'he said，and put on his hat again．'Tomorrow is a new day．'

　　6

　　他们在小车下找到彼特·霍布斯——一辆旧的绿色小车。他慢慢站起来。他穿了条旧的蓝裤子和一件脏兮兮的桔色衬衫。

　　“我们想和你谈谈克拉克森太太，”沃尔什探长说。“哦，谈谈她，”彼特说。他看着探长。“我知道她死了，村里有人告诉了我。”

　　“昨晚你为什么去克拉克森家？”

　　“杰基要我去见她的弟弟，罗杰。'你生气了，'她说，'来告诉罗杰吧。'我去了那儿但没人给我开门。所以我弄出很大的噪音，然后他们开了门。老克拉克森太太不在那儿。但是我告诉了罗杰，我全都告诉了他们！”彼特用手敲打着车。“我想杀了那个女人。我丢了工作，我的第一份工作，就是因为她。上个月我跟警察有些纠纷，那老女人就写信给我的办公室，她告诉他们有关警察的事。我想杀了她！”

　　“很容易！”沃尔什探长说，“接下来发生了什么事？”

　　“杰基给我咖啡，可她的弟弟没听我说，”彼特生气地说。“然后汤姆·布里格斯进来了。他也想和罗杰谈谈，可罗杰不听他的。杰基很不高兴——她几乎哭了。然后我回家了。就这些。”

　　“明白了。现在告诉我有关药片的事。你周四去村里了吗？”

　　“药片？哦，是的。我想起来了。杰基要我从村里给她妈妈带些药片。我骑自行车去村里的——这辆车坏了。”

　　“谢谢，彼特。到此为止吧。”

　　“到此为止？”彼特生气地笑笑。“你们会回来，我知道！我知道警察。”

　　汤姆·布里格斯的农场离河大约有半英里远。这是个不大的农场，并且房子又旧又脏。

　　“这儿不值多少钱，”沃尔什探长说。

　　汤姆·布里格斯是个年轻人，大约30来岁，一双手很脏，还有一口坏牙。“出了什么事？抱歉，我正在吃饭，”他说。

　　“我们可以等，你去吃饭吧，”沃尔什探长说。“我们想问一两个有关昨晚的问题。”

　　“进来在前屋等吧，”汤姆说着打开了门。

　　沃尔什探长看着前屋的东西。屋里有一台旧的黑白电视机，桌上还有些书。一个棕色长发，充满快乐的年青女孩的相片也在桌上，沃尔什探长盯着照片看了好一会。这女孩是谁？

　　汤姆·布里格斯走进前屋。

　　“吃完了？”沃尔什探长问。“你知道克拉克森太太死了吗？”

　　汤姆·布里格斯突然跌坐在最靠近身边的椅子上。“什么？她怎么死的？什么时候发生的？我昨晚还在那儿。”

　　“她死于昨晚或是今天清晨。你昨晚干了什么？”

　　“我？你为什么要问我？我去那儿见克拉克森先生——罗杰。我的农场在亏损，我需要更多的土地。我想要克拉克森夫人的半个花园。”

　　“你进了厨房，你接下来干了什么？你能记得吗？”

　　汤姆·布里格斯看着福斯特警官，然后又回头看着沃尔什探长。“我记得非常清楚。所有的家人都在厨房，彼特·霍布斯也在那儿。我和罗杰谈话，他想要他母亲卖了房子，可是他要地，他不想让我得到它。但是现在克拉克森夫人死了。将会发生什么呢？”

　　沃尔什探长站起来，拿起桌上女孩的照片。“这是谁？”

　　汤姆的脸变红了。“谁？哦！那是一个朋友。这不是……这是很久以前的了。”

　　两人穿过花园走回到克拉克森家。花园美丽葱绿宁静。沃尔什探长觉得又累又饿。谁杀了莫利？他现在知道了答案，可他需要再问一两个问题。

　　“咱们走，警官，”他说，然后戴上帽子。“明天是新的一天了。”

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