皮漏斗之谜（17）（在线收听）

“I now suggest to you that the other letters from left to right are, M, M, a small d, A, a small d, and then the final B.”

“Yes, I am sure that you are right. I can make out the two small d’s quite plainly.”

“What I have read to you tonight,” said Dacre, “is the official record of the trial of Marie Madeleine d’Aubray, Marquise de Brinvilliers, one of the most famous poisoners and murderers of all time.”

I sat in silence, overwhelmed at the extraordinary nature of the incident, and at the completeness of the proof with which Dacre had exposed its real meaning. In a vague way I remembered some details of the woman’s career, her unbridled debauchery, the cold- blooded and protracted torture of her sick father, the murder of her brothers for motives of petty gain. I recollected also that the bravery of her end had done something to atone for the horror of her life, and that all Paris had sympathized with her last moments, and blessed her as a martyr within a few days of the time when they had cursed her as a murderess. One objection, and one only, occurred to my mind.

“How came her initials and her badge of rank upon the filler? Surely they did not carry their mediaeval homage to the nobility to the point of decorating instruments of torture with their titles?”

“I was puzzled with the same point,” said Dacre, “but it admits of a simple explanation. The case excited extraordinary interest at the time, and nothing could be more natural than that La Reynie, the head of the police, should retain this filler as a grim souvenir. It was not often that a marchioness of France underwent the extraordinary question. That he should engrave her initials upon it for the information of others was surely a very ordinary proceeding upon his part.”

“And this?” I asked, pointing to the marks upon the leathern neck.

“She was a cruel tigress,” said Dacre, as he turned away. “I think it is evident that like other tigresses her teeth were both strong and sharp.”

“现在我提示你，其他字母从左到右是M,M,小写的d,A,小写的d,然后是最后的B"我相信你是对的。我可以清楚地看出两个小写d了，”

“我今晚给你读的，"达克说，“是正式的审判记录，罪犯是玛丽玛德莱娜道伯雷，布兰维耶的女侯，历史上最著名的施毒者、谋杀者之一。”

我呆呆地坐着，这一事件实在是不同寻常，达克根据皮漏斗做出的证明简直无懒可击，我感到震惊。我隐约记起有关这个女人的一些事情，她的放荡不羁，冷酷无情，对重病的父亲进行长久的折磨，为了几个小钱对兄弟施以毒手。

她临终时表现的勇气多少抵消了她所制造的一些灾难，整个巴黎在她最后的时刻表现出一些同情，像对待烈士一样为她祈祷，而几天前还把她作为谋杀犯给予谊咒。我想到一个疑问，也是惟一能够想到的疑问。

“她的姓名首字母和贵族标志怎么会在漏斗上呢？中世纪表示对贵族的尊敬还不至于把他们的姓名头衔刻在刑具上吧？”

“我也曾感到困惑，”达克说，“有一种简单的解释。当时这个案子引起了非同寻常的关注，很可能警方头目拉雷尼会把这个漏斗当作纪念品保存下来，这是再自然不过的事了，毕竟法兰西的女侯爵遭受非常刑罚是十分罕见的。从他的角度想，把女侯爵的姓名刻在漏斗上，向别人展示，那是很平常的。”

“那么这个呢？”我指着漏斗的嘴问道。

“她是个残忍的母老虎，"达克说，把脸转到一边。“我想，和别的母老虎一样，她的牙齿又结实又锋利。”