福爾摩斯探案集·血字的研究 第4期:福爾摩斯先生(4)

"Dr. Watson, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said Stamford, introducing us.

斯坦弗給我們介紹說："這位是華生醫(yī)生，這位是福爾摩斯先生。"

"How are you?" he said cordially, gripping my hand with a strength for which I should hardly have given him credit.

"您好。"福爾摩斯熱誠地說，一邊使勁握住我的手。我簡直不能相信他會有這樣大的力氣。

"You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive."

"我看得出來，您到過阿富汗。"

"How on earth did you know that?" I asked in astonishment.

我吃驚地問道："您怎么知道的？"

"Never mind," said he, chuckling to himself. "The question now is about haemoglobin.

"這沒有什么，"他格格地笑了笑，"現(xiàn)在要談的是血色蛋白質(zhì)的問題。

No doubt you see the significance of this discovery of mine?"

沒有問題，您一定會看出我這發(fā)現(xiàn)的重要性了吧？"

"It is interesting, chemically, no doubt," I answered, "but practically..."

我回答說："從化學上來說，無疑地這是很有意思的，但是在實用方面..."

"Why, man, it is the most practical medico-legal discovery for years.

"怎么，先生，這是近年來實用法醫(yī)學上最重大的發(fā)現(xiàn)了。

Don't you see that it gives us an infallible test for blood stains? Come over here now!"

難道您還看不出來這種試劑能使我們在鑒別血跡上百無一失嗎？請到這邊來！"

He seized me by the coat-sleeve in his eagerness, and drew me over to the table at which he had been working.

他急忙拉住我的袖口，把我拖到他原來工作的那張桌子的前面。

"Let us have some fresh blood," he said, digging a long bodkin into his finger,

"咱們弄點鮮血，"他說著，用一根長針刺破自己的手指，

and drawing off the resulting drop of blood in a chemical pipette.

再用一支吸管吸了那滴血。

"Now, I add this small quantity of blood to a litre of water.

"現(xiàn)在把這一點兒鮮血放到一公升水里去。

You perceive that the resulting mixture has the appearance of pure water.

您看，這種混合液與清水無異。

The proportion of blood cannot be more than one in a million.

血在這種溶液中所占的成分還不到百萬分之一。

I have no doubt, however, that we shall be able to obtain the characteristic reaction."

雖然如此，我確信咱們還是能夠得到一種特定的反應(yīng)。"

As he spoke, he threw into the vessel a few white crystals, and then added some drops of a transparent fluid.

說著他就把幾粒白色結(jié)晶放進這個容器里，然后又加上幾滴透明的液體。

In an instant the contents assumed a dull mahogany colour, and a brownish dust was precipitated to the bottom of the glass jar.

不一會兒，這溶液就現(xiàn)出暗紅色了，一些棕色顆粒漸漸沉淀到瓶底上。

"Ha! ha!" he cried, clapping his hands, and looking as delighted as a child with a new toy. "What do you think of that?"

"哈！哈！"他拍著手，象小孩子拿到新玩具似地那樣興高采烈地喊道，"您看怎么樣？"

"It seems to be a very delicate test," I remarked.

我說："看來這倒是一種非常精密的實驗。"

"Beautiful! beautiful! The old guaiacum test was very clumsy and uncertain.

"妙極了！簡直妙極了！過去用愈創(chuàng)木液試驗的方法，既難作又不準確。

So is the microscopic examination for blood corpuscles. The latter is valueless if the stains are a few hours old.

用顯微鏡檢驗血球的方法也同樣不好。如果血跡已干了幾個鐘頭以后，再用顯微鏡來檢驗就不起作用了。

Now, this appears to act as well whether the blood is old or new.

現(xiàn)在，不論血跡新舊，這種新試劑看來都一樣會發(fā)生作用。

Had this test been invented, there are hundreds of men now walking the earth who would long ago have paid the penalty of their crimes."

假如這個試驗方法能早些發(fā)現(xiàn)，那么，現(xiàn)在世界上數(shù)以百計的逍遙法外的罪人早就受到法律的制裁了。"

"Indeed!" I murmured. "Criminal cases are continually hinging upon that one point.

我喃喃地說道："確是這樣！""許多刑事犯罪案件往往取決于這一點。

A man is suspected of a crime months perhaps after it has been committed.

也許罪行發(fā)生后幾個月才能查出一個嫌疑犯。

His linen or clothes are examined and brownish stains discovered upon them.

檢查了他的襯衣或者其他衣物后，發(fā)現(xiàn)上面有褐色斑點。

Are they blood stains, or mud stains, or rust stains, or fruit stains, or what are they?

這些斑點究竟是血跡呢，還是泥跡，是鐵銹還是果汁的痕跡呢，還是其他什么東西？

That is a question which has puzzled many an expert, and why? Because there was no reliable test.

這是一個使許多專家都感到為難的問題，可是為什么呢？就是因為沒有可靠的檢驗方法。

Now we have the Sherlock Holmes's test, and there will no longer be any difficulty."

現(xiàn)在，我們有了歇洛克·福爾摩斯檢驗法，以后就不會有任何困難了。"

His eyes fairly glittered as he spoke, and he put his hand over his heart and bowed as if to some applauding crowd conjured up by his imagination.

他說話的時候，兩眼顯得炯炯有神。他把一只手按在胸前，鞠了一躬，好象是在對許多想象之中正在鼓掌的觀眾致謝似的。

"You are to be congratulated," I remarked, considerably surprised at his enthusiasm.

我看到他那興奮的樣子很覺驚奇，我說："我向你祝賀。"

"There was the case of Von Bischoff at Frankfort last year. He would certainly have been hung had this test been in existence.

"去年在法蘭克福地方發(fā)生過馮·彼少夫一案。如果當時就有這個檢驗方法的話，那么，他一定早就被絞死了。

Then there was Mason of Bradford, and the notorious Muller, and Lefevre of Montpellier, and Samson of New Orleans.

此外還有布萊德弗地方的梅森；臭名昭著的摩勒；茂姆培利耶的洛菲沃以及新奧爾良的賽姆森。

I could name a score of cases in which it would have been decisive."

我可以舉出二十多個案件，在這些案件里，用這個方法都會起決定性的作用。"