福爾摩斯探案集·血字的研究 第35期:葛萊森大顯身手(6)

What happened then I do not know.

以后發(fā)生的事，我就不知道了。

I heard oaths and the confused sounds of a scuffle.

我只聽到又是叫罵又是扭打，亂成一團，

I was too terrified to raise my head.

可把我嚇壞了，嚇得我連頭都不敢抬。

When I did look up I saw Arthur standing in the doorway laughing, with a stick in his hand.

后來抬起頭來一看，只見阿瑟站在門口大笑，手里拿著一根木棍。

"I don't think that fine fellow will trouble us again," he said.

阿瑟說：我想這個活寶再不會來找咱們的麻煩了。

"I will just go after him and see what he does with himself."

讓我出去跟著他，看看他到底干些什么。

With those words he took his hat and started off down the street.

說完這話，他就拿起帽子，向街頭跑去。

The next morning we heard of Mr. Drebber's mysterious death.

第二天早晨，我們就聽到了錐伯先生被人謀殺的消息。

' "This statement came from Mrs. Charpentier's lips with many gasps and pauses.

'"這就是夏朋婕太太親口說的話。她說時喘一陣，停一陣。

At times she spoke so low that I could hardly catch the words.

有時她說話的聲音非常低，我簡直聽不清楚。

I made shorthand notes of all that she said, however,

可是，我把她所說的話全都速記下來了，

so that there should be no possibility of a mistake."

決不會有什么差錯的。"

"It's quite exciting," said Sherlock Holmes, with a yawn.

福爾摩斯打了一個呵欠，說道："這的確很動聽。

"What happened next?"

后來又怎么樣了？"

"When Mrs. Charpentier paused," the detective continued,

這位偵探又說了下去："夏朋婕太太停下來的時候，

"I saw that the whole case hung upon one point.

我看出了全案關(guān)鍵的所在。

Fixing her with my eye in a way which I always found effective with women,

于是，我就用一種對待婦女行之有效的眼神緊盯著她，

I asked her at what hour her son returned. "

追問她兒子回家的時刻。"

'I do not know,' she answered.

'我不知道。'她回答說。

"'Not know?' "

"'不知道？'"

'No; he has a latchkey, and he let himself in.'

'實在不知道。他有一把彈簧鎖的鑰匙，他自己會開門進來的。'

"'After you went to bed?' "

"'你睡了以后他才回來的嗎？'"

'Yes.'

'是的。'

"'When did you go to bed?' "

"'你幾點鐘睡的？'"

'About eleven.'

'大概是十一點。'

"'So your son was gone at least two hours?' "

"'這樣說來，你的兒子最少出去有兩個小時了。'"

'Yes.'

'是的。'

"'Possibly four or five?' "

"'可不可能出去了四、五個小時？'"

'Yes.'

'也有可能。'

"'What was he doing during that time?' "

"'在這幾個鐘頭里他都干了些什么？'"

'I do not know,' she answered, turning white to her very lips.

'我不知道。'她回答說，說時嘴唇都白了。

"Of course after that there was nothing more to be done.

"當然，說到這里，別的就用不著多問了。

I found out where Lieutenant Charpentier was,

我找到夏朋其中尉的下落之后就帶著兩個警官，

took two officers with me, and arrested him.

把他逮捕了。

When I touched him on the shoulder and warned him to come quietly with us,

當我拍拍他的肩頭，警告他老老實實跟我們走的時候，

he answered us as bold as brass,

他竟肆無忌憚地說：

'I suppose you are arresting me for being concerned in the death of that scoundrel Drebber,' he said.

'我想你們抓我，是認為我和那個壞蛋錐伯的被殺有關(guān)吧。'

We had said nothing to him about it, so that his alluding to it had a most suspicious aspect."

我們并沒有向他提起這件事，他倒是自己先說出來了，這就更令人覺得可疑了。"