诺伍德的建筑师（26）

The malignant¹ creature was seated in his own parlour with a policeman upon each side of him.

“It was a joke, my good sir, a practical joke, nothing more,” he whined² incessantly³. “I assure you, sir, that I simply concealed⁴ myself in order to see the effect of my disappearance⁵, and I am sure that you would not be so unjust as to imagine that I would have allowed any harm to befall poor young Mr. McFarlane.”

“That's for a jury to decide,” said Lestrade. “Anyhow, we shall have you on a charge of conspiracy⁶, if not for attempted murder.”

“And you'll probably find that your creditors⁷ will impound the banking⁸ account of Mr. Cornelius,” said Holmes.

The little man started and turned his malignant eyes upon my friend.

“I have to thank you for a good deal,” said he. “Perhaps I'll pay my debt some day.”

Holmes smiled indulgently.

“I fancy that for some few years you will find your time very fully⁹ occupied,” said he. “By the way, what was it you put into the wood-pile besides your old trousers? A dead dog, or rabbits, or what? You won't tell? Dear me, how very unkind of you! Well, well, I dare say that a couple of rabbits would account both for the blood and for the charred¹⁰ ashes. If ever you write an account, Watson, you can make rabbits serve your turn.”

那个恶棍在自己的起居室里坐着，两旁各站着一个警察。

“那是一个玩笑，我的好先生——一个恶作剧，没有别的用意，”他不停地哀告，“我向你保证，先生，我把自己藏起来只是为了知道我的失踪会带来什么影响。我相信你不至于认为我会让年轻的麦克法兰先生受到任何伤害吧。”

“那要由陪审一团一来决定，”雷斯垂德说，“不管怎样，即使不是谋杀未遂，我们也要控告你密谋罪。”

“你大概就要看到你的债主要求银行冻结柯尼利亚斯先生的存款了，”福尔摩斯说。

奥德克吃了一惊，转过头来恶狠狠地看着我的朋友。

“我得多谢你啦，”他说，“也许总有一天我会报答你的恩惠。”

福尔摩斯不计较地微笑了一下。

“我想今后几年里你不会有时间干别的了，”他说，“顺便问一下，除了你的裤子以外，你还把什么丢进了木料堆？一条死狗？几只兔子？或者是别的东西？你不愿意说出来？哎，你多不客气呀！没关系，我想有两只兔子就足够解释那些血迹和烧黑了的骨灰了。华生，如果你要写一篇经过的话，你不妨说是兔子吧。”

1 malignant   

adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的

参考例句：

• Alexander got a malignant slander.亚历山大受到恶意的诽谤。
• He started to his feet with a malignant glance at Winston.他爬了起来，不高兴地看了温斯顿一眼。

2 whined   

v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨

参考例句：

• The dog whined at the door, asking to be let out. 狗在门前嚎叫着要出去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He whined and pouted when he did not get what he wanted. 他要是没得到想要的东西就会发牢骚、撅嘴。 来自辞典例句

3 incessantly   

ad.不停地

参考例句：

• The machines roar incessantly during the hours of daylight. 机器在白天隆隆地响个不停。
• It rained incessantly for the whole two weeks. 雨不间断地下了整整两个星期。

4 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

5 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

6 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

7 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 charred   

v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦

参考例句：

• the charred remains of a burnt-out car 被烧焦的轿车残骸
• The intensity of the explosion is recorded on the charred tree trunks. 那些烧焦的树干表明爆炸的强烈。 来自《简明英汉词典》