死亡约会 Part II Chapter 4（1）

 

Chapter 4

Sarah King looked long and searchingly at Hercule Poirot. She noted¹ the egg-shaped head, thegigantic moustaches, the dandified appearance and the suspicious blackness of his hair. A look ofdoubt crept into her eyes. ‘Well, mademoiselle, are you satisfied?’

Sarah flushed as she met the amused ironical² glance of his eyes.

‘I beg your pardon,’ she said awkwardly.

‘Du tout³! To use an expression I have recently learnt, you give me the once-over, is it not so?’

Sarah smiled a little. ‘Well, at any rate, you can do the same to me,’ she said.

‘Assuredly. I have not neglected to do so.’

She glanced at him sharply. Something in his tone. But Poirot was twirling his moustachescomplacently, and Sarah thought (for the second time), ‘The man’s a mountebank⁴!’

Her self-confidence restored, she sat up a little straighter and said inquiringly: ‘I don’t think Iquite understand the object of this interview?’

‘The good Dr Gerard did not explain?’

Sarah said frowning: ‘I don’t understand Dr Gerard. He seems to think—’

‘Something is rotten in the state of Denmark,’ quoted Poirot. ‘You see, I know yourShakespeare.’

Sarah waved aside Shakespeare.

‘What exactly is all this fuss about?’ she demanded.

‘Eh bien, one wants, does one not, to get at the truth of this affair?’

‘Are you talking about Mrs Boynton’s death?’

‘Yes.’

‘Isn’t it rather a fuss about nothing? You, of course, are a specialist, M. Poirot. It is natural foryou—’

Poirot finished the sentence for her.

‘It is natural for me to suspect crime whenever I can possibly find an excuse for doing so?’

‘Well—yes—perhaps.’

‘You have no doubt yourself as to Mrs Boynton’s death?’

Sarah shrugged⁵ her shoulders.

‘Really, M. Poirot, if you had been to Petra you would realize that the journey there was asomewhat strenuous⁶ business for an old woman whose cardiac condition was unsatisfactory.’

‘It seems a perfectly⁷ straight forward business to you?’

‘Certainly. I can’t understand Dr Gerard’s attitude. He didn’t even know anything about it. Hewas down with fever. I’d bow to his superior medical knowledge naturally—in this case he hadnothing whatever to go on. I suppose they can have a P.M. in Jerusalem if they like—if they’re notsatisfied with my verdict.’

Poirot was silent for a moment, then he said:

‘There is a fact, Miss King, that you do not yet know. Dr Gerard has not told you of it.’

‘What fact?’ demanded Sarah.

‘A supply of a drug—digitoxin—is missing from Dr Gerard’s travelling medicine case.’

‘Oh!’ Quickly Sarah took in this new aspect of the case. Equally quickly she pounced⁸ on theone doubtful point.

‘Is Dr Gerard quite sure of that?’

Poirot shrugged his shoulders.

‘A doctor, as you should know, mademoiselle, is usually fairly careful in making hisstatements.’

‘Oh, of course. That goes without saying. But Dr Gerard had malaria⁹ at the time.’

‘That is so, of course.’

‘Has he any idea when it could have been taken?’

‘He had occasion to go to his case on the night of his arrival in Petra. He wanted somephenacetin — as his head was aching badly. When he replaced the phenacetin the followingmorning and shut up the case he is almost certain that all the drugs were intact.’

‘Almost—’ said Sarah.

Poirot shrugged.

‘Yes, there is a doubt! There is the doubt that any man, who is honest, would be likely to feel.’

Sarah nodded. ‘Yes, I know. One always distrusts those people who are over sure. But all thesame, M. Poirot, the evidence is very slight. It seems to me—’ She paused. Poirot finished thesentence for her.

‘It seems to you that an inquiry¹⁰ on my part is ill-advised!’

Sarah looked him squarely in the face.

‘Frankly, it does. 

 

1 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

2 ironical   

adj.讽刺的，冷嘲的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironical end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• From his general demeanour I didn't get the impression that he was being ironical.从他整体的行为来看，我不觉得他是在讲反话。

3 tout   

v.推销，招徕；兜售；吹捧，劝诱

参考例句：

• They say it will let them tout progress in the war.他们称这将有助于鼓吹他们在战争中的成果。
• If your case studies just tout results,don't bother requiring registration to view them.如果你的案例研究只是吹捧结果，就别烦扰别人来注册访问了。

4 mountebank   

n.江湖郎中；骗子

参考例句：

• The nation was led astray by a mountebank.这个国家被一个夸夸其谈的骗子引入歧途。
• The mountebank was stormed with questions.江湖骗子受到了猛烈的质问。

5 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 strenuous   

adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的

参考例句：

• He made strenuous efforts to improve his reading. 他奋发努力提高阅读能力。
• You may run yourself down in this strenuous week.你可能会在这紧张的一周透支掉自己。

7 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

8 pounced   

v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击）

参考例句：

• As soon as I opened my mouth, the teacher pounced on me. 我一张嘴就被老师抓住呵斥了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The police pounced upon the thief. 警察向小偷扑了过去。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

10 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。