歪唇男人 20圣克莱尔的故事(9)（打印版）

"No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough.

"不，先生，可是这件事也许能自圆其说。

Suppose that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed.

假定布恩这个人把内维尔·圣克莱尔推出窗外--可是没有人亲眼看见此事。

What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments.

那时他会再干什么呢？当然他马上就会想到要消灭那些泄露真情的衣服了。

He would seize the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it would occur to him that it would swim and not sink.

这时他会抓起衣服来，抛出窗外去，而在他往外抛的当儿，他会想到：那件上衣要随水起浮，沉不下去。

He has little time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried to force her way up,

他的时间已经很少了，因为他已听到那位太太为要抢上楼而在楼下吵闹，

and perhaps he has already heard from his lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street.

也许他已从他的印度同伙那里听说有一批巡捕正顺着大街朝这个方向急忙跑来。

There is not an instant to be lost.

这时已刻不容缓。

He rushes to some secret hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary,

他一下子冲到密藏他从乞讨中积累起来的银钱的地方。

and he stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking.

看到那些硬币，他能抓起多少，尽量往衣袋里塞，这样为的是确保上衣能够深沉水底。

He throws it out, and would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard the rush of steps below,

他把这件上衣抛了出去以后，还想用同样的方法处理别的衣服，如果不是已听到楼下匆促的脚步声的话。

and only just had time to close the window when the police appeared."

可是这时巡捕已经上楼来了，他仅仅来得及把窗户关上。"

"It certainly sounds feasible."

"听起来确实可能是这样。"

"Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a better.

"喏，咱们就权且当它是个有用的假定吧，因为还没有比这更好的假定。

Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the station,

我已经说过，休·布恩被捕了并被关到警察局里去，

but it could not be shown that there had ever before been anything against him.

可就是拿不出什么东西来证实他以往有什么罪嫌。

He had for years been known as a professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very quiet and innocent one.

多年以来他是尽人皆知的专门以乞讨为生的人。他的生活似乎是十分安静和无害于人的。

There the matter stands at present, and the questions which have to be solved

现在事情就这样摆在面前，应该解决的问题--

what Neville St. Clair was doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there,

比如说：内维尔·圣克莱尔在烟馆里干什么？他在那里发生了什么事？

where is he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance -- are all as far from a solution as ever.

他现在在哪里？休·布恩和他的失踪有什么关系--像过去一样还远远没得到解决。

I confess that I cannot recall any case within my experience which looked at the first glance so simple

我承认：在我的经验中，我想不起有哪一个案件，乍一看似乎很简单，

and yet which presented such difficulties."

可是却出现了这么许多困难。"