无人生还47
时间：2026-03-19 03:08:55
（单词翻译:单击）
VII
Mr Justice Wargrave, stroking his lip and looking quite passionless and in-
human, said:
‘We have now dealt with the second killing, and have established the
fact that no one of us can be completely exonerated from suspicion.’
He paused and went on.
‘We come now to the death of General Macarthur. That took place this
morning. I will ask anyone who considers that he or she has an alibi to
state it in so many words. I myself will state at once that I have no valid
alibi. I spent the morning sitting on the terrace and meditating on the sin-
gular position in which we all find ourselves.
‘I sat on that chair on the terrace for the whole morning until the gong
went, but there were, I should imagine, several periods during the morn-
ing when I was quite unobserved and during which it would have been
possible for me to walk down to the sea, kill the General, and return to my
chair. There is only my word for the fact that I never left the terrace. In
the circumstances that is not enough. There must be proof.’
Blore said:
‘I was with Mr Lombard and Dr Armstrong all the morning. They’ll bear
me out.’
Dr Armstrong said:
‘You went to the house for a rope.’
Blore said:
‘Of course, I did. Went straight there and straight back. You know I did.’
Armstrong said:
‘You were a long time…’
Blore turned crimson. He said:
‘What the hell do you mean by that, Dr Armstrong?’
Armstrong repeated:
‘I only said you were a long time.’
‘Had to find it, didn’t I? Can’t lay your hands on a coil of rope all in a
minute.’
Mr Justice Wargrave said:
‘During Inspector Blore’s absence, were you two gentlemen together?’
Armstrong said hotly:
‘Certainly. That is, Lombard went off for a few minutes. I remained
where I was.’
Lombard said with a smile:
‘I wanted to test the possibilities of heliographing to the mainland.
Wanted to find the best spot. I was only absent a minute or two.’
Armstrong nodded. He said:
‘That’s right. Not long enough to do a murder, I assure you.’
The judge said:
‘Did either of you two glance at your watches?’
‘Well, no.’
Philip Lombard said:
‘I wasn’t wearing one.’
The judge said evenly:
‘A minute or two is a vague expression.’
He turned his head to the upright figure with the knitting lying on her
lap.
‘Miss Brent?’
Emily Brent said:
‘I took a walk with Miss Claythorne up to the top of the island. After-
wards I sat on the terrace in the sun.’
The judge said:
‘I don’t think I noticed you there.’
‘No, I was round the corner of the house to the east. It was out of the
wind there.’
‘And you sat there till lunch-time?’
‘Yes.’
‘Miss Claythorne?’
Vera answered readily and clearly:
‘I was with Miss Brent early this morning. After that I wandered about a
bit. Then I went down and talked to General Macarthur.’
Mr Justice Wargrave interrupted. He said:
‘What time was that?’
Vera for the first time was vague. She said:
‘I don’t know. About an hour before lunch, I think—or it might have
been less.’
Blore asked:
‘Was it after we’d spoken to him or before?’
Vera said:
‘I don’t know. He—he was very queer.’
She shivered.
‘In what way was he queer?’ the judge wanted to know.
Vera said in a low voice:
‘He said we were all going to die—he said he was waiting for the end. He
—he frightened me…’
The judge nodded. He said:
‘What did you do next?’
‘I went back to the house. Then, just before lunch, I went out again and
up behind the house. I’ve been terribly restless all day.’
Mr Justice Wargrave stroked his chin. He said:
‘There remains Rogers. Though I doubt if his evidence will add anything
to our sum of knowledge.’
Rogers, summoned before the court, had very little to tell. He had been
busy all the morning about household duties and with the preparation of
lunch. He had taken cocktails on to the terrace before lunch and had then
gone up to remove his things from the attic to another room. He had not
looked out of the window during the morning and had seen nothing that
could have any bearing upon the death of General Macarthur. He would
swear definitely that there had been eight china figures upon the dining-
table when he laid the table for lunch.
At the conclusion of Rogers’ evidence there was a pause.
Mr Justice Wargrave cleared his throat.
Lombard murmured to Vera Claythorne:
‘The summing up will now take place!’
The judge said:
‘We have inquired into the circumstances of these three deaths to the
best of our ability. Whilst probability in some cases is against certain
people being implicated, yet we cannot say definitely that any one person
can be considered as cleared of all complicity. I reiterate my positive be-
lief that of the seven persons assembled in this room one is a dangerous
and probably insane criminal. There is no evidence before us as to who
that person is. All we can do at the present juncture is to consider what
measures we can take for communicating with the mainland for help, and
in the event of help being delayed (as is only too possible given the state of
the weather) what measures we must adopt to ensure our safety.
‘I would ask you all to consider this carefully and to give me any sugges-
tions that may occur to you. In the meantime I warn everybody to be upon
his or her guard. So far the murderer has had an easy task, since his vic-
tims have been unsuspicious. From now on, it is our task to suspect each
and every one amongst us. Forewarned is forearmed. Take no risks and
be alert to danger. That is all.’
Philip Lombard murmured beneath his breath:
‘The court will now adjourn…’
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