命案目睹记30

时间：2025-10-20 07:24:19

（单词翻译:单击）

Fourteen
I
Dermot Craddock was fraternizing with Armand Dessin of the Paris Pre-
fecture. The two men had met on one or two occasions and got on well to-
gether. Since Craddock spoke1 French fluently, most of their conversation
was conducted in that language.
“It is an idea only,” Dessin warned him, “I have a picture here of the
corps2 de ballet—that is she, the fourth from the left—it says anything to
you, yes?”
Inspector3 Craddock said that actually it didn’t. A strangled young wo-
man is not easy to recognize, and in this picture all the young women con-
cerned were heavily made up and were wearing extravagant4 bird head-
dresses.
“It could be,” he said. “I can’t go further than that. Who was she? What
do you know about her?”
“Almost less than nothing,” said the other cheerfully. “She was not im-
portant, you see. And the Ballet Maritski—it is not important, either. It
plays in suburban5 theatres and goes on tour—it has no real names, no
stars, no famous ballerinas. But I will take you to see Madame Joilet who
runs it.”
Madame Joilet was a brisk business-like Frenchwoman with a shrewd
eye, a small moustache, and a good deal of adipose6 tissue.
“Me, I do not like the police!” She scowled7 at them, without camoufla-
ging her dislike of the visit. “Always, if they can, they make me embarrass-
ments.”
“No, no, Madame, you must not say that,” said Dessin, who was a tall
thin melancholy-looking man. “When have I ever caused you embarrass-
ments?”
“Over that little fool who drank the carbolic acid,” said Madame Joilet
promptly8. “And all because she has fallen in love with the chef d’orchestre
—who does not care for women and has other tastes. Over that you made
the big brouhaha! Which is not good for my beautiful ballet.”
“On the contrary, big box office business,” said Dessin. “And that was
three years ago. You should not bear malice9. Now about this girl, Anna
Stravinska.”
“Well, what about her?” said Madame cautiously.
“Is she Russian?” asked Inspector Craddock.
“No, indeed. You mean, because of her name? But they all call them-
selves names like that, these girls. She was not important, she did not
dance well, she was not particularly good-looking. Elle était assez bien, c’est
tout10. She danced well enough for the corps de ballet—but no solos.”
“Was she French?”
“Perhaps. She had a French passport. But she told me once that she had
an English husband.”
“She told you that she had an English husband? Alive—or dead?”
Madame Joilet shrugged12 her shoulders.
“Dead, or he had left her. How should I know which? These girls—there
is always some trouble with men—”
“When did you last see her?”
“I take my company to London for six weeks. We play at Tor-quay, at
Bournemouth, at Eastbourne, at somewhere else I forget and at Hammer-
smith. Then we come back to France, but Anna—she does not come. She
sends a message only that she leaves the company, that she goes to live
with her husband’s family—some nonsense of that kind. I did not think it
is true, myself. I think it more likely that she has met a man, you under-
stand.”
Inspector Craddock nodded. He perceived that that was what Madame
Joilet would invariably think.
“And it is no loss to me. I do not care. I can get girls just as good and bet-
ter to come and dance, so I shrug11 the shoulders and do not think of it any-
more. Why should I? They are all the same, these girls, mad about men.”
“What date was this?”
“When we return to France? It was—yes—the Sunday before Christmas.
And Anna she leaves two—or is it three—days before that? I cannot re-
member exactly… But the end of the week at Hammersmith we have to
dance without her — and it means rearranging things… It was very
naughty of her—but these girls—the moment they meet a man they are all
the same. Only I say to everybody. ‘Zut, I do not take her back, that one!’”
“Very annoying for you.”
“Ah! Me—I do not care. No doubt she passes the Christmas holiday with
some man she has picked up. It is not my affair. I can find other girls—
girls who will leap at the chance of dancing in the Ballet Maritski and who
can dance as well—or better than Anna.”
Madame Joilet paused and then asked with a sudden gleam of interest:
“Why do you want to find her? Has she come into money?”
“On the contrary,” said Inspector Craddock politely. “We think she may
have been murdered.”
Madame Joilet relapsed into indifference13.
“Ca se peut! It happens. Ah, well! She was a good Catholic. She went to
Mass on Sundays, and no doubt to confession14.”
“Did she ever speak to you, Madame, of a son?”
“A son? Do you mean she had a child? That, now, I should consider most
unlikely. These girls, all—all of them know a useful address to which to go.
M. Dessin knows that as well as I do.”
“She may have had a child before she adopted a stage life,” said Crad-
dock. “During the war, for instance.”
“Ah! dans la guerre. That is always possible. But if so, I know nothing
about it.”
“Who amongst the other girls were her closest friends?”
“I can give you two or three names—but she was not very intimate with
anyone.”
They could get nothing else useful from Madame Joilet.
Shown the compact, she said Anna had one of that kind, but so had most
of the other girls. Anna had perhaps bought a fur coat in London—she did
not know. “Me, I occupy myself with the rehearsals15, with the stage light-
ing, with all the difficulties of my business. I have not time to notice what
my artists wear.”
After Madame Joilet, they interviewed the girls whose names she had
given them. One or two of them had known Anna fairly well, but they all
said that she had not been one to talk much about herself, and that when
she did, it was, so one girl said, mostly lies.
“She liked to pretend things—stories about having been the mistress of a
Grand Duke—or of a great English financier—or how she worked for the
Resistance in the war. Even a story about being a film star in Hollywood.”
Another girl said:
“I think that really she had had a very tame bourgeois16 existence. She
liked to be in ballet because she thought it was romantic, but she was not a
good dancer. You understand that if she were to say, ‘My father was a
draper in Amiens,’ that would not be romantic! So instead she made up
things.”
“Even in London,” said the first girl, “she threw out hints about a very
rich man who was going to take her on a cruise round the world, because
she reminded him of his dead daughter who had died in a car accident.
Quelle blague!”
“She told me she was going to stay with a rich lord in Scotland,” said the
second girl. “She said she would shoot the deer there.”
None of this was helpful. All that seemed to emerge from it was that
Anna Stravinska was a proficient17 liar18. She was certainly not shooting deer
with a a peer in Scotland, and it seemed equally unlikely that she was on
the sun deck of a liner cruising round the world. But neither was there
any real reason to believe that her body had been found in a sarcophagus
at Rutherford Hall. The identification by the girls and Madame Joilet was
very uncertain and hesitating. It looked something like Anna, they all
agreed. But really! All swollen19 up—it might be anybody!
The only fact that was established was that on the 19th of December
Anna Stravinska had decided20 not to return to France, and that on the 20th
December a woman resembling her in appearance had travelled to Brack-
hampton by the 4:33 train and had been strangled.
If the woman in the sarcophagus was not Anna Stravinska, where was
Anna now?
To that, Madame Joilet’s answer was simple and inevitable21.
“With a man!”
And it was probably the correct answer, Craddock reflected ruefully.
One other possibility had to be considered—raised by the casual remark
that Anna had once referred to having an English husband.
Had that husband been Edmund Crackenthorpe?
It seemed unlikely, considering the word picture of Anna that had been
given him by those who knew her. What was much more probable was
that Anna had at one time known the girl Martine sufficiently22 intimately
to be acquainted with the necessary details. It might have been Anna who
wrote that letter to Emma Crackenthorpe and, if so, Anna would have
been quite likely to have taken fright at any question of an investigation23.
Perhaps she had even thought it prudent24 to sever25 her connection with the
Ballet Maritski. Again, where was she now?
And again, inevitably26, Madame Joilet’s answer seemed the most likely.
With a man….

分享到：


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 spoke XryyC     
n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说
参考例句：
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
2 corps pzzxv     
n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组
参考例句：
  • The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
  • When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。
3 inspector q6kxH     
n.检查员，监察员，视察员
参考例句：
  • The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
  • The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。
4 extravagant M7zya     
adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的
参考例句：
  • They tried to please him with fulsome compliments and extravagant gifts.他们想用溢美之词和奢华的礼品来取悦他。
  • He is extravagant in behaviour.他行为放肆。
5 suburban Usywk     
adj.城郊的，在郊区的
参考例句：
  • Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
  • There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。
6 adipose cJayQ     
adj.脂肪质的，脂肪多的；n.（储于脂肪组织中的）动物脂肪；肥胖
参考例句：
  • After I become pouch operation adipose meeting second birth?我做眼袋手术后脂肪会再生吗？
  • Adipose tissue as seen in a regular histological section.组织切片可见脂肪组织。
7 scowled b83aa6db95e414d3ef876bc7fd16d80d     
怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • He scowled his displeasure. 他满脸嗔色。
  • The teacher scowled at his noisy class. 老师对他那喧闹的课堂板着脸。
8 promptly LRMxm     
adv.及时地，敏捷地
参考例句：
  • He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
  • She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。
9 malice P8LzW     
n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋
参考例句：
  • I detected a suggestion of malice in his remarks.我觉察出他说的话略带恶意。
  • There was a strong current of malice in many of his portraits.他的许多肖像画中都透着一股强烈的怨恨。
10 tout iG7yL     
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。
11 shrug Ry3w5     
v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)
参考例句：
  • With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
  • I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。
12 shrugged 497904474a48f991a3d1961b0476ebce     
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》
13 indifference k8DxO     
n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎
参考例句：
  • I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。
  • He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。
14 confession 8Ygye     
n.自白，供认，承认
参考例句：
  • Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
  • The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。
15 rehearsals 58abf70ed0ce2d3ac723eb2d13c1c6b5     
n.练习( rehearsal的名词复数 )；排练；复述；重复
参考例句：
  • The earlier protests had just been dress rehearsals for full-scale revolution. 早期的抗议仅仅是大革命开始前的预演。
  • She worked like a demon all through rehearsals. 她每次排演时始终精力过人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 bourgeois ERoyR     
adj./n.追求物质享受的(人)；中产阶级分子
参考例句：
  • He's accusing them of having a bourgeois and limited vision.他指责他们像中产阶级一样目光狭隘。
  • The French Revolution was inspired by the bourgeois.法国革命受到中产阶级的鼓励。
17 proficient Q1EzU     
adj.熟练的，精通的；n.能手，专家
参考例句：
  • She is proficient at swimming.她精通游泳。
  • I think I'm quite proficient in both written and spoken English.我认为我在英语读写方面相当熟练。
18 liar V1ixD     
n.说谎的人
参考例句：
  • I know you for a thief and a liar!我算认识你了，一个又偷又骗的家伙！
  • She was wrongly labelled a liar.她被错误地扣上说谎者的帽子。
19 swollen DrcwL     
adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀
参考例句：
  • Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
  • A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。
20 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的
参考例句：
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
21 inevitable 5xcyq     
adj.不可避免的，必然发生的
参考例句：
  • Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
  • The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。
22 sufficiently 0htzMB     
adv.足够地，充分地
参考例句：
  • It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
  • The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。
23 investigation MRKzq     
n.调查，调查研究
参考例句：
  • In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
  • He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。
24 prudent M0Yzg     
adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的
参考例句：
  • A prudent traveller never disparages his own country.聪明的旅行者从不贬低自己的国家。
  • You must school yourself to be modest and prudent.你要学会谦虚谨慎。
25 sever wTXzb     
v.切开，割开；断绝，中断
参考例句：
  • She wanted to sever all her connections with the firm.她想断绝和那家公司的所有联系。
  • We must never sever the cultural vein of our nation.我们不能割断民族的文化血脉。
26 inevitably x7axc     
adv.不可避免地；必然发生地
参考例句：
  • In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
  • Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

©2005-2010英文阅读网