破镜谋杀案25

时间：2025-11-25 09:20:36

（单词翻译:单击）

Fourteen
I
Mrs. Bantry was on her knees. A good day for hoeing. Nice dry soil. But
hoeing wouldn’t do everything. Thistles now, and dandelions. She dealt
vigorously with these pests.
She rose to her feet, breathless but triumphant1, and looked out over the
hedge on to the road. She was faintly surprised to see the dark-haired sec-
retary whose name she couldn’t remember coming out of the public call
box that was situated2 near the bus stop on the other side of the road.
What was her name now. It began with a B—or was it an R? No, Zielin-
sky, that was it. Mrs. Bantry remembered just in time, as Ella crossed the
road into the drive past the Lodge3.
“Good morning, Miss Zielinsky,” she called in a friendly tone.
Ella Zielinsky jumped. It was not so much a jump, as a shy—the shy of a
frightened horse. It surprised Mrs. Bantry.
“Good morning,” said Ella, and added quickly: “I came down to tele-
phone. There’s something wrong with our line today.”
Mrs. Bantry felt more surprise. She wondered why Ella Zielinsky
bothered to explain her action. She responded civilly. “How annoying for
you. Do come in and telephone anytime you want to.”
“Oh—thank you very much…” Ella was interrupted by a fit of sneezing.
“You’ve got hay fever,” said Mrs. Bantry with immediate4 diagnosis5. “Try
weak bicarbonate of soda6 and water.”
“Oh, that’s all right. I have some very good patent stuff in an atomizer.
Thank you all the same.”
She sneezed again as she moved away, walking briskly up the drive.
Mrs. Bantry looked after her. Then her eyes returned to her garden. She
looked at it in a dissatisfied fashion. Not a weed to be seen anywhere.
“Othello’s occupation’s gone,” Mrs. Bantry murmured to herself con-
fusedly. “I dare say I’m a nosy7 old woman but I would like to know if—”
A moment of irresolution8 and then Mrs. Bantry yielded to temptation.
She was going to be a nosy old woman and the hell with it! She strode in-
doors to the telephone, lifted the receiver and dialled it. A brisk transat-
lantic voice spoke9.
“Gossington Hall.”
“This is Mrs. Bantry, at the East Lodge.”
“Oh, good morning, Mrs. Bantry. This is Hailey Preston. I met you on the
day of the fête. What can I do for you?”
“I thought perhaps I could do something for you. If your telephone’s out
of order—”
His astonished voice interrupted her.
“Our telephone out of order? There’s been nothing wrong with it. Why
did you think so?”
“I must have made a mistake,” said Mrs. Bantry. “I don’t always hear
very well,” she explained unblushingly.
She put the receiver back, waited a minute, then dialled once more.
“Jane? Dolly here.”
“Yes, Dolly. What is it?”
“Well, it seems rather odd. The secretary woman was dialling from the
public call box in the road. She took the trouble to explain to me quite un-
necessarily that she was doing so because the line at Gossington Hall was
out of order. But I’ve rung up there, and it isn’t….”
She paused, and waited for intelligence to pronounce.
“Indeed,” said Miss Marple thoughtfully. “Interesting.”
“For what reason, do you think?”
“Well, clearly, she didn’t want to be overheard—”
“Exactly.”
“And there might be quite a number of reasons for that.”
“Yes.”
“Interesting,” said Miss Marple again.

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1 triumphant JpQys     
adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的
参考例句：
  • The army made a triumphant entry into the enemy's capital.部队胜利地进入了敌方首都。
  • There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.她的声音里带有一种极为得意的语气。
2 situated JiYzBH     
adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的
参考例句：
  • The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
  • She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。
3 lodge q8nzj     
v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆
参考例句：
  • Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
  • I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。
4 immediate aapxh     
adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的
参考例句：
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
5 diagnosis GvPxC     
n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断
参考例句：
  • His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
  • The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。
6 soda cr3ye     
n.苏打水；汽水
参考例句：
  • She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
  • I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。
7 nosy wR0zK     
adj.鼻子大的，好管闲事的，爱追问的；n.大鼻者
参考例句：
  • Our nosy neighbours are always looking in through our windows.好管闲事的邻居总是从我们的窗口望进来。
  • My landlord is so nosy.He comes by twice a month to inspect my apartment.我的房东很烦人，他每个月都要到我公寓视察两次。
8 irresolution d3284675d25cf96c3e6d45a69ba619a8     
n.不决断，优柔寡断，犹豫不定
参考例句：
  • A lack of certainty that often leads to irresolution. 疑惑缺少肯定而导致犹豫不决。 来自互联网
  • Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? 我们迟疑不决、无所作为就能积聚力量吗？ 来自互联网
9 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。

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