破镜谋杀案39
时间：2025-11-25 09:44:38
（单词翻译:单击）
II
Jason Rudd was nervous, irritable.
“Surely, Inspector Craddock,” he said, “I was only doing what I had a
perfect right to do.”
“If you suspected anything was wrong with that coffee, Mr. Rudd, it
would have been much better if you’d turned it over to us.”
“The truth of it is that I didn’t suspect for a moment that anything was
wrong with it.”
“In spite of your wife saying that it tasted odd?”
“Oh, that!” A faintly rueful smile came to Rudd’s face. “Ever since the
date of the fête everything that my wife has eaten or drunk has tasted odd.
What with that and the threatening notes that have been coming—”
“There have been more of them?”
“Two more. One through the window down there. The other one was
slipped in the letter box. Here they are if you would like to see them.”
Craddock looked. They were printed, as the first one had been. One ran:
It won’t be long now. Prepare yourself.
The other had a rough drawing of a skull and crossbones and below it
was written: This means you, Marina.
Craddock’s eyebrows rose.
“Very childish,” he said.
“Meaning you discount them as dangerous?”
“Not at all,” said Craddock. “A murderer’s mind usually is childish.
You’ve really no idea at all, Mr. Rudd, who sent these?”
“Not the least,” said Jason. “I can’t help feeling it’s more like a macabre
joke than anything else. It seemed to me perhaps—” he hesitated.
“Yes, Mr. Rudd?”
“It could be somebody local, perhaps, who—who had been excited by
the poisoning on the day of the fête. Someone perhaps, who has a grudge
against the acting profession. There are rural pockets where acting is con-
sidered to be one of the devil’s weapons.”
“Meaning that you think Miss Gregg is not actually threatened? But
what about this business of the coffee?”
“I don’t even know how you got to hear about that,” said Rudd with
some annoyance.
Craddock shook his head.
“Everyone’s talked about that. It always comes to one’s ears sooner or
later. But you should have come to us. Even when you got the result of the
analysis you didn’t let us know, did you?”
“No,” said Jason. “No, I didn’t. But I had other things to think about. Poor
Ella’s death for one thing. And now this business of Giuseppe. Inspector
Craddock, when can I get my wife away from here? She’s half frantic.”
“I can understand that. But there will be the inquests to attend.”
“You do realize that her life is still in danger?”
“I hope not. Every precaution will be taken—”
“Every precaution! I’ve heard that before, I think… I must get her away
from here, Craddock. I must.”
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