红发会 35逮捕罪犯(4)

"But how could you guess what the motive¹ was?"

"可是，你是怎么猜出他的动机的呢？"

"Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a mere² vulgar intrigue³.

"如果在那店铺里有女人的话，我本来会怀疑无非是搞些庸俗的风流事。

That, however, was out of the question.

可是，根本不是那么回事。

The man's business was a small one,

这个当铺老板做的是小本经营的买卖，

and there was nothing in his house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and such an expenditure⁴ as they were at.

当铺里没有什么值钱的东西，值不得他们如此精心策划，花那么多钱。

It must, then, be something out of the house. What could it be?

因此，他们的目标肯定不在当铺。那么可能搞什么呢？

I thought of the assistant's fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the cellar.

我想到这个伙计喜欢照相，想到他经常出没于地下室这个诡计。

The cellar! There was the end of this tangled⁵ clue.

地下室！这就找到了这个错综复杂的案件的线索。

Then I made inquiries⁶ as to this mysterious assistant

然后，我调查了这个神秘的伙计的情况。

and found that I had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in London.

我发现，我的对手是伦敦头脑最冷静、胆子最大的罪犯之一，

He was doing something in the cellar–something which took many hours a day for months on end.

他在地下室里搞了名堂，而且要连续几个月每天干许多小时才行。

What could it be, once more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel to some other building.

那再问一下，可能搞什么呢？我想除了挖一条通往其他楼房的地道以外，不可能是其他什么东西。

So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action.

当我们去察看作案地点时，我心里就明白了。

1 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

2 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

3 intrigue   

vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋

参考例句：

• Court officials will intrigue against the royal family.法院官员将密谋反对皇室。
• The royal palace was filled with intrigue.皇宫中充满了勾心斗角。

4 expenditure   

n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗

参考例句：

• The entry of all expenditure is necessary.有必要把一切开支入账。
• The monthly expenditure of our family is four hundred dollars altogether.我们一家的开销每月共计四百元。

5 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

6 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》