赖盖特之谜11

Before entering, Holmes made an examination of the door which had been forced.  It was evident that a chisel¹ or strong knife had been thrust in, and the lock  forced back with it. We could see the marks in the wood where it had been pushed  in.

“You don't use bars, then?” he asked.

“We have never found it necessary.”

“You don't keep a dog?”

“Yes, but he is chained on the other side of the house.”

“When do the servants go to bed?”

“About ten.”

“I understand that William was usually in bed also at that hour.”

“Yes.”

“It is singular that on this particular night he should have been up. Now, I  should be very glad if you would have the kindness to show us over the house,  Mr. Cunningham.”

A stone-flagged passage, with the kitchens branching away from it, led by a  wooden staircase directly to the first floor of the house. It came out upon the  landing opposite to a second more ornamental² stair which came up from the front  hall. Out of this landing opened the drawing-room and several bedrooms,  including those of Mr. Cunningham and his son. Holmes walked slowly, taking keen  note of the architecture of the house. I could tell from his expression that he  was on a hot scent³, and yet I could not in the least imagine in what direction  his inferences were leading him.

“My good sir,” said Mr. Cunningham with some impatience⁴, “this is surely very  unnecessary. That is my room at the end of the stairs, and my son's is the one  beyond it. I leave it to your judgment⁵ whether it was possible for the thief to  have come up here without disturbing us.”

“You must try round and get on a fresh scent, I fancy,” said the son with a  rather malicious⁶ smile.

“Still, I must ask you to humor me a little further. I should like, for  example, to see how far the windows of the bedrooms command the front. This, I  understand is your son's room”—he pushed open the door—“and that, I presume,  is the dressing-room in which he sat smoking when the alarm was given. Where  does the window of that look out to?” He stepped across the bedroom, pushed  open the door, and glanced round the other chamber⁷.

“I hope that you are satisfied now?” said Mr. Cunningham, tartly⁸.

“Thank you, I think I have seen all that I wished.”

“Then if it is really necessary we can go into my room.”

“If it is not too much trouble.”

在进屋之前，福尔摩斯仔细检查了那扇弄坏了的门。很显然，那是用一把凿子或一把坚固的 小刀插一进去，把锁撬开的。我们可以看到利器插一进去以后在木头上留下的痕迹。

“那么，你们不用门闩吗？”福尔摩斯问道。

“我们一向认为没有必要。”

“你们没有养狗吗？”

“养了，可是我们用铁链子把狗拴在房子的另一边。”

“仆人们是什么时候去睡觉的？”

“十点钟左右。”

“我听说威廉平常不是也在这个时候去睡觉的吗？”

“是的。”

“这就怪了，正在这个出事的夜晚，他却起来了。现在，如果你肯领我们查看一下这所住宅 ，我将感到很高兴，坎宁安先生。”

我们经过厨房旁边石板铺的走廊，沿着一道木楼梯，迳直来到住宅的二楼。我们登上了楼梯 平台。它的对面，是另一条通向前厅装饰得较为华丽的楼梯。从这个楼梯平台过去，就是客 厅和几间卧室，其中包括坎宁安先生和他儿子的卧室。

福尔摩斯不慌不忙地走着，留神着这所房子的式样。我从他的表情可以看出，他在紧紧地跟 踪着一条线索，可我还是一点也猜不出他所跟踪的是什么。

“我说先生，”坎宁安先生有些不耐烦地说道，“这肯定是非常不必要的。楼梯口就是我的 卧室。我儿子的卧室就在隔壁。我倒要请你判断一下，这贼要是上了楼，而我们竟毫无觉察 ，这可能吗？”

“我想，你应当到房子四周去调查，寻找新的线索，”坎宁安的儿子一陰一险地笑道。

“我还要请你们再将就我一会儿，比如说，我很想看看从卧室的窗户可以向前望出去多远。 我知道，这是你儿子的卧室，”福尔摩斯把门推开说道，“这就是发出警报时他正坐在那里 吸烟的更衣室吧！它的窗子朝向什么地方？”福尔摩斯走过卧室，推开门，把另一间屋子四 下打量了一番。

“我想现在你总该满意了吧？”坎宁安先生尖刻地说道。

“谢谢你，我认为我想看的都看到了。”

“那么，如果你真的认为必要的话，可以到我的房间里去。”

“如果不太打扰你的话，那就去吧！”

1 chisel   

n.凿子；v.用凿子刻，雕，凿

参考例句：

• This chisel is useful for getting into awkward spaces.这凿子在要伸入到犄角儿里时十分有用。
• Camille used a hammer and chisel to carve out a figure from the marble.卡米尔用锤子和凿子将大理石雕刻出一个人像。

2 ornamental   

adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物

参考例句：

• The stream was dammed up to form ornamental lakes.溪流用水坝拦挡起来,形成了装饰性的湖泊。
• The ornamental ironwork lends a touch of elegance to the house.铁艺饰件为房子略添雅致。

3 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

4 impatience   

n.不耐烦，急躁

参考例句：

• He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢，他显得不耐烦。
• He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。

5 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

6 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

7 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

8 tartly   

adv.辛辣地，刻薄地

参考例句：

• She finished by tartly pointing out that he owed her some money. 她最后刻薄地指出他欠她一些钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Kay said tartly, "And you're more Yankee than Italian. 恺酸溜溜他说：“可你哪，与其说是意大利人，还不如说是新英格兰人。 来自教父部分