诺伍德的建筑师（20）

Holmes had recovered his equanimity¹, though I still seemed to detect gleams of amusement in his expression.

“Dear me, this is a very sad development, Watson, is it not?” said he. “And yet there are singular points about it which hold out some hopes for our client.”

“I am delighted to hear it,” said I, heartily². “I was afraid it was all up with him.”

“I would hardly go so far as to say that, my dear Watson. The fact is that there is one really serious flaw in this evidence to which our friend attaches so much importance.”

“Indeed, Holmes! What is it?”

“Only this: that I know that that mark was not there when I examined the hall yesterday. And now, Watson, let us have a little stroll round in the sunshine.”

With a confused brain, but with a heart into which some warmth of hope was returning, I accompanied my friend in a walk round the garden. Holmes took each face of the house in turn and examined it with great interest. He then led the way inside and went over the whole building from basement to attics³. Most of the rooms were unfurnished, but none the less Holmes inspected them all minutely. Finally, on the top corridor, which ran outside three untenanted bedrooms, he again was seized with a spasm⁴ of merriment.

“There are really some very unique features about this case, Watson,” said he. “I think it is time now that we took our friend Lestrade into our confidence. He has had his little smile at our expense, and perhaps we may do as much by him if my reading of this problem proves to be correct. Yes, yes; I think I see how we should approach it.”

The Scotland Yard inspector⁵ was still writing in the parlour when Holmes interrupted him.

“I understood that you were writing a report of this case,” said he.

“So I am.”

福尔摩斯已经恢复了平静，但我在他的表情中似乎仍旧看得出来他心里觉得可笑。

“哎，这是个很糟的发展，是不是，华生？不过这里面有些奇妙之处，还给咱们的委托人留下几分希望。”

“你这样讲使我听了很高兴，”我由衷地说，“刚才我觉得恐怕他没有希望了。”

“我就不愿意说出这样的话来，亲一爱一的华生。事实上在咱们这位朋友极其重视的证据中，有一个十分严重的缺陷。”

“真的？什么缺陷？”

“就是这点：我知道昨天我检查门厅的时候，墙上并没有血迹。华生，现在咱们到有太一陽一的地方去散散步吧。”

我陪着我的朋友在花园里散步；我的脑子很乱，心里却因为有了希望开始觉得有些热呼一呼的。福尔摩斯把别墅的每一面都按顺序看了看，很有兴趣地检查了这所房子。然后他领头走进屋里。从地下室到阁楼，他把整个的建筑都看到了。大多数的房间里没有家具摆设。但是他仍然仔细地检查了这些房间。最后到了顶层的走廊上，那里有三间空闲的卧室，福尔摩斯突然又高兴起来。

“这件案子的确很有特点，华生，”他说，“我想现在是跟咱们的朋友雷斯垂德说真心话的时候了。他已经嘲笑过咱们，也许咱们也可以照样回敬他，如果我对案子的判断证明是对了的话。有了，有了，我想我知道咱们该采取什么办法。”

福尔摩斯打扰这位苏格兰场警官的时候，他仍在起居室挥笔书写。

“我知道你在写一份关于这件案子的报告，”他说。

“我是在写。”

1 equanimity   

n.沉着，镇定

参考例句：

• She went again,and in so doing temporarily recovered her equanimity.她又去看了戏，而且这样一来又暂时恢复了她的平静。
• The defeat was taken with equanimity by the leadership.领导层坦然地接受了失败。

2 heartily   

adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很

参考例句：

• He ate heartily and went out to look for his horse.他痛快地吃了一顿，就出去找他的马。
• The host seized my hand and shook it heartily.主人抓住我的手，热情地和我握手。

3 attics   

n. 阁楼

参考例句：

• They leave unwanted objects in drawers, cupboards and attics. 他们把暂时不需要的东西放在抽屉里、壁橱中和搁楼上。
• He rummaged busily in the attics of European literature, bringing to light much of interest. 他在欧洲文学的阁楼里忙着翻箱倒笼，找到了不少有趣的东西。

4 spasm   

n.痉挛，抽搐；一阵发作

参考例句：

• When the spasm passed,it left him weak and sweating.一阵痉挛之后，他虚弱无力，一直冒汗。
• He kicked the chair in a spasm of impatience.他突然变得不耐烦，一脚踢向椅子。

5 inspector   

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。