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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
He was silent a minute or two, staring, not at the house, but at the thick undergrowth by which they were surrounded.
"Has it ever struck you," he said, "that civilisation's damned dangerous?"
"Dangerous?" Such a revolutionary remark shocked Mr. Satterthwaite to the core.
"Yes. There are no safety valves, you see."
"I really am quite at a loss to understand you," said Mr. Satterthwaite, pattering along with nimble steps to keep up with the other's strides. "Reasonable people------"
Porter laughed. A short disconcerting laugh. Then he looked at the correct little gentleman by his side.
"You think it's all bunkum on my part, Mr. Satterthwaite? But there are people, you know, who can tell you when a storm's coming. They feel it beforehand in the air. And other people can foretell4 trouble. There's trouble coming now, Mr. Satterthwaite, big trouble. It may come any minute. It may------"
He stopped dead, clutching Mr. Satterthwaite's arm. And in that tense minute of silence it came--the sound of two shots and following them a cry--a cry in a woman's voice.
"My God!" cried Porter, "it's come."
He raced down the path, Mr. Satterthwaite panting behind him. In a minute they came out on to the lawn, close by the hedge of the Privy5 Garden. At the same time, Richard Scott and Mr. Unkerton came round the opposite corner of the house. They halted, facing each other, to left and right of the entrance to the Privy Garden.
"It--it came from in there," said Unkerton, pointing with a flabby hand.
"We must see," said Porter. He led the way into the enclosure. As he rounded the last bend of the holly6 hedge, he stopped dead. Mr. Satterthwaite peered over his shoulder. A loud cry burst from Richard Scott.
There were three people in the Privy Garden. Two of them lay on the grass near the stone seat, a man and a woman. The third was Mrs. Staverton. She was standing7 quite close to them by the holly hedge, gazing with horror-stricken eyes, and holding something in her right hand.
She looked down at it then--with a kind of wonder, an unbelievable indifference9.
"It's a pistol," she said wonderingly. And then--after what seemed an interminable time, but was in reality only a few seconds, "I--picked it up."
Mr. Satterthwaite had gone forward to where Unkerton and Scott were kneeling on the turf.
"A doctor," the latter was murmuring. "We must have a doctor."
But it was too late for any doctor. Jimmy Allenson who had complained that the sand diviners hedged about the future, and Moira Scott to whom the gypsy had returned a shilling, lay there in the last great stillness.
It was Richard Scott who completed a brief examination. The iron nerve of the man showed in this crisis. After the first cry of agony, he was himself again.
He laid his wife gently down again.
Then he handled Jimmy Allenson. The wound here was in the breast and the bullet was lodged11 in the body.
John Porter came towards them.
"Nothing should be touched," he said sternly. "The police must see it all exactly as it is now."
"The police," said Richard Scott. His eyes lit up with a sudden flame as he looked at the woman standing by the holly hedge. He made a step in that direction, but at the same time John Porter also moved, so as to bar his way. For a moment it seemed as though there was a duel12 of eyes between the two friends.
Porter very quietly shook his head
"No, Richard," he said. "It looks like it--but you're wrong."
"Then why--has she got that in her hand?"
And again Iris Staverton said in the same lifeless tone--"I--picked it up."
"The police," said Unkerton rising. "We must send for the police--at once. You will telephone perhaps, Scott?
Someone should stay here--yes, I am sure someone should stay here."
In his quiet gentlemanly manner, Mr. Satterthwaite offered to do so. His host accepted the offer with manifest relief.
"The ladies," he explained. "I must break the news to the ladies, Lady Cynthia and my dear wife."
Mr. Satterthwaite stayed in the Privy Garden looking down on the body of that which had once been Moira Scott.
"Poor child," he said to himself. "Poor child..."
He quoted to himself the tag about the evil men do living after them. For was not Richard Scott in a way responsible for his innocent wife's death? They would hang Iris Staverton, he supposed, not that he liked to think of it, but was not it at least a part of the blame he laid at the man's door? The evil that men do-----
And the girl, the innocent girl, had paid
He looked down at her with a very deep pity. Her small face, so white and wistful, a half smile on the lips still. The ruffled14 golden hair, the delicate ear. There was a spot of blood on the lobe15 of it. With an inner feeling of being something of a detective, Mr. Satterthwaite deduced an earring16, torn away in her fall. He craned his neck forward. Yes, he was right, there was a small pearl drop hanging from the other ear.
Poor child, poor child
They were in the library. The Inspector, a shrewd-looking forceful man of forty odd, was concluding his investigations18. He had questioned most of the guests, and had by now pretty well made up his mind on the case. He was listening to what Major Porter and Mr. Satterthwaite had to say. Mr. Unkerton sat heavily in a chair, staring with protruding19 eyes at the opposite wall.
"As I understand it, gentlemen," said the Inspector, "you'd been for a walk. You were returning to the house by a path that winds round the left side of what they call the Privy Garden. Is that correct?"
"Quite correct, Inspector."
"You heard two shots, and a woman's scream?"
"Yes."
"You then ran as fast as you could, emerged from the woods and made your way to the entrance of the Privy Garden. If anybody had left that garden, they could only do so by one entrance. The holly bushes are impassable. If anyone had run out of the garden and turned to the right, he would have been met by Mr. Unkerton and Mr. Scott. If he had turned to the left, he could not have done so without being seen by you. Is that right?"
"That is so," said Major Porter. His face was very white.
"That seems to settle it," said the Inspector. "Mr. and Mrs. Unkerton and Lady Cynthia Drage were sitting on the lawn, Mr. Scott was in the Billiard Room which opens on to that lawn. At ten minutes past six, Mrs. Staverton came out of the house, spoke a word or two to those sitting there, and went round the corner of the house towards the Privy Garden. Two minutes later the shots were heard. Mr. Scott rushed out of the house and together with Mr. Unkerton ran to the Privy Garden. At the same time you and Mr.--er-- Satterthwaite arrived from the opposite direction. Mrs. Staverton was in the Privy Garden with a pistol in her hand from which two shots had been fired. As I see it, she shot the lady first from behind as she was sitting on the bench. Then Captain Allenson sprang up and went for her, and she shot him in the chest as he came towards her. I understand that there had been a--er--previous attachment20 between her and Mr. Richard Scott------"
"That's a damned lie," said Porter.
"What is her own story?" asked Mr. Satterthwaite.
"She says that she went into the Privy Garden to be quiet for a little. Just before she rounded the last hedge, she heard the shots. She came round the corner, saw the pistol lying at her feet, and picked it up. No one passed her, and she saw no one in the garden but the two victims." The Inspector gave an eloquent24 pause.
"That's what she says-- and although I cautioned her, she insisted on making a statement."
"If she said that," said Major Porter, and his face was still deadly white, "she was speaking the truth. I know Iris Staverton."
"Well, sir," said the Inspector, "there'll be plenty of time to go into all that later. In the meantime, I've got my duty to do."
"You! Can't you help? Can't you do something?"
Mr. Satterthwaite could not help feeling immensely flattered. He had been appealed to, be, most insignificant25 of men, and by a man like John Porter.
He was just about to flutter out a regretful reply, when the butler, Thompson, entered, with a card upon a salver which he took to his master with an apologetic cough. Mr. Unkerton was still sitting huddled26 up in a chair, taking no part in the proceedings27.
"I told the gentleman you would probably not be able to see him, sir," said Thompson. "But he insisted that he had an appointment and that it was most urgent."
Unkerton took the card.
"Mr. Harley Quin," he read. "I remember, he was to see me about a picture. I did make an appointment, but as things are------"
But Mr. Satterthwaite had started forward.
"Mr. Harley Quin, did you say?" he cried. " ow extraordinary, how very extraordinary. Major Porter, you asked me if I could help you. I think I can. This Mr. Quin is a friend--or I should say, an acquaintance of mine. He is a most remarkable28 man."
"One of these amateur solvers of crime, I suppose," remarked the Inspector disparagingly29.
"No," said Mr. Satterthwaite." he is not that kind of man at all. But he has a power--an almost uncanny power-- of showing you what you have seen with your own eyes, of making clear to you what you have heard with your own ears. Let us, at any rate, give him an outline of the case, and hear what he has to say."
Mr. Unkerton glanced at the Inspector, who merely snorted and looked at the ceiling. Then the former gave a short nod to Thompson, who left the room and returned ushering30 in a tall, slim stranger.
"Mr. Unkerton?" The stranger shook him by the hand. "I am sorry to intrude31 upon you at such a time. We must leave our little picture chat until another time. Ah! My friend Mr. Satterthwaite. Still as fond of the drama as ever?"
A faint smile played for a minute round the stranger's lips as he said these last words.
"Mr. Quin," said Mr. Satterthwaite impressively, "we have a drama here, we are in the midst of one, I should like, and my friend, Major Porter, would like, to have your opinion of it."
Mr. Quin sat down. The red-shaded lamp threw a broad band of coloured light over the checked pattern of his overcoat, and left his face in shadow almost as though he wore a mask.
Succinctly32, Mr. Satterthwaite recited the main points of the tragedy. Then he paused, breathlessly awaiting the words of the oracle33.
But Mr. Quin merely shook his head.
"A sad story," he said. "A very sad and shocking tragedy. The lack of motive34 makes it very intriguing35."
Unkerton stared at him.
"You don't understand," he said. "Mrs. Staverton was heard to threaten Richard Scott. She was bitterly jealous of his wife. Jealousy36------"
"I agree," said Mr. Quin. "Jealousy or Demoniac Possession. It's all the same. But you misunderstand me. I was not referring to the murder of Mrs. Scott, but to that of Captain Allenson."
"You're right," cried Porter, springing forward. "There's a flaw there. If Iris had ever contemplated37 shooting Mrs. Scott, she'd have got her alone somewhere. No, we're on the wrong tack38. And I think I see another solution. Only those three people went into the Privy Garden. That is indisputable and I don't intend to dispute it. But I reconstruct the tragedy differently. Supposing Jimmy Allenson shoots first Mrs. Scott and then himself. That's possible, isn't it? He flings the pistol from him as he falls--Mrs. Staverton finds it lying on the ground and picks it up just as she said. How's that?"
The Inspector shook his head.
"Won't wash, Major Porter. If Captain Allenson had fired that shot close to his body, the cloth would have been singed39."
"He might have held the pistol at arm's length."
"Why should he? No sense in it. Besides, there's no motive."
"Might have gone off his head suddenly," muttered Porter, but without any great conviction. He fell to silence again, suddenly rousing himself to say defiantly--"Well, Mr. Quin?"
The latter shook his head.
"I'm not a magician. I'm not even a criminologist. But I will tell you one thing--I believe in the value of impressions. In any time of crisis, there is always one moment that stands out from all the others, one picture that remains40 when all else has faded. Mr. Satterthwaite is, I think, likely to have been the most unprejudiced observer of those present. Will you cast your mind back, Mr. Satterthwaite, and tell us the moment that made the strongest impression on you? Was it when you heard the shots? Was it when you first saw the dead bodies? Was it when you first observed the pistol in Mrs. Staverton's hand? Clear your mind of any preconceived standard of values, and tell us."
Mr. Satterthwaite fixed41 his eyes on Mr. Quin's face, rather as a schoolboy might repeat a lesson of which he was not sure.
"No," he said slowly. "It was not any of those. The moment that I shall always remember was when I stood alone by the bodies--afterwards--looking down on Mrs. Scott. She was lying on her side. Her hair was ruffled. There was a spot of blood on her little ear."
And instantly, as he said it, he felt that he had said a terrific, a significant thing.
"Blood on her ear? Yes, I remember," said Unkerton slowly.
"Her earring must have been torn out when she fell," explained Mr. Satterthwaite.
But it sounded a little improbable as he said it.
"She was lying on her left side," said Porter. "I suppose it was that ear?"
"No," said Mr. Satterthwaite quickly. "It was her right ear."
The Inspector coughed.
"I found this in the grass," he vouchsafed42. He held up a loop of gold wire.
"But, my God, man," cried Porter. "The thing can't have been wrenched43 to pieces by a mere23 fall. It's more as though it had been shot away by a bullet."
"So it was," cried Mr. Satterthwaite. "It was a bullet. It must have been."
"There were only two shots," said the Inspector. "A shot can't have grazed her ear and shot her in the back as well. And if one shot carried away the earring, and the second shot killed her, it can't have killed Captain Allenson as well--not unless he was standing close in front of her--very close--facing her as it might be. Oh I no, not even then, unless, that is------"
"Unless she was in his arms, you were going to say," said Mr. Quin, with a queer little smile. "Well, why not?"
Everyone stared at each other. The idea was so vitally strange to them--Allenson and Mrs. Scott--Mr. Unkerton voiced the same feeling.
"But they hardly knew each other," he said.
"I don't know," said Mr. Satterthwaite thoughtfully. "They might have known each other better than we thought. Lady Cynthia said he saved her from being bored in Egypt last winter, and you"--he turned to Porter--"you told me that Richard Scott met his wife in Cairo last winter. They might have known each other very well indeed out there..."
"They didn't seem to be together much," said Unkerton.
They all looked at Mr. Quin, as if a little startled at the conclusions at which they had arrived so unexpectedly.
Mr. Quin rose to his feet.
"You see," he said, "what Mr. Satterthwaite's impression has done for us." he turned to Unkerton, "It is your turn now."
"Eh? I don't understand you."
"You were very thoughtful when I came into this room. I should like to know exactly what thought it was that obsessed45 you. Never mind if it has nothing to do with the tragedy. Never mind if it seems to you--superstitious------"
Mr. Unkerton started, ever so slightly. "Tell us."
"I don't mind telling you," said Unkerton. "Though it's nothing to do with the business, and you'll probably laugh at me into the bargain. I was wishing that my Missus had left well alone and not replaced that pane46 of glass in the haunted window. I feel as though doing that has maybe brought a curse upon us."
He was unable to understand why the two men opposite him stared so.
"But she hasn't replaced it yet," said Mr. Satterthwaite at last.
"Yes, she has. Man came first thing this morning."
"My God!" said Porter, "I begin to understand. That room, it's panelled, I supposed, not papered?"
"Yes, but what does that------?"
But Porter had swung out of the room. The other followed him. He went straight upstairs to the Scotts' bedroom It was a charming room, panelled in cream with two windows facing south. Porter felt with his hands along the panels on the western wall.
"There's a spring somewhere--must be. Ah!" There was a click, and a section of the panelling rolled back. It disclosed the grimy panes47 of the haunted window. One pane of glass was clean and new. Porter stooped quickly and picked up something. He held it out on the palm of his hand. It was a fragment of ostrich48 feather. Then he looked at Mr. Quin. Mr. Quin nodded.
He went across to the hat cupboard in the bedroom. There were several hats in it--the dead woman's hats. He took out one with a large brim and curling feathers--an elaborate Ascot hat.
Mr. Quin began speaking in a gentle, reflective voice. "Let us suppose," said Mr. Quin, "a man who is by nature intensely jealous. A man who has stayed here in bygone years and knows the secret of the spring in the panelling. To amuse himself he opens it one day, and looks out over the Privy Garden. There, secure as they think from being overlooked, he sees his wife and another man. There can be no possible doubt in his mind as to the relations between them. He is mad with rage. What shall he do? An idea comes to him. He goes to the cupboard and puts on the hat with the brim and feathers. It is growing dusk, and he remembers the story of the stain on the glass. Anyone looking up at the window will see as they think the Watching Cavalier. Thus secure he watches them, and at the moment they are clasped in each other's arms, he shoots. He is a good shot--a wonderful shot. As they fall, he fires once more--that shot carries away the earring. He flings the pistol out of the window into the Privy Garden, rushes downstairs and out through the billiard room." Porter took a step towards him.
"But he let her be accused!" he cried. "He stood by and let her be accused. Why? Why?"
"I think I know why," said Mr. Quin. "I should guess--it's only guess-work on my part, mind--that Richard Scott was once madly in love with Iris Staverton--so madly that even meeting her years afterwards stirred up the embers of jealousy again. I should say that Iris Staverton once fancied that she might love him, that she went on a hunting trip with him and another--and that she came back in love with the better man."
"The better man," muttered Porter, dazed. "You mean------?"
"Yes," said Mr. Quin, with a faint smile. "I mean you." He paused a minute, and then said: "If I were you--I should go to her now."
"I will," said Porter.
He turned and left the room.
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1
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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foretell
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| v.预言，预告，预示 | |
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privy
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| adj.私用的；隐密的 | |
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holly
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| n.[植]冬青属灌木 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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iris
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| n.虹膜，彩虹 | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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12
duel
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| n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争 | |
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spoke
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| 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 | |
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14
ruffled
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| adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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15
lobe
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| n.耳垂，（肺，肝等的）叶 | |
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earring
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| n.耳环，耳饰 | |
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17
inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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18
investigations
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| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
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19
protruding
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸 | |
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attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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24
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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28
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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29
disparagingly
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| adv.以贬抑的口吻，以轻视的态度 | |
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30
ushering
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的现在分词 ) | |
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31
intrude
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| vi.闯入；侵入；打扰，侵扰 | |
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32
succinctly
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| adv.简洁地；简洁地，简便地 | |
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33
oracle
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| n.神谕，神谕处，预言 | |
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34
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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35
intriguing
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| adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心 | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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tack
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| n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝 | |
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39
singed
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| v.浅表烧焦( singe的过去式和过去分词 )；（毛发）燎，烧焦尖端[边儿] | |
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40
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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41
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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42
vouchsafed
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| v.给予，赐予( vouchsafe的过去式和过去分词 )；允诺 | |
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43
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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44
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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45
obsessed
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| adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的 | |
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46
pane
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| n.窗格玻璃，长方块 | |
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47
panes
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| 窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
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48
ostrich
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| n.鸵鸟 | |
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