chapter 8 possibilities

japp had to leave us. poirot and i turned into regent’s park and found a quiet seat.

‘i see the point of your rose between the lips now,’ i said, laughing. ‘at the moment i thought you had gone mad.’

he nodded without smiling.

‘you observe, hastings, that the secretary is a dangerous witness, dangerous because inaccurate. you notice that she stated positively that she saw the visitor’s face? at the time i thought that impossible. coming from the study – yes, but not going to the study. so i made my little experiment which resulted as i thought, and then sprung my trap upon her. she immediately changed her ground.’

‘her belief was quite unaltered, though,’ i argued. ‘and after all, a voice and a walk are just as unmistakable.’

‘no, no.’

‘why, poirot, i think a voice and the general gait are about the most characteristic things about a person.’

‘i agree. and therefore they are the most easily counterfeited.’

‘you think –’

‘cast your mind back a few days. do you remember one evening as we sat in the stalls of a theatre –’

‘carlotta adams? ah! but then she is a genius.’

‘a well-known person is not so difficult to mimic. but i agree she has unusual gifts. i believe she could carry a thing through without the aid of footlights and distance –’

a sudden thought flashed into my mind.

‘poirot,’ i cried. ‘you don’t think that possibly – no, that would be too much of a coincidence.’

‘it depends how you look at it, hastings. regarded from one angle it would be no coincidence at all.’

‘but why should carlotta adams wish to kill lord edgware? she did not even know him.’

‘how do you know she did not know him? do not assume things, hastings. there may have been some link between them of which we know nothing. not that that is precisely my theory.’

‘then you have a theory?’

‘yes. the possibility of carlotta adams being involved struck me from the beginning.’

‘but, poirot –’

‘wait, hastings. let me put together a few facts for you. lady edgware, with a complete lack of reticence, discusses the relations between her and her husband, and even goes so far as to talk of killing him. not only you and i hear this. a waiter hears it, her maid probably has heard it many times, bryan martin hears it, and i imagine carlotta adams herself hears it. and there are the people to whom these people repeat it. then, in that same evening, the excellence of carlotta adams’ imitation of jane is commented upon. who had a motive for killing lord edgware? his wife.

‘now supposing that someone else wishes to do away with lord edgware. here is a scapegoat ready to his hand. on the day when jane wilkinson announced that she had a headache and is going to have a quiet evening – the plan is put into operation.

‘lady edgware must be seen to enter the house in regent gate. well, she is seen. she even goes so far as to announce her identity. ah! c’est peu trop, ?a! it would awaken suspicion in an oyster.

‘and another point – a small point, i admit. the woman who came to the house last night wore black. jane wilkinson never wears black. we heard her say so. let us assume, then, that the woman who came to the house last night was not jane wilkinson – that it was a woman impersonating jane wilkinson. did that woman kill lord edgware?

‘did a third person enter that house and kill lord edgware? if so, did the person enter before or after the supposed visit of lady edgware? if after, what did the woman say to lord edgware? how did she explain her presence? she might deceive the butler who did not know her, and the secretary who did not see her at close quarters. but she could not hope to deceive her husband. or was there only a dead body in the room? was lord edgware killed before she entered the house – sometime between nine and ten?’

‘stop, poirot!’ i cried. ‘you are making my head spin.’

‘no, no, my friend. we are only considering possibilities. it is like trying on the clothes. does this fit! no, it wrinkles on the shoulder? this one? yes, that is better – but not quite large enough. this other one is too small. so on and so on – until we reach the perfect fit – the truth.’

‘who do you suspect of such a fiendish plot?’ i asked.

‘ah! that is too early to say. one must go into the question of who has a motive for wishing lord edgware dead. there is, of course, the nephew who inherits. a little obvious that, perhaps. and then in spite of miss carroll’s dogmatic pronouncement, there is the question of enemies. lord edgware struck me as a man who very easily might make enemies.’

‘yes,’ i agreed. ‘that is so.’

‘whoever it was must have fancied himself pretty safe. remember, hastings, but for her change of mind at the last minute, jane wilkinson would have had no alibi. she might have been in her room at the savoy, and it would have been difficult to prove it. she would have been arrested, tried – probably hanged.’

i shivered.

‘but there is one thing that puzzles me,’ went on poirot. ‘the desire to incriminate her is clear – but what then of the telephone call? why did someone ring her up at chiswick and, once satisfied of her presence there, immediately ring off. it looks, does it not, as if someone wanted to be sure of her presence there before proceeding to – what? that was at nine-thirty, almost certainly before the murder. the intention then seems – there is no other word for it – beneficent. it cannot be the murderer who rings up – the murderer has laid all his plans to incriminate jane. who, then, was it? it looks as though we have here two entirely different sets of circumstances.’

i shook my head, utterly fogged.

‘it might be just a coincidence,’ i suggested.

‘no, no, everything cannot be a coincidence. six months ago, a letter was suppressed. why? there are too many things here unexplained. there must be some reason linking them together.’

he sighed. presently he went on:

‘that story that bryan martin came to tell us –’

‘surely, poirot, that has got no connection with this business.’

‘you are blind, hastings, blind and wilfully obtuse. do you not see that the whole thing makes a pattern? a pattern confused at present but which will gradually become clear . . .’

i felt poirot was being over-optimistic. i did not feel that anything would ever become clear. my brain was frankly reeling.

‘it’s no good,’ i said suddenly. ‘i can’t believe it of carlotta adams. she seemed such a – well, such a thoroughly nice girl.’

yet, even as i spoke, i remembered poirot’s words about love of money. love of money – was that at the root of the seemingly incomprehensible? i felt that poirot had been inspired that night. he had seen jane in danger – the result of the strange egotistical temperament. he had seen carlotta led astray by avarice.

‘i do not think she committed the murder, hastings. she is too cool and level-headed for that. possibly she was not even told that murder would be done. she may have been used innocently. but then –’

he broke off, frowning.

‘even so, she’s an accessory after the fact now. i mean, she will see the news today. she will realize –’

a hoarse sound broke from poirot.

‘quick, hastings. quick! i have been blind – imbecile. a taxi. at once.’

i stared at him.

he waved his arms.

‘a taxi – at once.’

one was passing. he hailed it and we jumped in.

‘do you know her address?’

‘carlotta adams, do you mean?’

‘mais oui, mais oui. quickly, hastings, quickly. every minute is of value. do you not see?’

‘no,’ i said. ‘i don’t.’

poirot swore under his breath.

‘the telephone book? no, she would not be in it. the theatre.’

at the theatre they were not disposed to give carlotta’s address, but poirot managed it. it was a flat in a block of mansions near sloane square. we drove there, poirot in a fever of impatience.

‘if i am not too late, hastings. if i am not too late.’

‘what is all this haste? i don’t understand. what does it mean?’

‘it means that i have been slow. terribly slow to realize the obvious. ah! mon dieu, if only we may be in time.’

第八章 几种可能性

贾普不得不和我们分路而走了。波洛和我转入摄政王公园，来到一个僻静处，找了一个长椅坐下来。

“我现在明白你嘴上叼着的玫瑰了。”我笑着说，“那时我还以为你有毛病呢。”

他没有笑，只是点了点头。

“黑斯廷斯，你瞧，那个女秘书是个危险的证人。她之所以危险，是因为她的证词不准确。你注意到，她曾很肯定地说她看到了来访者的面孔吗？那时我还想是可能的，如果从书房里走出来一—是的，不是走进书房。所以我就让你试验一下，结果证实了我想的，然后我就给她设了个套儿，她就立刻改变了立场。”

“但是她的想法很难改变的。”我争辩道，“况且声音和走路姿势也是不容易认错的。”

“不然，不然。”

“波洛，为什么？我认为声音和走路姿势是一个人最重要的特征。”

“这个，我赞成。因此它们也是最容易伪造的。”

“你认为——”

“你回想一下前几天的事。记得”一天晚上，们坐在戏院里——”

“卡洛塔·亚当斯？啊！她那时真是个天才。”

“一个有名的人物是不难模仿的。当然我同意，她有不寻常的天赋。我认为没有舞台灯光，不用从远处看，她也能模仿得惟妙惟肖。”

我脑中突然出现一个念头。

“波洛”，我喊道，“你不会以为一—不，那样就太巧合了。”

“黑斯廷斯，这要看你怎样看了。从某个角度看，这绝非巧合。”

“但卡洛塔·亚当斯为什么要杀埃奇韦尔男爵呢？她甚至还不认识他。”

“你怎么知道她不认识他？黑斯廷斯。不要妄做假定。他们之间可能有某种联系，只是我们不知道而已。但这只是我的假想。”

“那么你有一种假想了。”

“是的，从一开始我就觉得卡洛塔·亚当斯可能涉及到这件事。”

“但是，波洛——”

“等一下，黑斯廷斯。先让我把一些事实联系起来给你看。埃奇韦尔夫人毫无保留地谈论她与丈夫的关系，甚至说到要杀掉他，不仅仅是你我听到的。一个侍者听到过，她的仆人可能听到过好多次了，布赖恩·马丁也听到过，还有卡洛塔·亚当斯本人也听到过。这些人再把这话讲给别人。就在那天晚上。卡洛塔·亚当斯把简扮演得惟妙惟肖，大受好评。谁有杀害埃奇韦尔男爵的动机呢？他的妻子。

“现在假设有另外一个人想干掉埃奇韦尔男爵。那这里正好有一个替罪羊随手可用。那天，简·威尔金森说她头很痛，想在家静静地休息一下时——杀人计划就开始了。

“埃奇韦尔夫人被人看见进了男爵公馆的门。于是，有人看到了。她竟然自己通告身份。啊！这实在太过分了。这让谁看了都会疑心的。

“另外，还有一点——我承认是很微不足道的一点。昨晚来的女士穿黑色外套。但是简·威尔金森从不穿黯色衣服。我们亲耳听她这样说的。那么我们可以假定昨晚来男爵府的那位女士不是简·威尔金森——是有人冒充简·威尔金森。是那个女人杀的埃奇韦尔男爵吗？

“有没有第三个人进了房子，杀死埃奇韦尔男爵呢？如果有，那个人是在假定的埃奇韦尔夫人来访之前，还是之后进来的呢？如果是之后，那么那位来访女士对埃奇韦尔男爵说了些什么？她如何解释自己的来访？她可以骗过管家，因为他不认识她，她也可以骗过女秘书，因为女秘书没有从近处看她；但她不可能骗过男爵。或者房见里已是一具尸体？在九点到十点间，在她进来之间，男爵已经被杀了吗？”

“波洛，别说了。”我叫道，“你说得我头都大了。”

“别，别。我的朋友。我们只是在考虑几种可能性。就像试衣服一样。这件合适吗？不合适，肩部皱了点？那么这一件呢？好，好多了——但还不够大。这件太小了。一件一件地来，直到我们找到最合适的一件，也就是最终找出事实真相。”

“你怀疑是谁想出这样狠毒的计划？”我问他。

“啊！现在说还太早。我们必须研究一下还有谁有动机希望埃奇韦尔男爵死去。当然有一个，就是他的侄子，继承人。也许，这有些太显而易见了。另外，虽然埃奇韦尔夫人声称要杀他。我们还要考虑他有没有敌人。给我的感觉是埃奇韦尔男爵这个人很容易树敌。”

“是的，”我赞同道，“是这样的。”

“不论是谁，他一定觉得自己相当安全。记着这一点，黑斯廷斯，要不是简·威尔金森在最后一刻改变了主意，她将无法证明自己不在现场。她可能呆在萨伏依饭店的房间里，但这是很难证实的。她就可能被捕，被审讯——很可能被绞死。”

我打了一个冷颤。

“但是，有一件事我始终不明白。”波洛继续说道，“有人要加罪于她一这是很明显的。但是那个电话又是怎么回事呢？为什么有人打电话到齐西克找她呢？而且确定她在后、又立刻把电话挂断了。看起来，是不是有人想在下手之前确定一下她在那个晚会上？那是在九点三十分。凶杀发生之前。那么，目的似乎是——没有其它的词可用了——善意的。不可能是凶手打的电话——因为他已经计划好一切，要栽赃于简。那么，是谁呢？我们似乎可以猜出两种完全不同的情况。”

我摇着头，如在雾中。

“也许只是巧合。”我提醒道。

“不会的，不会的。不能事事都是巧合。六个月前，有一封信被扣了，为什么？这里还有很多事情得不到解释。其中一定有联系起来的因素。”

他叹了一口气。然后马上接着说道，

“布赖恩·马丁和我们讲的——”

“波洛，那和这事一定没关系的。”

“黑斯廷斯，你太盲目了。盲目而且顽固不化。你难道看不出整个的都是编排好的把戏吗？目前我们还不知道他们要什么花样，但逐渐地，我们会知道的。”

我觉得波洛太乐观了。我可不觉得事情会水落石出。我的脑子实际上已经转不过来了。

“没有用的。”我突然说道，“我不相信卡洛塔·亚当斯会做这种事。她是这样一个——这样一个好女子。”，

尽管我嘴上这样说着，心里却想着波洛说过贪钱的话。贪钱——难道这就是现在这一切看起来不可思议的事情的根源吗？我觉得波洛那天晚上极有灵感。他已经预见到简处于危境之中——因为她那种特殊的、以自我为中心的个性。他也预见到卡洛塔因贪婪而误入歧途。

“我不认为是她杀的人，黑斯廷斯。她很冷静，稳健，不

会做那种事。很可能她还不知道有人被杀了。她一定是被利用了，而自己还不知道呢。但是。那么——”

他突然停下不说话了，眉头皱着。

“就是这样，她也是从犯了。我是说，她会看到今天的报纸。她就会意识到——”

波洛突然发出沙哑的喊声。

“快！黑斯廷斯。快！我太愚味了——白痴一样。快叫出租车！快！”

我目瞪口呆地盯着他。

他挥手拦车。“出租车——快！”

有一辆出租车驶过来。他叫住了车，我们立刻跳上去。

“你知道她的地址吗？”

“你是说卡洛塔·亚当斯？”

“是的，是的。快，黑斯廷斯，快。每一分钟都很重要。你明白吗？”

“不明白，”我说道，“我不明白。”

波洛低声地骂了一句。

“查电话簿吧。不行，她的地址不在电话簿里。到剧院去。”

在剧院里，人家不肯告诉我们卡洛塔的地址，但最终波洛还是问到了。她住在斯隆：“场一幢大厦中的一间套房里。

“但愿我没来迟，黑斯廷斯，但愿我没来迟。”

“为什么说会来迟？我不明白。这是什么意思。”

“就是说。我已经迟了。明明白白的东西”却这么晚才意识到。啊！我的朋友，愿我们来得及。”