chapter 16 mainly discussion

when we got home we found japp waiting for us.

‘thought i’d just call round and have a chat with you before turning in, m. poirot,’ he said cheerfully.

‘eh bien, my good friend, how goes it?’

‘well, it doesn’t go any too well. and that’s a fact.’

he looked distressed.

‘got any help for me, m. poirot?’

‘i have one or two little ideas that i should like to present to you,’ said poirot.

‘you and your ideas! in some ways, you know, you’re a caution. not that i don’t want to hear them. i do. there’s some good stuff in that funny-shaped head of yours.’

poirot acknowledged the compliment somewhat coldly.

‘have you any ideas about the double lady problem – that’s what i want to know? eh, m. poirot? what about it? who was she?’

‘that is exactly what i wish to talk to you about.’

he asked japp if he had ever heard of carlotta adams.

‘i’ve heard the name. for the moment i can’t just place it.’

poirot explained.

‘her! does imitations does she? now what made you fix on her? what have you got to go on?’

poirot related the steps we had taken and the conclusion we had drawn.

‘by the lord, it looks as though you were right. clothes, hat, gloves, etc., and the fair wig. yes, it must be. i will say – you’re the goods, m. poirot. smart work, that! not that i think there’s anything to show she was put out of the way. that seems a bit far fetched. i don’t quite see eye to eye with you there. your theory is a bit fantastical for me. i’ve more experience than you have. i don’t believe in this villain-behind-the-scenes motif. carlotta adams was the woman all right, but i should put it one of two ways. she went there for purposes of her own – blackmail, maybe, since she hinted she was going to get money. they had a bit of a dispute. he turned nasty, she turned nasty, and she finished him off. and i should say that when she got home she went all to pieces. she hadn’t meant murder. it’s my belief she took an overdose on purpose as the easiest way out.’

‘you think that covers all the facts?’

‘well, naturally there are a lot of things we don’t know yet. it’s a good working hypothesis to go on with. the other explanation is that the hoax and the murder had nothing to do with each other. it’s just a damned queer coincidence.’

poirot did not agree, i knew. but he merely said noncommittally:

‘mais oui, c’est possible.’

‘or, look here, how’s this? the hoax is innocent enough. someone gets to hear of it and thinks it will suit their purpose jolly well. that’s not a bad idea?’ he paused and went on: ‘but personally i prefer idea no. 1. what the link was between his lordship and the girl we’ll find out somehow or other.’

poirot told him of the letter to america posted by the maid, and japp agreed that that might possibly be of great assistance.

‘i’ll get on to that at once,’ he said, making a note of it in his little book.

‘i’m the more in favour of the lady being the killer because i can’t find anyone else,’ he said, as he put the book away. ‘captain marsh, now, his lordship as now is. he’s got a motive sticking out a yard. a bad record too. hard up and none too scrupulous over money. what’s more he had a row with his uncle yesterday morning. he told me that himself as a matter of fact – which rather takes the taste out of it. yes, he’d be a likely customer. but he’s got an alibi for yesterday evening. he was at the opera with the dortheimers. rich jews. grosvenor square. i’ve looked into that and it’s all right. he dined with them, went to the opera and they went on to supper at sobranis. so that’s that.’

‘and mademoiselle?’

‘the daughter, you mean? she was out of the house too. dined with some people called carthew west. they took her to the opera and saw her home afterwards. quarter to twelve she got in. that disposes of her. the secretary woman seems all right – very efficient decent woman. then there’s the butler. i can’t say i take to him much. it isn’t natural for a man to have good looks like that. there’s something fishy about him – and something odd about the way he came to enter lord edgware’s service. yes, i’m checking up on him all right. i can’t see any motive for murder, though.’

‘no fresh facts have come to light?’

‘yes, one or two. it’s hard to say whether they mean anything or not. for one thing, lord edgware’s key’s missing.’

‘the key to the front door?’

‘yes.’

‘that is interesting, certainly.’

‘as i say, it may mean a good deal or nothing at all. depends. what is a bit more significant to my mind is this. lord edgware cashed a cheque yesterday – not a particularly large one – a hundred pounds as a matter of fact. he took the money in french notes – that’s why he cashed the cheque, because of his journey to paris today. well, that money has disappeared.’

‘who told you of this?’

‘miss carroll. she cashed the cheque and obtained the money. she mentioned it to me, and then i found that it had gone.’

‘where was it yesterday evening?’

‘miss carroll doesn’t know. she gave it to lord edgware about half-past three. it was in a bank envelope. he was in the library at the time. he took it and laid it down beside him on a table.’

‘that certainly gives one to think. it is a complication.’

‘or a simplification. by the way – the wound.’

‘yes?’

‘the doctor says it wasn’t made by an ordinary penknife. something of that kind but a different shaped blade. and it was amazingly sharp.’

‘not a razor?’

‘no, no. much smaller.’

poirot frowned thoughtfully.

‘the new lord edgware seems to be fond of his joke,’ remarked japp. ‘he seems to think it amusing to be suspected of murder. he made sure we did suspect him of murder, too. looks a bit queer, that.’

‘it might be merely intelligence.’

‘more likely guilty conscience. his uncle’s death came very pat for him. he’s moved into the house, by the way.’

‘where was he living before?’

‘martin street, st george’s road. not a very swell neighbourhood.’

‘you might make a note of that, hastings.’

i did so, though i wondered a little. if ronald had moved to regent gate, his former address was hardly likely to be needed.

‘i think the adams girl did it,’ said japp, rising. ‘a fine bit of work on your part, m. poirot, to tumble to that. but there, of course, you go about to theatres and amusing yourself. things strike you that don’t get the chance of striking me. pity there’s no apparent motive, but a little spade work will soon bring it to light, i expect.’

‘there is one person with a motive to whom you have given no attention,’ remarked poirot.

‘who’s that, sir?’

‘the gentleman who is reputed to have wanted to marry lord edgware’s wife. i mean the duke of merton.’

‘yes. i suppose there is a motive.’ japp laughed. ‘but a gentleman in his position isn’t likely to do murder. and anyway, he’s over in paris.’

‘you do not regard him as a serious suspect, then?’

‘well, m. poirot, do you?’

and laughing at the absurdity of the idea, japp left us.

第十六章 讨论

我们回到家以后，发现贾普正等着我们。

“我想来和你们聊聊再回去，波洛先生。”他兴致很高地说。

“那么，我的朋友，案子进展如何？”

“晤，没有很大进展。这是事实。”

他看起来很失望的样子。

“波洛先生，能帮我什么忙吗？”

“我有一两个想法，想与你谈谈。”波洛说。

“你的想法！你知道，从某些方面讲你是个让人刮目相看的人。不是我不想听，我是很想听。你的奇形怪状的脑袋里是有些好的想法。”

波洛很冷谈地对这恭维表示接受了。

“关于那个双重案件，你有何高见？这是我很想知道的。啊！波洛先生，怎么回事？她是谁？”

“这正是我想和你说的。”

他同贾普是否听过卡洛塔·亚当斯这个名字。

“我听说过。不过目前我记不起来了。”

波洛解释一下。

“是她啊！她专门模仿别人，是不是？那么，你怎么会肯定是她？有什么根据让你这样想呢？”

波洛将他调查的几个步骤讲给他听，并将自己的结论告诉他。

“天哪！看起来好像你是对的。衣服、帽子、手套等等，还有那金黄色的假发。是的，想必是这样。波洛先生，你真有本事！调查得真不错！我并不认为可以证明有人要杀她灭口。好像有点牵强附会。在这一点上，我和你的想法不一致。你的理论有点过于想象丰富了。我的经验比你多。我不相信有幕后坏蛋操纵的说法。不错，卡洛塔是凶手。但是我认为有两种可能。她去那里是有自己的目的的一也许是敲诈，因为，她曾经暗示她要赚一笔钱。他们可能争吵起来。他发怒了，她也气了，于是，她就把他杀了。我认为，她回家的时候就完全崩溃了。因为她本没打算杀人的，所以我认为她是故意吃下过量的佛罗那，可以很容易地解脱。”

“你认为这就可以解释所有的事实吗？”

“晤。当然还有许多事情我们还不知道。不过，这是一个很好的假定，可以以此为依据。另外一个解释就是捉弄人和凶杀根本是无关的事，只是他妈的巧合而已。”

波洛不同意这种观点，我是知道的。但是他只是含糊地说，

“是的，这是可能的。”

“或者，你听我说，看看这样解释如何？就捉弄而言，它的动机只是好玩，并无犯罪企图。但是有人偶然听到了，认为这正符合他们的目的。这不是一个坏想法吧？”他顿了一下，又接着说，“但是，就我个人而言，我宁可采纳第一种说法。至于男爵先生与那女孩子之间有何关系，我们总可以设法调查出来的。”

波洛将女仆寄出的那封写到美国的信的事说给贾普听，他也认为这可能对破案大有帮助。

“我马上着手调查这个。”贾普说着，在他的小本子上记了下来。

“我比较赞成那女子就是凶手的说法，因为我找不到另外可以怀疑的人。”他说着，将小本子收好，说，“至于说马什上尉，现在的男爵，他是有杀人动机的，这一点很清楚。同时，他以前也有不良记录。他穷得要命，而且对于金钱很马虎。何况他昨天还和他叔叔吵了一架。这是他亲口告诉我的。我觉得这就显得相当卑鄙了。是的，他可能是凶手。但是，他可以挺出当时不在现场的证据，那一天晚上，他与多赛默一家人在歌剧院里。他们是很富有的犹太人。在格歹夫诺：“场。我调查过了，这是真的。他同他们一块去吃饭，然后去听歌剧。散场之后，他们又去索布兰尼斯饭店吃饭。情形就是这样的。”

“那位小姐呢？”

“你是指男爵女儿吗？她那天晚上也不在家。她同卡休。韦斯特一家人出去吃饭。他们带她去歌剧院，散场以后送她回家。她进门的时候是十二点差一刻。这么说来，她可以脱开干系了。那个女秘书似乎没有不安——她是个很能干、相当不错的女人。还有那个管家。我也不敢说很喜欢他。一个男子很漂亮是很反常的。这个人靠不住。他受雇于埃奇韦尔公馆的情形也很奇怪。是的，我正在调查他的一切。不过，我还看不出他有什么杀人动机。”

“你还有什么新发现吗？”

“有的，一两件。很难说是否能证明什么。有一件事是，埃奇韦尔男爵的钥匙丢了。”

“大门的钥匙吗？”

“是的。”

“这的确是很有趣的。”

“我说过的，也许会有意义，也许根本不重要。要看情形了。我认为比较重要的事是这一个。埃奇韦尔男爵昨天兑现了一张支票——并不是一笔很大的款项——其实只有一百英镑。他兑换成法郎现钞。他兑钱的原因是他准备今天去巴黎。可是，那笔款子不见了。”

“这是谁对你说的？”

“卡罗尔小姐。是她兑的支票，换的钱。她向我提起这事，我发现钱没有了。”

“咋天晚上，钱在哪儿？”

“卡罗尔小姐不知道。她在三点半钟的时候将钱给了埃奇韦尔男爵。钱是封在一个银行的封套里。那时候，他在书房。他将钱接了过去，放在身旁的桌子上。”

“这自然让人要想一想了。真是个复杂的事儿。”

“或者是筒单的事儿。顺便说一句——关于那个伤口的问题。”

“怎么？”

“医生说不是普通的刀所刺的。那种刀必定锐利惊人。”

“不是剃须刀吧？”

“不是，不是，要比剃须刀小得多。”

波洛皱眉苦思。

“新埃奇韦尔男爵似乎很爱开玩笑。”贾普说道，“我们。怀疑他是凶手。他反倒觉得很有意思。他甚至一定要我们怀疑他是凶手。看起来怪怪的。”

“这也许是聪明的手段。”

“更有可能是良心发现。他叔叔的死亡，他正有利。谈起这个，知道吗？他己经搬进来了。”

“他以前住在哪儿？”

“住在马丁街，乔治路。并不是一个很好的地区。”

“黑斯廷斯，请将这个记下来。”

我虽然有些不解，但还是记了下来。我在想，既然罗纳德已经住进了摄政门，他过去的地址似乎没有什么用处了。

“我认为是那个姓亚当斯的女孩干的。”贾普说着，站了起来，“波洛先生，你这一方面的成绩也不错，居然碰巧找到了这个线索。但是，你只注意戏院和娱乐方面的消息。那一类十是不会引起我的注意的。可惜找不出什么杀人动机，不过我相信再深一步挖掘一番，就会真相大白的。”

“还有一个人有杀人动机，但你没有注意。”波洛说道。

“先生，那是谁呢？”

“那位传说要娶埃奇韦尔男爵夫人的先生。我是指默顿公爵。”

“是的，我想他是有动机的。”贾普大笑说，“但是在那个位置上的人恐怕不可能行凶吧？而且，不管怎么说，他远在巴黎呢。”

“那么，你不把他列为怀疑对象了？”

“晤，波洛先生，你呢？”

于是，笑着这想法的荒诞，贾普告辞了。