chapter 30 the story

he looked round at us.

‘come, my friends,’ he said gently. ‘let me tell you the real story of what happened that night.

‘carlotta adams leaves her flat at seven o’clock. from there she takes a taxi and goes to the piccadilly palace.’

‘what?’ i exclaimed.

‘to the piccadilly palace. earlier in the day she has taken a room there as mrs van dusen. she wears a pair of strong glasses which, as we all know, alters the appearance very much. as i say, she books a room, saying that she is going by the night boat train to liverpool and that her luggage has gone on. at eight-thirty lady edgware arrives and asks for her. she is shown up to her room. there they change clothes. dressed in a fair wig, a white taffeta dress and ermine wrap, carlotta adams and not jane wilkinson leaves the hotel and drives to chiswick. yes, yes, it is perfectly possible. i have been to the house in the evening. the dinner table is lit only with candles, the lamps are dim, no one there knows jane wilkinson very well. there is the golden hair, the well-known husky voice and manner. oh! it was quite easy. and if it had not been successful – if someone had spotted the fake – well, that was all arranged for, too. lady edgware, wearing a dark wig, carlotta’s clothes and the pince-nez, pays her bill, has her suitcase put on a taxi and drives to euston. she removes the dark wig in the lavatory, she puts her suitcase in the cloak-room. before going to regent gate she rings up chiswick and asks to speak to lady edgware. this has been arranged between them. if all has gone well and carlotta has not been spotted, she is to answer simply – “that’s right.” i need hardly say miss adams was ignorant of the real reason for the telephone call. having heard the words, lady edgware goes ahead. she goes to regent gate, asks for lord edgware, proclaims her individuality, and goes into the library. and commits the first murder. of course she did not know that miss carroll was watching her from above. as far as she is aware it will be the butler’s word (and he has never seen her, remember – and also she wears a hat which shields her from his gaze) against the word of twelve well-known and distinguished people.

‘she leaves the house, returns to euston, changes from fair to dark again and picks up her suitcase. she has now to put in time till carlotta adams returns from chiswick. they have agreed as to the approximate time. she goes to the corner house, occasionally glancing at her watch, for the time passes slowly. then she prepares for the second murder. she puts the small gold box she has ordered from paris in carlotta adams’ bag which, of course, she is carrying. perhaps it is then she finds the letter. perhaps it was earlier. anyway, as soon as she sees the address, she scents danger. she opens it – her suspicions are justified.

‘perhaps her first impulse is to destroy the letter altogether. but she soon sees a better way. by removing one page of the letter it reads like an accusation of ronald marsh – a man who had a powerful motive for the crime. even if ronald has an alibi, it will still read as an accusation of a man so long as she tears off the s of “she”. so that is what she does. then replaces it in the envelope and the envelope back in the bag.

‘then, the time having come, she walks in the direction of the savoy hotel. as soon as she sees the car pass, with (presumably) herself inside, she quickens her pace, enters at the same time and goes straight up the stairs. she is inconspicuously dressed in black. it is unlikely that anyone will notice her.

‘upstairs she goes to her room. carlotta adams has just reached it. the maid has been told to go to bed – a perfectly usual proceeding. they again change clothes and then, i fancy, lady edgware suggests a little drink – to celebrate. in that drink is the veronal. she congratulates her victim, says she will send her the cheque tomorrow. carlotta adams goes home. she is very sleepy – tries to ring up a friend – possibly m. martin or captain marsh, for both have victoria numbers – but gives it up. she is too tried. the veronal is beginning to work. she goes to bed – and she never wakes again. the second crime has been carried through successfully.

‘now for the third crime. it is at a luncheon party. sir montagu corner makes a reference to a conversation he had with lady edgware on the night of the murder. that is easy. but nemesis comes upon her later. there is a mention of the “judgement of paris” and she takes paris to be the only paris she knows – the paris of fashion and frills!

‘but opposite her is sitting a young man who was at the dinner at chiswick – a young man who heard the lady edgware of that night discussing homer and greek civilization generally. carlotta adams was a cultured well-read girl. he cannot understand. he stares. and suddenly it comes to him. this is not the same woman. he is terribly upset. he is not sure of himself. he must have advice. he thinks of me. he speaks to hastings.

‘but the lady overheard him. she is quick enough and shrewd enough to realize that in some way or other she has given herself away. she heard hastings say that i will not be in till five. at twenty to five she goes to ross’s maisonette. he opens the door, is very surprised to see her, but it does not occur to him to be afraid. a strong able-bodied young man is not afraid of a woman. he goes with her into the dining-room. she pours out some story to him. perhaps she goes on her knees and flings her arms around his neck. and then, swift and sure, she strikes – as before. perhaps he gives a choked cry – no more. he, too, is silenced.’

there was a silence. then japp spoke hoarsely.

‘you mean – she did it all the time?’

poirot bowed his head.

‘but why, if he was willing to give her a divorce?’

‘because the duke of merton is a pillar of the anglo-catholics. because he would not dream of marrying a woman whose husband was alive. he is a young man of fanatical principles. as a widow, she was pretty certain to be able to marry him. doubtless she had tentatively suggested divorce, but he had not risen to the bait.’

‘then why send you to lord edgware?’

‘ah! parbleu! ’ poirot, from having been very correct and english, suddenly relapsed into his natural self. ‘to pull the cotton-wool over my eyes! to make me a witness to the fact that there was not motive for the murder! yes, she dared to make me, hercule poirot, her cat’s-paw! ma foi, she succeeded, too! oh, that strange brain, childlike and cunning. she can act! how well she acted surprise at being told of the letter her husband had written her which she swore she had never received. did she feel the slightest pang of remorse for any of her three crimes? i can swear she did not.’

‘i told you what she was like,’ cried bryan martin. ‘i told you. i knew she was going to kill him. i felt it. and i was afraid that somehow she’d get away with it. she’s clever – devilish clever in a kind of half-wit way. and i wanted her to suffer. i wanted her to suffer. i wanted her to hang for it.’

his face was scarlet. his voice came thickly.

‘now, now,’ said jenny driver.

she spoke exactly as i have heard nursemaids speak to a small child in the park.

‘and the gold box with the initial d, and paris november inside?’ said japp.

‘she ordered that by letter and sent ellis, her maid, to fetch it. naturally ellis just called for a parcel which she paid for. she had no idea what was inside. also, lady edgware borrowed a pair of ellis’s pince-nez to help in the van dusen impersonation. she forgot about them and left them in carlotta adams’ handbag – her one mistake.

‘oh! it came to me – it all came to me as i stood in the middle of the road. it was not polite what the bus driver said to me, but it was worth it. ellis! ellis’s pince-nez. ellis calling for the box in paris. ellis and therefore jane wilkinson. very possibly she borrowed something else from ellis besides des pince-nez.’

‘what?’

‘a corn knife . . .’

i shivered.

there was a momentary silence.

then japp said with a strange reliance in the answer.

‘m. poirot. is this true?’

‘it is true, mon ami.’

then bryan martin spoke, and his words were, i thought, very typical of him.

‘but look here,’ he said peevishly. ‘what about me? why bring me here today? why nearly frighten me to death?’

poirot looked at him coldly.

‘to punish you, monsieur, for being impertinent! how dare you try and make the games with hercule poirot?’

and then jenny driver laughed. she laughed and laughed.

‘serve you right, bryan,’ she said at last.

she turned to poirot.

‘i’m glad as i can be that it wasn’t ronnie marsh,’ she said. ‘i’ve always liked him. and i’m glad, glad, glad that carlotta’s death won’t go unpunished! as for bryan here, well i’ll tell you something, m. poirot. i’m going to marry him. and if he thinks he can get divorced and married every two or three years in the approved hollywood fashion, well, he never made a bigger mistake in his life. he’s going to marry and stick to me.’

poirot looked at her – looked at her determined chin – and at her flaming hair.

‘it is very possible, mademoiselle,’ he said, ‘that that may be so. i said that you had sufficient nerve for anything. even to marry a film “star”.’

第三十章 案件经过

他四下望了望我们。

“来，我的朋友们，”，温和地说。“让我来给各位讲一下那天晚上事情的经过。

“卡洛塔在七点钟离开她的住所。她从那儿坐出租车去皮卡迪利大饭店。”

“什么！”我惊叫道。

“去了皮卡迪利大饭店。她曾在当天早些时候在那里以凡。范。杜森夫人的名义定了一个房间。她带着一副高度数的眼镜，们知道，会令她外表大大改观。正如我所说，定了一个房间，她准备搭夜班船去利物涌，的行李已经顶先上船了。在八点三十分的时候，奇韦尔夫人来找她。她被领到卡洛塔的房间。在那里，们调换了衣服。然后就有一个戴金色假发、穿一身皱纹绸衣服、披着貂皮披肩的女士离开了饭店，车去齐西克。那个人不是简·威尔金森。而是卡洛塔·亚当斯。是的。是的，是完全可能的。载在傍晚去过那间房子，桌上只有蜡烛，线很暗，有筒。威尔金森的熟人。那么金黄色的头发，名的沙哑的音调以及举止。噢！这简直太容易了。如果不成功——如果有人识别出是假扮的——不要紧，都先有安排的。埃奇韦尔夫人戴着黑色假发，着卡洛塔的衣服，着夹鼻眼镜，了旅馆费用，后将提包放入出租车中去尤斯顿车站。她在卫生间中取下假发。再将她的提包放在衣帽间。在去摄政门前，打电话到齐西克。找埃奇韦尔夫人。这是她们协商好的。如果一切顺利。卡洛塔没有被认出来。她只需简单地回答——‘对！’我用不着说了，当斯小姐对打电话的真实原因并不知情的。听到回答以后，奇韦尔夫人行动了。她去摄政门，求见埃奇韦尔男爵，明了自己的身份，入书房，下了第一个人命案。当然她并不知道卡罗尔小姐正从上面望着她。就她所知，有管家一个人（他从未见过她，且她还戴着一顶帽子，他看不清她）作证，另外十二位有名声、有地位的人可以证明她不在现场。

“她离开那所房子，到尤斯顿，假发戴上，将提包取出来。不过，在时间还早，还需要消磨时间，待卡洛塔·亚当斯由齐西克回来。她们已经约定见面。她来到科纳餐馆。不时地看着表，为时间过得很慢。于是她又开始准备第二个人命案。她将从巴黎定做的金匣子放在卡洛塔·亚当斯的手袋里，当时正拿着那个手袋。大概就在那个时候，发现了那封信。或者是更早的时候。不管怎么说，看到那地址。她就嗅出有危险。她打开了信——她的猜测被证实了。

“也许她的第一个冲动是将信全部毁了。但她很快又找到了一个更好的办法。将信中的一页拿掉，纳德。马什就成了嫌疑犯——本来他就有很大的杀人动机。就是罗纳德有不在现场的证据，怀疑的对象也应是个男士，为她把‘她’字的‘s’撕去了。这就是她所做的。然后，又将信放回信封，信封放回手袋。

“然后，约定的时间要到了，就朝萨伏依饭店方向走。她一看见假扮自己的人开着她的车过去了，赶紧加快步子，时走人大门，直走上楼去。她穿着不显眼的黑衣服，以没人会注意她。

“她上楼走人自已的套房。卡洛塔·亚当斯也刚刚到。和平常一样，已经交待女仆先去睡。她们在那里换回各自的衣服。我猜想，奇韦尔夫人建议喝点酒——庆祝一下。而酒里放了佛罗那。她向卡洛塔祝贺，第二天给她发过去支票。卡洛塔·亚当斯就回了家。她很困——想给一个朋友打电话——可能是马丁先生或是马什先生，为他俩都是维多利亚区的电话号码——但最后放弃了这个念头。佛罗那开始发作了。她上床睡觉——就再也没醒过来。第二个凶杀案顺利完成了。

“现在轮到第三个凶杀案了。在午宴上，塔古。科纳爵士提到过在埃奇韦尔被杀的那晚的宴会上，曾与埃奇韦尔夫人谈过的话。那是很容易的。但复仇女神还是找上门来。当提出‘帕里斯的评判’时，奇韦尔夫人把帕里斯当成了她所惟一知道的巴黎——时髦刺激的地方。

“但是在她对面坐着一个也参加了齐西克晚宴的人——他听见过埃奇韦尔夫人在那晚与主人谈论希腊文明。卡洛塔·亚当斯是一位有教养，过许多书的女子。所以他不明白了，吃惊。突然他意识到，不是同一个女人。他非常吃惊。他自己并不确信，需要向人请教，是他想到了我。他对黑斯廷斯说了。

“但是埃奇韦尔夫人听到了。她很机敏，上意识到自己有什么地方露了马脚。她听黑斯廷斯说我到五点才能回来。在四点四十分的时候，去了罗斯的寓所。他打开门，惊讶地发现是她，他并没有害怕。他与她一起去了餐厅。她向他编故事，者她跪下，者让他拥抱她，在这时候，迅速、利落地如以往一样——杀了他。他也许哽淹地叫了一声，后就再也没发出声响。他也被——灭口了。”

一片寂静。然后贾普用沙哑的声音说话了。

“你是说——都是她干的？”

波洛点了点头。

“但是为什么？如果他己经答应和她离婚了。”

“因为默顿公爵是英国国教高教会派的头领人物。他绝对不会同一位丈夫仍然健在的女士结婚。他是一个相当讲究规矩的人。而做了寡妇，就有把握嫁他了。毫无疑问，曾试探地说要离婚，默顿公爵并未买账。”

“那为什么要让你去劝说埃奇韦尔男爵呢？”

“啊！必然了！”波洛一直是很准确的。很有英国味地表述着自己，在又原形毕露了，她想蒙骗我。她想让我证明她不可能有刺杀她丈夫的动机。是的。她竟敢利用我波洛！真的，也真成功了！唤，个奇怪的脑袋！那个幼稚而又狡猾的脑袋！她会演戏的！当我告诉她，的丈夫已经写信给她了。她发誓说从未接到。那种惊讶的表倩真逼真。她连杀了三个人，感到一丝后梅吗？我可以赌咒，不会的。”

“我告诉过你她是什么样子吗？”布赖恩·马丁叫道，我告诉过你了。我知道她要杀他。我早就感觉到了。我担心她会想办法摆脱一切的。她很聪明——有几分傻气的聪明。我早就想看她受苦。我早就想看她受苦了。我想看她被绞死。”

他的脸发红，音变得很浊重。

“好啦，啦。”詹尼。德赖弗说。

她说话的样子就像公园里保姆在对孩子讲话。

“还有带首写字母d的金匣子，而‘十一月巴黎’的字样怎么回事？”普问道。

“她用通信方式定做的，后派埃利斯。她的女仆，取它。很自然，利斯只是去取一包己付过账的东西，并不知道里面有什么。另外，奇韦尔夫人还借用埃利斯的夹鼻眼镜，便化装成凡。范。杜森太太时用。但她后来忘记拿回来了，放在卡洛塔·亚当斯的手袋里，这也是她的一个失误。

“啊！这一切都是我站在路中央时，脑中突然想到的。公共汽车司机骂我很不客气，但这值得。埃利斯！埃利斯的夹鼻眼镜。埃利斯去取巴黎的匣子。埃利斯和筒。威尔金森。除了那副夹鼻眼镜以外，她还可能从埃利斯处借用了别的东西。”

“什么？”

“一把小刀子。”

我打了一个寒战。

大家一时沉静下来。

然后，贾普很奇怪地期望着答案似的问道

“波洛先生，是真的吗？”

“是真的，我的朋友。”

这时，布赖恩·马丁又开始说话了。我以为他所说的话，全具有他的个性。

“但是。听我说，”他脾气乖张地说，“我是怎么回事？今天为什么把我叫到这来？差一点把我吓死了。”

波洛冷冷地望着他。

“要惩罚你，先生，因为你太无礼了。你怎么敢和赫尔克里·波洛开玩笑。”

这时，詹尼。德赖弗小姐大笑起来。她不停地笑啊，笑啊。

“布赖恩，你活该。”她最后说。

她转向波洛。

“我很高兴不是罗尼。马什干的。”她说，“我一直喜欢他。我很高兴。很高兴，卡洛塔不能白死。至于布赖恩呢，我要告诉您点事，波洛先生。我要嫁给他。如果他认为，他可以像好莱坞一般的电影演员们一样，可以随便离婚，每两三年再结一次婚，那他可就错了。他要娶了我，与我终生厮守在一起。”

波洛望着她一望着她那坚定的下巴。和她那火似的红发。

“小姐，这是很可能的。”他说，“会这样的。我曾说过，你有足够的胆量做任何事，甚至包括嫁给一个电影明星。”