Chapter 8 Chapter Eight Companionship

"So, Doctor Lloyd," said Miss Hellier, "do you have any strange stories to tell us?" She looked him straight in the eye, and smiled, the kind of smile that stirs passion in an audience.Jenny Hellier was once considered the most beautiful woman in London, and those in the circle who were jealous of her often said: "Jenny is not an actress, she can't act at all, you know what I mean, she just depends on her skills." Talking eyes!" These eyes were now fixed seductively on the gray-haired elderly single doctor.For nearly five years, the doctor has been at St Mary Mead, caring for the mildly mentally ill.

After an unconscious gesture, he took off his vest, which was a little tight recently, which made him feel uncomfortable.Now he was thinking hard, racking his brains.Miss Helier's words were full of confidence in him, he must not let this beauty down, right? "Tonight, I want to throw myself into a crime novel," Jenny said, as if in her sleep. "Excellent," said Colonel Bantry, the man of the house, "excellent, absolutely indescribable." Then with a good-natured soldierly laugh, "Well, Dolly?" His wife, immediately regaining her resilience in her social life (she has been busy planning a spring party), echoed enthusiastically:

"Wonderful," she said eagerly, without expression. "That's what I've been thinking too." "Really? My dear," said Miss Marple, with a twinkle in her eye. "Miss Hellier, as you know, in a place like St. Mary Mead, there are very few bizarre things like that, let alone crimes," said Lloyd. "That's wrong," said Henry Clesserling, ex-Constable of the Metropolitan Police, turning to Miss Marple, "I've heard more than once from our friend that St Mary Mead is a veritable breeder of crime. hotbed." "Oh, Sir Henry," protested Miss Marple, a blush running over her cheeks, "I never said anything like that, and the only thing I ever said was: 'I think human nature is everywhere In the same way, whether in the country or elsewhere, living in St. Mary Mead affords more opportunities for a close observation of human nature.'”

"But you haven't lived there all the time," Jenny Helier kept pointing at the doctor, "you've been to all over the world, and there must be some unusual things happening in these places!" "That's right," said Dr. Lloyd, still struggling with thought, "yes, of course... yes... ah! there it is!" He finally breathed a sigh of relief. "It was so many years ago that I almost forgot about it. It was very strange, very strange, and the coincidence that finally gave me the answer to my question was even more magical." Miss Hullier shifted her chair to come closer to him, reapplied some lipstick, and waited.The rest also stared at him with interest.

"I don't know if you have heard of it?" The doctor began his story. "These islands must be beautiful," said Jenny Hellier. "Are they in the sea to the south? Or the Mediterranean?" "I stopped by there on my way to South Africa," said the colonel. "There's a marvelous view of Mount Tedder on Tenerife at sunset." "The accident I'm going to tell about happened in Gran Canaria, not Tenerife, many years ago. My health was so bad at the time, I had to stop my practice in the UK and go overseas. To recuperate. I have a clinic in Las Palmas, a port city in Gran Canaria. I live very happily there, the climate is mild and sunny. There is also a wonderful surf swimming, You know I'm a swimmer, and I'm fascinated by seaside life, with ships from all over the world dropping anchor in ports. I walk along the jetty every morning with far more interest than any woman has in a street of hats. "

"As I said earlier, ships from all over the world stop here, sometimes they stop for hours, sometimes for a day or two. In Mitiporori, the main hotel in the city, you can see all kinds of different nationalities, Adrifts, even those who go to Tenerife, are willing to stay here for a few days before crossing the island. "My story begins at the Mitipolo Hotel. One Thursday night in January, there was a dance at the hotel. A friend and I sat at a small table and watched the dance. There were only a few Englishmen and other nationalities were dancing, but the protagonists of these dancers were Spaniards. When the band played tango, there were only five or six couples of Spaniards dancing on the dance floor. They danced very well, and we all Watching from the sidelines, envious. One woman in particular, tall, beautiful, and soft-moving, she moved with the graceful gait of a semi-domesticated female leopard, giving off some sort of danger signal. I I told my friend this idea, and he agreed with me.

"'Women like this,' he said, 'must have a history, and life doesn't pass them by.' "'Beauty itself can be dangerous,' I said. "'It's not just beauty,' he insisted, 'there's something else, look at that woman a lot, and you always feel that something's going to happen to her, or because of her. As I said , Life will never forget her, all kinds of bizarre and exciting things surround her, you will understand everything when you see her.' "He paused, then added a few words with a smile. "'Look at those two women over there. Nothing can happen to them. They came into this world just to be ordinary and safe.'

"I followed his gaze and the two women he was referring to were two tourists who had just arrived. That night, a Dutch-registered Lloyd came into port and the passengers had just arrived. "When I saw them, I knew my friend right away. Two English ladies, the sort of educated English tourists you see everywhere overseas. I estimate their age to be around forty, a beautiful , a little, just a little plump, and the other dark, a little, just a little lean. Both are well maintained, wearing a suit of unobtrusive, well-tailored tweed The suits and simple personalities make people feel that they are the kind of British women who are born with good qualities. They have nothing special about them. Like many of their sisters, under the guidance of travel guides, they want to visit them. They were blind to everything else. Wherever they went, they went to the British Library and the Church of England whenever they could. One or maybe two of them seemed to be writing something small. As my friend said, around them Nothing particularly exciting is going on, even though they seem to have traveled halfway around the world. Look at the two of them and look at the Spanish girl with soft movements and half-closed smoldering eyes, I laugh gone."

"Poor thing," said Jenny Hellier, with a sigh, "they're stupid for not making the most of themselves. That's a wonderful woman on Bond Street in Valentine, her name is Audrey Denman, have you seen her in "The Descending Stairs"? In the first act, she plays a middle school student, and she is very good, and she is actually already fifty years old. In fact, I happen to know her. It was nearly sixty years old." "Go on, please," said Mrs. Bantry to Dr. Lloyd, "a Spanish dancer with soft movements, which makes me forget my age and this fat body."

"To your disappointment," said Dr. Lloyd apologetically, "this story has nothing to do with the Spanish girl." "yes?" "Yes, events turned out to prove me and my friend wrong. Nothing exciting happened around this Spanish girl, who was married to a lawyer from the Crew Administration, and by the time I left the island , she is the mother of five children, and a fat woman." "Like that girl named Israel Peters," said Miss Marple, "who got on the stage because of her pretty legs, and played the leading role in ballets, and everybody said she was going to turn bad, and yet She married a traveling salesman and lived a normal life in peace."

"Similar incidents in the country," muttered Sir Henry. "The story I'm going to tell happens to be about those two English ladies." "It happened to them?" Miss Hellier asked in a low voice. "Yes, it happened to them both, and the day after they arrived." "Is it?" said Mrs. Bantry. "Just out of curiosity, as I was out that night, I glanced at the hotel register and found their names quickly - Miss Mary Barton and Miss Amy Durrant, of Buck Cottonwell A small ranch. I never expected to meet these two ladies again in such a short time. And in such a sad situation. "The next day I planned a picnic with some friends, and we were going to drive to another island, probably called Las Niwi, but it was so long ago that I can't remember exactly. We had lunch there, and there was a Well protected bay where we could have a swim if we wanted to. Picnic went on as planned except we started late and had to stop en route to have lunch and continue on in time for tea Headed to Dalas Nivi Island for a swim. As soon as we got to the beach, we immediately felt a great commotion. The whole village gathered at the beach. They ran towards us as soon as they saw our car. They said something to us in a hurry. Our Spanish is not very good. It took me a while to understand what they meant. "These two bewildered English women went swimming, one swam too far and felt unwell, and the other followed, trying to drag her back to the island, but was too weak, if it hadn't been for a man driving her If you go to the lifeguard in a small boat to rescue him, I'm afraid the latter will drown. "After I realized it, I immediately broke through the crowd and ran to the beach. I didn't recognize them at first. The fatter one was wearing a black stretch swimsuit and a green rubber swimming cap. She looked up When Lai looked at me anxiously, it did not arouse my memory at all. She knelt beside her friend and gave artificial respiration in a somewhat amateurish manner. When I told her that I was a doctor, she was relieved and I ordered her Hastening to the nearest farmhouse to dry myself and put on dry clothes, a woman next to me went with her. I tried my best to save the drowning woman, but to no avail, the fire of life was apparently extinguished. At last, I reluctantly gave up trying. "I entered the fisherman's hut, discreetly reporting the bad news. The survivor had put on her own clothes, and I recognized her as one of the two ladies who had arrived last night. One. She accepted the news with equanimity. She was clearly overwhelmed by the horrific event, drowning out any strong personal feelings. "'Poor Amy, poor . "'Maybe it was a cramp, can you tell me what it was like?' "'We have been swimming forward for about twenty minutes. I want to swim back, but Amy wants to swim further, to the depths of the sea. Suddenly I heard her cry, and I looked carefully. Listen, she's calling for help, and I swam to her with all my strength, and when I got to her, she was still afloat, and she grabbed me so hard that she wouldn't let go. Both of us would have sunk, if it hadn't been for that If the man sailed the boat and called the lifeguards in time to get me up, I would have drowned too.' "'That often happens,' said I, 'and it is not easy to save a drowning man.' "'It's unbelievable that we just arrived yesterday,' continued Miss Button, 'and we've all been enjoying the sunshine and our little holiday here, and now . . . now something so tragic has happened.' "I questioned her in detail about the dead woman and told her that I was willing to help her as much as possible, as the Spanish authorities would definitely want information from her. "The one who was drowned was Amy Durrant, her companion, who only applied for the job five months ago. They have always gotten along very well, but Miss Durrant rarely mentioned her family. She Orphaned at a very young age, she was brought up by one of her uncles, and at twenty-one she began to fend for herself." "That's the whole story." The doctor stopped, and then added, with a concluding tone: "There is nothing more to say." "I don't get it," said Jenny Hellier. "There's no more to it? I mean, it's a tragedy, but it's not 'horrible' anyway?" "I think there must be more to it," said Sir Henry. "Yes," said Dr. Lloyd, "there's still a long way to go. There was a suspicious incident. After it happened, I naturally had to ask some questions to the fishermen who were there. What did they see? They were eyewitnesses, after all. One woman was even more hilarious, and what she said didn't catch my attention at the time, but it rang in my ears from time to time. She insisted that Durrant was not at all when he called for help. What's the trouble, but another woman put her head under the water on purpose, I said, I really didn't pay attention to her words at the time. I think it was her imagination. From the shore, such a distance It is quite possible that there was a deviation, and that Miss Barton, realizing that the latter would kill them both by holding her tightly, could have taken the action of rendering her friend unconscious. According to the Spanish woman, it looked like Barton Mademoiselle intentionally ... intentionally drowned her friend. "I repeat, I didn't take this nonsense to heart at the time, it was only afterward. The greatest difficulty we had was finding out the personal circumstances of the deceased, Amy Durrant There seems to be no relatives. Miss Barton and I sorted out her belongings together, found an address and wrote a letter to it, but the landlady didn't know anything. Amy rented the house only to store things. , only when she moved in, the landlady saw her once. Maybe this is a place that the deceased once said belonged to her and she could go back anytime. There are only two decent old furniture and a lot of school in the room Other than that, she has no other personal items that can prove her identity. She told the landlord that her parents died in India when she was very young and was a priest. Her uncle brought her up, but she didn't say whether it was uncle or uncle, so she couldn't find out." "It's nothing to be surprised about, it's just a little disappointing. There were always lovely women, proud and quiet, that's all. Among her personal belongings in Las Palmas there are pictures, Old and faded, and cropped for the album. So no names left. One daguerreotype still, probably her mother, maybe her grandmother. "Miss Barton also provided two other clues. Before her, Amy had accompanied two other people, and she couldn't remember one of them. After a lot of effort, she finally remembered the name of another woman, but It turned out that the lady is now abroad, going to Australia. We sent her a letter, and it took a long time for a letter to come. I must say, the letter did come, but it couldn't be of much help. The letter According to the article, Miss Durrant had been her company, tried her best, was a very charming girl, and she knew nothing about her personal and family situations. "So far, nothing out of the ordinary, nothing out of the ordinary. There are only two things that bother me. One is that no one knows Amy Durrant, and the other is the horrible things that Spanish woman said. If so. Yes, I must add a third point, which is that when I stooped over to examine Amy, who was motionless, Miss Barton was walking towards the fisherman's hut, and she looked back with a What I can only describe as an intensely anxious, uneasy look was etched into my brain. "At the time, I also thought it was normal. She had that look because of a disaster that befell her friend. However, I later found out that was not the case at all, there was no deep friendship between them. Not grief, Just because Miss Barton liked Amy Durrant and was horrified by her death, that's all. "But why is there that expression of extreme anxiety? This question has been haunting me. I didn't misread her expression at all, and I didn't want to think elsewhere. However, an answer formed in my mind: Assuming the Spanish woman was telling the truth, Mary Barton was so cold-blooded that she drowned Amy Durrant on purpose, she managed to pull her overboard and pretended to save her, she was rescued on board, and the ship they were in There is no village in front of the beach, no shop in the back, and we are what she does not want to see—a doctor comes, and an English doctor at that. She knows someone who has been drowned longer than Amy Durrant and has been drowned. Case of resuscitation by artificial respiration. But she had to play her part and leave her victim to me alone, with that suspicious anxiety on her face as she looked back at her friend one last time. Afraid that Amy Durrant will wake up and tell the truth?" "Oh!" said Jenny Hellier, "I feel a little frightened now." "Thinking about it this way, the whole thing is a bit scary, and the identity of Amy Durrant is even more confusing. Who is Amy Durrant? Why is such a small person, a hired companion, murdered by his master?" She was only recruited a few months ago to accompany Miss Barton. Mary Barton took her overseas and this tragedy happened the day after they landed on the island. They were both well-bred and ordinary Yes, reserved Englishmen. The whole thing is very bizarre, I remind myself, and let my imagination run wild." "Did you take no action?" asked Miss Hellier. "My dear lady, what can I do? There is no proof. My suspicions are based entirely on a momentary impression, which may be mere imagination. The only thing I can do, and have done, is to go Looking for the relatives of the deceased. When I returned to London, I visited the landlady who rented the house to the deceased, and the result of that interview I have told you before." "But you feel that something is wrong?" said Miss Marple. Dr. Lloyd nodded. "Half the time I was ashamed of myself for thinking how such a well-mannered English lady could be connected with a criminal, brutal murder? Her short stay on the island During my time, I was enthusiastic to help her as much as I could, to assist her in her dealings with the Spanish authorities, and, in short, to do what an English gentleman should do to help a fellow countryman in a foreign country. Yet, I think, she knew that I suspect her, and dislike her." "How long did she live there?" asked Miss Marple. "Miss Durrant was buried there for about a fortnight. It was ten days before she set out for her country. The disaster made her feel badly, and she couldn't stay there any longer. She intended to spend the winter there." , that's what she said." "Did she really feel bad about her friend's death?" asked Miss Marple. The doctor hesitated. "It's not obvious from the surface." He said cautiously. "Has she, say, gained weight?" asked Miss Marple. "It's strange that you ask such a question, but . . . now that I think about it, I think you're right that she . . . yes . . . she has put on some weight." "It's horrible," Jenny Hellier said, trembling. "It's like... like her friend's blood has fed her." "On the other hand, however, I may have wronged her somewhat," continued Dr. Lloyd. "Before she left, she made a few remarks which seemed to have nothing to do with the case, I believe. It may have been a awakening of her conscience, although it took longer, but she finally admitted the crime she committed. "The night before she left the Canary Islands, she asked me to come over to her place and thank me very much for everything I did for her, and of course I told that that was what I was supposed to do, I just did it in that kind of place. Anything anyone would do in a situation, and so on. There was a silence after that, and then, out of the blue, she asked me this question. "'Do you think,' she asked, 'that it is lawful to settle without the law?' "I told her that's a tough question to answer, but in general I don't think it's legal, the law is the law and anyone has to follow it. "'Even when it can do nothing?' "'I do not know what you mean.' "'It's hard to tell. A man may do something completely wrong, perhaps criminal, though he has good reason for it.' "I replied coldly: 'Maybe some criminals would have thought that at the time.' She immediately flinched back. "'It's terrible,' she murmured, 'it's terrible.' "Then, in a different tone, she asked if I could give her some pills to put her to sleep. 'Ever since,' she hesitated, 'I haven't been able to sleep well since that horrible thing happened.' "'Really? Is there something on your mind? Is there something going on in your head?' "'In my head? What do you think I should have in my head?' "When she said this, there was suspicion and coldness in her tone. "After thinking about it for a while, she said, 'Do you mean worry about the future or anxiety about the past. Which of the two cannot be changed?' "'Neither can be changed.' "'But the past is gone and you can't get it back, so what's the use of worrying? One doesn't have to dwell on the past. There's no need.' "I gave her some milder sleeping pills and left. As I was leaving, I couldn't stop thinking about what she had just said, 'You can't undo...' Does it refer to people or things? "This last meeting, in a way, prepared me for what was to come. I certainly didn't want it to happen, and I wouldn't be surprised if it happened. You see, Mary. In my mind, Barton is a woman with a good conscience, not a vicious shrew. She is a person with principles and is willing to follow them. As long as she still believes in principles, she will not weaken them. From the last conversation with her, I guess she must have started to doubt her own principles, and her words suggested to me a deep conscience reflection. She regretted it. "The following story happened in a small seaside bathing place in Cornwall, which was the low season of tourism in the year. I think it was in late March, and I knew it from the newspaper. The newspaper said A lady, Miss Barton, of a small inn who lived there, behaved strangely and conspicuously, walking up and down the room at night, muttering to herself, and refusing any sleep to those around her. One day, she called the pastor, claiming to have something very important to tell him, and she said she was going to confess her sin. When the pastor came, and the matter was halfway through, she suddenly stood up and said, we can talk about it another day. The pastor thought it was mild It was caused by her mental disorder. She didn't take her repentance seriously. "The next day she was found missing and a note was left for the coroner, which read: 'Yesterday I tried to confess everything to the pastor, but I was stopped, and she didn't want me to do it.I can only redeem my sins in this only way, and that is to die for my life.I should go back to God in the same way - by drowning in the depths.I believed I had been judged, but now it doesn't seem so, and if I expect Amy to forgive me, I have to go with her, and no one has anything to do with my death - Mary Barton. "Her clothes were found on a nearby secluded beach, where she apparently changed, before swimming off to the deep sea, which was dangerous at the time, with strong winds that could blow people off shore. "The body has never been found, but when a person disappears for a certain period of time, it is considered dead. She is a rich lady with an inheritance of 100,000 pounds. Since she did not leave any will, the inheritance was naturally left to Her closest relatives were her cousins ​​in Australia. The tragedy in the Canary Islands was also mentioned with caution in the papers to show that Miss Durrant's death had dealt a severe blow to the spirit of her friend. The jury The final verdict was: 'Suicide caused by momentary insanity.' "The tragedy ended with the deaths of Amy Durrant and Mary Barton." After a long silence, Miss Jenny Hellier let out a long sigh. "Hey, you can't stop at the most exciting point, keep talking." "But, you see, Miss Hellier, this is not a serial story. This is real life. Real life tends to stop where it chooses." "But I don't want it to stop, I want to know..." "This is where we need to think, Miss Hellier." Sir Henry explained, "Why did Mary Barton kill her companion? This is the question Dr. Lloyd asked us." "Oh, come on," said Miss Hellier, "she might have had many reasons to kill her, I mean--well, I don't know. The dead may have annoyed her, or may have been jealous of the dead, though labor Dr. Ed didn't mention any men, but on the boat that got her aboard . . . you know all the things people say about boats and sea voyages." Miss Hellier paused, panting from the haste of her speech.Her audience is more fond of her charming face, which is obviously far superior to the brain inside. "I have various conjectures," said Mrs. Bantry, "but I will say only one, and I think it may be that Miss Button's father amassed his fortune at the expense of Amy's father. Therefore, Amy Decided to take revenge. Oh no, it's the other way around, it's annoying, why would a rich owner kill a penniless companion? Ah yes, Miss Barton has a young brother who's in love with Amy Durrant, professing love He shot himself in vain. Miss Barton waited for the opportunity, hired Miss Amy after her family was ruined, took her to Canary Island, and completed her plan of revenge, what is the conjecture?" "Excellent," said Sir Henry, "only we didn't know Miss Button had a brother." "We can only surmise that she had a brother," said Mrs. Bantry, "otherwise she would have no motive, don't you, Watson?" "Yes, Dolly," said her husband, "but that's just a guess." "Guessing, of course," said Mrs. Bantry. "It's all we can do—guess, and we've got no clue, go ahead, my dear, and tell us your guesses." "I really don't know what to say, but I think Helier's analysis seems to make sense. They must have fallen out because of a certain man. Dolly, think about it, this person may be a certain high church They all made him a robe or something. He wore the one Miss Durrant gave him first. According to this line of thinking, things have some clues, and then think about how she went to find the priest. Yes. Stories abound of the women losing their heads in the presence of a handsome clergyman." "Though it's only speculation," said Sir Henry, "I've tried to make it as detailed as possible. We assume that Miss Barton is insane. There are far more cases of insanity than you think, and her condition is getting worse and worse. Worse, she came to believe that she was obliged to take the life of certain people in the world—women who were born unhappy, perhaps. No one knew about Miss Durrant's past, but she did have a past—an unhappy past. Miss Barton knew After her misfortune, she decided to fulfill her 'duty'. Later her 'just' actions began to disturb her, and she was even completely overwhelmed by this remorse. Her ending proved her insanity. Now, Marple Miss, you agree with my conjecture, don't you?" "I'm afraid I disagree with you, Sir Henry," said Miss Marple, with an apologetic smile. "I think the end result shows that she's an incredibly intelligent, resourceful woman." Jenny Hellier interrupted Miss Marple with a small scream. "Oh! I'm so stupid, can I guess again? It must be—blackmail, the companion tried to blackmail Miss Button. I just don't understand why Miss Marple said she was clever enough to let herself die too. I don't know I don't understand either." "Aha!" said Sir Henry, "you see, Miss Marple will certainly tell us a similar case at St Mary Mead." "You're always laughing at me, Sir Henry," said Miss Marple reproachfully. "I must admit, it reminds me of Mrs. Trout, who took three old ladies who died in different parishes, and who received their pensions." gold." "It sounds like a high IQ crime," Sir Henry said, "but I don't see how it's going to help solve our problems." "Of course not," said Miss Marple. "It's nothing to you, but for some very poor families pensions are the lifeblood of the children in those families. I know it's hard for outsiders to understand. All I'm trying to say is that it happened because one old man looked a lot like another." "Oh?" said Sir Henry, puzzled. "I'm always getting things confused. I mean when Dr. Lloyd first described the two ladies, he didn't know who was who, and I don't think the people at the hotel could tell them apart either. Of course, after a day or two, everyone could tell the difference, but the very next day, one of them died. If the living one said she was Miss Button, I don't think anyone would object." "You think . "That's all I can think of, my dear. Mrs. Bantry asked the question just now. Why should a rich employer kill a lowly companion? It's the other way around, I mean, that's the only way to make sense. " "Did you?" said Sir Henry, "you surprise me." "Of course," Miss Marple went on, "she had to wear Miss Barton's clothes, which must have been a little tight on her body. Therefore, on the surface, she seems to have put on a little weight, and that's why I said The reason for asking such a question. Men must think that the lady has gained weight, and they will not think that the clothes are smaller, which is the correct explanation." "But if Amy Durrant kills Miss Button, what will she gain?" asked Mrs. Bantry. "She cannot be deceived forever." "She's only got to play the role for a month or so," Miss Marple pointed out. "In the meantime, I guess she's been traveling a lot, away from people who knew her. As I said, two women of about the same age There wouldn't be much difference in looks. The difference between a passport picture and a real person is sure to go unnoticed, everyone knows what a passport picture is. Then, in March, she came to Cornwall and started acting crazy to cause The attention of others. So when people find her clothes on the beach and read her last note, it is impossible to think about some common sense inferences." "What inference?" asked Sir Henry. "Nobody drowned," said Miss Marple firmly. "That's the obvious thing. If there weren't so many irrelevant things to distract attention, including all the performances of reflection and regret. No one drowned at all." Death, this is an unquestionable fact." "You mean..." said Mrs. Bantry, "you mean there's no remorse at all, she...she didn't die at all?" "She's alive," said Miss Marple, "another Mrs. Trout, she's so good at deception, but she's my match. I saw right through that remorseful Miss Barton. Drowning myself If I had to guess, she must have gone to Australia." "Exactly! Miss Marple," said Dr. Lloyd, "yes, you are right. Things are always unexpected. If I had known your conclusions, I would have been in Melbourne that day. What happens doesn't surprise me." "Is that the magical coincidence you were talking about?" “是的，对于巴顿小姐或者是艾米·达兰特小姐——随你们怎么称呼她——来说，确实是够倒霉的了。有一段时间，我在船上当医生，有一次船在墨尔本靠岸，我下船在岸上溜达，一眼就看到我认为已在康沃尔郡被淹死的那位女士。看到我，她肯定认为一切都完了，于是她采取了一项很冒险的行动——把我当成知己。这真是一个奇特的完全缺乏理性的人。她生活在一个九口之家，是家里的长女，一家人穷得叮当响。他们曾求助于英国的那位有钱的堂姐，遭到拒绝。为此，巴顿小姐与父亲大吵了一架。家里实在太缺钱了，因为最小的三个孩子体弱多病，需要支付昂贵的医疗费。于是，艾米·巴顿决定施行她的谋杀计划。她启程前往英国，在船上当保育员以充作船费。她得到了给玛丽·巴顿小姐作陪伴的这份工作，改名为艾米·达兰特，并租了房子，往里放些东西以证明她的存在。淹死她堂姐的方案纯属即兴之作。接下来，她一直在等待现身的机会，她导演了这场悲剧的最后一幕，然后回到到澳大利亚。在这期间，她的家人作为巴顿小姐的合法继承人继承了她的遗产。” “一桩非常冒险且计划周密的犯罪。”亨利爵士说，“简直是天衣无缝，假如在加那利岛死亡的是玛丽·巴顿小姐的话，人们就会怀疑艾米·达兰特，那么她与死者的亲戚关系就会被查出来，但身份的交换以及'双重死亡'有效地排除了人们的怀疑。是的，计划得太周到了。” “她最后的下场怎样？”班特里太太问，“你是如何处置这件事的，劳埃德大夫？” “我处在进退两难的境地，班特里太太。就法律所要求的证据而言，我拿不出，但作为一个医生我明明白白地看到了一些事情，且具有说服力。然而，人死了不能复生，对不对？于是，我与她一起去了她的家，看到她家的其他成员。真是一个可爱的家，弟妹们都敬重这位大姐，他们压根儿不会想到他们的大姐会是杀人犯。她的认罪除了我之外没有别的人知道，我也只好顺其自然。艾米·巴顿小姐在我们那次会面的六个月后死了。我不知道她是否一直到最后都不感到内疚，认为她没错。” “肯定内疚。”班特里太太说。 “希望如此。”马普尔小姐说，“特路特太太就从来都觉得心安理得。” 珍妮·赫利尔打了个哆嗦。 “这太……太可怕了，到现在我也没搞清楚是谁淹死了谁。这个叫特路特的太太怎么会与此事有关呢？” “她与此案无关，亲爱的。”马普尔小姐说，“特路特太太只是住在我们这儿的一个人，一个不太好的人。” “噢！”珍妮说，“在村里，但没有什么事是发生在村里的呀？”她叹了口气，“我要是生活在一个小村子里的话，我肯定什么都不知道。”