福尔摩斯探案经典:《恐怖谷》第6章Part7

"Well, Mr. Holmes, if this is true, we only tumble out of one mystery into another," said the London inspector.
"And in some ways a worse one," added White Mason. "The lady has never been in America in all her life. What possible connection could she have with an American assassin which would cause her to shelter him?"
"I freely admit the difficulties," said Holmes. "I propose to make a little investigation of my own to-night, and it is just possible that it may contribute something to the common cause."
"Can we help you, Mr. Holmes?"
"No, no! Darkness and Dr. Watson's umbrella--my wants are simple. And Ames, the faithful Ames, no doubt he will stretch a point for me. All my lines of thought lead me back invariably to the one basic question--why should an athletic man develop his frame upon so unnatural an instrument as a single dumb-bell?"
It was late that night when Holmes returned from his solitary excursion. We slept in a double-bedded room, which was the best that the little country inn could do for us. I was already asleep when I was partly awakened by his entrance.
"Well, Holmes," I murmured, "have you found anything out?"
He stood beside me in silence, his candle in his hand. Then the tall, lean figure inclined towards me. "I say, Watson," he whispered, "would you be afraid to sleep in the same room with a lunatic, a man with softening of the brain, an idiot whose mind has lost its grip?"
"Not in the least," I answered in astonishment.
"Ah, that's lucky," he said, and not another word would he utter that night.

“好，福尔摩斯先生，假如这是真的，那我们愈发弄得莫名其妙了。"这个伦敦警官说道。
“而且是更加难于理解了，"怀特·梅森补充说道，“道格拉斯夫人一生中从未到过美洲。她怎么可能和一个美洲来的凶手有瓜葛，并使她庇护这一罪犯呢？”
“我承认存在这些疑问，"福尔摩斯说道，“我打算今天晚上亲自去调查一下，也可能会发现一些有助于破案的情况。”
“福尔摩斯先生，我们能帮你的忙吗？”
“不，不用！我的需要很简单。只要天色漆黑再加上华生医生的雨伞就行了。还有艾姆斯，这个忠实的艾姆斯，毫无疑问，他会破例给我些方便的。我的一切思路始终萦绕着一个基本问题：为什么一个运动员锻炼身体要这么不合情理地使用单个哑铃？”
半夜时候，福尔摩斯才独自调查回来。我们住的屋子有两张床，这已经是这家乡村小旅馆对我们最大的优待了。那时我已入睡，他进门时才把我惊醒。
“哦，福尔摩斯，"我喃喃地说道，“你可发现什么新情况了吗？”
他手里拿着蜡烛，站在我身边，默默不语，然后他那高大而瘦削的身影向我俯过来。“我说，华生，"他低声说道，“你现在和一个神经失常的人，一个头脑失去控制的白痴，睡在同一个屋子里，不觉得害怕么？”
“一点也不怕。"我吃惊地回答道。
“啊，运气还不错，"他说道，这一夜他就再也没有说一句话。