福尔摩斯探案经典:《恐怖谷》第6章Part6

"Here we have it so far as they could give it. They don't seem to have taken any very particular stock of him; but still the porter, the clerk, and the chambermaid are all agreed that this about covers the points. He was a man about five foot nine in height, fifty or so years of age, his hair slightly grizzled, a grayish moustache, a curved nose, and a face which all of them described as fierce and forbidding."
"Well, bar the expression, that might almost be a description of Douglas himself," said Holmes. "He is just over fifty, with grizzled hair and moustache, and about the same height. Did you get anything else?"
"He was dressed in a heavy gray suit with a reefer jacket, and he wore a short yellow overcoat and a soft cap."
"What about the shotgun?"
"It is less than two feet long. It could very well have fitted into his valise. He could have carried it inside his overcoat without difficulty."
"And how do you consider that all this bears upon the general case?"
"Well, Mr. Holmes," said MacDonald, "when we have got our man--and you may be sure that I had his description on the wires within five minutes of hearing it--we shall be better able to judge. But, even as it stands, we have surely gone a long way. We know that an American calling himself Hargrave came to Tunbridge Wells two days ago with bicycle and valise. In the latter was a sawed-off shotgun; so he came with the deliberate purpose of crime. Yesterday morning he set off for this place on his bicycle, with his gun concealed in his overcoat. No one saw him arrive, so far as we can learn; but he need not pass through the village to reach the park gates, and there are many cyclists upon the road. Presumably he at once concealed his cycle among the laurels where it was found, and possibly lurked there himself, with his eye on the house, waiting for Mr. Douglas to come out. The shotgun is a strange weapon to use inside a house; but he had intended to use it outside, and there it has very obvious advantages, as itwould be impossible to miss with it, and the sound of shots is so common in an English sporting neighbourhood that no particular notice would be taken.""That is all very clear," said Holmes.
"Well, Mr. Douglas did not appear. What was he to do next? He left his bicycle and approached the house in the twilight. He found the bridge down and no one about. He took his chance, intending, no doubt, to make some excuse if he met anyone. He met no one. He slipped into the first room that he saw, and concealed himself behind the curtain. Thence he could see the drawbridge go up, and he knew that his only escape was through the moat. He waited until quarter-past eleven, when Mr. Douglas upon his usual nightly round came into the room. He shot him and escaped, as arranged. He was aware that the bicycle would be described by the hotel people and be a clue against him; so he left it there and made his way by some other means to London or to some safe hiding place which he had already arranged. How is that, Mr. Holmes?"
"Well, Mr. Mac, it is very good and very clear so far as it goes. That is your end of the story. My end is that the crime was committed half an hour earlier than reported; that Mrs. Douglas and Barker are both in a conspiracy to conceal something; that they aided the murderer's escape--or at least that they reached the room before he escaped--and that they fabricated evidence of his escape through the window, whereas in all probability they had themselves let him go by lowering the bridge. That's my reading of the first half."
The two detectives shook their heads.

“这里我们已经把他们所说的完全记下来了。他们似乎说得不太详细，不过那些茶房、管事的和女侍者们所说的大致相同。那人身高五英尺九英寸，五十岁左右，有点儿头发灰白，淡灰色的胡子，鹰钩鼻子和一张凶残无比、令人生畏的面孔。”
“好，别说了，这几乎是道格拉斯本人的写照了，"福尔摩斯说道，“道格拉斯正好是五十多岁，须发灰白，身高也是这样。你还得到什么情况了？”
“他穿一身厚的灰衣服和一件双排扣夹克，披一件黄色短大衣，戴一顶便帽。”
“关于那支火枪有什么情况？”
“这支火枪不到二英尺长，完全可以放到他的手提箱里。他也可以毫不费力地把它放在大衣里，带在身上。”
“你认为这些情况同这件案子有什么关系呢？”
“噢，福尔摩斯先生，"麦克唐纳说道，“你可以相信，我听到这些情况以后，不到五分钟就发出了电报。当我们捉住这个人时，我们就可以更好地判断了。不过，恰恰在这件案子停滞不前时，我们肯定是前进了一大步。我们知道一个自称哈格雷夫的美国人两天前来到滕布里奇韦尔斯市，随身携带一辆自行车和一个手提箱，箱子里装的是一支截短了的火枪。所以他是蓄意来进行犯罪活动的。昨天早晨他把火枪藏在大衣里，骑着自行车来到这个地方。据我们所知，谁也没看到他来。不过他到庄园大门口用不着经过村子，而且路上骑自行车的人也很多。大概他马上把他的自行车藏到月桂树丛里（人们后来就在这里找到那辆车），也可能他自己就潜伏在这里，注视着庄园的动静，等候道格拉斯先生走出来。在咱们看来，在室内使用火枪这种武器是件怪事。不过，他本来是打算在室外使用的。火枪在室外有一个很明显的好处，因为它不会打不中，而且在英国爱好射击运动的人聚居的地方，枪声是很平常的事，不会引仆人们特别注意的。”
“这一切都很清楚了！"福尔摩斯说道。“可是，道格拉斯先生没有出来。凶手下一步怎么办呢？他丢下自行车，在黄昏时走近庄园。他发现吊桥是放下来的，附近一个人也没有。他就利用了这个机会，毫无疑问，假如有人碰到他，他可以捏造一些借口。可是他没有碰到一个人。他溜进了他首先看到的屋子，隐藏在窗帘后面。从那个地方，他看到吊桥已经拉起来，他知道，唯一的生路就是蹚过护城河。他一直等到十一点一刻，道格拉斯先生进行睡前的例行检查走进房来。他按事先预定计划向道格拉斯开枪以后就逃跑了。他知道，旅馆的人会说出他的自行车特征来，这是个对他不利的线索，所以他就把自行车丢在此地，另行设法到伦敦，或是到他预先安排好的某一安全隐身地去。福尔摩斯先生，我说得怎么样？”
“很好，麦克先生，按照目前的情况来看，你说得很好，也很清楚。这是你所说的情况发展的结局。我的结论是：犯罪时间比我听说的要早半小时；道格拉斯夫人和巴克先生两个人合谋隐瞒了一些情况；他们帮助杀人犯逃跑了，或者至少是在他们进屋以后凶手才逃走的；他们还伪造凶手从窗口逃跑的迹象，而十有八九是他们自己放下吊桥，让凶手逃走的。这是我对案子前一半情况的判断。”
这两个侦探摇了摇头。