14 THE EVIDENCE OF THE WEAPON
14 凶器的求证
With more vigour than chivalry, A Bouc deposited the fainting lady with her head on the table. Dr. Constantine yelled for one of the restaurant attendants, who came at a run.
波克先生一时顾不了体面，费了九牛二虎之力，将这位昏厥的女士头部平放在桌上。康斯丹丁医师大声呼叫服务人员，他们赶来之后，大家忙作一团。
“Keep her head so,” said the doctor. “If she revives give her a little cognac. You understand?”
“就把她的头部那么平放着，”医师说：“等她醒来，灌一点白兰地给她喝，懂吧？”
Then he hurried off after the other two. His interest lay wholly in the crime— swooning middle-aged ladies did not interest him at all.
然后，他就跟着白罗与波克迈出了餐车。他的兴致全在这罪案的本身，对昏倒的中年妇人他是没啥口味的。
It is possible that Mrs. Hubbard revived rather more quickly by these methods than she might otherwise have done. A few minutes later she was sitting up, sipping cognac from a glass proffered by the attendant, and talking once more.
侯伯太太倒是不久就醒转过来。不几分钟，她就坐起身来，浅啜着服务人员递给她的白兰地，又开始嚷嚷了。
“I just can’t tell you how terrible it was! I don’t suppose anybody on this train can understand my feelings. I’ve always been very, very sensitive ever since I was a child. The mere sight of blood—ugh! Why, even now I get faint when I think about it!”
“我简直说不上来我吓成什么样子了！我敢说这车上没有一个人能了解我的感觉。我从小就敏感得要命。一看见血——哎呀！就是现在一想起来，我就又要昏倒了！”
The attendant proffered the glass again. “Encore un peu, Madame?”
服务人员赶快又喂了她一口酒。“再喝点，夫人。”
“D’you think I’d better? I’m a lifelong teetotaller. I never touch spirits or wine at any time. All my family are abstainers. Still, perhaps as this is only medicinal— ”
“你认为我该喝吗？我一生都是禁酒的。我从来不碰这种东西的，我们一家人都禁酒。不过，既然，只有这个法子有效——”
She sipped once more.
她又喝了一口。
In the meantime Poirot and M. Bouc, closely followed by Dr. Constantine, had hurried out of the restaurant car and along the corridor of the Stamboul coach towards Mrs. Hubbard’s compartment.
这时，白罗与波克先生，后面紧跟着康斯丹丁医师，出了餐车，匆匆穿过伊斯坦堡卧车厢的过道，直奔侯伯太太的房间而来。
Every traveller on the train seemed to be congregated outside the door. The conductor, a harassed look on his face, was keeping them back.
车上所有的旅客似乎都挤在她的房门外头。满脸憔悴的列车长，正在求他们往后退退。
“Mais il n’y a rien à voir,” he said, and repeated the sentiment in several other languages.
“没什么可看的嘛。”他用各种语言在劝说着。
“Let me pass if you please,” said M. Bouc.
“请让我过去。”波克先生说。
Squeezing his rotundity past the obstructing passengers he entered the compartment, Poirot close behind him.
他肥胖的身躯挤过围观的人群，进入了卧铺房间。白罗也紧跟了进去。
“I am glad you have come, Monsieur,” said the conductor with a sigh of relief. “Everyone has been trying to enter. The American lady—such screams as she gave—ma foi, I thought she too had been murdered! I came at a run, and there she was screaming like a mad woman; and she cried out that she must fetch you, andshe departed screeching at the top of her voice and telling everybody whose carriage she passed what had occurred.”
“您来了，真太好了，先生，”列车长如释重负地说：“大家都要挤进去，那位美国太太，她那份嚷劲，老天，我还以为她也遭人谋杀了呢！我奔了来，她还在发狂似地喊叫；她嚷着一定要找您，大喊大嚷地跑了出去，见了人就告诉她房里出的事。”
He added, with a gesture of the hand: “It is in there, Monsieur. I have not touched it.”
他又用手指了指说：“就在那里头，先生。我没碰过”。
Hanging on the handle of the door that gave access to the next compartment was a large-checked rubber sponge-bag. Below it on the floor, just where it had fallen from Mrs. Hubbard’s hand, was a straight-bladed dagger—a cheap affair, sham Oriental with an embossed hilt and a tapering blade. The blade was stained with patches of what looked like rust.
在通往邻室的门把手上，挂着一只花格子橡胶制的大手提袋。下头的地板上有一把可能自侯伯太太手中丢落的锤形匕首，是一柄粗制滥造的东方赝品。刀柄雕花，刀刃锤形。刀刃上染满了如锈的污渍。
Poirot picked it up delicately.
白罗小心翼翼地将匕首拾了起来。
“Yes,” he murmured. “There is no mistake. Here is our missing weapon all right—eh, doctor?”
“嗯，”他口中喃喃地说：“不会有错的。这就是我们要找的凶器吧——呃，医师？”
The doctor examined it.
医师查看了一回。
“You need not be so careful,” said Poirot. “There will be no fingerprints on it save those of Mrs. Hubbard.” Constantine’s examination did not take long.
“不必太小心，”白罗说：“除了侯伯太太的之外，上头不会有别人的指纹。”康斯丹丁一下子就验看完了。
“It is the weapon all right,” he said. “It would account for any of the wounds.”
“正是杀人凶器，”他说：“与每一处刀伤都会符合的。”
“I implore you, my friend, do not say that!”
“我求你，朋友，先别这么说！”
The doctor looked astonished.
医师有些惊呀地看着他。
“Already we are heavily overburdened by coincidence. Two people decided to stab M. Ratchett last night. It is too much of a good thing that both of them should select the same weapon.”
“我们手头上的巧合已经够多了，昨天夜里有两个人决定要刺杀罗嘉德。若说他们两人选用了同样的凶器，也就未免太巧了。”
“As, to that, the coincidence is not perhaps so great as it seems,” said the doctor. “Thousands of these sham Eastern daggers are made and shipped to the bazaars of Constantinople.”
“这一点上的巧合，也许不如你想的那么奇怪，”医师说：“不知有几千把这种赝品的东方匕首运到君士坦丁堡出售呢。”
“You console me a little, but only a little,” said Poirot.
“这倒叫我松了口气，可也只是那么一点点。”白罗说。
He looked thoughtfully at the door in front of him, then, lifting off the spongebag, he tried the handle. The door did not budge. About a foot above the handle was the door bolt. Poirot drew it back and tried again, but still the door remained fast.
他心有所思地看面前的门，然后拿掉了手提袋，开了开门把手，门没有移动，门把手上方大约一尺的地方有门栓。白罗往后拉了一下，又推门，但是门仍关得死死的。
“We locked it from the other side, you remember,” said the doctor.
“我们从另一边关上的，你还记得吗？”
“That is true,” said Poirot absently. He seemed to be thinking about something else. His brow was furrowed as though in perplexity.
“是的，不错，”白罗心不在焉地说。他心头似乎在想别的事情。他发愁似地双眉紧皱着。
“It agrees, does it not?” said M. Bouc. “The man passes through this carriage. As he shuts the communicating door behind him he feels the sponge-bag. A thought comes to him and he quickly slips the blood-stained knife inside. Then, all unwitting that he has awakened Mrs. Hubbard, he slips out through the other door into the corridor.”
“不就是这样吗？波克先生说：”那人穿过这间屋子。他在关上这扇通门时，手摸到了这个大手提袋。心里一动，就顺手将沾血的匕首丢在袋子里了。后来，没想到会惊醒了侯伯太太，就从另一扇门溜到过道上去了。”
“As you say,” murmured Poirot. “That is how it must have happened.” But the puzzled look did not leave his face.
“就按你说的吧，“白罗咕哝着：”一定这样的了。“但是他脸上不解的神色并未消失。
“But what is it?” demanded M. Bouc. “There is something, is there not, that does not satisfy you?”
“到底是什么呢？”波克先生质问说：“一定有些什么事使你仍不能满意。有吧？”
Poirot darted a quick took at him.
白罗飞快地扫了他一眼。
“The same point does not strike you? No, evidently not. Well, it is a small matter.”
“你不感到同样地奇怪吗？没有，你显然没有。算了，没什么要紧。”
The conductor looked into the carriage. “The American lady is coming back.”
列车长将头探进屋里说：“那位美国太太回来了。”
Dr. Constantine looked rather guilty. He had, he felt, treated Mrs. Hubbard rather cavalierly. But she had no reproaches for him. Her energies were concentrated on another matter.
康斯丹丁医师立时一脸的歉然。他感到自己适才照料侯伯太太未免太漫不经心了。但是她却似乎并未介意，她全副精神都专注在另外的事上了。
“I’m going to say one thing right out,” she said breathlessly as she arrived in the doorway. “I’m not going on any longer in this compartment! Why, I wouldn’t sleep in it to-night if you paid me a million dollars.”
“有一件事我得说清楚，”她赶到门口时仍喘着气说：“我没法子在这屋子里呆了！给我一百万，我今天晚上也不在这儿睡了！”
“But, Madame—”
“可是，夫人——”
“I know what you are going to say, and I’m telling you right now that I won’t do any such thing! Why, I’d rather sit up all night in the corridor.” She began to cry. “Oh, if my daughter could only know—if she could see me now, why—”
“我知道你要说什么，不管了，我告诉你，我是不依的！我宁可在过道上坐一夜。”她开始饮泣了“呵呀，要是给我女儿知道了——要是她看见我现在这副模样，哎呀——”
Poirot interrupted firmly.
白罗断然打断了她。
“You misunderstand, Madame. Your demand is most reasonable. Your baggage shall be changed at once to another compartment.”
“夫人，你想错了。你的要求非常合理。我们会把你的行李立刻搬到另一间屋里去。”
Mrs. Hubbard lowered her handkerchief. “is that so? Oh! I feel better right away. But surely it’s all full, unless one of the gentlemen—”
侯伯太太将手中的手帕放低了一些，说：“真的吗？呵！这样我已经觉得好多了。可是卧铺房不是都住满了吗？除非哪位先生肯——”
M. Bouc spoke. “Your baggage, Madame, shall be moved out of this coach altogether. You shall have a compartment in the next coach, which was put on at Belgrade.”
波克先生发话了。“你的行李会搬到另一节车厢去的。我们给你在下一节车厢——从布加勒斯特挂上的那节车厢——另安排一间卧铺房。”
“Why, that’s splendid. I’m not an extra nervous woman, but to sleep in that compartment next door to a dead man!” She shivered. “It would drive me plumb crazy.”
“呵，那太好了。我不是个好紧张的人，可是睡在死人的隔壁房间！”她打了个寒噤说：“那会把我逼疯的。”
“Michel,” called M. Bouc. “Move this baggage into a vacant compartment in the Athens-Paris coach.”
“麦寇，”波克先生喊道：“把这儿的行李搬到雅典至巴黎的车厢去。”
“Yes, Monsieur. The same one as this—the No. 3?”
“是，先生。同样号码的房间吗——第三号？”
“No,” said Poirot before his friend could reply. “I think it would be better for Madame to have a different number altogether. The No. 12, for instance.”
“不，”白罗抢在他朋友之前答道：“我想给夫人换个号码会更好。比方说，就到第十二号去吧。”
“Bien, Monsieur.”
“是的，先生。”
The conductor seized the luggage. Mrs. Hubbard turned gratefully to Poirot.
列车长拎起了行李箱。侯伯太太转身对白罗感激地说：
“That’s very kind and delicate of you. I appreciate it, I assure you.”
“你真客气又周到，我真的非常感谢你。”
“Do not mention it, Madame. We will come with you and see you comfortably
“不用客气，夫人。我们陪你一同过去，希望能舒舒服服地为您安顿下来。”
installed.” Mrs. Hubbard was escorted by the three men to her new home. She looked round her happily. “This is fine.”
三人陪着侯伯太太来到了她的新房间。她眉开眼笑地四周看了看说：“这里真不错。”
“It suits you, Madame? It is, you see, exactly like the compartment you have left.”
“还满意吧，夫人？你看，跟你原先睡的那个房间完全一样。”
“That’s so—only it faces the other way. But that doesn’t matter, for these trains go first one way and then the other. I said to my daughter, ‘I want a carriage facing the engine.’ and she said, ‘Why, Mamma, that’ll be no good to you, for if you go to sleep one way, when you wake up, the train’s going the other!’ And it was quite true what she said. Why, last evening we went into Belgrade one way and out the other.”
“的确，只是——方向跟那间正相反。不过，也没什么关系，反正火车是这个方向、那个方向地来回跑的。我跟我女儿说：”我要一间顺火车头方向的卧铺房。‘她说：“哎呀，那不好呀。要是你睡的时候朝一个方向，醒来时就朝另一个方向了！’她说的可一点不错。昨天晚上我们到贝尔格莱德是一个方向，出了站，就换了另一个方向了。”
“At any rate, Madame, you are quite happy and contented now?”
“不论怎么说，夫人，你现在是称心如意了吧？”
“Well, no, I wouldn’t say that. Here we are stuck in a snowdrift and nobody doing anything about it, and my boat sailing the day after to-morrow.”
“那也不尽然。我们困在这大风雪里，没有半个人想个法子，我的船后天就要开了。”
“Madame,” said M. Bouc, “we are all in the same case—every one of us.”
“夫人，”波克先生说：“我们大家都如此啊——每个人都——”
“Well, that’s true,” admitted Mrs. Hubbard. “But nobody else has had a murderer walking right through her compartment in the middle of the night.
“话是如此，”侯伯太太也承认说：“但是，可没有旁人，深更半夜地有凶手闯进她的房间呀！”
“What still puzzles me, Madame,” said Poirot, “is how the man got into your compartment if the communicating door was bolted as you say. You are sure that it was bolted?”
“不过，我还是想不通，夫人。”白罗说：“如果照你所说的，两个房间的通门是拴上的，那人是怎么进你房里去的呢？”
“Why, the Swedish lady tried it before my eyes.”
“这，那个瑞典女人试给我看的呀。”
“Let us just reconstruct that little scene. You were lying in your bunk—so—and you could not see for yourself, you say?”
“让我们再仔细看看当时的情形。你躺在自己的铺位上，所以你自己是看不见的，是吧？”
“No, because of the sponge-bag. Oh! my, I shall have to get a new sponge-bag. It makes me feel sick at my stomach to look at this one.”
“是的，看不见，因为有那只大手提袋挡着。哎呀，我真得再买一只新的了。一看见这只，我心里就想吐！”
Poirot picked up the sponge-bag and hung it on the handle of the communicating door into the next carriage.
白罗将那只手提袋拾起来，挂在通往隔室的门手把上。
“Précisément. I see,” he said. “The bolt is just underneath the handle—the sponge-bag masks it. You could not see from where you were lying whether the bolt was turned or not.”
“可不是吗？我懂了。”他说：“门栓正好在门把手的下方，给手提袋挡住了。你躺在铺上，是看不见门栓是推上去没有的。”
“Why, that’s just what I’ve been telling you!”
“本来嘛，我不就是这么对你说的嘛！”
“And the Swedish lady, Miss Ohlsson, stood so, between you and the door. She tried it and told you it was bolted.”
“那位瑞典女士，奥尔森小姐，就站在你跟门之间。她试了试之后，告诉你门是拴好的。”
“That’s so.”
“正是。”
“All the same, Madame, she may have made an error. You see what I mean.” Poirot seemed anxious to explain. “The bolt is just a projection of metal—so. When it is turned to the right, the door is locked. When it is left straight, the door is unlocked. Possibly she merely tried the door, and as it was locked on the other side she may have assumed that it was locked on your side.”
“不过，夫人，她也许没搞清楚。你让我说给你听。”白罗一副急于解说的神情。“门拴不过是一块金属。往右扳，门就锁上了。要是不扳，门就不会锁的。也许，她只扳了扳门把手，由于门是自另一边锁上的，她就认为是自你这边锁上了的呢。”
“Well, I guess that would be rather stupid of her.”
“那么，我看她真是笨得可以。”
“Madame, the most kind, the most amiable, are not always the cleverest.”
“夫人，最善良、最和气的人，不一定就很聪明。”
“That’s so, of course.”
“那当然了。”
“By the way, Madame, did you travel out to Smyrna this way?”
“唔，对了，夫人，你这次是去斯密尔纳的吗？”
“No. I sailed right to Stamboul, and a friend of my daughter’s, Mr. Johnson (a perfectly lovely man, I’d like to have you know him), met me and showed me allround Stamboul. But it was a very disappointing city—all tumbling down; and as for those mosques, and putting on those great shuffling things over your shoes— where was I?”
“不是，我是坐船一直到伊斯坦堡的。我女儿的一个朋友詹森先生（人好极了，我真愿意把你介绍给他）来接我，陪我玩遍了伊斯坦堡。不过，那个城真差劲，到处破破烂烂的；还有每个人鞋上挂着的一大堆东西，哎呀，——吔？我说到哪儿了？”
“You were saying that Mr. Johnson met you.”
“你说到詹森先生去接你的。”
“That’s so, and he saw me on board a French Messageries boat for Smyrna, and my daughter’s husband was waiting right on the quay. What he’ll say when he hears about all this! My daughter said this would be just the safest, easiest way imaginable. ‘You just sit in your carriage,’ she said, ‘and you land right in Parrus, and there the American Express will meet you.’ And, oh, dear, what am I to do about cancelling my steamship passage? I ought to let them know. I can’t possibly make it now. This is just too terrible—”
“喔，对了。他送我搭上去斯密尔纳的一条法国邮船，我女婿会在码头上接我的。等他知道了这事，真不知会怎么讲哟！我女儿说坐这火车是最安全、最方便的了。‘你好好坐在自己卧铺房里，’她说：”一下子就到巴鲁斯了，到了那里，就可以搭美国运输船了。‘哎呀，老天，我该怎么取消船期呢？我总得通知他们呀，我现在根本来不及了。真糟糕透了——“
Mrs. Hubbard showed signs of tears once more.
侯伯太太说着，眼眶又红了。
Poirot, who had been fidgeting slightly, seized his opportunity.
白罗早有些烦燥不耐了，立即抓住了这个机会。
“You have had a shock, Madame. The restaurant attendant shall be instructed to bring you along some tea and some biscuits.”
“您受了惊吓了，夫人。我们会嘱咐餐车人员给你送点茶与饼干来。”
“I don’t know that I’m so set on tea,” said Mrs. Hubbard tearfully. “That’s more an English habit.”
“我不太喜欢茶，”侯伯太太眼泪汪汪地说：“那是英国人的习俗。”
“Coffee, then, Madame. You need some stimulant—”
“那么，咖啡吧，夫人。你得提提神。”
“That cognac’s made my head feel mighty funny. I think I would like some coffee.”
“那杯白兰地弄得我头昏昏的，我想我还是喝点咖啡吧。”
“Excellent. You must revive your forces.”
“好极了。你是得恢复精力了。”
“My, what a funny expression!”
“哎呀，你怎么这么说呀！”
“But first, Madame, a little matter of routine. You permit that I make a search of your baggage!”
“不过，夫人，按惯例，你可以先准我们搜看一下你的行李吗？”
“What for?”
“为什么呢？”
“We are about to commence a search of all the passengers’ luggage. I do not want to remind you of an unpleasant experience, but your sponge-bag— remember.”
“我们正要搜查全部旅客的行李。我原不该再勾起刚才那段经历的，不过，你该还记得你那只手提袋吧？”
“Mercy! Perhaps you’d better! I just couldn’t bear to get any more surprises of that kind.”
“天呀！那你就赶快吧！我可再受不了那种惊吓了。”
The examination was quickly over. Mrs. Hubbard was travelling with the minimum of luggage—a hat-box, a cheap suitcase, and a well-burdened travelling bag. The contents of all three were simple and straightforward, and the examination would not have taken more than a couple of minutes had not Mrs. Hubbard delayed matters by insisting on due attention being paid to photographs of “my daughter” and of two rather ugly children—“my daughter’s children. Aren’t they cunning?”
检查很快就完毕。侯伯太太行李不多——一只帽盒子，一只廉价货色的箱子，另外就是一只塞得满满的旅行袋。里面装的东西也都很简单、利落；若不是侯伯太太一定要大家看她那“我女儿”还有两个相当丑的小孩子的照片——“我女儿的孩子，瞧他们多淘气呀？”——耽误工夫，这次检查该不会超过两分钟就完事的。