6 A SECOND INTERVIEW WITH COLONEL ARBUTHNOT
6 阿伯斯诺上校二次被讯
Colonel Arbuthnot was clearly annoyed at being summoned to the dining-car for a second interview. His face wore a most forbidding expression as he sat down and said:
第二次被请到餐车应讯，显然令阿伯斯诺上校大为不悦。他一脸懔色坐下之后说道：
“Well?”
“怎么样？”
“All my apologies for troubling you a second time,” said Poirot. “But there is still some information that I think you might be able to give us.”
“二次打扰你，实在万分抱歉，”白罗说：“不过，仍有些资料我相信你可以提供给我们。”
“Indeed? I hardly think so.”
“真的吗？我倒不以为然。”
“To begin with, you see this pipe-cleaner?”
“先说这个吧，这是一枚烟斗捻子吧？”
“Yes.”
“是的。”
“Is it one of yours?”
“是你的吗？”
“Don’t know. I don’t put a private mark on them, you know.”
“不知道。你晓得我是不在上头作记号的。”
“Are you aware, Colonel Arbuthnot, that you are the only man amongst the passengers in the Stamboul-Calais carriage who smokes a pipe?”
“阿伯斯诺上校，你可知道，在这节伊斯但堡至卡莱的车厢中，你是唯一抽烟斗的旅客？”
“In that case it probably is one of mine.”
“这样说的话，也许是我的。”
“Do you know where it was found?”
“你可知道我们是什么地方找到的吗？”
“Not the least idea.”
“毫不知情。”
“It was found by the body of the murdered man.”
“是在死者身旁拾到的。”
Colonel Arbuthnot raised his eyebrows.
“阿伯斯诺上校的眉毛扬了起来。
“Can you tell us, Colonel Arbuthnot, how it is likely to have got there?”
“你可否告诉我们，阿伯斯诺上校，这捻子是怎么跑到那儿去的呢？”
“If you mean, did I drop it there myself, no, I didn’t.”
“如果你在问：是不是我自己掉在那儿的，我可以告诉你，我没有。”
“Did you go into Mr. Ratchett’s compartment at any time?”
“你有没有在任何时间进入过罗嘉德先生的房间？”
“I never even spoke to the man.”
“我连话都不曾与此人说过。”
“You never spoke to him and you did not murder him?”
“你没跟他说过话，你也没杀他？”
The colonel’s eyebrows went up again sardonically.
上校的眉毛再度凶狠地扬了上去。
“If I had, I should hardly be likely to acquaint you with the fact. As a matter of fact I didn’t murder the fellow.”
“即令我杀了他，我也不至于向你报告的。事实上，事实上，我没有杀害这个人。”
“Ah, well,” murmured Poirot. “It is of no consequence.”
“呃，没关系，”白罗喃喃地说：“反正这也无关紧要。”
“I beg your pardon?”
“你说什么？”
“I said that it was of no consequence.”
“我说这不重要。”
“Oh!” Arbuthnot looked taken aback. He eyed Poirot uneasily.
“啊！”阿伯斯诺怔了怔，他不安地看了白罗一眼。
“Because, you see,” continued the little man, “the pipe-cleaner, it is of no importance. I can myself think of eleven other excellent explanations of its presence.”
“因为，我告诉你吧，”这位矮小的侦探说：“这枚烟斗捻子并不重要，我自己就可以举出十一个绝妙的理由来解释它的出现。”
Arbuthnot stared at him.
阿伯斯诺盯住了他。
“What I really wished to see you about was quite another matter,” went on Poirot. “Miss Debenham may have told you, perhaps, that I overheard some words spoken to you at the station of Konya?”
“我要见你的真正原因，却是为了另一件事，”白罗继续说：“戴本瀚小姐也许已经告诉你，我在孔雅站上偶尔听到她对你说的几句话了吧？”
Arbuthnot did not reply.
阿伯斯诺没有回答。
“She said, ‘Not now. When it’s all over. When it’s behind us!’ Do you know to what those words referred?”
“她说，‘现在不行。等这一切都过去再说！’你可知道这几句话指的是什么吗？”
“I am sorry, M. Poirot, but I must refuse to answer that question.”
“抱歉，白罗先生，我不能不拒绝回答你这问题。”
“Pourquoi?”
“为什么？”
The Colonel said stiffly, “I suggest that you ask Miss Debenham herself for the meaning of those words.”
上校辛辣地说：“你何不去问戴本瀚小姐本人这话的含意呢？”
“I have done so.”
“我问过了。”
“And she refused to tell you?”
“她拒绝告诉你吧？”
“Yes.”
“不错。”
“Then I should think it would have been perfectly plain—even to you—that my lips are sealed.”
“那么，就连你不也看得很明显吗——我是守口如瓶的。”
“You will not give away a lady’s secret?”
“你是不泄漏小姐的秘密的？”
“You can put it that way, if you like.”
“你一定要这么说，也未尝不可。”
“Miss Debenham told me that they referred to a private matter of her own.”
“戴本瀚小姐告诉我那是有关她个人的私事。”
“Then why not accept her word for it?”
“那么你何不就相信她的话呢？”
“Because, Colonel Arbuthnot, Miss Debenham is what one might call a highly suspicious character.”
“因为，阿伯斯诺上校，戴本瀚小姐或许可以称之为一位非常可疑的人物。”
“Nonsense,” said the Colonel with warmth.
“荒谬。”上校话中透着愠情。
“It is not nonsense.”
“并不荒谬。”
“You have nothing whatever against her.”
“你是找不到她什么麻烦的。”
“Not the fact that Miss Debenham was companion governess; in the Armstrong household at the time of the kidnapping of little Daisy Armstrong?”
“那么，戴本瀚小姐在小黛西·阿姆斯壮被绑票时，担任她家家庭教师的这件事呢？”
There was a minute’s dead silence.
片刻间，一片死寂。
Poirot nodded his head gently.
白罗轻轻点了点头。
“You see,” he said. “We know more than you think. If Miss Debenham is innocent, why did she conceal that fact? Why did she tell me that she had never been in America?”
“你瞧，”他说：“我们知道的比你所认为的要多吧？若是戴本瀚小姐是无辜的，她为什么要隐瞒这项事实？她为什么要告诉我她从没去过美国？”
The Colonel cleared his throat. “Aren’t you possibly making a mistake?”
上校清了一下喉咙说：“你不会弄错了吧？”
“I am making no mistake. Why did Miss Debenham lie to me?”
“我没有搞错。为什么戴本瀚小姐要对我撒谎？”
Colonel Arbuthnot shrugged his shoulders. “You had better ask her. I still think that you are wrong.”
上校耸了耸肩膀说：“这你最好去问她。我仍然认为你弄错了。”
Poirot raised his voice and called. One of the restaurant attendants came from the far end of the car.
白罗提高了嗓门召唤。一名餐车服务人员自车另外一端的门进来。
“Go and ask the English lady in No. 11 if she will be good enough to come here.”
“去第十一号房间请那位英国小姐，偏劳她过来一下。”
“Bien, Monsieur.”
“是，先生。”
The man departed. The four men sat in silence. Colonel Arbuthnot’s face looked as though it were carved out of wood, rigid and impassive.
那人离去，房内四人静寂地坐着。阿伯斯诺上校的脸，一如木刻般地僵硬、不动声色。
The man returned.
那人回来了。
“The lady is just coming, Monsieur.”
“小姐立刻就来，先生。”
“Thank you.”
“谢谢你。”
A minute or two later Mary Debenham entered the dining-car.
一两分钟后，玛丽·戴本瀚小姐来到了餐车。