10-Chapter Ⅹ 消失的杀手

The Italian, Antonio Foscarelli, came into the restaurant carriage, walking like a cat. He had a bright sunny smile on his face.

意大利人安东尼奥-福斯卡雷里走进餐厅的马车，走起路来像只猫。他的脸上挂着灿烂的笑容。

“I see from your passport that you have become a citizen of America, Monsieur?” said Poirot.

"波洛说："我从您的护照上看到，您已经成为美国公民了，先生？

"Yes, it’s better for my business.”

“是的，这样对我的生意更好”

“You work for Ford cars?”

“你为福特汽车公司工作？”

“Yes—”

是的

A long story followed. At the end of it, the three men knew everything about Foscarelli’s business and his opinion of the United States. His kind face had a satisfied smile.

接下来是一个很长的故事。最后，三个人对福斯卡雷里的生意和他对美国的看法了如指掌。他慈祥的脸上露出了满意的笑容。

“In the United States, did you ever meet Ratchett?"

“在美国，你见过雷切特吗？”

“Never. But I know that type of person. Oh, yes. Well-dressed—but underneath, all wrong. I’d guess he was probably a big criminal.”

"从来没有 但我知道这种人。哦，是的。衣着光鲜，但内心却错综复杂。我猜他可能是个大罪犯

“You are quite right," said Poirot. “Ratchett was Cassetti, the man who kidnapped little Daisy Armstrong.”

"你说得很对，"波洛说。“雷切特就是绑架小黛西-阿姆斯特朗的卡塞蒂”

词汇解释:

• underneath [ˌʌndərˈniθ] 在…下面

“Ahah! What did I tell you?"

“啊哈，我跟你说什么来着？”

“Did you know the Armstrong family?"

“你知道阿姆斯特朗家族吗？”

“No.”

不

"Tell me, did the other man in your compartment leave during the night?

"告诉我，你包厢里的另一个人晚上离开了吗？

“Oh, the English are miserable(可怜的） people. Last night he sits in the corner reading, always with a sad face. Then the conductor prepares our beds. Mine is the upper bed. get up there. I smoke my cigarette and read. The little Englishman has toothache, I think. He has a small bottle of stuff(东西) that smells very strong. He lies in bed and makes noises of pain."

“哦，英国人真是可怜的人。人。昨晚，他坐在角落里看书，总是愁眉苦脸的。然后，列车长为我们准备床铺。我的是上铺。我一边抽烟一边看书。我想那个小英国人牙疼。他带了一小瓶东西，味道很浓。他躺在床上，发出痛苦的声音”。

词汇解释：

• miserable [ˈmɪzərəbl]：可怜的，指情感低落、不快乐的，或者表现出痛苦和不满的。
• upper bed：上铺，指隔间内的高处床铺，通常位于下铺床上方。
• cigarette [ˌsɪɡəˈret]：香烟，一种由卷烟草制成的烟草制品，可以吸烟。
• toothache [ˈtuːθˌeɪk]：牙疼，指牙齿感到疼痛的症状。
• stuff [stʌf]：东西，通常指不具体指明的物品或物质。
• smells very strong：气味很浓，指某物的气味非常浓烈。
• noises of pain：疼痛的声音，指因疼痛而发出的声音。

After a while, I sleep. If he leaves, I would hear. The light from the corridor—it wakes you up. When the Italian left, his smile was still bright.

过了一会儿，我睡着了。如果他离开，我会听到。走廊的灯光会把你吵醒。意大利人离开时，笑容依然灿烂。

---

“He has been in America for a long time, so he could have known the Armstrongs,” said Bouc, "and Italians use a knife!”

布克说：“他在美国呆了很长时间，所以他可能认识阿姆斯特朗一家，”“意大利人用刀！”

“Certainly," said Poirot, "particularly when they get angry during a fight. But this is a different kind of crime, my friend. I think this crime was carefully planned. It shows a calm, clever mind.”

"当然，"波洛说，“尤其是当他们在打斗中发怒时。但这是另一种犯罪，我的朋友。我认为这起犯罪是经过精心策划的。它显示了一个冷静而聪明的头脑。”

He picked up the last two passports.

他拿起了最后两本护照。

"Let us now see Miss Mary Debenham.”

“现在让我们见玛丽-德本汉小姐”

Mary Debenham entered the restaurant carriage, dressed in a smart black suit and seeming very calm.

玛丽-德本汉姆走进餐厅的车厢，她身着黑色套装，显得非常镇定。

词汇解释：

• smart [smɑːrt]：时尚的，指穿着典雅、整洁和流行的。
• carefully planned：精心策划的，指经过仔细考虑和计划的。
• calm [kɑːm]：冷静的，指情感稳定，不慌张或焦虑的状态。
• clever mind：聪明的思维，指具有智慧和智力的思考方式。

“Mademoiselle, what do you have to say to us about what happened last night?” began Poirot.

"小姐，关于昨晚发生的事，您有什么要说的吗？"波洛开始问。

“Nothing, I’m afraid. I went to bed and slept.”

“恐怕没什么。我上床睡觉了”

“Aren’t you upset, Mademoiselle, that a crime has happened on this train?"

“难道你不难过吗 小姐 这趟列车上发生了犯罪事件”

"No, I can’t say I’m upset.”

“不，我不能说我很难过”

“A crime—it is quite a normal thing for you, eh?”

“犯罪，对你来说很平常，是吗？”

“Well, it is unpleasant,” said Mary Debenham. “But people die every day.

"玛丽-德本汉姆说："这的确令人不快。"但每天都有人死去。

Poirot looked at her in a curious way.

波洛好奇地打量着她。

“Do you know who Ratchett really was, Mademoiselle?” She nodded.

“你知道雷切特的真实身份吗，小姐？” 她点了点头。

"Mrs. Hubbard has been telling everyone.”

“赫伯德太太已经告诉大家了”

“You did not know the dead man?”

“你不认识那个死者？”

“No, I saw him for the first time yesterday.

"不，我昨天才第一次见到他。

"And what do you think of the Armstrong case?”

“你怎么看阿姆斯特朗的案子？”

“It was terrible,” said the girl quietly.

"太可怕了，"女孩轻声说道。

“You do not have strong feelings about it, Mademoiselle?”

“您对此没有强烈的感觉吗，小姐？”

"Monsieur Poirot, I’m afraid I can’t get upset just to prove to you that I have feelings.”

“波洛先生，恐怕我不能为了向你证明 我是有感情的而生气。”

Poirot looked at her thoughtfully.

波洛若有所思地看了她一眼。

“Are you returning to Baghdad after your holiday?"

“假期结束后，你要回巴格达吗？”

"I don’t know yet. I’d prefer to find a job in London.”

“我还不知道 我想在伦敦找份工作。”

"I see. I thought, perhaps, you might be getting married.”

“我明白了。我想，也许，你可能要结婚了。”

Miss Debenham did not reply. But her look clearly said: “You are very rude."

德本汉小姐没有回答。但她的眼神清楚地告诉我 “你太无礼了”

Poirot continued. "The lady who is with you in your compartment, Mademoiselle Ohlsson, what colour is her dressing-gown?”

波洛继续说道。 “和你一起在包厢里的那位女士，奥尔松小姐，她的晨衣是什么颜色的？”

Mary Debenham looked at him in surprise.

玛丽-德本汉姆惊讶地看着他。

"Brown.”

“棕色”

“Ah! And yours is purple, I believe.”

“啊，我想你的是紫色的”

“Yes.”

“是的”

“Do you have another dressing-gown, Mademoiselle? A red one?"

“你还有别的睡衣吗，小姐？一件红色的？”

"No, that isn’t mine.”

“没有，那不是我的”

Ahah! Miss Debenham knew that there was a red dressing-gown. Poirot was like a cat catching a mouse.

德本汉小姐知道有一件红色睡袍。波洛就像猫捉老鼠一样。

“Whose is it, then?"

“那是谁的？”

The girl sat back a little, surprised by the excitement in Poirot’s voice.

女孩稍稍往后坐了坐，波洛声音中的兴奋让她感到惊讶。

"I don’t know. I woke up this morning at about 5 am with the train standing still. I looked out into the corridor, thinking we might be at a station. I saw someone in a red dressing-gown at the other end of the corridor.”

“我不知道。今早 5 点左右，我醒来时火车还停在原地。我向走廊望去，觉得我们可能到站了。我看到走廊的另一头有一个穿着红色睡袍的人。”

“Did she have fair, dark, or grey hair?"

“她的头发是金色、深色还是灰色？”

"I don’t know. She was wearing a hat.”

“我不知道。她戴着帽子。”

“What about her shape?"

“她的外形是怎么样的？”

"Tall and slim, I’d say.”

“高高瘦瘦的，我得说”

Poirot was quiet for a minute. He said to himself: "I cannot understand any of this.” Then, looking up, he said: “Thank you, Mademoiselle.”

波洛沉默了一会儿。他对自己说 “我完全不明白” 然后，他抬起头，说： “谢谢你，小姐”

“Ah, well,” said Poirot, picking up the last passport, "to the final name on our list. The maid.”

"啊，好吧，"波洛拿起最后一本护照说，"这是我们名单上的最后一个名字。女仆。

Hildegarde Schmidt seemed calm, respectable—though perhaps not very intelligent.

Hildegarde Schmidt 给人一种沉着、可敬的感觉——尽管或许不是很聪明。

词汇解释：

• Hildegarde Schmidt [ˈhɪldɪgɑːrd ˈʃmɪtʃ]：人名，文中指一个人。
• seemed [sɪmɪd]：似乎，表示某种主观感受或推测。
• calm [kɑːm]：沉着的，冷静的。
• respectable [rɪˈspektəbl]：可敬的，值得尊敬的。
• though [ðəʊ]：尽管，表示转折关系。
• perhaps [pəˈpʃəs]：或许，表示可能性。
• not very [nɒt veɪvɪ]：不是很，表示程度上的限制。

Poirot spoke to her in a very kind way.

Poirot用非常友善的方式和她说话。

"We want to know as much as possible about last night” he said gently

“我们想尽可能多地了解昨晚的情况”他温柔地说

She continued looking calm but rather stupid.

她继续一脸平静，但却显得相当愚蠢。

"I do not know anything, Monsieur.”

“我什么也不知道 先生”

"Well, for one thing, you know that Princess Dragomiroff sent for you?”

“好吧，首先，你知道公主Dragomiroff派人找你吗？”

“That, yes.”

“那个，是的”

"Was it unusual for her to send for you in this way?”

"她叫你来是不是很不寻常？

“No, Monsieur. My lady does not sleep well”

"不，先生。夫人睡得不好

"Did you put on a dressing-gown?”

“你穿上睡袍了吗？”

“No, Monsieur, got dressed. I would not go to Madame in my dressing-gown.”

"不，先生，我已经穿好衣服了。我可不想穿着睡衣去见夫人

“But you have a very nice dressing-gown一it’s red, is it not?”

"但你有一件非常漂亮的长袍，是红色的，对吗？

She looked at him in surprise. “It’s dark blue, Monsieur.”

她惊讶地看着他。“是深蓝色的，先生。”

“Ah! Continue.”

"啊！又来了 "

“I read aloud to Madame. When she became sleepy, I returned to my own compartment.”

“我朗读给夫人听。当她我就回到了自己的包厢”

“And in the corridor you did not see a lady in a red dressing-gown?”

“在走廊上，你没有看到一位穿红色睡袍的女士？”

Her kind eyes opened wide in surprise.

她那双善良的眼睛惊讶地睁得大大的。

“No, indeed, Monsieur. There was nobody except the conductor. He came out of one of the compartments.”

"确实没有，先生。除了除了列车员。他从其中一个车厢里出来了。

“Which compartment?” Poirot asked, not letting his excitement show.

"哪个包厢？波洛问道，没有流露出兴奋的神情。

“It was in the middle of the carriage, Monsieur. He nearly walked into me.

"是在车厢中间，先生。他差点撞到我

“Which direction was he going in?”

“他往哪个方向去了”

“Towards me, Monsieur. He apologized and went on towards the restaurant carriage. A bell began ringing, but I don’t think he answered it.”

“向我的方向走来，先生。他道了歉，然后走向餐厅的马车。有铃声响起，但我想他没去应答铃声”

“This poor conductor seems to have had a busy night,” Poirot said. “First waking you and then answering bells.”

"这位可怜的售票员今晚似乎很忙，"波洛说。“先是叫醒你，然后又是接铃。”

“It wasn’t the same conductor who woke me, Monsieur. It was another one.”

“叫醒我的不是同一个列车员，先生。是另一个人”

“Ah! Would you recognize him?”

“啊，你认得他吗？”

“I think so, Monsieur.”

“我想是的，先生。”

Poirot nodded to Bouc who went to the door to call the conductor.

波洛向布克点了点头，后者走到门口去叫列车员。

Poirot continued. “Have you ever been to America, Madame Schmidt?”

“您曾经去过美国吗，Schmidt夫人？”

“Never, Monsieur.”

He handed her the handkerchief.

他把手帕递给他

"Is this yours, Madame Schmidt?”

“这是您的吗，Schmidt夫人？”

A little colour came into her face. "No, Monsieur. It is a lady’s handkerchief. Very expensive, embroidered by hand in Paris.”

她的脸上泛起了一点红晕。 “不，先生。这是一块女士手帕。非常昂贵，是在巴黎手工刺绣的。”

“You do not know whose it is?”

“您不知道是谁的吗？”

“Me? Oh, no, Monsieur.”

“我吗 不 先生”

Of the three men who were listening, only Poirot noticed the small delay in her reply.

在听她说话的三个人中，只有Poirot注意到了她回答时的短暂延迟。

Bouc spoke into Poirot’s ear. Poirot nodded and said to the woman: “The three conductors are coming in. Will you tell me which one came to get you last night?”

Bouc在Poirot的耳边低声说了些什么。Poirot点了点头，对女士说： “三个列车员进来了。你能告诉我昨晚是哪一个来找你的吗？”

The three men entered. They were Pierre Michel, the big blond conductor from the Athens-Paris carriage, and the large conductor from the Bucharest carriage.

三个人走了进来。他们是Pierre Michel，来自雅典-巴黎车厢的高大金发售票员，以及来自布加勒斯特车厢的大个子售票员。

Hildegarde Schmidt shook her head. "None of these, Monsieur. The one I saw was small and dark-haired. He had a little moustache.”

Hildegarde Schmidt摇了摇头。 “这些人中没有一个，先生。我看到的那个人很小，黑头发。他有一小撮胡子。”

His voice when he said “Pardon’ was weak, like a woman’s. I remember him very well, Monsieur”

他说“抱歉”时的声音很虚弱，像女人的声音。我记得他非常清楚，先生。

---

The conductors and Hildegarde Schmidt had gone.

列车员和Hildegarde Schmidt已经走了。

“I don’t understand!” said Bouc. "The enemy that Ratchett spoke of一how can he have disappeared? I feel very confused. Please explain to me what happened.”

“Ratchett提到的敌人——他怎么会消失了呢？我感到非常困惑。请向我解释发生了什么。”

“Dear friend, the progress of this case is very strange. "

“亲爱的朋友，这个案件的进展非常奇怪。”

"There’s no progress at all”

“一点进展都没有。”

Poirot shook his head. “No, that is not true. We know some things for sure.”

"那倒不是，我们确实知道一些事情。”

We hear about the small dark-haired man with a voice like a woman’s from Hardman. Hildegarde Schmidt’s description of the man in uniform matches it.

我们从Hardman那里听说了一个声音像女人的小个子黑头发男人。Hildegarde Schmidt对穿制服的男人的描述与之相符。

And there is the button found by Madame Hubbard. Both Colonel Arbuthnot and Hector MacQueen say the conductor passed their carriage.

还有Madame Hubbard发现的纽扣。Arbuthnot上校和Hector MacQueen都说列车员经过了他们的车厢。

But Pierre Michel has said he did not leave his seat except for a few times.

但是Pierre Michel说他除了几次之外没有离开过座位。

"Therefore this story of a small dark-haired man in uniform depends on these four people who saw him.”

“因此，关于这个穿制服的小个子黑头发男人的故事取决于这四个看到他的人。”

“Yes, yes, my friend” Bouc said. “We all agree that this person exists. The question is-where did he go?”

“是的，是的，我的朋友” Bouc说。“我们都同意这个人存在。问题是——他去哪里了？”

Poirot shook his head. "You are making a mistake. Before I ask myself, “Where did this man go? I ask myself, Did this man really exist?”

“你犯了一个错误。在我问自己‘这个人去哪里了？’之前，我问自己‘这个人真的存在吗？’”

“You see, if the man were not real, it would be much easier for him to disappear!”

“你看，如果这个人不是真的，他消失就容易多了！”

“But that’s mad!”

“但那太疯狂了！”

“It is so mad, my friend, that sometimes I think that really it must be very simple,” said Poirot in a cheerful voice.

“这太疯狂了，我的朋友，有时我觉得真的可能很简单，”Poirot用愉快的声音说。

"Last night on the train there are two strangers. There is the conductor, and there is also a tall, slim woman in a red dressing-gown.

“昨晚在火车上有两个陌生人。有一个列车员，还有一个穿着红色睡袍的高个子苗条女人。

She, too, has disappeared. Where are they, these two? And where are the uniform and dressing-gown?"

她也失踪了。这两个人在哪里？制服和睡袍在哪里？”

“Ah!” Bouc jumped up eagerly. “We must search the passengers’ luggage’

“啊！”Bouc急切地跳了起来。“我们必须搜查乘客的行李。”

Poirot stood up too. "We will predict, he said, that you will find the uniform in the baggage of Hildegarde Schmidt.”

Poirot也站了起来。 “我们可以预测一下“ 他说 ”你会在Hildegarde Schmidt的行李中找到制服。”

"You think一”

“你认为一一”

“I will say it like this. If Hildegarde Schmidt is guilty, the uniform might be found in her baggage -but if she is innocent it certainly will be"”

“我会这样说。如果Hildegarde Schmidt有罪，制服可能会在她的行李中找到——但如果她是无辜的，肯定会找到””

“But-" began Bouc, and then stopped. “What’s that noise?” he cried.

“但是——”Bouc开始说，然后停了下来。 “那是什么声音？”他喊道。