福爾摩斯探案經典:《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.

“這裏我們已經把他們所說的完全記下來了。他們似乎說得不太詳細，不過那些茶房、管事的和女侍者們所說的大致相同。那人身高五英尺九英寸，五十歲左右，有點兒頭髮灰白，淡灰色的鬍子，鷹鉤鼻子和一張兇殘無比、令人生畏的面孔。”
“好，別說了，這幾乎是道格拉斯本人的寫照了，"福爾摩斯說道，“道格拉斯正好是五十多歲，鬚髮灰白，身高也是這樣。你還得到什麼情況了？”
“他穿一身厚的灰衣服和一件雙排扣夾克，披一件黃色短大衣，戴一頂便帽。”
“關於那支火槍有什麼情況？”
“這支火槍不到二英尺長，完全可以放到他的手提箱裏。他也可以毫不費力地把它放在大衣裏，帶在身上。”
“你認爲這些情況同這件案子有什麼關係呢？”
“噢，福爾摩斯先生，"麥克唐納說道，“你可以相信，我聽到這些情況以後，不到五分鐘就發出了電報。當我們捉住這個人時，我們就可以更好地判斷了。不過，恰恰在這件案子停滯不前時，我們肯定是前進了一大步。我們知道一個自稱哈格雷夫的美國人兩天前來到滕布里奇韋爾斯市，隨身攜帶一輛自行車和一個手提箱，箱子裏裝的是一支截短了的火槍。所以他是蓄意來進行犯罪活動的。昨天早晨他把火槍藏在大衣裏，騎着自行車來到這個地方。據我們所知，誰也沒看到他來。不過他到莊園大門口用不着經過村子，而且路上騎自行車的人也很多。大概他馬上把他的自行車藏到月桂樹叢裏（人們後來就在這裏找到那輛車），也可能他自己就潛伏在這裏，注視着莊園的動靜，等候道格拉斯先生走出來。在咱們看來，在室內使用火槍這種武器是件怪事。不過，他本來是打算在室外使用的。火槍在室外有一個很明顯的好處，因爲它不會打不中，而且在英國愛好射擊運動的人聚居的地方，槍聲是很平常的事，不會引僕人們特別注意的。”
“這一切都很清楚了！"福爾摩斯說道。“可是，道格拉斯先生沒有出來。兇手下一步怎麼辦呢？他丟下自行車，在黃昏時走近莊園。他發現吊橋是放下來的，附近一個人也沒有。他就利用了這個機會，毫無疑問，假如有人碰到他，他可以捏造一些藉口。可是他沒有碰到一個人。他溜進了他首先看到的屋子，隱藏在窗簾後面。從那個地方，他看到吊橋已經拉起來，他知道，唯一的生路就是蹚過護城河。他一直等到十一點一刻，道格拉斯先生進行睡前的例行檢查走進房來。他按事先預定計劃向道格拉斯開槍以後就逃跑了。他知道，旅館的人會說出他的自行車特徵來，這是個對他不利的線索，所以他就把自行車丟在此地，另行設法到倫敦，或是到他預先安排好的某一安全隱身地去。福爾摩斯先生，我說得怎麼樣？”
“很好，麥克先生，按照目前的情況來看，你說得很好，也很清楚。這是你所說的情況發展的結局。我的結論是：犯罪時間比我聽說的要早半小時；道格拉斯夫人和巴克先生兩個人合謀隱瞞了一些情況；他們幫助殺人犯逃跑了，或者至少是在他們進屋以後兇手才逃走的；他們還僞造兇手從窗口逃跑的跡象，而十有八九是他們自己放下吊橋，讓兇手逃走的。這是我對案子前一半情況的判斷。”
這兩個偵探搖了搖頭。