福爾摩斯探案經典:《恐怖谷》第5章Part8
"We have heard from Mr. Cecil Barker that you did not actually see--that you were never in the room where the tragedy occurred?"
"No, he turned me back upon the stairs. He begged me to return to my room."
"Quite so. You had heard the shot, and you had at once come down."
"I put on my dressing gown and then came down."
"How long was it after hearing the shot that you were stopped on the stair by Mr. Barker?"
"It may have been a couple of minutes. It is so hard to reckon time at such a moment. He implored me not to go on. He assured me that I could do nothing. Then Mrs. Allen, the housekeeper, led me upstairs again. It was all like some dreadful dream."
"Can you give us any idea how long your husband had been downstairs before you heard the shot?"
"No, I cannot say. He went from his dressing room, and I did not hear him go. He did the round of the house every night, for he was nervous of fire. It is the only thing that I have ever known him nervous of."
"That is just the point which I want to come to, Mrs. Douglas. You have known your husband only in England, have you not?"
“我們聽塞西爾·巴克先生說你實際上沒有看到，也就是說，你並沒有到發生慘案的屋子裏面去，對嗎？”
“沒有去，巴克讓我回到樓上去了。他懇求我回到我的臥室去。”
“確實是這樣，你聽到了槍聲，而且馬上就下樓了。”
“我穿上睡衣就下樓了。”
“從你聽到槍聲，到巴克先生在樓下阻攔你，中間隔了多少時候？”
“大約有兩分鐘吧，在這樣的時刻是很難計算時間的。巴克先生懇求我不要前去。他說我是無能爲力的。後來，女管家艾倫太太就把我扶回樓上了。這真象是一場可怕的惡夢。”
“你能不能大體上告訴我們，你丈夫下樓多久你就聽到了槍聲？”
“不，我說不清楚。因爲他是從更衣室下樓的，我沒有聽到他走出去。因爲他怕失火，所以每天晚上都要在莊園裏繞一圈。我只知道他唯一害怕的東西就是火災。”
“道格拉斯夫人，這正是我想要談到的問題。你和你丈夫是在英國才認識的，對不對？”
