It was quite a quarter of an hour before anyone spoke.
足足有十五分钟没人说话。
M. Bouc and Dr. Constantine had started by trying to obey Poirot’s instructions. They had endeavoured to see through the maze of conflicting particulars to a clear and outstanding solution.
布克先生和康斯坦汀医生尽量按波洛说的做。他们努力从迷宫一样的矛盾的细节中找到一个清晰且突出的结论。
M. Bouc’s thoughts had run something as follows:
布克先生的脑海中是这么想的：
“Assuredly I must think. But as far as that goes I have already thought… Poirot obviously thinks this English girl is mixed up in the matter. I cannot help feeling that that is most unlikely… The English are extremely cold. Probably it is because they have no figures… But that is not the point. It seems that the Italian could not have done it — a pity. I suppose the English valet is not lying when he said the other never left the compartment? But why should he? It is not easy to bribe the English, they are so unapproachable. The whole thing is most unfortunate. I wonder when we shall get out of this. There must be some rescue work in progress. They are so slow in these countries… it is hours before anyone thinks of doing anything. And the police of these countries, they will be most trying to deal with — puffed up with importance, touchy, on their dignity. They will make a grand affair of all this. It is not often that such a chance comes their way. It will be in all the newspapers…”
“我的确得思考，可是那些问题我已经想过了呀…很明显，波洛认为那个英国女孩跟本案有关系，可我总觉得这不可能…英国人都非常冷漠，可能是因为他们身材不美。但这不是重点。看样子那个意大利人不可能这么做——真可惜。我觉得那个英国男仆说他房间里的另一个人从未离开过，应该没有撒谎。可是他怎么会杀人呢？贿赂英国人可不容易，他们那么难以接近。整件事简直倒霉透顶。我不知道我们什么时候才能走出去，总得做一点救援工作。这些国家做事这么慢…做什么事之前先得想上几个小时。还有这些国家的警察，他们最不好应付了——自高自大，暴躁易怒，还摆出一副有尊严的样子。他们会把这件事闹大，因为他们难得有这么个机会。所有的报纸上都会刊登着…”
“He is queer, this little man. A genius? Or a crank? Will he solve this mystery? Impossible. I can see no way out of it. It is all too confusing… Everyone is lying, perhaps… But even then that does not help one. If they are all lying it is just as confusing as if they were speaking the truth. Odd about those wounds. I cannot understand it… It would be easier to understand if he had been shot — after all, the term gunman must mean that they shoot with a gun. A curious country, America. I should like to go there. It is so progressive. When I get home I must get hold of Demetrius Zagone — he has been to America, he has all the modern ideas… I wonder what Zia is doing at this moment. If my wife ever finds out –“
“他真奇怪，这个小个子。一个天才，还是一个怪人？他能解开这个谜题吗？不可能——我看不到出路。这一切都太混乱了…没准，每个人都在撒谎…可是就算这样也没用。如果他们全都在说谎，可还是那么让人迷惑，好像他们都在说真话。关于那些刀伤的说法很古怪，我无法理解…如果他是被枪打死的，就容易理解了——毕竟，‘带枪者’这个词意味着他们得有把枪。美国是个奇妙的国家。我真得去那里看看。真是先进啊。我回到家一定得找到迪米特里厄斯·扎刚——他去过美国，有一脑子的新鲜玩意儿。不知道他现在正在做什么，要是我老婆知道了…”
Dr. Constantine’s thoughts ran thus:
康斯坦汀是这么想的：
One might have thought he was asleep.
别人可能会以为他睡着了。
And from there on M. Bouc’s thoughts went along a well-worn course which they had already traversed some hundred times.
接下来，布克先生的思路又沿着他们已经走过几百次的老路走下去了。
And then, suddenly, after a quarter of an hour’s complete immobility, his eyebrows began to move slowly up his forehead. A little sigh escaped him. He murmured beneath his breath:
忽然，经过一刻钟的静默之后，他的眉毛开始慢慢地舒展开来，轻叹一声之后，他蚊子般地咕哝道：
Hercule Poirot sat very still.
赫尔克里·波洛一动不动地坐在那儿。
His thoughts went on to entirely private matters.
他的思维已经完全走向了个人问题。
“But, after all, why not? And if so — why, if so, that would explain everything.”
“可是，毕竟，为什么不呢？而且如果是这样——嗯，如果这样，一切就能解释清楚了。”
Lost in their reflections, both men started violently.
思绪飘到九霄云外去的两个人，开始大声地说了起来。
His eyes opened. They were green like a cat’s. He said softly: “Eh bien. I have thought. And you?”
他睁开了绿得像猫眼一样的眼睛，轻声说：“好啦，我想完了。你们呢？”
Poirot nodded amiably. His nod seemed to say: “Quite right. That is the proper thing to say. You have given me the cue I expected.”
波洛和蔼地点点头，像是在说：“非常好。这么说就对了，你们已经给了我需要的提示。”
“My friends, I have reviewed the facts in my mind, and have also gone over to myself the evidence of the passengers — with this result. I see, nebulously as yet, a certain explanation that would cover the facts as we know them. It is a very curious explanation, and I cannot be sure as yet that it is the true one. To find out definitely, I shall have to make certain experiments.
“朋友们，我把脑子里的事实都检查了一遍，也考虑过旅客的证词，然后得出了一个结论：虽然很模糊，但我看到了某种掩盖我们已知事实的解释。这是个非常奇怪的解释，我还无法确定是不是真的。为了证明其正确性，我得做几个试验。
“I, too, have reflected with great earnestness,” said the doctor unblushingly, recalling his thoughts from certain pornographic details. “I have thought of many possible theories, but not one that really satisfies me.”
“我也费尽心思很努力地想过了，”医生说，厚颜无耻地回想着刚才自己脑子中的色情细节，“我想了各种可能性，不过一个也不满意。”
“I have thought also,” said M. Bouc just a shade guilty. “But I have arrived at no conclusion. The elucidation of crime is your métier, not mine, my friend.”
“我也想完了。”布克先生脸上蒙上了一层羞愧的阴影，“但是还没有得出结论。解释这个案子是你的责任，不是我的，朋友。”
He sat very upright, threw out his chest, caressed his moustache and spoke in the manner of a practised speaker addressing a public meeting.
他坐得笔直，挺着胸脯，摸着小胡子，像演说家发表公开演讲那样说道：
“Do they suggest anything to you, those points?” asked Poirot.
“这些问题对你们有没有启发？”波洛问道。
“I would like first to mention certain points which appear to me suggestive. Let us start with a remark made to me by M. Bouc in this very place on the occasion of our first lunch together on the train. He commented on the fact that we were surrounded by people of all classes, of all ages, of all nationalities. That is a fact somewhat rare at this time of year. The Athens-Paris and the Bucharest-Paris coaches, for instance, are almost empty. Remember also one passenger who failed to turn up. It is, I think, significant. Then there are some minor points that strike me as suggestive — for instance, the position of Mrs. Hubbard’s sponge bag, the name of Mrs. Armstrong’s mother, the detective methods of M. Hardman, the suggestion of M. MacQueen that Ratchett himself destroyed the charred note we found, Princess Dragomiroff’s Christian name, and a grease spot on a Hungarian passport.”
“首先我说几点看起来对我有启发性的问题。让我先从和布克先生在这个地方一起吃午饭时，他给我讲的一句话开始说起吧。他说我们周围都是一些不同阶层、不同国籍、不同年龄段的人。这在一年中的这个时候确实是很少见的。比如，雅典－巴黎，布加勒斯特－巴黎这两节车厢几乎是空的。别忘了，还有一个旅客没出现。我认为这个人值得注意。另外，还有几个小问题对我很有启发——比如，哈巴特太太洗漱包的位置，阿姆斯特朗太太母亲的名字，哈德曼先生的侦探手法，麦奎因所说的是雷切特自己烧毁了我们发现的焦了的纸片，德拉戈米罗夫公主的教名，以及匈牙利人护照上的油迹。”
“Not a thing,” said M. Bouc frankly.
“一点没有。”布克先生坦白道。
The two men stared at him.
两个人凝视着他。
“I do not understand in the least of what you are talking.”
“我连你说的是什么也没弄明白。”
M. Bouc, meanwhile, seizing upon the one tangible thing his friend had mentioned, was sorting through the passports. With a grunt he picked up that of Count and Countess Andrenyi and opened it.
布克先生赶紧抓住他朋友提到的一个看得见摸得着的问题，在一堆护照中分拣起来。接着，他咕哝一声，拿起了安德雷尼伯爵夫妇的护照，打开。
“And M. le docteur?”
“医生，你呢？”
“Is this what you mean? This dirty mark?”
“这就是你说的吗，这块污渍？”
“At the beginning of the description of the Count’s wife — her Christian name, to be exact. But I confess that I still do not see the point.”
“在伯爵夫人姓名一栏的前端——准确地说，是她的教名。可我承认我还是没弄明白。”
“Yes. It is a fairly fresh grease spot. You notice where it occurs?”
“是的，这是一块刚滴上去的油迹。你注意到它在什么地方吗？”
“I am going to approach it from another angle. Let us go back to the handkerchief found at the scene of the crime. As we have stated not long ago — three people are associated with the letter H. Mrs. Hubbard, Miss Debenham and the maid, Hildegarde Schmidt. Now let us regard that handkerchief from another point of view. It is, my friends, an extremely expensive handkerchief — an objet de luxe, hand made, embroidered in Paris. Which of the passengers, apart from the initial, was likely to own such a handkerchief? Not Mrs. Hubbard, a worthy woman with no pretensions to reckless extravagance in dress. Not Miss Debenham; that class of English-woman has a dainty linen handkerchief, but not an expensive wisp of cambric costing perhaps two hundred francs. And certainly not the maid. But there are two women on the train who would be likely to own such a handkerchief. Let us see if we can connect them in any way with the letter H. The two women I refer to are Princess Dragomiroff –“
“我从另外一个角度来解释这个问题。让我们回到在案发现场发现的那块手帕上面。就像前不久我们说过的那样，三个人跟这个字母有关系：哈巴特太太、德贝纳姆小姐和女仆希尔德嘉德·施密特。现在我们从另外一个观点看这块手帕。我的朋友们，这是一块非常昂贵的手帕——一件奢侈品、手工制作、巴黎刺绣。这些旅客中，先不说姓名首字母，哪一个人有可能拥有这么一块手帕？不是哈巴特太大，她是个举止得体的女人，不喜欢在衣着上表现得很奢侈。不是德贝纳姆小姐，那个阶层的英国女人都用雅致的麻布手帕，而非昂贵的、可能要花掉两百法郎的棉纱手帕。而且肯定不是女仆。但是火车上有两个女人有可能用这种手帕。总之，让我们看看是否能把她们的名字跟字母H联系起来，我说的是德拉戈米罗夫公主——”
“Certainly it is an idea! I look about for any confirmation, however slight, of my idea — and I find it. One of the luggage labels on the Countess’s baggage is slightly damp. It is one that happens to run over the first initial on top of the case. That label has been soaked off and put on again in a different place.”
“当然是个好主意！我到处寻找我这个想法的证明，不管多么微小——并且找到了。她行李箱上的一个标签有些潮湿，正好在箱子上面的首字母上。标签是用水浸湿之后，揭下来又贴在另外一个地方。”
“Exactly. And her Christian name, as I said just now, is decidedly suggestive. The other woman is Countess Andrenyi. And at once something strikes us –“
“对极了。而且她的教名，正如我刚才所说，显然具有启发性。另一个人是安德雷尼伯爵夫人，那么我们就会马上想到——”
“Whose Christian name is Natalia,” put in M. Bouc ironically.
“她的教名是娜塔丽亚。”布克先生挖苦道。
“You!”
“只有你！”
“Me, then. Her Christian name on her passport is disfigured by a blob of grease. Just an accident, anyone would say. But consider that Christian name. Elena. Suppose that, instead of Elena, it were Helena. That capital H could be turned into a capital E and then run over the small e next to it quite easily — and then a spot of grease dropped to cover up the alteration.”
“好吧，是我会马上想到。她护照上的教名被一块油迹弄糊了。只是个意外，任何人都会这么说。可是，想一想那个教名。埃伦娜[1]。假设，不是埃伦娜，而是海伦娜[2]。大写的H可以改成大写的E，就能轻易地盖住旁边那个小小的e，再弄一块油渍掩盖这种改变。”【注：[1]英文为Elena。[2]英文为Helena。】
“You begin to convince me,” said M. Bouc, “But the Countess Andrenyi — surely –“
“你开始说服我了，”布克先生说，“但是安德雷尼伯爵夫人——当然——”
“Helena,” cried M. Bouc. “It is an idea, that.”
“海伦娜！”布克先生喊道，“想法真不错。”
“Ah, now, mon vieux, you must turn yourself round and approach an entirely different angle of the case. How was this murder intended to appear to everybody? Do not forget that the snow has upset all the murderer’s original plan. Let us imagine, for a little minute, that there is no snow, that the train proceeded on its normal course. What, then, would have happened?
“啊，现在，我的朋友，你必须转变观念，从完全不同的角度探索这个案子。凶案本来应该怎样出现在众人面前呢？别忘了，大雪打乱了凶手的原始计划。让我们想象一下，如果没有大雪，火车就会正常行进，那么，会发生什么？”
“You mean?”
“你的意思是？”
“The murder, let us say, would still have been discovered in all probability at the Italian frontier early this morning. Much of the same evidence would have been given to the Italian police. The threatening letters would have been produced by M. MacQueen, M. Hardman would have told his story, Mrs. Hubbard would have been eager to tell how a man passed through her compartment, the button would have been found. I imagine that two things only would have been different. The man would have passed through Mrs. Hubbard’s compartment just before one o’clock — and the Wagon Lit uniform would have been found cast off in one of the toilets.”
“可以说，凶手十有八九会于今天早上在意大利边境被发现，意大利警方同样会获得很多相同的证词。麦奎因先生会说出那些恐吓信，哈德曼先生会讲他的故事，哈巴特太太会急切地说出有个男人经过她的房间，纽扣也会被发现。我想，只有两件事会有所不同。那个男人会在一点之前穿过哈巴特太太的房间，而列车员制服会被扔在一个厕所里。”
“But the accident to the train changes everything. Doubtless we have here the reason why the man remained in the compartment with his victim so long. He was waiting for the train to go on. But at last he realized that the train was not going on. Different plans would have to be made. The murderer would now be known to be still on the train.”
“但是大雪改变了一切。毫无疑问，我们已经知道凶手为什么在房间里跟受害人待这么久了，他在等火车继续往前开。但是他最终意识到火车开不了了，必须另行制订计划。现在已经知道凶手仍然还在火车上。”
“I mean that the murder was planned to look like an outside job. The assassin would have been presumed to have left the train at Brod, where the train is timed to arrive at 00:58. Somebody would probably have passed a strange Wagon Lit conductor in the corridor. The uniform would be left in a conspicuous place so as to show clearly just how the trick had been played. No suspicion would have been attached to the passengers. That, my friends, was how the affair was intended to appear to the outside world.
“我的意思是，凶杀案原本计划得像是外面的人干的。凶手原本打算等火车零点五十八分准时到达布罗德时下车，有人可能会在过道上碰见一个奇怪的列车员，制服则被扔在一个显眼的地方，这样人们就能看清凶手设计的骗局。这样所有的旅客都不会有嫌疑。我的朋友，凶案原本是想以这样的形式展现出来的。
“I am returning to it by a somewhat circuitous route. To begin with, you must realize that the threatening letters were in the nature of a blind. They might have been lifted bodily out of an indifferently written American crime novel. They are not real. They are, in fact, simply intended for the police. What we have to ask ourselves is, ‘Did they deceive Ratchett?’ On the face of it, the answer seems to be, ‘No.’ His instructions to Hardman seem to point to a definite ‘private’ enemy of the identity of whom he was well aware. That is if we accept Hardman’s story as true. But Ratchett certainly received one letter of a very different character — the one containing a reference to the Armstrong baby, a fragment of which we found in his compartment. In case Ratchett had not realized it sooner, this was to make sure that he understood the reason of the threats against his life. That letter, as I have said all along, was not intended to be found. The murderer’s first care was to destroy it. This, then, was the second hitch in his plans. The first was the snow, the second was our reconstruction of that fragment.
“我会用比较曲折迂回的方式解释给你听。首先你们得意识到那些恐吓信有些瞎蒙的性质，可能是从一本差劲的美国侦探小说里抄的，不是真的。实际上，只是给警方看的。我们必须问自己的就是：‘它们骗到雷切特没有？’表面上看是没有。他给哈德曼的指令好像指的是一个明确的‘个人’的敌人，他完全掌握了敌人的身份，前提是我们认为哈德曼的故事是真的。但是雷切特确实收到了一封风格迥异的信——内容包含阿姆斯特朗小孩的信，也就是我们在他房间发现的碎片。万一雷切特没有及早意识到，就要确保他明白为什么自己的生命受到了威胁。我一直在说的那封信，凶手没打算让人发现，他首先关心的就是烧掉这封信。然而这是他计划中的第二个障碍。第一个是大雪，第二个是我们复原了那封信。
“Yes, yes,” said M. Bouc impatiently. “I see all that. But where does the handkerchief come in?”
“没错没错，”布克先生不耐烦地说，“这些我都明白。但是手帕从何而来？”
“Now we come to the other two clues that we found. I pass over the pipe cleaner. We have already said a good deal about that. Let us pass on to the handkerchief. Taken at its simplest, it is a clue which directly incriminates someone whose initial is H, and it was dropped there unwittingly by that person.”
“现在，我们说说发现的另外两条线索。我先略过烟斗通条的问题，因为我们说得已经够多了。我们说说手帕的问题。很简单，这条线索直指名字首字母为H的人，而且是那个人无意中掉落的。”
“That note being destroyed so carefully can only mean one thing. There must be on the train someone so intimately connected with the Armstrong family that the finding of that note would immediately direct suspicion upon that person.
“如此小心地烧毁那封信，这只能说明一个问题，那就是：火车上一定有人跟阿姆斯特朗家有密切的关系，而发现那封信，就会直接导致那个人受到怀疑。
“Is there any other alternative?”
“还有其他结论吗？”
“Exactly,” said Dr. Constantine. “She finds out that she has dropped the handkerchief and immediately takes steps to conceal her Christian name.”
“非常对。”康斯坦汀医生说，“发现手帕掉了之后，她会立即采取措施隐瞒教名——”
“Certainly there is. Suppose, for instance, that you have committed a crime and wish to cast suspicion for it on someone else. Well, there is on the train a certain person connected intimately with the Armstrong family — a woman. Suppose, then, that you leave there a handkerchief belonging to that woman. She will be questioned, her connection with the Armstrong family will be brought out — et voilà. Motive — and an incriminating article of evidence.”
“当然有。比方说，假如你犯了罪，并且想嫁祸于人，而且，火车上有一个人跟阿姆斯特朗家关系密切——是个女人。假如，那时候你留在那儿一块属于那个女人的手帕，她就会受到讯问，她跟阿姆斯特朗家的关系就会公开——就是：动机——也是与案子有牵连的证据。”
“How fast you go. You arrive at a conclusion much sooner than I would permit myself to do.”
“你还真是快！你这么快就得出结论了，我可还不敢允许自己这么说。”
“What do you think her connection with the Armstrong family can be? She has never been in America, she says.”
“你觉得她跟阿姆斯特朗家有什么关系？她说她从未去过美国。”
“But in such a case,” objected the doctor, “the person indicated being innocent, would not take steps to conceal her identity.”
“但是在这个案子中，”医生表示反对，“清白的嫌疑人没有采取什么行动掩饰身份。”
“Ah, really? That is what you think? That is truly the opinion of the police court. But I know human nature, my friend, and I tell you that, suddenly confronted with the possibility of being tried for murder, the most innocent person will lose their head and do the most absurd things. No, no, the grease spot and the changed label do not prove guilt — they only prove that the Countess Andrenyi is anxious for some reason to conceal her identity.”
“啊，真的吗？你是这么认为的吗？这正是警方的观点。但是我了解人性，我的朋友，面对突如其来的谋杀审讯，就算最清白无辜的人也会失去理智做出最荒唐的事情。不，不，油迹和修改过的标签不能证明安德雷尼伯爵夫人有罪——只能证明她由于某个原因而急于隐瞒身份。”
“Exactly, and she speaks broken English, and she has a very foreign appearance which she exaggerates. But it should not be difficult to guess who she is. I mentioned just now the name of Mrs. Armstrong’s mother. It was Linda Arden, and she was a very celebrated actress — among other things a Shakespearean actress. Think of As You Like It — the Forest of Arden and Rosalind. It was there she got the inspiration for her acting name. Linda Arden, the name by which she was known all over the world, was not her real name. It may have been Goldenberg — she quite likely had central European blood in her veins — a strain of Jewish, perhaps. Many nationalities drift to America. I suggest to you, gentlemen, that that young sister of Mrs. Armstrong’s, little more than a child at the time of the tragedy, was Helena Goldenberg the younger daughter of Linda Arden, and that she married Count Andrenyi when he was an attaché in Washington.”
“确切地说，她的英语带有外国口音，相貌也像个外国人[3]，只是有些夸张。但是不难猜到她是谁。刚才我说过阿姆斯特朗太太母亲的名字，叫琳达·阿登，她是个非常著名的演员，尤其是作为一个莎士比亚戏剧的演员。想想《皆大欢喜》中的阿登和罗莎琳德森林。她给自己取名字的灵感即来自于此。那个让她享誉全球的名字，‘琳达·阿登’，并非她的真名。她的本名可能是戈尔登贝格，在她身上，很有可能流淌着中欧人的血，也许掺有犹太人的血液。很多民族都漂泊去了美国。我提示你们一下，先生们，阿姆斯特朗太太的妹妹就是埃伦娜·戈尔登贝格，琳达·阿登的小女儿，惨剧发生时她还是个孩子，后来，嫁给了在华盛顿当使馆专员的安德雷尼伯爵。”【注：[3]这里的外国人，是相对于美国人而言。】
“Whose name she cannot remember! I ask you, my friends — is that really likely? Princess Dragomiroff loved Linda Arden as great ladies do love great artists. She was godmother to one of her daughters. Would she forget so quickly the married name of the other daughter? It is not likely. No, I think we can safely say that Princess Dragomiroff was lying. She knew Helena was on the train, she had seen her. She realized at once, as soon as she heard who Ratchett really was, that Helena would be suspected. And so, when we question her as to the sister she promptly lies — is vague, cannot remember, but ‘thinks Helena married an Englishman’– a suggestion as far away from the truth as possible.”
“可是他的名字她却不记得了！我问你，我的朋友，可能吗？德拉戈米罗夫公主爱琳达·阿登，就像贵妇人爱伟大的演员一样。她还是这个演员其中一个女儿的教母，这么快就忘记她女儿的夫姓了吗？不可能。我觉得我们可以有把握地说她在撒谎。她知道埃伦娜就在火车上，还见过她。听到雷切特的真实身份时，她马上就意识到埃伦娜会受到怀疑。所以我们问到阿姆斯特朗太太的妹妹时，她立刻撒了谎——模糊了，记不得了，但是认为埃伦娜嫁给了一个英国人——与真相相去甚远的说法。
“But Princess Dragomiroff says that she married an Englishman.”
“可是德拉戈米罗夫公主说，她嫁给了一个英国人。”
One of the restaurant attendants came through the door at the end and approached them. He addressed M. Bouc.
一个餐车服务员从另一边的门口进来，走到他们前面，对布克先生说：
“The dinner, Monsieur, shall I serve it? It is ready some little time.”
“吃饭了，先生们。要送上来吗？已经做好了一会儿了。”
The attendant vanished through the doors at the other end. His bell could be heard ringing and his voice upraised:
服务员从另一个门走了出去，传来他按铃的声音以及大喊声：
“Premier Service. Le dîner est servi. Premier dîner — First Service.”
“头等厢，开饭了，开始供应晚饭——第一桌！”
M. Bouc looked at Poirot. The latter nodded. “By all means, let dinner be served.”
布克先生看看波洛，后者点点头。“一定要开饭。”
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