“Now you must just take a hold on yourself, my dear. Everything’s going to be perfectly all right. You mustn’t lose your grip on yourself. If one of us is a nasty murderer we know quite well it isn’t you. Why, anyone would be crazy even to think of such a thing. You sit here and I’ll stay right by you; and don’t you worry any.” Her voice died away as Poirot stood up.
“现在，你得振作起来，亲爱的，一切都会好的。你一定要控制住自己。要是我们中间有个卑鄙的凶手，我们大家都知道不是你。唉，光是想一想这种事就能让人发疯。你坐在这儿，我就在你旁边——别担心。”波洛站了起来，她的声音便低了下去。
Poirot cleared his throat.
波洛清了清嗓子。
The passengers came crowding into the restaurant car and took their seats round the tables. They all bore more or less the same expression, one of expectancy mingled with apprehension. The Swedish lady was still weeping and Mrs. Hubbard was comforting her.
旅客们都拥入餐车，围着桌子坐了下来。他们的表情多少都有些相似——期待中掺杂着不安。瑞典太太还在哭泣着，而哈巴特太太正在安慰她。
“Certainly, Michel.”
“当然，米歇尔。”
“Messieurs et Mesdames, I will speak in English, since I think all of you know a little of that language. We are here to investigate the death of Samuel Edward Ratchett — alias Cassetti. There are two possible solutions of the crime. I shall put them both before you, and I shall ask M. Bouc and Dr. Constantine here to judge which solution is the right one.
“女士们、先生们，因为我知道你们都懂一点英语，所以我就说英语吧。我们来这儿是为了调查塞缪尔·爱德华·雷切特——也就是卡塞蒂——的死因。这个案子有两个可能的结论。我会把这两个都告诉大家，并请布克先生和康斯坦汀医生裁定哪一个是正确的。
The Wagon Lit conductor was hovering in the doorway. “You permit that I stay, Monsieur?”
列车员在门口走来走去。“您允许我留下来吗，先生？”
“That, I will say, was our theory.”
“我要说，这个，就是我们的推论。”
“Now you all know the facts of the case. Mr. Ratchett was found stabbed this morning. He was last known to be alive at 12:37 last night, when he spoke to the Wagon Lit conductor through the door. A watch in his pyjama pocket was found to be badly dented and it had stopped at a quarter past one. Dr. Constantine, who examined the body when found, puts the time of death as having occurred between midnight and two in the morning. At half an hour after midnight, as you all know, the train ran into a snowdrift. After that time it was impossible for anyone to leave the train.
“现在你们都已经了解了本案的情况。今天早上，有人发现雷切特被刺死了。昨天晚上十二点三十七分，他还跟列车员在门口说过话。我们在他的睡衣口袋里发现了一块被砸瘪的表，指针停在一点一刻上。发现尸体后，康斯坦汀医生作了检查，指出死亡时间在午夜至凌晨两点。大家都知道，晚上十二点半的时候，火车撞进了雪堆里，此后，任何人都不可能离开火车。
“Comment?” ejaculated M. Bouc, startled.
“什么？”布克先生突然吃惊地叫出了声。
“The evidence of Mr. Hardman, who is a member of a New York Detective Agency” (several heads turned to look at Mr. Hardman) “shows that no one could have passed his compartment (No. 16 at the extreme end) without being seen by him. We are therefore forced to the conclusion that the murderer is to be found among the occupants of one particular coach — the Stamboul-Calais coach.
“哈德曼先生，是纽约侦探社的人员，”有几个人扭头看了看哈德曼先生，“他的证词说，只要有人经过他的房间（车厢尽头十六号房）他就会看到。因此，我们只能得出一个结论，凶手只能是这节车厢，即斯坦布尔－加来车厢里面的人。
“Now I put it to you, ladies and gentlemen, that Mr. Ratchett knew a good deal more than he told. The enemy as Mr. Ratchett expected, joined the train at Belgrade, or possibly at Vincouci, by the door left open by Colonel Arbuthnot and Mr. MacQueen who had just descended to the platform. He was provided with a suit of Wagon Lit uniform, which he wore over his ordinary clothes, and a pass key which enabled him to gain access to Mr. Ratchett’s compartment in spite of the door being locked. Mr. Ratchett was under the influence of a sleeping draught. This man stabbed him with great ferocity and left the compartment through the communicating door leading to Mrs. Hubbard’s compartment –“
“现在，我可以告诉大家，女士们、先生们，雷切特先生知道的事比他说出来的要多。这个雷切特先生预料中的敌人，在贝尔格莱德或者温科夫齐上了火车，是从阿巴思诺特上校和麦奎因先生去站台时打开的一扇门里进来的。有人给他准备了一套列车员的制服，他套在自己衣服的外面。虽然门是锁着的，但是他用一把万能钥匙打开了雷切特先生的房门。雷切特先生因为服用了安眠药，已经入睡，这个人凶狠地刺死他，然后穿过通向哈巴特太太房间的联通门，逃走了——”
“But I will put before you an alternative theory. It is very simple. Mr. Ratchett had a certain enemy whom he feared. He gave Mr. Hardman a description of this enemy and told him that the attempt, if made at all, would most probably be made on the second night out from Stamboul.”
“但是我还要告诉大家另外一个推论。这很简单。雷切特先生有一个让他惧怕的敌人。他向哈德曼先生描述了这个敌人的样子，还说，如果这人要杀他，很有可能在火车离开斯坦布尔的第二个晚上下手。
“That’s so,” said Mrs. Hubbard, nodding her head.
“是这样的。”哈巴特太太点点头。
“There you have the explanation of the whole thing. Mr. Ratchett had ommitted to put his watch back an hour as he should have done at Tzaribrod. His watch still registered Eastern European time, which is one hour ahead of Central European time. It was a quarter past twelve when Mr. Ratchett was stabbed — not a quarter past one.”
“我会把整件事情解释清楚的。在查理布罗德的时候，雷切特先生忘了要把表调慢一小时。他的表仍然是东欧时间，比中欧时间快了一小时。所以雷切特先生被刺死的时间是十二点一刻，而不是一点一刻。”
Everybody gasped.
每个人都倒抽一口气。
“He thrust the dagger he had used into Mrs. Hubbard’s sponge bag in passing. Without knowing it, he lost a button of his uniform. Then he slipped out of the compartment and along the corridor. He hastily thrust the uniform into a suitcase in an empty compartment, and a few minutes later, dressed in ordinary clothes, he left the train just before it started off. Again using the same means of egress — the door near the dining car.”
“经过联通门时，他顺手把刚才用过的匕首塞进了哈巴特太太的洗漱包里。他不知道自己制服上的一个纽扣掉了。然后他溜出房间，沿着过道跑掉了。匆忙之中，他把制服塞进一个空房间里的旅行箱之中。几分钟之后，他穿着普通的衣服，在火车就要开动的时候，从他上火车的那扇门——餐车附近的门——下了火车。”
“What about that watch?” demanded Mr. Hardman.
“那块表是怎么一回事？”哈德曼先生问道。
“But it is absurd, that explanation,” cried M. Bouc. “What of the voice that spoke from the compartment at twenty-three minutes to one. It was either the voice of Ratchett — or else of his murderer.”
“但这个解释是荒谬的！”布克先生喊道，“差二十三分一点时房间里传出来的某个人的声音怎么解释？要么是雷切特的，要么是凶手的。”
Poirot looked at Mrs. Hubbard. “Yes, Madame, you were going to say –?”
波洛看看哈巴特太太。“怎么，夫人，你想说——”
“Well, I don’t quite know what I was going to say. Do you think I forgot to put my watch back too?”
“哦，我也不知道要说些什么。你觉得我也忘了把表调慢了吗？”
“Not necessarily. It might have been — well — a third person. One who had gone in to speak to Ratchett and found him dead. He rang the bell to summon the conductor, then, as you express it, the wind rose in him — he was afraid of being accused of the crime and he spoke pretending to be Ratchett.”
“不一定。可能，呃，是第三个人的。他想走进房间跟雷切特说话却发现他死了。他按铃叫列车员，然后，就像你们说的那样，他害怕了，怕被指控谋杀，所以就假装雷切特说起话来。”
“C’est possible,” admitted M. Bouc grudgingly.
“有可能。”布克先生勉强同意道。
“No, Madame. I think you heard the man pass through — but unconsciously; later you had a nightmare of a man being in your compartment and woke up with a start and rang for the conductor.”
“不，夫人，我认为你听见这个人经过你的包厢，但当时并没清醒过来。后来你做了个梦，梦见一个男人在你房间里，于是被惊醒了，就按铃叫列车员。”
“Well, I suppose that’s possible,” admitted Mrs. Hubbard.
“好吧，我想有这个可能。”哈巴特太太承认道。
Princess Dragomiroff was looking at Poirot with a very direct glance. “How do you explain the evidence of my maid, Monsieur?”
德拉戈米罗夫公主直率地看了波洛一眼。“你怎么解释我的女仆的证词，先生？”
“Very simply, Madame. Your maid recognized the handkerchief I showed her as yours. She somewhat clumsily tried to shield you. She did encounter the man — but earlier — while the train was at Vincovci station. She pretended to have seen him at a later hour with a confused idea of giving you a watertight alibi.”
“很简单，夫人。您的女仆认出了我给她看的手帕是您的。她想掩护您，可是比较笨拙。她确实撞见了一个男人，但时间上要早一些——火车停在温科夫齐站时。她假装是在一个小时后看见的，因为她头脑混乱地想为您提供一个不在场证明。”
“When I had heard all the evidence, I leaned back and shut my eyes and began to think. Certain points presented themselves to me as worthy of attention. I enumerated these points to my two colleagues. Some I have already elucidated — such as a grease spot on a passport, etc. I will run over the points that remain. The first and most important is a remark made to me by M. Bouc in the restaurant car at lunch on the first day after leaving Stamboul — to the effect that the company assembled was interesting because it was so varied — representing as it did all classes and nationalities.
“听完所有的证词之后，我靠在椅子上，闭着眼睛，开始思考。有几点引起了我的注意。我把这几点向我的两位同事列举了出来。有些我已经解释过了，比如护照上的油渍等等。现在我来说说剩下的几点。第一点，也是最重要的一点，就是火车离开斯坦布尔后的第一天，布克先生在餐车吃午饭时说的一句话。聚集在这里的人很有意思，形形色色各不相同，来自不同的阶层和国家。
The Princess bowed her head. “You have thought of everything, Monsieur. I — I admire you.”
公主低下头。“你想得真是周全，先生，我——我佩服你。”
There was a silence.
一片沉寂。
Then everyone jumped as Dr. Constantine suddenly hit the table a blow with his fist.
突然，康斯坦汀医生一拳头砸在桌子上，大家都被他吓了一大跳。
“There is another possible solution of the crime. This is how I arrived at it.
“关于这起谋杀案，还有另外一个结论。我是这么总结出来的。
“But no,” he said. “No, no, and again no! That is an explanation that will not hold water. It is deficient in a dozen minor points. The crime was not committed so — M. Poirot must know that perfectly well.”
“但是，不对，”他说，“不，不，还不对！这种解释站不住脚，有很多小的漏洞。犯罪过程绝对不是这样的——波洛先生肯定很清楚。”
He turned back again to face the others.
他又转向众人。
Poirot turned a curious glance on him. “I see,” he said, “that I shall have to give my second solution. But do not abandon this one too abruptly. You may agree with it later.”
波洛转身惊讶地看了他一眼。“我明白，”他说，“我会告诉你我的第二个结论。但是别着急否定这一点。稍后你会同意的。”
“I agreed with him, but when this particular point came into my mind, I tried to imagine whether such an assembly were ever likely to be collected under any other conditions. And the answer I made to myself was — only in America. In America there might be a household composed of just such varied nationalities — an Italian chauffeur, and English governess, a Swedish nurse, a French lady’s maid and so on. That led me to my scheme of ‘guessing’– that is, casting each person for a certain part in the Armstrong drama much as a producer casts a play. Well, that gave me an extremely interesting and satisfactory result.
“我同意他的说法，但想到这个特点时，我试着想象这样一群人在其他条件下是否有可能聚在一起。我的答案是——只有在美国。在美国，可能有这么一个家庭，包括了这么多不同国家的人——一个意大利汽车司机，一个英国家庭女教师，一个瑞典护士，还有一个德国女仆，诸如此类。这让我产生了一个猜测的框架——就是说，像导演选角色那样，给每个人分配一个在阿姆斯特朗家中出现的角色。这不仅十分有趣，而且让我得到了一个满意的结果。
“I had also examined in my own mind each separate person’s evidence with some curious results. Take first the evidence of Mr. MacQueen. My first interview with him was entirely satisfactory. But in my second he made rather a curious remark. I had described to him the finding of a note mentioning the Armstrong case. He said, ‘But surely –‘ and then paused and went on, ‘I mean — that was rather careless of the old man.’
“我还用了一些奇怪的结论来检验我脑子中的每个人的证词。先说麦奎因先生的证词吧。跟他的第一次谈话非常令人满意。但是第二次的时候，他说了一句奇怪的话。我对他说我们发现了一封提及阿姆斯特朗案件的信。他说：‘可是，肯定——’然后顿了顿，又说，‘我是说——那个老头子太粗心了。’
“Then the valet. He said his master was in the habit of taking a sleeping draught when travelling by train. That might be true, but would Ratchett have taken one last night? The automatic under his pillow gave the lie to that statement. Ratchett intended to be on the alert last night. Whatever narcotic was administered to him must have been done so without his knowledge. By whom? Obviously by MacQueen or the valet.
“然后是男仆。他说他的主人坐火车时习惯服用一片安眠药。这可能是真的，但是雷切特昨晚吃安眠药了没有？他枕头下面的自动手枪证明仆人说了谎。既然雷切特打算昨晚加强防备，那么不管他昨晚服用了什么安眠药，他自己肯定是不知情的。谁给他服的呢？显然是麦奎因或者他的仆人。
“Now I could feel that that was not what he had started out to say. Supposing what he had meant to say was, ‘But surely that was burnt!’ In which case, MacQueen knew of the note and of its destruction — in other words, he was either the murderer or an accomplice of the murderer. Very good.
“因此我感觉到这不是他开始想说的话。假设他原本打算说的是：‘可是，肯定已经烧了。’在这种情况下，说明麦奎因先生知道这封信，并且知道它已经被烧毁了。换句话说，他要么是凶手，要么就是凶手的同伙。很好。
“Now we come to the evidence of Mr. Hardman. I believed all that he told me about his own identity, but when it came to the actual methods he had employed to guard Mr. Ratchett, his story was neither more nor less than absurd. The only way effectively to have protected Ratchett was to have passed the night actually in his compartment or in some spot where he could watch the door. The only thing that his evidence did show plainly was that no one in any other part of the train could possibly have murdered Ratchett. It drew a clear circle round the Stamboul-Calais carriage. That seemed to me a rather curious and inexplicable fact, and I put it aside to think over.
“现在，我们看看哈德曼先生的证词。我相信他对我说的关于自己身份的情况，但是当他说起自己用来保护雷切特先生的实际方法时，他的说法多少有点荒谬。保护雷切特唯一行之有效的办法就是和他一起在房间里过夜，或者在某个能观察到他房门的地方。他的证词中说得很明白的一件事就是，其他车厢里的人不可能谋杀雷切特。这就把范围明确缩小到了伊斯坦布尔－加来车厢之中。我觉得这一点非常古怪，令人费解，我先把它放在一边。
“You probably have all heard by now of the few words I overheard between Miss Debenham and Colonel Arbuthnot. The interesting thing to my mind was the fact that Colonel Arbuthnot called her Mary and was clearly on terms of intimacy with her. But the Colonel was only supposed to have met her a few days previously — and I know Englishmen of the Colonel’s type. Even if he had fallen in love with the young lady at first sight, he would have advanced slowly and with decorum — not rushing things. Therefore I concluded that Colonel Arbuthnot and Miss Debenham were in reality well acquainted, and were for some reason pretending to be strangers. Another small point was Miss Debenham’s easy familiarity with the term ‘long distance’ for a telephone call. Yet Miss Debenham had told me that she had never been in the States.
“我无意中听到的德贝纳姆小姐和阿巴思诺特上校说的那几句话，也许此刻你们大家都已经知道了。在我看来，一个有趣的事实就是，阿巴思诺特上校叫她‘玛丽’，显然他们关系很亲近。但是阿巴思诺特上校应该是几天前才遇见她的。而且我了解上校这一类英国人——就算对她一见钟情，也会很礼貌地慢慢进展，绝不会仓促行事。因此我推断，阿巴思诺特上校和德贝纳姆小姐其实早已认识，出于某个原因才假装互不相识。还有个小问题就是，德贝纳姆小姐熟悉‘长途电话’这个词，然而她却告诉我她从未去过美国。
“To pass to another witness. Mrs. Hubbard had told us that lying in bed she was unable to see whether the communicating door was bolted or not, and so asked Miss Ohlsson to see for her. Now, though her statement would have been perfectly true if she had been occupying compartments Nos. 2, 4, 12, or any even number — where the bolt is directly under the handle of the door — in the uneven numbers, such as compartment No. 3, the bolt is well above the handle and could not therefore be masked by the sponge bag in the least. I was forced to the conclusion that Mrs. Hubbard was inventing an incident that had never occurred.
“下一个证人。哈巴特太太告诉我们躺在床上她看不到联通门有没有闩上，所以她请奥尔松小姐帮她看一下。那么——如果她所住房间的号码是二、四、十二，或者任何双号，在这些房间里，插销正好在门把手的下方，那她所说的绝对是真话——但是像三号这样的单号房间，插销是在门把手的上方，因此不可能被洗漱包挡住。我只好得出结论，哈巴特太太编造出了一个没有发生过的故事。
“And here let me say just a word or two about times. To my mind, the really interesting point about the dented watch was the place where it was found — in Ratchett’s pyjama pocket, a singularly uncomfortable and unlikely place to keep one’s watch, especially as there is a watch ‘hook’ provided just by the head of the bed. I felt sure, therefore, that the watch had been deliberately placed in the pocket and faked. The crime, then, was not committed at a quarter past one.
“在这里，我说几句关于时间的问题。在我看来，那块瘪了的手表，真正有趣之处在于它所在的地方——在雷切特的睡衣口袋里，一个非常不舒服、非常不适合放表的地方。况且，床头边上还有一个挂表的‘挂钩’。因此我确信那块表是故意被放进口袋里的——伪装。那么，凶案就不是发生在一点一刻了。
“Was it, then, committed earlier? To be exact, at twenty-three minutes to one? My friend M. Bouc advanced as an argument in favour of it the loud cry which awoke me from sleep. But if Ratchett were heavily drugged he could not have cried out. If he had been capable of crying out he would have been capable of making some kind of a struggle to defend himself, and there were no signs of any such struggle.
“会不会更早一些？确切地说，是不是一点差二十三分？我的朋友布克先生根据我被一声大叫惊醒这件事，赞成这个说法，并跟我进行争论。但是如果雷切特被下了重药，他不可能大喊。如果他能大喊，他就能挣扎着保护自己，但是现场没有任何搏斗的迹象。
“I remembered that MacQueen had called attention, not once but twice (and the second time in a very blatant manner), to the fact that Ratchett could speak no French. I came to the conclusion that the whole business at twenty-three minutes to one was a comedy played for my benefit! Anyone might see through the watch business — it is a common enough device in detective stories. They assumed that I should see through it and that, pluming myself on my own cleverness, I would go on to assume that since Ratchett spoke no French the voice I heard at twenty-three minutes to one could not be his, and that Ratchett must be already dead. But I am convinced that at twenty-three minutes to one Ratchett was still lying in his drugged sleep.
“我记得麦奎因曾提醒我们注意，不是一次，而是两次（第二次非常明显），雷切特不会说法语。我得出一个结论，一点差二十三分发生的整个事件，就是专门演给我看的一出喜剧！任何人都能看穿这个手表的骗局——这是侦探小说中常见的桥段。他们认为我能看穿这个骗局，然后自作聪明地推断既然雷切特不会说法语，那么我在一点差二十三分时听到的声音就不是他的，那么雷切特肯定已经死了。但是我深信，一点差二十三分的时候，雷切特正由于安眠药的作用熟睡呢。
“But the device has succeeded! I have opened my door and looked out. I have actually heard the French phrase used. If I am so unbelievably dense as not to realize the significance of that phrase, it must be brought to my attention. If necessary MacQueen can come right out in the open. He can say, ‘Excuse me, M. Poirot, that can’t have been Mr. Ratchett speaking. He can’t speak French.’
“可是这个把戏居然成功了！我打开门朝外看了看。我确实听见了那句法语。要是我蠢得没有意识到那句话的重要性，那么一定会有人尽力引起我的注意。必要的话，麦奎因可以直接说出来：‘抱歉，波洛先生，不可能是雷切特先生说的。他不会说法语。’
“Now when was the real time of the crime? And who killed him?
“那么，真正的作案时间是什么时候呢？还有，是谁杀了他？
“In my opinion, and this is only an opinion, Ratchett was killed at some time very close upon two o’clock, the latest hour the doctor gives us as possible.
“以我之见——只是个看法——雷切特被杀的时间很接近两点钟，也就是医生给我们的时间下限。
“As to who killed him –“
“至于是谁杀了他——”
He paused, looking at his audience. He could not complain of any lack of attention. Every eye was fixed upon him. In the stillness you could have heard a pin drop.
他顿了顿，看看他的听众。他可不能抱怨人们不关注他——每个人都紧紧盯着他，静得连一根针掉在地上都能听得见。
He went on slowly:
他缓缓地继续说道：
“I was particularly struck by the extraordinary difficulty of proving a case against any one person on the train and on the rather curious coincidence that in each case the testimony giving an alibi came from what I might describe as an ‘unlikely’ person. Thus Mr. MacQueen and Colonel Arbuthnot provided alibis for each other — two persons between whom it seemed most unlikely there should be any prior acquaintanceship. The same thing happened with the English valet and the Italian, with the Swedish lady and the English girl. I said to myself, ‘This is extraordinary — they cannot all be in it!’
“要证明火车上的某一个人有罪是相当困难的，这一点让我很奇怪。每个人的不在场证明都有另外一个我觉得‘不可能’的人作证，这样一来，麦奎因先生和阿巴思诺特上校可以相互提供不在场证明，而这两个人似乎不可能之前就认识对方。英国男仆和意大利人也是如此，还有瑞典女士和英国女孩。我对自己说：‘这太不寻常了——他们不可能都卷进来！’
“Ratchett had escaped justice in America. There was no question as to his guilt. I visualized a self-appointed jury of twelve people who condemned him to death and were forced by exigencies of the case to be their own executioners. And immediately, on that assumption, the whole case fell into beautiful shining order.
“雷切特在美国逃脱了审判。毋庸置疑，他犯了罪。我想象着有十二个人自己组成一个陪审团，宣判雷切特死刑。由于情况紧急，他们不得不担任他的死刑执行人。基于这一假设，整个案子瞬间就一目了然了。
“And then, Messieurs, I saw light. They were all in it. For so many people connected with the Armstrong case to be travelling by the same train by a coincidence was not only unlikely, it was impossible. It must be not chance, but design. I remembered a remark of Colonel Arbuthnot’s about trial by jury. A jury is composed of twelve people — there were twelve passengers — Ratchett was stabbed twelve times. And the thing that had worried me all along — the extraordinary crowd travelling in the Stamboul — Calais coach at a slack time of year was explained.
“然后，先生们，我忽然明白了，他们都牵涉其中。这么多与阿姆斯特朗家有关系的人，坐同一趟火车旅行，纯属巧合是不可能的：不可能。这不是偶然，而是计划好的。我想起阿巴思诺特上校关于陪审团的一句话。一个陪审团由十二个人组成——有十二位旅客——雷切特被刺了十二刀。那么，一直困扰我的事情——在一年中的淡季，一群不寻常的人挤满了斯坦布尔－加来的车厢——就解释清楚了。
“I saw it as a perfect mosaic, each person playing his or her allotted part. It was so arranged that if suspicion should fall on any one person, the evidence of one or more of the others would clear the accused person and confuse the issue. Hardman’s evidence was necessary in case some outsider should be suspected of the crime and be unable to prove an alibi. The passengers in the Stamboul carriage were in no danger. Every minute detail of their evidence was worked out beforehand. The whole thing was a very cleverly-planned jig-saw puzzle, so arranged that every fresh piece of knowledge that came to light made the solution of the whole more difficult. As my friend M. Bouc remarked, the case seemed fantastically impossible! That was exactly the impression intended to be conveyed.
“我看到了一幅完美的镶嵌图案，每个人都扮演着分配给他或她的角色。一切都安排得如此巧妙，要是有任何人受到怀疑，其他一个或几个人就会为他澄清，并把问题搅乱。一旦有画面之外的人涉嫌犯罪，又不可能提供不在场证明，那哈德曼的证词就很必要了。斯坦布尔车厢里的旅客是不会有危险的。他们证词中的每个细节都是事先设计好的。整件事就是个设计巧妙的拼图玩具，每发现一片新的线索，案子就困难一分。正如我的朋友布克先生所说，这案子简直离奇得无法想象。而这正是作案人想要给人的感觉。
“Did this solution explain everything? Yes, it did. The nature of the wounds — each inflicted by a different person. The artificial threatening letters — artificial since they were unreal, written only to be produced as evidence. (Doubtless there were real letters, warning Ratchett of his fate, which MacQueen destroyed, substituting for them these others.) Then Hardman’s story of being called in by Ratchett — a lie, of course, from beginning to end — the description of the mythical ‘small dark man with a womanish voice,’ a convenient description, since it had the merit of not incriminating any of the actual Wagon Lit conductors and would apply equally well to a man or a woman.
“这个结论能解释所有问题吗？是的，可以。刀伤的性质——每一刀都是由不同的人刺下去的。那些伪造的恐吓信——之所以说伪造，是因为这都是不真实的，写下来只是为了制造证据。（无疑，肯定有真的恐吓信，警告雷切特小心性命的，只是被麦奎因销毁了，用恐吓信代替了。）之后哈德曼所说的被雷切特雇用的事——当然从头到尾都是谎话。对那个神秘人的描述，小个子、深色皮肤、说话女里女气的，只是为了方便而捏造的。既不会牵扯到任何列车员，而且男女都适用。
“The idea of stabbing is at first sight a curious one, but on reflection nothing would fit the circumstances so well. A dagger was a weapon that could be used by everyone — strong or weak — and it made no noise. I fancy, though I may be wrong, that each person in turn entered Ratchett’s darkened compartment through that of Mrs. Hubbard — and struck! They themselves would never know which blow actually killed him.
“用刀刺这个想法，乍看之下很奇怪，可仔细一想就知道再也没有比这更适合当前情况的了。匕首是每个人都会用的武器，无论身强还是体弱，而且不会发出噪音。也许我是错的，不过我猜想，十二个人依次从哈巴特太太的房间进入雷切特黑漆漆的房间里，刺了他一刀。他们自己也不知道到底是哪一刀杀死了他。
“The final letter which Ratchett had probably found on his pillow was carefully burnt. With no clue pointing to the Armstrong case, there would be absolutely no reason for suspecting any of the passengers on the train. It would be put down as an outside job, and the ‘small dark man with the womanish voice’ would actually have been seen by one or more of the passengers leaving the train at Brod.
“雷切特在枕头上发现的那最后一封恐吓信，已经被人小心地烧毁了。假如没有留下关于阿姆斯特朗一案的线索，那么警方绝对没有理由去怀疑火车上的任何一个旅客。那样就可以当成是外来的人做的，那么车上一个或更多的旅客都作证看到这个‘小个子、深色皮肤、说话女里女气’的人在布罗德下了车。
“I do not know exactly what happened when the conspirators discovered that that part of their plan was impossible owing to the accident to the train. There was, I imagine, a hasty consultation, and then they decided to go through with it. It was true that now one and all of the passengers were bound to come under suspicion, but that possibility had already been foreseen and provided for. The only additional thing to be done was to confuse the issue even further. Two so-called ‘clues’ were dropped in the dead man’s compartment — one incriminating Colonel Arbuthnot (who had the strongest alibi and whose connection with the Armstrong family was probably the hardest to prove) and the second clue, the handkerchief, incriminating Princess Dragomiroff, who by virtue of her social position, her particularly frail physique and the alibi given her by her maid and the conductor, was practically in an unassailable position.
“我完全不知道当这些共谋者发现他们的部分计划因火车事故而可能无法实施时，会怎么办。我想象着，他们匆忙地商量了一下，决定继续进行。这样一来，一个或者所有的旅客都会受到怀疑，但他们早已预料到这一可能性并且有所准备。唯一需要增加的工作就是把事情弄得更乱。两条所谓的‘线索’被故意留在了死者的房间里——一条栽赃给了阿巴思诺特上校（他的不在场证明最充分，而且跟阿姆斯特朗家的关系也最难证实）；第二条，手帕的线索，栽赃给了德拉戈米罗夫公主，凭借她的社会地位，非常虚弱的体质，还有女仆和列车员的证词，她的清白无懈可击。
“When MacQueen first learned that the letter which had been so carefully burnt had in part escaped destruction, and that the word Armstrong was exactly the word remaining, he must at once have communicated his news to the others. It was at this minute that the position of Countess Andrenyi became acute and her husband immediately took steps to alter the passport. It was their second piece of bad luck!
“当麦奎因第一个知道那封已经被小心烧毁的信居然还有一点没被烧毁，而且正好留有阿姆斯特朗那几个字时，他肯定立刻把这个消息告诉了其他人。就在这时，安德雷尼伯爵夫人的处境岌岌可危，她丈夫迅速采取措施涂改了护照，这是他们第二次碰到霉运！
“Further to confuse the issue, a ‘red herring’ was drawn across the trail — the mythical woman in the red kimono. Again I am to bear witness to this woman’s existence. There is a heavy bang at my door. I get up and look out — and see the scarlet kimono disappearing in the distance. A judicious selection of people — the conductor, Miss Debenham and MacQueen — will also have seen her. It was, I think, someone with a sense of humour who thoughtfully placed the scarlet kimono on the top of my suitcase whilst I was interviewing people in the dining car. Where the garment came from in the first place I do not know. I suspect it is the property of Countess Andrenyi, since her luggage contained only a chiffon negligée so elaborate as to be more a tea gown than a dressing gown.
“为了把事情搞得更乱，他们又凭空编造了一个穿猩红色睡衣的神秘女人。我又一次为这个女人的存在作了证明。有人重重地敲了一下我的房门，我从床上跳起来向门外看过去——看到一个穿猩红色和服睡衣的人消失在远处。他们明智地选了三个人——列车员、德贝纳姆小姐和麦奎因——也见过她。我想，肯定是某个富有幽默感的人，趁我在餐车跟人交谈时，把那件睡衣放进了我旅行箱的上面一层。这件睡衣最开始是从哪里弄到的，我不知道，不过我怀疑这是安德雷尼伯爵夫人的，因为她的旅行箱里只有一件雪纺绸的长睡衣，而且太精致了，更像是喝茶时穿的，而非睡衣。
“Now there was one further point to consider. Allowing that my theory of the crime was the correct one, and I believe that it must be the correct one, then obviously the Wagon Lit conductor himself must be privy to the plot. But if so, that gave us thirteen persons, not twelve. Instead of the usual formula, ‘Of so many people one is guilty,’ I was faced with the problem that of thirteen persons one and one only was innocent. Which was that person?
“现在，还有一点需要考虑。如果我对这个案子的推论是正确的，而且我相信肯定是正确的，那么列车员一定也知道这个计谋。但如果是这样，那凶手就是十三个人，不是十二个。与通常那种‘多个人中有一个人是有罪的’不同，我面临的是‘十三个人中只有一个是无辜的’。是哪一个呢？
“I came to a very odd conclusion. I came to the conclusion that the person who had taken no part in the crime was the person who would be considered the most likely to do so. I refer to Countess Andrenyi. I was impressed by the earnestness of her husband when he swore to me solemnly on his honour that his wife never left her compartment that night. I decided that Count Andrenyi took, so to speak, his wife’s place.
“我得出一个很古怪的结论，没有参与谋杀的那个人，正是被认为是最有犯罪动机的那个人。我指的是安德雷尼伯爵夫人。让我印象深刻的是，伯爵严肃地以自己的名誉向我发誓，他妻子那晚从未离开房间时的真挚之情。于是，我认定，是安德雷尼伯爵代替他妻子做的。
“They one and all agreed to deny utterly any connection with the Armstrong family. They knew I had no immediate means of finding out the truth, and they did not believe that I should go into the matter unless my suspicions were aroused against one particular person.
“他们一致否认跟阿姆斯特朗家有任何关系，也知道我不可能马上找出真相，而且相信，除非我怀疑他们中间的某个人，不然不会进一步调查这件事的。
“If so, then Pierre Michel was definitely one of the twelve. But how could one explain his complicity? He was a decent man who had been many years in the employ of the Company — not the kind of man who could be bribed to assist in a crime. Then Pierre Michel must be involved in the Armstrong case. But that seemed very improbable. Then I remembered that the dead nurserymaid was French. Supposing that that unfortunate girl had been Pierre Michel’s daughter. That would explain everything — it would also explain the place chosen for the staging of the crime. Were there any others whose part in the drama was not clear? Colonel Arbuthnot I put down as a friend of the Armstrongs. They had probably been through the war together. The maid, Hildegarde Schmidt, I could guess her place in the Armstrong household. I am, perhaps, overgreedy, but I sense a good cook instinctively. I laid a trap for her — she fell into it. I said I knew she was a good cook. She answered, ‘Yes, indeed, all my ladies have said so.’ But if you are employed as a lady’s maid your employers seldom have a chance of learning whether or not you are a good cook.
“如果是这样，那么皮埃尔·米歇尔绝对是十二人中的一个。可是如何解释他的参与呢？他是个在铁路公司工作了很多年的好人，并不是那种会受贿协助谋杀的人。由此，皮埃尔·米歇尔肯定也跟阿姆斯特朗一案有关。可这看起来不太可能。后来我想到那个死了的保姆是个法国人。假定这个不幸的女孩是皮埃尔·米歇尔的女儿，那一切都解释得通了——这也可以解释谋杀地点为何选在火车上。还有谁扮演的角色不是很清晰呢？我把阿巴思诺特上校当作阿姆斯特朗家的一个朋友。他们可能一起经过了战争。女仆，希尔德嘉德·施密特，我能猜到她在阿姆斯特朗家的职位。也许是我太贪吃了，但是我本能地感觉她是一个好厨娘。我给她设下了一个圈套——她上当了。我说我知道她是个好厨娘。她回答道：‘真的，没错，我的女主人们都这么说。’但是如果你是个女仆，你的主人很难有机会知道你是否是个好厨娘。
Then, in a soft rich dreamy voice, quite unlike the one she had used all the journey, Mrs. Hubbard said:
接着，响起了一个柔和、梦幻般的声音，跟在这次旅行中所用的声音截然相反，哈巴特太太说话了：
“There remains Mrs. Hubbard. Now Mrs. Hubbard, let me say, played the most important part in the drama. By occupying the compartment communicating with that of Ratchett she was more open to suspicion than anyone else. In the nature of things she could not have an alibi to fall back upon. To play the part she played — the perfectly natural, slightly ridiculous American fond mother — an artist was needed. But there was an artist connected with the Armstrong family — Mrs. Armstrong’s mother — Linda Arden, the actress…”
“还剩下哈巴特太太。现在，哈巴特太太，请允许我说，在这出戏剧中你扮演了最重要的一个角色。由于房间就在雷切特的隔壁，因此她的嫌疑比其他人都大。照道理说，她没有什么不在场证明。为了演好她要扮演的角色——一个非常自然的、有些荒谬可笑的、宠爱女儿的美国母亲——确实需要一个艺术家。然而有个艺术家跟阿姆斯特朗一家关系密切：阿姆斯特朗太太的母亲——琳达·阿登，一个女演员…”
“Then there was Hardman. He seemed quite definitely not to belong to the Armstrong household. I could only imagine that he had been in love with the French girl. I spoke to him of the charm of foreign women — and again I obtained the reaction I was looking for. Sudden tears came into his eyes, which he pretended were dazzled by the snow.
“然后是哈德曼。他似乎肯定不是阿姆斯特朗家里的人，我只能想到他跟法国女孩恋爱过。我跟他说起外国女人的迷人之处——再一次得到了我一直寻找的反应——他的泪水夺眶而出，可他却假装说雪太刺眼了。
He stopped.
他停了下来。
“I always fancied myself in comedy parts.”
“我总是幻想自己能演喜剧。”
She shifted her position a little and looked straight at Poirot.
她稍稍移动了下身子，直视着波洛。
“That slip about the sponge bag was silly. It shows you should always rehearse properly. We tried it on the way out — I was in an even number compartment then, I suppose. I never thought of the bolts being in different places.”
“洗漱包的安排是个疏忽。这表明事先应该排练一下。我们来的时候曾经演示过，我想那时我在一个双号房间里。我从未想过插销的位置会有所不同。”
She went on still dreamily:
她继续梦幻般地说道：
“He saved my life in the war,” said Arbuthnot.
“战时，他救过我的命。”阿巴思诺特上校说。
“You know all about it, M. Poirot. You’re a very wonderful man. But even you can’t quite imagine what it was like — that awful day in New York. I was just crazy with grief — so were the servants — and Colonel Arbuthnot was there, too. He was John Armstrong’s best friend.”
“你全都知道了，波洛先生。你是个了不起的人。可就算是你，也无法想象那种感受——纽约那可怕的一天！我悲痛欲绝，仆人们也是。阿巴思诺特上校也在那儿。他是约翰·阿姆斯特朗最好的朋友。”
“We decided then and there — perhaps we were mad — I don’t know — that the sentence of death that Cassetti had escaped had got to be carried out. There were twelve of us — or rather eleven — Susanne’s father was over in France, of course. First we thought we’d draw lots as to who should do it, but in the end we decided on this way. It was the chauffeur, Antonio, who suggested it. Mary worked out all the details later with Hector MacQueen. He’d always adored Sonia — my daughter — and it was he who explained to us exactly how Cassetti’s money had managed to get him off.
“那时我们当场决定（也许我们都疯了，我不知道）一定要执行卡塞蒂逃过的死刑。我们有十二个人——或者说十一个。当然，苏珊娜的父亲远在法国。开始我们打算抽签决定由谁来执行。但是最后我们还是决定用现在这个方法。这是汽车司机安东尼奥提议的。后来玛丽和麦奎因详细拟定了各种细节。他一直很敬慕索妮亚——我女儿，是他向我们详细解释了卡塞蒂是如何用钱逃脱死刑的。
“My daughter’s husband had to know, of course, and he insisted on coming on the train with her. Hector wangled it so that Ratchett selected the right day for travelling when Michel would be on duty. We meant to engage every carriage in the Stamboul-Calais coach, but unfortunately there was one carriage we couldn’t get. It was reserved long beforehand for a director of the company. Mr. Harris, of course, was a myth. But it would have been awkward to have any stranger in Hector’s compartment. And then, at the last minute, you came…”
“当然，我女婿也知道了，他坚持陪她坐这列火车。赫克托设法让雷切特选择了米歇尔值班这天的火车。我们打算把斯坦布尔－加来车厢上的所有铺位都包下来，可遗憾的是，有个铺位被订走了，是留给公司董事的。‘哈里斯先生’当然是假的。但是如果赫克托的房间里有个陌生同伴会很尴尬。于是，在最后一刻，你来了…”
“It took a long time to perfect our plan. We had first to track Ratchett down. Hardman managed that in the end. Then we had to try to get Masterman and Hector into his employment — or at any rate one of them. Well, we managed that. Then we had a consultation with Susanne’s father. Colonel Arbuthnot was very keen on having twelve of us. He seemed to think it made it more in order. He didn’t like the stabbing idea much, but he agreed that it did solve most of our difficulties. Well, Susanne’s father was willing. Susanne was his only child. We knew from Hector that Ratchett would be coming back from the East sooner or later by the Orient Express. With Pierre Michel actually working on that train, the chance was too good to be missed. Besides, it would be a good way of not incriminating any outsiders.
“完善整个计划花费了很长时间。我们首先得了解雷切特的行踪，最后哈德曼做到了。接着我们想方设法让他雇用马斯特曼和赫克托——或者至少是其中一个。嗯，我们做到了。然后我们跟苏珊娜的父亲商量了一下。阿巴思诺特上校很支持十二个人合作，他想把事情做得更加合乎规则。他不喜欢用刀刺这个主意，但他同意这么做能省掉大部分麻烦。而且，苏珊娜的父亲也表示愿意。苏珊娜是他唯一的孩子。我们从赫克托那里得知，雷切特早晚要乘坐东方快车从东边回来。因为皮埃尔·米歇尔就在那趟车上工作，真是时不可失。而且，这也是个不牵连外人的好方法。
She stopped.
她停了停。
Her voice was wonderful echoing through the crowded space — that deep, emotional, heart-stirring voice that had thrilled many a New York audience.
她的声音极其动人，回响在拥挤的空间中——这个低沉、富有感情、振奋人心的声音，感动了纽约许多的观众。
“Well,” she said. “You know everything now, M. Poirot. What are you going to do about it? If it must all come out, can’t you lay the blame upon me and me only? I would have stabbed that man twelve times willingly. It wasn’t only that he was responsible for my daughter’s death and her child’s, and that of the other child who might have been alive and happy now. It was more than that. There had been other children before Daisy — there might be others in the future. Society had condemned him; we were only carrying out the sentence. But it’s unnecessary to bring all these others into it. All these good faithful souls — and poor Michel — and Mary and Colonel Arbuthnot — they love each other…”
“好啦，”她说，“现在你全都知道了，波洛先生，你打算怎么办？如果必须把事情公之于众，你能不能把责任都推给我，让我独自承担呢？我情愿自己刺了那人十二刀，这不仅仅是因为他要对我女儿还有她孩子的死负责，还要对另一个原本可以幸福快乐生活的孩子负责。不仅如此，在黛西之前，还有别的孩子被绑架过，而且将来还可能会有其他人。社会给他定了罪，我们只是执行判决。但是没必要把其他人也牵扯进来。所有这些善良忠诚的人——还有可怜的米歇尔，还有玛丽和阿巴思诺特上校——他们都深爱彼此…”
“You are a director of the company, M. Bouc,” he said, “What do you say?”
“你是公司的董事，布克先生，”他说，“你要说些什么？”
Poirot looked at his friend.
波洛看看他的朋友。
M. Bouc cleared his throat.
布克先生清清嗓子。
“Then,” said Poirot, “having placed my solution before you, I have the honour to retire from the case…”
“那么，”波洛说，“我的解决方案已向大家说明，我可以荣幸地退出此案了。”
“In my opinion, M. Poirot,” he said, “the first theory you put forward was the correct one — decidedly so. I suggest that that is the solution we offer to the Yugo-Slavian police when they arrive. You agree, Doctor?”
“我的意见是，波洛先生，”他说，“你提出来的第一个推论是正确的——确实如此。我建议，南斯拉夫警察到达时，我们把这个结论提交给他们。你同意吗，医生？”
“Certainly I agree,” said Dr. Constantine. “As regards the medical evidence, I think — er — that I made one or two fantastic suggestions.”
“当然同意，”康斯坦汀医生说，“至于医疗证据，我想——呃——我会提一两个奇妙的建议。”
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